Rock stun Blues in Montreal

The Quebec-Atlantic Rock stunned the Ontario Blues by 34-22 in their first round match of the Canadian Rugby Championship in Montreal on Saturday evening. A back-and-forth first half saw the Rock take a 24-22 lead into the break and they never looked back with the Blues failing to find the score sheet at all in a very forgettable second half display.

It was like clockwork from the start as the two teams began their exchanges. Jamie Leveridge broke free to find Andrew Ferguson in close support for the first try. The Rock responded from the restart as Cole Keith found himself free and the prop sprinted 30 metres untouched for a score.

Cooper Coats landed the conversion and added a penalty to give the Rock their first lead, but Ferguson fired back with a penalty of his own to draw it level. Mike Sheppard powered over from close range to restore Ontario’s advantage but it, too, was countered immediately from the restart as Tony Pomroy raced free down the right sideline for the tying score.

Ferguson caught the Rock unawares at a quick tap with his cross kick finding Kainoa Lloyd, the winger stepping the last defender for the try. The Rock would have the final say of the half, however, as Liam Carter was driven over at the lineout.

The second half started well for the Rock with their scrum driving the Blues backwards and Matt Murphy diving over for the easiest of finishes. Coats added the extras and the Blues were suddenly down two scores with no momentum to speak of.

Their woes continued to full-time. Inaccurate set piece, knock-ons, and repeated problems under the high ball cost them dearly. D’Shawn Bowen was sent to the sidelines for a high shot in the final minutes and Coats landed his sixth successful kick of the night on full-time.

Ontario will need to regroup in double-quick fashion with the return match in Burlington on Tuesday evening. The Rock take a 12-point lead with the aggregate score from the two determining seeding for the CRC Finals in Calgary later this month.

 

SCORING

ROCK 34
Tries – C. Keith (10’), T. Pomroy (32’), L. Carter (40’), M. Murphy (45’)
Cons – C. Coats 4/4 (11’, 33’, 40’, 46’)
Pens – C. Coats 2/3 (13’, 80’)

BLUES 22
Tries – A. Ferguson (8’), M. Sheppard (29’), K. Lloyd (36’)
Cons – A. Ferguson 2/2 (9’, 30’)
Pens – A. Ferguson 1/1 (21’)
Yellow cards – D. Bowen (76’)

 

TEAMS

QUEBEC-ATLANTIC ROCK
1 Frank Walsh (16 Alex Forrest 52’), 2 Martial Lagain (capt.) (18 Jordon Power 60’), 3 Cole Keith (17 Keelan Chapman 60’), 4 Lucas Hotton (20 Zac Coughlan 60’), 5 Liam Carter, 6 Moe Abdelmonem (19 Toni Wodzicki 46’), 7 Matt Heaton, 8 Matt Murphy, 9 Jamie Mackenzie (21 Graham Barry 48’), 10 Patrick Parfrey (22 Federico Cisneros 62’), 11 Tony Pomroy, 12 Jordan Wilson-Ross (23 Maxime Perreault-Brière 78’), 13 Josh Campbell, 14 Aidan McMullan, 15 Cooper Coats

ONTARIO BLUES
1 Djustice Sears-Duru (17 Emerson Prior 62’), 2 AJ Quattrin (16 Eric Howard HT), 3 Rob Brouwer (capt.), 4 Paul Ciulini, 5 Mike Sheppard (19 Tom van Horne 71’), 6 Peter Milazzo, 7 Lucas Rumball, 8 Kolby Francis (20 Marcello Wainwright 52’), 9 Andrew Ferguson (21 Riley DiNardo 71’), 10 Shawn Windsor, 11 Kyle Lagasca (23 D’Shawn Bowen 52’), 12 Jamie Leveridge, 13 Mitch Richardson, 14 Kainoa Lloyd, 15 Jesse Lofthouse (22 Nathan Boeyenga 65’)

Not used: 18 Mo Yusuf

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Moe Chaudhry (RC)
Assistants: Chris Micheletti (RC) & James Acker (RC)