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The Ontario Blues put paid to any suggestions they might be vulnerable after their close battle with the Atlantic Rock in Truro, cruising past the Prairie Wolf Pack by 45-22 at Calgary Rugby Park on Sunday. A blistering four-try performance from winger Kainoa Lloyd led the way for the Blues with scrumhalf Andrew Ferguson adding 15 points with a try and five conversions.
It was Dan Moor, wearing 14 but playing on the left wing, who got on the board first. Ferguson’s short pass found Moor on the move and Wolf Pack line seemed surprised to see him as he cantered through perhaps too easily for the opening try.
That seemed to annoy the home side, as it should, and they upped their intensity. Lucas Rumball was binned for a late tackle on Gradyn Bowd and from the penalty chance Carl Pocock made good to get his team in the game. In quick response, however, Shawn Windsor took on the line, firing clean through before dishing back inside to Lloyd for a second Blues try.
Lloyd wasn’t the only winger looking for work, and the Wolf Pack fired straight back when Jeremy Kyne somehow snuck the ball out of the tackle for Brandon Baker to burst on and fly under the sticks. Without missing a beat Lloyd was in again, however, this time taking a short ball from Windsor’s outside shoulder to head through the gap and the despairing tackle of Pocock to score his double.
The hat-trick was complete before the halftime whistle. This time Lloyd took the ball as first receiver, slipped past a diving Adam Bontus and simply drove through the tackle of Mozac Samson to secure the bonus point and leave Wolf Pack dreams in tatters.
Ferguson got on over the line himself moment before the hour mark and made it look easy as he rounded the post defense on the far side of a ruck. Windsor picked up the scraps from a dropped ball do slide over soon after, and Lloyd claimed one more to complete the rout. His fourth was a winger’s dream, kicking over the defense from the halfway line and turning on the afterburners to reach the ball just ahead of the retreating Pocock.
The Pack would get two consolation scores at the end, one each for Samson and Pocock, but by now the Blues were thinking of ice baths and the Bears, who are next up on Wednesday. Having already secured their spot in the final it could well be back-to-back tilts with British Columbia to determine the 2017 MacTier Cup champions.
For the Wolf Pack it’s another disappointing result but a step above the capitulation in Vancouver. Their own two-match mini-series against the Rock begins on Wednesday with a chance to finish with an even record despite missing out on title contention for the first time since 2011.
SCORING
WOLF PACK 22
Tries – B. Baker (31’), M Samson (73’), C. Pocock (77’)
Cons – C. Pocock 1/1 (32’), R. Povey 1/2 (74’)
Pens – C. Pocock 1/2 (25’)
BLUES 45
Tries – D. Moor (11’), K. Lloyd 4 (29’, 34’, 38’, 69’), A. Ferguson (59’), S. Windsor (65’)
Cons – A. Ferguson 5/7 (12’, 30’, 35’, 39’, 70′)
Pens – A. Ferguson 0/1
Yellow cards – L. Rumball (24’)
TEAMS
PRAIRIE WOLF PACK
1 Hubert Buydens (17 Peter Houlihan 63’), 2 Robert Blunden (16 Casey Reed 55’), 3 Ryan Kotlewski (18 Nick McAuley 71’), 4 Riley Fahlman, 5 Conor Turner, 6 Lucas Albornoz (20 Wayde Hodgen 71’), 7 Kyle Gilmour (capt.), 8 Jeremy Kyne (19 Kyle Morrison 63’), 9 Jake Robinson (21 Mark Discombe 74’), 10 Gradyn Bowd (22 Robbie Povey 65’), 11 Conor Desmond, 12 Adam Bontus, 13 Mozac Samson, 14 Brandon Baker (23 Nick Blevins HT), 15 Carl Pocock
ONTARIO BLUES
1 Rob Brouwer (capt.) (17 Pat Lynott 61’), 2 Eric Howard (16 AJ Quattrin 61’), 3 Tom Dolezel (18 Ryan Surgenor 57’), 4 Hank McQueen (19 Paul Ciulini 57’), 5 Mike Sheppard, 6 Lucas Rumball, 7 Peter Milazzo, 8 Andrew Wilson (20 Marcello Wainwright 52’), 9 Andrew Ferguson (21 Mario van der Westhuizen 71’), 10 Shawn Windsor, 11 Kainoa Lloyd, 12 Josh Campbell (22 Mitch Richardson 52’), 13 Andrew Coe (23 Johnny Sheridan 61’), 14 Dan Moor, 15 Rory McDonell
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Chris Assmus
Assistants: Mike Jones & David Crisp
