Capilano Weekend Match Reports: Caps vs SFU Men Div 2; vs Rowers Women Div 3; vs Burnaby Women Div 1; vs UVic Men Div 1; vs UVic Men Premier
Capilano First home stand of the regular 2022- 2023 Rugby season:
Caps hosted U-Vic, Rowing Club and Simon Fraser today and the First Division Women were away to Burnaby. The weather looked a bit scary but fortunately the rains held off for the entire event. Caps only managed one win today by the Premier Reserves but they were in the Premier match until the final whistle and it was exciting rugby. Thank you to Steve Feenstra and Heather Muir for writing the reports below.
Capilano 2nd Division Men host SFU:
I didnt see this game as it was played at the same time as the Premier Reserve game. SFU was far too strong for this young Capilano side. The score was 34-0 for SFU. Caps are struggling in this division but are hoping to continue to field 3 sides. A number of the SFU players stayed and watched the Premier match and stayed for the after game festivities. Jim Leiths delicious food helps to make this happen. Thanks Jim. Congratulations to SFU. Also thanks to the referee.
Written by: John Langley
Womens Mainland Division 3 (Division 2) vs. Rowers
The first womens game on display this weekend showed the Capilano 2nd Division women combine with players from Surrey Beavers to take on the VRC Rowers in 12-a-side action at Klahanie Park. The first 15 minutes of the game saw the Capilano/Surrey players mainly on defense as the well-drilled Rowers side applied relentless pressure to the newly formed Barbarians-style team. The home side put in a great defensive effort but the Rowers were able to break through for a few long range tries to bring the score up to 0-17 by the mid-point of the first half.
The Capilano/Surrey side kept their heads up, and off the next kick-off #11 Chloe Bong chased the deep kick from #9 Brinley Wright and pinned the Rowers inside their own 22m before forcing a turnover. The home side kept control well and phase after phase of hard-hitting forwards crashes drew the team closer to the try line until #10 Shelby Slay spotted a mismatch on the blind side and outpaced the defense through a gap and over the line. Tough conversion was missed, leaving the score at 5-17.
Shelby continued to show their experience and skill on both sides of the ball as minutes later they chased down a charging Rower forward on a long range run to make the tackle 5m out and cause a turnover. The Capilano side kicked the ball out of danger but unfortunately the Rowers backs collected the kick and returned it for a try to increase the score to 5-22.
Capilano soon returned the favour, however, as they worked through their structure to bring their team inside the opposition 10m before being awarded a penalty. The tap from #9 Brinley Wright went to a steamrolling #8 Ashley Walker who took out several defenders before going down and allowing the ball to be recycled to #10 Shelby Slay who barreled through the Rowers line, raced over the 10m space to the try line, and touched the ball down with three defenders still clung to their arms and legs and dragging along behind. Conversion from #9 Brinley Wright was good and the score was now 12-22.
The rest of the half was a true testament to the grit from the Capilano side as their consistent defensive pressure created turnover after turn-over and they were able to keep opposition scoreless until the half time whistle. #17 Victoria Waud and #3 Maddie Arbuckle kept the tempo high and the mind-sets calm as they created opportunities for the home side take on ball and make solid metres.
The second half began how the first ended with the Capilano/Surrey Barbarians side maintaining the majority of possession and territory for the first 15min. The cohesion was beginning to grow as these combined sides, who had only met in warm-up, began to learn each others game style and smooth out their plays. The impact players brought a new level of energy to the home side and the pace of the game flowed quickly.
The strong Rowers side eventually found a way through the spirited Capilano defense and scored two quick long-range tries to bring the score up to 32-12. But Capilano fought back again as they worked the ball into the opposition 22m before being awarded a scrum. #8 Ashley Walker picked from the base and took it blind before #6 Zoe Pulfrey recycled the ball with a pick-and-go from the ruck and propelled themself past the defenders and over the try line. Score was now 32-17 with ten minutes remaining.
Capilanos defense was again on prominent display as they kept the play in-between the 22 meters and stepped up their defensive line pressure before the experienced visitor side managed to find space out wide and scored two quick tries in the last 5min of the game to leave the final score at 17-42. This game was a great opportunity for Capilano to play a full 12s game and to experience playing with new players as they hosted Surrey on their side. Although the final score line was steep, their overall defensive performance was excellent and only continued to improve as the Capilano/Surrey sides gained more confidence and awareness of each others play!
Huge thank you to the Rowers for coming down to make this game happen, to the Surrey players for joining us for a great game, the referee for officiating, and for the fans who came out to support! Players of the match were #8 Ashley Walker whose relentless energy on the field led to many strong offensive runs and quick reactions on defense and #10 Shelby Slay who had a dominant performance on both offense and attack and displayed impressive game-management throughout the match! Players Player was awarded to #6 Zoe Pulfrey who, at only 17, is showing massive improvements every game in what is only their first year of rugby which is paired with an indomitable energy and commitment!
Womens Mainland Division 1 (Premier) vs. Burnaby
The second womens game to take place on Saturday saw the Capilano premier women traveling to Burnaby Lake. This game promised to be a tightly contested affair as the first encounter between these two teams earlier in the season saw Capilano come out with a fiercely defended 17-14 win. This second match lived up to expectations as the first 30 minutes remained scoreless with both teams defending well. Capilano had the majority of possession throughout the first half but were not able to capitalize on their opportunities to get over the try line.
