Game Summaries

First Division: Canucks 36 – Saints 24

A blazing start to the match saw the firsts up by two tries in the opening 10 minutes and left the Saints wondering what hit them. Pressing the advantage home the firsts went on to score twice more on the back of dominant scrimmaging, an excellent kicking game by fly-half Scott Wilson and the ability to punish the Saints for their errors. 

The big surprise of the half was the attacking ability by the firsts when given opportunities in broken play, out wide and through the middle. The forwards set a platform, meanwhile, with strong running by the likes of Heath Spence and Robbie Labine and a mauling drive the Saints were unable to stop.

Fortunately the 31-7 half time lead proved to be enough this time as the Saints staged a comeback after several changes were made in the second half. The firsts’ discipline let them down after arguably its best 40 minutes of the year and the Saints gained excellent field position from penalties and dropped balls with the wind at their back and exploited the Canucks out wide on kick returns. 

While the performance in the final 40 was far from perfect and several chances to extend the lead went bad, the firsts refused to let the match slip from their grasp and gave the Saints plenty to think about as they continued to demolish their scrums and make huge gains through the driving maul. Labine put the icing on the cake with his side’s only five-pointer of the half and Wilson’s boot extended the gap.

Players’ Player : Robbie Labine

3 Killer, 2 Wilson, 1 Hand

Second Division: Canucks 26 – Medicine Hat 14

The game started with a quick try by the Canucks. This set the pace of the match and let Medicine Hat know the Canucks were there to play. The backs were virtually impenetrable in defence and hard-nosed on attack against a talented opposition. Across the park Med Hat was halted on numerous occasions with goal line stands that didn't result in points by a committed defence that then allowed Roger’s excellent kicking game get the seconds out of their own zone.

Physically the Nucks displayed their dominance early and never let Med Hat get back in the game, despite the Ogres efforts in the start of the second half. A number of well timed substitutions helped make an impact in the final half of play. Collectively, the Canucks performed well as a team resulting in a 26-14 win over Med Hat.

Players’ player: Roger

3 Roger, 2 Aaron Peace 1 Jordy

July 11th, 2008

Third division: Canucks 70 d Saracens 0

Despite this game being smack-dab in the middle of the Stampede, the thirds once again enjoyed our usual exuberant turnout. The Saracens, on the other hand, started the game with 14. We were ale to exploit this weakness and began scoring at will right off the bat and the ref called the game at the 70th minute after we had scored 12 unanswered tries.

This game could have deteriorated into a slugfest, but both teams understood what was going on and it was just an all-round fun game to be apart of.

Things to work on: Despite the scoreboard we need to work on our rucking and discipline. At times, our rucking was disorganized and a stronger team would have stolen a lot of ball from us. We need to work on blowing over the ball and providing the cleanest platform for our scrum-half.

We are taking too many penalties around the ruck for playing the ball and not rolling away from the tackle. If we had support at the ruck sooner, we could have stolen a lot more ball. 

The next game we have scheduled for the thirds is against the Rams. With the Rams dropping out of firsts, this will be our biggest test of the season.

Players’ Player Rockhead

3 Brendan, 2 Rockhead, 1 Shane Tevelin

June 14, 2008

2nd Division: Canucks 13 d Saints 5

During the first half of play the seconds  played almost the entire time in the Saints' end. There were many chances to score in the first half, but we were unable to pound the ball across the line. Continuing pressure finally ended as Nour scored our first try (and his first try as a Canuck) in the final seconds of the first half.  For the most part, the Canucks kept the ball tight and played a similar style to last week's wet and rainy style of play.

The start of the second half was shaky as the Saints came out with more determination than they had in the start of the game. After about 10 min of back and forth play, the Canucks again took position in the Saints end - poised to score on multiple occasions.  An on-field adjustment was made to stop playing a forward's style game and give the backs a run.  It paid off as the Canuck backs worked the field, with a notable performance by Roger at stand-off. 

As the forwards concentrated on getting good ball to the backs the scrums became an area of domination with the Saints' pack being driven backwards down the field. A blocked Saints kick in the end zone led to a try by Roger.  The Saints put up a fight in the last minutes but were not allowed back in the game.  A true "character" win.

3 Api
2 Roger
1 Dave Byrnes

June 7, 2008

The seconds played quite well against a decent Lethbridge side. With the younger grades, we like to have veterans holding onto leadership positions like 2, 8, 9, 10, and 15, however with the 2s we had a couple of younger guys in those roles with outstanding performances. Congratulations to Conor Hart who deservedly won player’s player, and also to the 3-2-1 winners Bob, Conor, and Tevy. I should also mention I thought Travis Homan played an outstanding game in a tough leadership position in brutal conditions. 

Players' player: Connor Hart
3 Bob
2 Connor Hart
1 Tevy

3rd Division: Canucks Lots d Hornets Nil

Kato managed to arrange an exhibition against the Hornets 3rd div b side when Lethbridge dropped out of our scheduled game. This was a good chance for the 3rds to work on some of the shortcomings we had recognized in previous games.

It was rainy and cold so we started off keeping the ball in tight with the forwards and it would have been a runaway save for the efforts of a couple Canucks we had lent to the deficient Hornets side. We did manage a few forwards tries early in the first half, but when Tevy came on we switched to a more dynamic game and were able to open the game up for the backs as well.

The second half was even better for the Canucks, with tries coming from both forwards and backs. The Hornets never really got into the game and we kept them away from the try line. This is two games in a row where we did not let up once we had the lead. Let’s take that winning attitude and build on it for the rest of the season.

