Three weeks after an epic game at UBC these same teams took it up a notch at Jericho producing as good a regular season game as you will see in BC. The Ravens prevailed with five tries to UBC’s four but truly the teams are evenly matched and may be heading for a final meeting come playoff time.
Week 14 has wrapped up, the Ravens remain top of the table with Westshore, UBC and Capilano in pursuit. In Women’s Premier some mismatches as UBC hit their title defending form but Lomas still top the table. There were numerous national team and MLR level players in the rosters this week Andrew Coe, Josiah Morra, Reegan O’Gorman, Callum Botchar, Noah Flesch, Mason Flesch, Emerson Prior, Mark Balaski, Guiseppe du Toit and more.
Much like the heavy rains that soaked the Jericho pitch before easing as the game wore on, the Ravens laid a deluge of first half tries on Burnaby before the play evened out in the second half.
It’s getting down to the last third of the season, most teams have 5 games left with 12 played. Burnaby and Lomas only have 4 games left and UVic and UBC have 6 games left. CW and Lomas are effectively eliminated from post season play and only UVic now has a chance to catch the top 6 going to the playoffs. In women’s Premier the Lomas show they’re deserving of the #1 ranking, impressive considering they’ve come up from Div 1 last year. There’s no rugby next weekend, Family Day weekend, but play resumes February 21st.
On a wet day at UBC it was another great game between these two fraternal clubs and it was the big brother that came away with the win despite being clearly outplayed for the first 60 minutes.
When UBC centre Alistair Marshall from first phase ball easily passed through the Raven backfield at 3 minutes to score from 40 metres out UBC took a lead they did not relinquish till the game’s last second. Then, with the Ravens’ Jake Ikeda off on a yellow card, UBC at 15 minutes tallied again with Stephen Webb stepping in and wrestling the ball down from close range, 12-0 UBC. The students’ fitness, speed, structure and ball movement had the Ravens stretched and taking on water but with Joe McNulty off on a yellow the Ravens had a moment of sustained attacking pressure and hooker Jake Tieney dove in, and with the easy conversion missed it was 12-5 UBC at 25 minutes.
The Ravens have gone top of the table with a comeback win over UBC combined with a Westshore loss to the Vikes. The Vikes and Bays both won which keeps the race for 6th place, the final playoff spot, within a fraction, the Vikes at 2.8 points per match and the Bays at 2.73. Each team has a 17 game schedule so most teams have 6 games left to determine their final standing, Burnaby and Lomas have 5 games left, UVic has 7.
The spring season returned with some close matches. The Westshore v Burnaby Premier matches were decided by a total of 4 points, 1 point in the men’s match and 3 points in the women’s match. Both full match videos are posted below courtesy of the Westshore youtube channel. The Vikes win and the Bays loss sees the Vikes move up to 6th place, the important last playoff spot. Caps crushed the Pride by 39 points, a tough start to the spring season for the Rugby Canada academy team. Ravens and UBC, last year’s finalists, continue their winning ways and face off against each other next weekend.
A dry afternoon at Connaught with the busiest referee in Canada, Shanda Assmus, in charge brought the two west side rivals together again to see out the season’s first half. Early on the Ravens won a set decisively and that strength was a difference that served them well the rest of the way.
It’s the wrap up of the fall season, the last matches before the Dec/Jan winter break. Play resumes January 24th. UBC defaulted their match to Westshore, they’ve chosen to take a game in South Carolina versus USA #2 Life University. That puts Westshore top of the table going into the break, the Ravens have caught UBC in a 2nd/3rd place tie, Capilano sit in 4th place, Burnaby drop to 5th and the Bays claim 6th. The women’s Premier wrapped up their fall season last weekend.
Week 9 in the BC Premier sees some Friday night matches, we’ve got both the Friday and Saturday predictions and rosters in now. The BCRU and universities have put some effort into promoting these matches so hopefully they’ll see some positive results in attendance. The BCRU write-ups are included below as well.