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In a rematch that’s been a long time coming, the Ontario Blues and BC Bears will meet in a Canadian Rugby Championship final on Saturday for the first time since the competition began in 2009. It was the Bears who lifted the MacTier Cup on that day, but have yet to finish even as runners-up since. The Blues, meanwhile, are in search of back-to-back titles and their sixth in seven years.
Ontario will also be keen to correct Wednesday’s result, which saw the Bears claiming victory over the Blues for the first time since 2012 in a bizarre that finished 34-31 in BC’s favor. The Bears had run up a 31-0 score at the break in a game heavily populated by reserve players but the second half was all Ontario, with Kainoa Lloyd’s try-scoring pass to Andrew Coe just drifting forward to put the breaks on a what might have been a sensational comeback.
The top dogs will run out from the start this time as the Blues have reverted to almost an identical lineup to the one that blitzed the Wolf Pack last Sunday. Alterations see Mitch Richardson start in the midfield with Coe unavailable, and Marcello Wainwright rewarded for his standout performance on Wednesday with a spot on the flank. Lucas Rumball switches to No 8 to accommodate.
An injury to Ryan Surgenor means that loose forward Andrew Wilson could be pressed into emergency front row duty from the bench. Kyle Lagasca fills the vacancy left by Richardson’s promotion and Seb Pearson continues his return from long-term injury as an impact sub.
Injuries and form have contributed to British Columbia’s selection, which sees the majority of the side that defeated the Rock on Sunday back into the fold with a few notable exceptions. Noah Barker is handed the start at tighthead prop in place of Neil Courtney, and the lineout presence of Craig McLaughlin gets the nod over Cam Polson at lock. Travis Larsen and Kevin Leask are retained after playing well on Wednesday with Larsen shifting to the blindside and Dustin Dobravsky recalled at No 8.
The backline has suffered a blow with star fullback Aaron McLelland absent but will have a handy replacement in Canada ‘A’ and 7s representative Sean Ferguson. Alberta native Reid Watkins, an injury call-up during the week, swaps to the bench with powerful Fijian wing Kimi Vunituraga handed his first start of the competition. Harjun Gill returns in the No 10 shirt after being given the day off on Wednesday.
It’s been a long week for the players but big games like these don’t come around often and no excuses will be made when the final whistle blows. With 13 fully capped internationals and numerous age-grade and ‘A’ reps taking part the national selectors will be out in force to watch the grand finale of Canada’s premier senior men’s competition.
Kickoff at Calgary Rugby Park is set for 7pm local time, 6pm Pacific, 9pm Eastern. A live stream will be available on Rugby Canada’s Facebook page and on Spalk.
BC BEARS
1 Anthony Luca (capt.), 2 Andrew Lackner, 3 Noah Barker, 4 Craig McLaughlin, 5 Connor Weyell, 6 Travis Larsen, 7 Kevin Leask, 8 Dustin Dobravsky, 9 Phil Mack, 10 Harjun Gill, 11 Karsten Leitner, 12 Guiseppe du Toit, 13 Mike Nieuwenhuysen, 14 Kimi Vunituraga, 15 Sean Ferguson
Replacements: 16 Paul Ahn, 17 Blake van Heyningen, 18 Neil Courtney, 19 Cam Polson, 20 Jordan Reid-Harvey, 21 Gavin Rowell, 22 Doug Fraser, 23 Reid Watkins
ONTARIO BLUES
1 Rob Brouwer (capt.), 2 Eric Howard, 3 Tom Dolezel, 4 Hank McQueen, 5 Mike Sheppard, 6 Marcello Wainwright, 7 Peter Milazzo, 8 Lucas Rumball, 9 Andrew Ferguson, 10 Shawn Windsor, 11 Dan Moor, 12 Mitch Richardson, 13 Josh Campbell, 14 Kainoa Lloyd, 15 Rory McDonell
Replacements: 16 Andrew Wilson, 17 Pat Lynott, 18 AJ Quattrin, 19 Paul Ciulini, 20 Seb Pearson, 21 Mario van der Westhuizen, 22 Kyle Lagasca, 23 Johnny Sheridan
Current standings, scoring leaders, and detailed roster lists can be seen here.
