Arrows thrash Mystics in Toronto Debut

The Ontario Arrows cruised through their long-awaited debut at York Alumni Stadium on Saturday, thrashing the visiting Boston Mystics by a final score of 77-8. More than 1,600 in attendance saw the Arrows run in 12 tries on a windy day in Toronto, with Canadian international Kainoa Lloyd leading the way on four tries and captain Mike Sheppard adding a hat-trick.

Boston were left wondering what him them as the Arrows broke through almost at will. As was the case at Pine Banks Park the scrum set the platform, completely dominating at every set piece. This time virtually every scoring opportunity was capitalised on and the defense nearly shut the Mystics out completely.

Lloyd’s first came just four minutes in and for a short time it seemed as though the match might be competitive. Santiago Bertranou landed a penalty to make it 5-3 but that’s where any sign of parity ended. By halftime Lloyd was in for a second and Sheppard as well with Kolby Francis adding a single to make the score 34-3. Will Kelly contributed three conversions and a penalty in the tricky conditions.

The swirling wind threw off Kelly’s radar from the tee somewhat in the second half, though he still managed four successful conversions from challenging angles. On the running front the Arrows were rampant, adding sevens tries as Sheppard got his third followed by singles from Francis and Jon West. Lloyd got two more and replacement Andrew Wilson grabbed a pair of his own before the final whistle.

A lone Mystics try went to hard-running winger Stephen Dazzo, who along with Bertranou has been their most impressive player during their four-game exhibition series against the Arrows and Rugby United New York. Matias de Paolis somehow sliced a drop-kick conversion attempt that would have at least earned a double-digit score for Boston.

The Arrows still have a New York fixture to re-book but in the meantime have secured home-and-away fixtures against a Canadian domestic XV, the first in Toronto on Friday, May 18, and the second the following Saturday in Langford. A number of players will have the chance to impress the national selectors in what are effectively trial matches for the upcoming June tests.

 

SCORING

ARROWS 77
Tries – K. Lloyd 4 (4’, 21’, 60’, 68’), M. Sheppard 3 (16’, 40’, 43’), K. Francis 2 (33’, 46’), J. West (54’), A. Wilson 2 (65’, 79’)
Cons – W. Kelly 7/12 (17’, 34’, 40’, 44’, 47’, 55’, 61’)
Pens – W. Kelly 1/1 (20’)

MYSTICS 8
Tries – S. Dazzo (74’)
Cons – M. de Paolis 0/1
Pens – S. Bertranou 1/1 (10’)
Yellow cards – C. Frazier (79’)

 

TEAMS

ONTARIO ARROWS
1 Rob Brouwer, 2 Jack McRogers, 3 Tom Dolezel, 4 Mike Sheppard (capt.), 5 Paul Ciulini, 6 Marcello Wainwright, 7 Peter Milazzo, 8 Kolby Francis, 9 Andrew Ferguson, 10 Will Kelly, 11 Johnny Sheridan, 12 Mitch Richardson, 13 Jon West, 14 Kainoa Lloyd, 15 Shawn Windsor

Replacements: 16 Cam Sandison, 17 Pat Lynott, 18 Mike Smith, 19 Josh van Horne, 20 Andrew Wilson, 21 Alex Gliksten, 22 Kyle Lagasca, 23 Cooper Coats

BOSTON MYSTICS
1 Greg Rasmuson, 2 Jeff Laflamme, 3 Dave McKenna, 4 Owen Hundt, 5 Andrew Burns, 6 Chris Frazier, 7 Devin Ibanez, 8 Jon Kokinda (capt.), 9 Ian Luciano, 10 Santiago Bertranou, 11 Stephen Dazzo, 12 Matias de Paolis, 13 Mike Rudzinsky, 14 Vini Daley, 15 Jared Collinson

Replacements: 16 Gianni Miceli, 17 Pino Maupese, 18 Scott Lucas, 19 Michael Kaivelata, 20 Cody Davidowicz, 21 Erik Thompson, 22 Jon Feldman, 23 Adnan Kawuma

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Michael Jones (RC)
Assistants: Moe Chaudhry (RC) & Dale Hall (RC)

 

Attendance: 1,604