Clinical Wolf Pack rout Bears

The Prairie Wolf Pack put on a 60 minute clinic for their fans as they crushed the BC Bears to the tune of 57-7 at Calgary Rugby Park on Sunday. Outside of a five minute period to start the second half, the Bears came off second best in nearly every department against a rampant Wolf Pack that attacked from every nook and cranny.

From Mozac Samson’s hard line in the 8th minute to Kyle Gilmour’s double switch on the hour mark, the Pack were relentless in executing well rehearsed set moves and rock solid at the set piece. In terms of cohesiveness, they looked the most polished side of any on display.

The Bears weren’t terrible, they were simply outmatched and under-prepared. This was to be expected, but the shortcomings were compounded with basic errors and missed tackles, particularly from their inexperienced backline. Guiseppe du Toit struggled with his kicking accuracy and couldn’t get hold of the game, while Caleb Hansen probably wishes he was left on the wing after a forgettable day at fullback under the high ball.

In the midst of the mechanical precision there was room for some artistry, and we saw some cracking tries from the home side.

A half-break from du Toit nearly put Jeke Gotegote through, but a brilliant turnover from Evan Olmstead on the five metre line spilled the ball loose and Carl Pocock raced 40 metres through the broken defense. Clay Panga was hot in support and quickly moved the ball to Adam Bontus who in turn fed Gordon McRorie and the scrumhalf did the rest, taking the outside on Nolan McAllister for a magnificent length-of-the-field effort.

Right from the following restart the Wolf Pack regained possession and Gradyn Bowd fired a huge miss pass to Andrew Tiedemann loitering in the wide spaces. The big tighthead passed his two-on-one test with flying colours, putting Bontus in the clear and the winger chipped and regathered, just stepping outside Hansen’s despairing tackle to score another beauty.

Chase Kelliher scored BC’s only try, the lively flanker appearing on Gotegote’s hip to take a lovely offload and wipe the egg off the scoreboard. The pair were their side’s best on the night, though a mention must also go to the Burnaby Lake front row of Anthony Luca, Andrew Lackner, and Ryan Ackerman, who held their own against their more illustrious opponents.

The searing heat of the afternoon amplified fatigue and with a raft of replacements the final quarter could only be described as abysmal and best forgotten. It was a disappointing end to an otherwise entertaining afternoon, but didn’t take anything away from the dominant display of the Wolf Pack for the first hour of the match.

Ontario would have been keen observers throughout and will have noted the outstanding form of McRorie, with a personal haul of 27 points, and probably scribbled a line or two about a relatively unknown quantity until now in flyhalf Bowd, who looked a fair sight better than makeshift. Samson impressed in the midfield and Gilmour’s influence was almost as notable as his ginger beard.

Wednesday’s final is now set, with the two best sides lined up in a winner-take-all rematch of their last meeting in Peterborough – a three point Wolf Pack victory. On today’s evidence it’s not unreasonable to give the home team the edge, but either way it’s building up to be a thrilling match between two heavyweight combatants dead set on drinking from the MacTier Cup.

WOLF PACK 57
Tries – M. Samson 2 (8, 45), G. McRorie 2 (33, 39), C. Panga (14), A. Bontus (35), C. Pocock (53), K. Gilmour (59)
Cons – G. McRorie 7 (8, 34, 36, 40, 46, 54, 59)
Pens – G. McRorie (29)

BEARS 7
Tries – C. Kelliher (43)
Cons – G. du Toit (44)

WOLF PACK
1 H. Buydens (C. Thornber 67) 2 M. Harrison 3 A. Tiedemann (N. McAuley 49) 4 C. Long (L. Albornoz 64) 5 E. Olmstead 6 C. Panga 7 N. Dala (S. Watkins 64) 8 K. Gilmour (capt.) (I. Huston 59) 9 G. McRorie 10 G. Bowd 11 G. Turner (J. Buchanan 50) 12 N. Blevins 13 M. Samson 14 A. Bontus (D. Maguire 64) 15 C. Pocock (A. McQueen 64)

BEARS
1 A. Luca (J. Braddock 50) 2 A. Lackner (N. Barker 69) 3 R. Ackerman (C. McClary 65) 4 S. Clark 5 C. Morrison 6 T. de Goede 7 C. Kelliher (A. Boyd 69) 8 A. Kleeberger (capt.) (L. Campbell 58) 9 J. Pitblado (J. Sandover-Best 65) 10 G. du Toit 11 N. McAllister (K. Leitner 69) 12 J. Gotegote 13 S. Ferguson 14 K. Horton 15 C. Hansen (A. Timler 64)