CRC Preview – BC Bears vs Ontario Blues

The Semi Finals of the Senior Men’s Canadian Rugby Championship begin on Thursday with the two provincial outfits as the defending MacTier Cup champion BC Bears take on the Ontario Blues. Each side enter the match with a 1-1 record. It was the blues who came up short in a 30-29 Final last year.

Both outfits will have a number of players back from Canada duty in France. Also notable is the addition of three members of the Canada Sevens team who have been cleared to play in the wake of Rugby Canada’s recent decision to restore selection priority to the Men’s XVs program.

Isaac Kaay has been named on the left wing despite being used largely as a forward with UVic and on the Sevens circuit. Another of Damian McGrath’s squad, Jared Douglas, will man the right wing. Theo Sauder misses out with a thigh injury so Guiseppe du Toit stands in at flyhalf with Mike Nieuwenhuysen running out at his preferred inside centre spot.

There is one notable change in the forwards with English second row Mike Finnemore called up and Travis Larsen named on the bench. Ollie Nott is also among the reserves, where Arrows fullback Aaron McLelland has been added. Josh Thiel covers the midfield.

The Blues are a much-changed side with five players back from Canada duty. Rob Brouwer switches to tighthead prop with Djustice Sear-Duru back at loosehead. Eric Howard returns but has to settle for a spot on the bench with AJ Quattrin preferred at hooker. Kolby Francis moves up to lock to partner Paul Ciulini and Lucas Rumball runs out at No8.

Andrew Ferguson is back at scrumhalf and three players will make their first Blues appearances of the season. Johnny Sheridan is on the wing and Canada Sevens duo Andrew Coe and Lucas Hammond will start at outside centre and fullback respectively.

Quebec native Roman Cao-Riquelme is set to make his Blues debut as a reserve loosehead and Doug Wooldridge returns from the representative wilderness to cover tighthead. There is no sign of Mike Sheppard in the squad but there are two lock reserves in Josh van Horne and Ben Jones, with English-born flyhalf Kieron Martin called up from the Arrows academy.

With little preparation time and relatively even performances in the build-up it’s difficult to predict a result. The Bears will look to exploit their impressive backs division while the Blues look the more muscular of the two in the forwards. Expect a close battle with the winner to emerge as favorites for the Final on Sunday.

Kickoff is set for 5pm local, 7pm Eastern. A live stream can be found on Rugby Canada’s Facebook page.

BC BEARS
1 Noah Barker, 2 Steven Ng, 3 Liam Murray, 4 Shea Wakefield, 5 Mike Finnemore, 6 Dustin Dobravsky, 7 Nathan Stewart, 8 Luke Campbell (capt.), 9 James Pitblado, 10 Guiseppe du Toit, 11 Isaac Kaay, 12 Mike Nieuwenhuysen, 13 Doug Fraser, 14 Jared Douglas, 15 Sean Ferguson

Replacements: 16 Blake van Heyningen, 17 John Braddock, 18 Nik Hildebrand, 19 Travis Larsen, 20 Ollie Nott, 21 Jorden Sandover-Best, 22 Josh Thiel, 23 Aaron McLelland

ONTARIO BLUES
1 Djustice Sears-Duru, 2 AJ Quattrin, 3 Rob Brouwer (capt.), 4 Paul Ciulini, 5 Kolby Francis, 6 Peter Milazzo, 7 Marcello Wainwright, 8 Lucas Rumball, 9 Andrew Ferguson, 10 Shawn Windsor, 11 Johnny Sheridan, 12 Jamie Leveridge, 13 Andrew Coe, 14 Kainoa Lloyd, 15 Lucas Hammond

Replacements: 16 Eric Howard, 17 Roman Cao-Riquelme, 18 Doug Wooldridge, 19 Josh van Horne, 20 Ben Jones, 21 Riley DiNardo, 22 Mitch Richardson, 23 Kieron Martin

Date: Thursday, August 23
Venue: Calgary Rugby Park
Kickoff: 17:00 local (16:00 Pacific, 19:00 Eastern)
Broadcasts: Facebook