Blues outlast Rock in Burlington

The Ontario Blues got the result they needed as they defeated the Quebec-Ontario Rock 22-9 in a dour match at Sherwood Forest Park on Tuesday evening. Extreme humidity and only two days rest between the first game in Montreal and the second severely made for difficult conditions with both sides struggling to achieve continuity.

An early try for Kolby Francis seemed to be a good sign for the Blues but despite constant pressure in the opening quarter they could not get across the line. Instead a breakdown penalty won by Moe Abdelmonem gave Cooper Coats a shot at goal with the Nova Scotian flyhalf having no trouble from 40 metres. Coats would add one more from a similar range to make the halftime different just one point.

The Blues still required 11 points on aggregate to claim top seed ahead of the Canadian Rugby Championship finals and finally caught a break when Mitch Richardson split the defensively line. Shawn Windsor was hot on his heels to take the return pass and race in under the posts for a seven-pointer.

Sustained pressure on the Rock’s line finally yielded another try. Replacement prop Mike Smith barged through a tackle attempt and when he finally went to deck Marcello Wainwright was on hand to carry over the line. Windsor’s conversion attempt sailed wide, however, leaving the door open for the Rock.

The celebrations were nearly spoiled with Coats landing his third penalty shortly after, but with just a minute left in the match Windsor would connect with his own three-pointer to make the aggregate score 44-43 to the Blues. With the one-point advantage Ontario take the spot seed spot in the East division.

Both sides will now prepare for their Semi Final matches that take place on August 23 in Calgary. The Blues will face the Wolf Pack with the Rock taking on the defending MacTier Cup champion BC Bears.

[EDIT: There appears to be some confusion about the tie-breaker. Tournament rules appear to indicate that it is bonus points, not aggregate score, that determines seeding. If that is the case the Rock would play the Wolf Pack in the Semi Final. ARN is waiting for confirmation from Rugby Canada.]

 

SCORING

BLUES 22
Tries – K. Francis (3’), S. Windsor (52’), M. Wainwright (72’)
Cons – S. Windsor 2/3 (4’, 53’)
Pens – S. Windsor 1/1 (79’)

ROCK 9
Pens – C. Coats 3/3 (17’, 29’, 76’)

 

TEAMS

ONTARIO BLUES
1 Rob Brouwer (capt.), 2 AJ Quattrin (16 Jack McRogers 69’), 3 Tom Dolezel (18 Mike Smith 62’), 4 Tom van Horne, 5 Ben Jones (19 Matt Fish 77’), 6 Peter Milazzo, 7 Marcello Wainwright, 8 Kolby Francis (20 Andrew Wilson 58’), 9 Riley DiNardo (21 Graham Dobbs 70’), 10 Shawn Windsor, 11 Josiah Morra, 12 Jamie Leveridge (22 Kyle Lagasca 62’), 13 Mitch Richardson, 14 D’Shawn Bowen, 15 Nathan Boeyenga (23 Jesse Lofthouse 52’)

Not used: 17 Emerson Prior

QUEBEC-ATLANTIC ROCK
1 Frank Walsh (18 Alex Forrest 47’), 2 Martial Lagain (capt.) (16 Owen Parfrey 55’), 3 Jordon Power (17 Keelan Chapman 47’), 4 Toni Wodzicki, 5 Brad Lester, 6 Liam Carter, 7 Moe Abdelmonem (19 Mark O’Reilly 68’), 8 Matt Murphy (20 Lucas Hotton HT), 9 Jamie Mackenzie (21 Graham Barry 71’), 10 Cooper Coats, 11 Tony Pomroy, 12 Jordan Wilson-Ross, 13 Josh Campbell, 14 Maxime Perreault-Brière, 15 Paddy McNicholas

Not used: 22 Federico Cisneros, 23 Colin Alexander

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Michael Jones (RC)
Assistants: Dale Hall (RC) & Peter Pender (RC)