Americas Rugby News Rugby news from across the Americas!
The Atlantic Rock rolled over the Prairie Wolf Pack by a score of 31-14 in their Canadian Rugby Championship Semi Final showdown on Thursday evening in Calgary. A dominant performance from the Rock forwards set the platform with the scrum in a particularly disruptive mood.
Concerns over air quality due to smoke drifting from wildfires in BC led to the kickoff time being moved two hours earlier. What affect the disruption had on the match was unclear, but Jordan Wilson-Ross showed no ill-effects when he crashed through some soft defense en route to the opening score.
Cooper Coats had a strong day from the tee, kicking four penalties and two conversions. His first penalty gave the Rock a 10-point lead, his second was a rapid response to the Wolf Pack’s first try. Grant Crowell peeled off a rolling maul and fended two defenders to find the corner. Robbie Povey’s extras were on target to make it a full seven.
After the Coats interjection there would be one more score for the home side before the break. Gordon McRorie caught the Rock backline unawares with a quick tap and Jordan Roberts went through the gap for a try. Povey’s conversion gave the Wolf Pack a one-point lead at halftime.
There would be few moments to celebrate for the Prairie side in the second half. Coats landed his third penalty and the Rock scrum continued to turn the screw with Alex Forrest and Cole Keith in complete control of their opposites.
Moe Abdelmonem had replaced Matt Murphy just two minutes into the game after the latter was injured on the opening kickoff. The tearaway flanker snuffed out an attack on his own goal line with a turnover at the breakdown, then stepped and fended the defense from a lineout to race almost 50 metres clear. A brilliant back-door pop pass sent Lucas Hotton to within a metre and it was Abdelmonem who appropriately got the finish, showing his strength to spin through the tackle and over the line.
Perhaps in respect to the air and with another job to do on Sunday, both Abdelmonem and the impressive Kyle Baillie were taken off early in the second half. The Rock didn’t skip a beat. Hotton went straight through the middle of two Wolf Pack defenders to score under the sticks and the home team looked completely deflated. A last-minute penalty from Coats was the icing on the cake.
The Rock will now play in their first CRC final since 2011, with a shot at their first title since the year previous. For the Wolf Pack it’s another disappointing result on home soil and a consolation match with only pride left to play for.
SCORING
ROCK 31
Tries – J. Wilson-Ross (5′), M. Abdelmonem (49′), L. Hotton (68′)
Cons – C. Coats 2/3 (6′, 69′)
Pens – C. Coats 4/5 (12′, 29′, 42′, 79′)
WOLF PACK 14
Tries – G. Crowell (26′), J. Roberts (36′)
Cons – R. Povey 2/2 (27′, 37′)
Pens – R. Povey 0/1
TEAMS
ATLANTIC ROCK
1 Alex Forrest (18 Frank Walsh 51′), 2 Martial Lagain (capt.) (16 Owen Parfrey 61′), 3 Cole Keith (17 Jordon Power 61′), 4 Liam Carter, 5 Brad Lester, 6 Kyle Baillie (19 Lucas Hotton 44′), 7 Matt Heaton, 8 Matt Murphy (21 Moe Abdelmonem 2′ {20 Zac Coughlan 52}), 9 Graham Barry (22 Tony Pomroy 73′), 10 Patrick Parfrey, 11 Paddy McNicholas (23 Maxime Perreault-Brière 73′), 12 Jordan Wilson-Ross, 13 Josh Campbell, 14 Aidan McMullan, 15 Cooper Coats
PRAIRIE WOLF PACK
1 Logan Jones (18 Marko Klimenko 55′), 2 Gabriel Kajdy (17 Jake Horton 71′), 3 Ryan Kotlewski, 4 Conor Turner, 5 Riley Fahlman (20 Joshua Pritchett 74′), 6 Kyle Morrison (16 Wayde Hodgen 69′), 7 Jordan Roberts, 8 Grant Crowell (19 Josh Schlebach 76′), 9 Gordon McRorie, 10 Robbie Povey (21 Brock Gallagher 76′), 11 Cole Davis, 12 Gradyn Bowd (22 Dalton Campbell 55′), 13 Ben LeSage (capt.), 14 Mozac Samson, 15 Cam Hall
Not used: 23 James Buchanan
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: David Smortchevsky (RC)
Assistants: Cole Pedrick (RC) & Kristina Wolfe (RC)