Burnaby finally got on the scoring started with their new recruit from Bayside #15 who spotted a gap in defense off a set piece play 20 metres out and ran through for the first try of the game. Conversion was good and the home side took the lead at 7-0. Capilano bounced back quickly however, and only minutes later the visitors were deep in the Burnaby half with ball in hand. After several well-worked phases, early impact #17 Janna Slevinsky picked from the back of the ruck 5m out, dummied to her #10, and then sliced over the line to touch down for their first Capilano try! Conversion went wide, and the first half came to a close with Burnaby holding onto a slim 7-5 lead.
The second half continued in similar fashion with both sides stringing together multiple phases from their forwards and backs. Capilano forwards #2 Tiana Coutts and #5 Tina Luti were both relentless on offense with barreling runs while fullback #15 Savannah Bacchus took charge of the back field with their trademark calm consistency cleaning up offensive and defensive balls to gain and regain possession throughout the game.
Burnaby got into the Capilano 5m off a huge run from their #15, but a huge chase back from #17 Janna Slevinsky and #15 Savannah Bacchus stopped the run and forced the forward pass, giving the ball back to the home side with an opportunity to clear their lines. The exit was successful, but Burnaby soon worked their way back into the Capilano end and after several pick and goes from their forward pack the home side managed to edge over the try line out wide to bring the score up to 12-5.
Capilano drew next blood as they worked the way into the Burnaby side and maintained possession phase after phase. Just inside the 22m, flyhalf #10 Flora Poole spotted a mismatch and reversed their line to run up the blindside, drawing in three defenders before offloading the ball to #6 Rachel Moloney who raced through to score out wide to bring the score to 12-10. Both Rachel and #7 Beth Dueck had excellent games at flank with consistent running lines and quick, solid rucks that provided massive support to their side.
Both teams fought hard until the end of the game, with big hits coming in on defense and strong runs on offense. However, Burnaby had the last say as their backs brought the ball deep into the Capilano end before their forwards set to work and picked toward the Capilano line before swinging the ball wide for their #15 to touch it down and bring them ahead to 17-10.
The last few minutes of the game saw huge amounts of effort and determination from both sides as Capilano pressed the Burnaby defense again and again. However, the visitors were unable to bring the score level before the clock ticked over the 80min mark and the home side cleared the ball out of bounds to cement the final score at 17-10.
Big thank you to Burnaby Lake for hosting the game, to the referee for officiating, and the medical side-line staff for ensuring our safety throughout a tough game in rainy conditions. Capilano players of the match were #4 Karina Christiansen whos hard hitting presence was felt through their runs and tackles all game and #17 Janna Slevinsky who came on as an early forward impact but soon moved to the back line without skipping a beat and made a huge impact across the park with their slicing runs and chop tackles. Players Player was awarded to Sarah Bill who has become a constant figure in the back line this season and never fails to make their presence known to the opposition with long runs and quick defensive line speed.
Written by: Heather Muir
Premier Reserve vs UVic
Under an ominous grey sky that threatened to turn ugly, the UVic and Capilano Premier Reserves took to the field for the 12:45 clash. The old adage of the team coming from the island having ferry legs wasn’t apparent today. Both teams started at pace and well maybe not as error free as they both would have liked, it was exciting to the end.
The UVic Reserves opened the scoring off their lineout at the Cap Reserves 10 metre line and two passes later drawing first blood. With convert 7-0 UVic. Caps replied with a PK and it was 7-3 UVic. UVic scored again after some frantic defending from the Caps to make it 12 -3. The Caps inched a bit closed with a penalty try awarded after UVic infringements at their goal. At the half it was 12-8 for UVic. A scrambly half of rugby but still there for the taking by both teams.
The second half saw UVic try to run the ball out while deep in their end only to turn it over for Caps Matt Nicol to pick up and trot in. 13-12 Caps. UVic then scored two tries, one after several thrusts at the Cap goal line finally putting it in and one by pushing Caps scrum off ball and stealing it to run in another try. With one convert it was 24-13 UVic. The Caps were in a spot of bother with 15 min left but rallied and at 65 min Marcos Merenyi ran one in to cut lead to 24-18 UVic. The final try came again from Caps Merenyi as he intercepted a UVic pass and dotted over. With convert 25-24 Caps.
The Caps did make the final minute a bit of an adventure but managed a kick to touch and ending the game with the final score 25-24 Caps.
Thanks to the UVic Prem Reserves
Thanks to the referee
Premier vs UVic
On to the main event, Caps and UVic Premier teams
This game had it all, lots of scoring, some big hits, and the winner undecided till the end.
UVic started strongly and by 20 min had a 19-3 lead. UVic scored by filching a loose ball at the Caps 22 and running it in, UVic scored on a nice display of passing after a strong scrum to dot it over, and UVic scored by winning their line out at Caps 5 metre line and mauling it in. Caps managed two PK’s and a try in the first half but were scrambling to stay in the game. Caps made a scrum half change as an injury to Johnny Adams saw Chris Robinson come on at 25 min. With their one try in the half Caps did manage to shorten the lead at the 37 min mark when Jordan Harvey plunged over after several phases on UVic goal line. With convert it was 19-13 for UVic at the half.
The second half opened with a nice drop goal by Jeremy Simon at 42 min to make it 19-16 UVic. the Caps then took the lead with a Johnny Franklin try with convert and now Caps in front 23-19. UVic seemed to up their tempo at this point and score two quick tries with converts to regain lead 33-23 UVic. Caps came storming back to retrieve their kick off and worked their way to UVic goal line with Caps # 2 Ritzema powering over. With convert 33-30 for UVic. UVic’s #15 then scored down the sideline and with the convert made the score 40-30 UVic. Caps did score one more try to make it 40-35, but that was it for the scoring . The final score of 40-35 for UVic was indicative of the closeness of the game
Thanks to the UVic Prems
Thanks to the Referee
Written by: Steve Feenstra