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The 2016 Johnsonville Canadian Rugby Championship will go right down to the wire thanks to victories by the Blues and the Rock on Thursday evening. While the winner of the game in St. John’s will lay the first claim on the MacTier Cup, Ontario will have the final say with a bonus point victory at Fletcher’s Fields on Sunday afternoon enough to take the title outright.
To get the job done the Blues have enlisted a side that shows only minor tinkering from the decisive win over the Prairies. Lucas Rumball is ruled out after a bruising effort against the Pack with Marcello Wainwright taking his spot on the flank. In the backs Kainoa Lloyd’s impressive effort as a reserve has earned him a start at the expense of John Sheridan, with Jordan Wilson-Ross moving from wing to fullback. Canada u20 lighthouse Adrian Wadden is primed to make his CRC debut from the bench, taking the vacancy left by Wainwright’s promotion.
Gabriel Fulcher will be wondering what happened after his side struggled to impose themselves in their third loss of the season on Thursday. Three changes have been made in the forwards, with another two in the backs. Andrew Lackner replaces Alex Mascott at hooker, with the latter on the bench alongside Sam Clark, who makes way for international cap Liam Chisholm in the second row. Kevin Leask starts on the blindside in place of Brendan Kelliher having previously been used as a lock to start the season.
A change at scrumhalf sees Jorden Sandover-Best restored with Cody Rockson a reserve. Phil Mack continues on the wing, but there is a revised midfield with Doug Fraser recalled at inside centre and Cully Quirke left on the bench.
With home field advantage, momentum, and huge motivation this looks like Ontario’s match the lose. The question is whether they can conjure the four tries necessary to ensure their prize. Of course it may not be required pending the result from Newfoundland, but the Bears could well play spoilers and an upset win isn’t out of the realms of possibility. Look for fast, attacking rugby and an exciting end to the seeason.
The match kicks off at 3:30pm local time (12:30pm PT) and will be streamed live by Rogers TV.
ONTARIO BLUES
1 Rob Brouwer 2 Eric Howard 3 Tom Dolezel 4 Hank McQueen (capt.) 5 Mike Sheppard 6 Peter Milazzo 7 Marcello Wainwright 8 Andrew Wilson 9 Andrew Ferguson 10 Mitch Richardson 11 Kainoa Lloyd 12 Derek Daypuck 13 Dan West 14 Dan Moor 15 Jordan Wilson-Ross
16 Brendan Black 17 Doug Wooldridge 18 Ryan Surgenor 19 Adrian Wadden 20 Myles Dingwall 21 Josh Campbell 22 John Sheridan 23 Rich Lebel
BC BEARS
1 Anthony Luca (capt.) 2 Andrew Lackner 3 Cody McClary 4 Liam Chisholm 5 Craig McLaughlin 6 Kevin Leask 7 Josh Clarke 8 Admir Cejvanovic 9 Jorden Sandover-Best 10 Guiseppe du Toit 11 Manar Kulkhan 12 Doug Fraser 13 Brock Staller 14 Phil Mack 15 Gareth Marsden
16 Alex Mascott 17 Nik Hildebrand 18 Adrian Longbone 19 Sam Clark 20 Brendan Kelliher 21 Cody Rockson 22 Cully Quirke 23 Crosby Stewart
