PAC NATIONS CUP OPENER

After watching Australia’s Wallabies nip RSA’s Springboks as a curtain-raiser, it was certainly anti-climactic, sticking out the Japan/Canada match, won by Japan, 20 – 6 with a lone try. It was a frustrating game for Canadian players; the ref (who was short of his “A” game); one assistant ref even awarded a Japan throw when the ball had gone dead from a Japan player; and the fans, (akin to watching paint dry).  The Eddie Jones’ coached “Brave Blossoms” were deserved winners, with a solid line of defence and superior kicking game, getting the territorial edge.  Canada managed to shoot themselves in the foot with umpteen penalties, not always accurate in this observer’s opinion but ne-er the less, sufficient for fifteen points.

Not to get into the game and bore readers further, I will just make a few personal observations.  Canada made enough breaks to have scored at least one try only to be thwarted with dropped passes, mostly from inaccurate transfers, even to the opposition in a couple of cases.  Momentum was lost with insufficient numbers to win or retain the break-down ball and strangely enough and missed tackles caused headaches, not a normal feature of our play.  In the late going, there was lots of effort for no return with no one being the real fire-power needed, it was unfortunate that more ball could not have found Hassler’s hands, to his credit, he did go searching for links.

For me, Barkwill and Buydens were untarnished and Woolridge mostly did his work, although there were some issues on that side.  Apart from Ardron and some late flashes from Thorpe, there was little visibility from the locks and loosies and certainly no mongrel required at this level.  Mc Rorie at #9 did his job, although with Mack’s late infusion, things looked a little livelier.  A bulked up Braid looked good but not sure where his best fit might be, he did unfortunately undo a couple of valuable breaks with errors. DTH tried hard with limited chances and my MoM for Canada was Hassler.  He looked for work and had he received ball with half more of a chance, I suspect he would have finished well. So game #1 is in the books and it is Tonga at Swanguard next Saturday.  The task does not get any easier.

Other results saw Fiji defeat Tonga, 30 – 22 and Samoa survive a second half resurgence from the Eagles to hold on 21 – 16.  Results, according to Hoyle and current rankings. We kept hearing on the down-stream how good Canada had looked during the week in their build up.  Next week, they better bring that to the pitch or the slippery slope will continue. It’s easy to be a pundit however, I do support our boys and try to will them to better things each time out – go, Canada!

CLUB POSTSCRIPT: Congratulations to U16 player, Jim Newman, who was selected for B.C. U16 Vs U.S.A. Eagle Impact Academy during the week.  Unfortunately, the boys were on the wrong end of a big stick in both games (0 – 34 and 6 – 54)!  Their opposition was a National U16 team who brought skill, decision-making and teamwork to the pitch.  The difference certainly should be a motivator for our boys to work towards a higher bar.  Good effort, ne’er the less.

B.C. U19’s: UVic (former, CW) Joe Nyren takes to the pitch today with B.C. U19’s in their CRC Finals match against Ontario.  CW wishes the B.C. boys all the best.

CW Women: 

CW Women played in the SFU 7s final vs Seattle and lost a hard fought match.  They had played them close in the pool play only losing 19-22.    Big thanks to the Lomas girls that helped out the team and for our new CW Female coach, Jess Dovanne, for driving from her U16 Provincial camp to join the team !  Again big thanks to Natasha for all of her work in organizing the team and Brittany coaching (and playing) leadership on and off the field.