Things to work on: Even though Brendan managed to supply great ball to the backs, he had to do a lot of digging and scrambling to get it there. If we were playing a stronger opponent they would have stolen a lot of our ball. We need to execute better around the rucks, cleaning their players out and leaving the ball accessible for the scrum-half. Also, our defensive structure out wide was lacking. Our backs were getting sucked into the rucks and we were not replacing them with forwards. Remember that once the set play is over, there are no numbers on the back of your jersey.

Players’ Player Brendan MacCathry

3 Brendan (Scrum- half)
2 Brendan (Wing)
1 Shane Tevlin

May 31, 2008

1st Division: Saracens 17 d Canucks 5

Despite success in a number of areas in the game, the canucks failed to score more points than the opposition, and lost 17- 7 to the Saracens. JT put in a nice individual try to keep the score tied up at 7s early in the game, and the rest of the squad managed to keep the score even for most of the game. The Saracens potted another converted try and a penalty to stretch the lead out of reach in dying minutes of the game. The loss can be chalked up mostly to poor ball retention and discipline in the tackle area.

- Faa King, Coach

Another great showing by the thirds. We had 30 players ready to go before the whistle with everyone excited about the whooping we were about to lay on the Irish. We had a late start waiting for the ref but we were able to stay on the boil with a few wise words from Duke. 

Once the game started the young boys took off after the ball winning many turnover balls and running well all over the field. Players’ Player turned out to be Matt Knudsen, earned by constant appearances carrying the ball off the rucks and kickoffs. We were well ahead at the half and managed to keep up the momentum with a scoring drive off the kickoff. 

The only time the Irish had a sniff of success was when we suffered a questionable “Dangerous Tackle” call and were then marched back to our five where the Irish were able to take a quick tap and score.

Memorable moments: Brendan’s end to end try. Wenchie finally scoring after multiple “held up” and “second motion” calls by the ref. Spiro scoring off the lineout maul. Second Half scoring drive off the kick off.

Things to work on: We need to keep our mouths shut. The ref is not going to change his mind, ever! We should be channeling this frustration and taking it out on the other team with hard tackles and decisive scoring drives. Also, our communication could have been better. We need key players to step up and take control of the flow of the game.

This game was great fun and a good chance for the youngsters to play with some of the Canuck Veterans.

Players’ Player Matt Knudsen
3 Matt Knudsen
2 Wenchie
1 Brendan

May 24, 2008

1st Division: Canucks 15 d Saint Albert 14

The canucks took the long, and this time circuitous, route to Edmonton and enjoyed the film "Gladiator" on the trip up. Suprisingly, the historically weak Saint Albert Team turned out not only to be a well conditioned and coached team, but they also had Juba, the Black Numidian hunter and fellow gladiator to Maximus Desimus Meridius, playing #8 for them. He proved to be as good a runner as he was a fighter, however, the canucks were equal to the task.

The game was fairly evenly matched but SA defintely looked to be the better team with many scoring chances lost to outstanding feats of athleticism by Jason Brown and David Byrnes by the try-line.

Late in the game with only 3-4 minutes remaining and the canucks down 14 - 8, Dave Thom asked for the ball from David Danchuk and went barelling through 30m of SA players to touch the ball down under the posts. Pablo's first ever conversion attempt proved successful and won the game for the Canucks in front of a sizeable stunned home crowd.

3-2-1 chosen by Ryan Baxter: Kyle MacDougal, Aaron Pytka, Squashed Frog
Player's Player: Kyle MacDougal

In interviews afterwards, Juba stated that his time would come soon. But "not yet...not yet."

-Faa King - Coach 

Date: May 10, 2008. 

2nd Division: Canucks 41 d Lethbridge 0

Game Summary
The seconds dominated  play right off the bat with quick tries from David Calonego and Connor Young. Lethbridge, as usual, turned out to be chippy, but were quickly sorted out by veterans Rob Scott, Jordan Martens, and Api Nadredre. Bula-bula Api. 
Bryce Jamieson penetrated the defence on a number of occasions and set up many of his team mates nicely. At key times the seconds took their foot off the gas but somehow managed to regain their composure and stave off the opposition time and time again.
The most inspiring plays of the day however came from youngsters Steve Sawa and Derek Costeloe who both showed poise and composure against some impressive opposition play.
Lastly, an honourable mention should go to Dave Thom, whose 40 m try (probably 85 m try if you ask Dave Thom) sealed the deal and was reminiscent of his days of a centre, before he started swallowing cows whole in preparation for a life in the front row.

Man of the Match: A well deserved man-of-the-match went to Rob Scott who repeatedly put the opposition on their heels with bashing runs and crushing tackles.

3rd Division: Canucks 25 d Lethbridge 0
Game Sunmary
Warren Edinga led a thirds team with a good mix of youthful exuberance and experience. The combination proved to be deadly as the Canucks pulled out to a first half 25 - 0 lead.
The second half proved to be more of a challenge, and a complacent thirds side conceded 19 straight points, but held off late in the game for a well deserved victory. Notable mention to young bucks Travis Holman, Shane "Moonshine" Haladuik, Rob White, Tommy Jean and Adam Lewis who showed why they've been called up to the men's side. Also of note, was the impressive scrummaging performance of Tiann Van Rooyen and David Thom in the front row.
(Lethbridge forfeited the points before the match and the Canucks loaned two players to the opposition).
    
Man of the Match: A well deserved man of the match went to Connor Hart who, still wet behind the ears, played like a veteran by controlling the opposition nicely and continually stirring up trouble all over the field.

Date: Saturday, May 3, 2008

1st Division
Hornets 27 d Canucks 15
Tries: Roger Duurtsema, Paul Spoering Conversions: 0 Penalities: Paul Spoering

2nd Division
No match

3rd Division
Canucks 25 d Hornets 0