NSMT
Sevens Summary
It's All Ever so Close! This was a gut-wrenching day for a Canadian side that played good sevens, gave of their best but were not rewarded. It started with a close, one try to loss to an English side that went on to finish in third place. England were edged, 5 – 0 by N.Z. in their semi and went...
Canada Men Qualify for Cup Action
Fuli, "out the back door"! Playing as complete a game as possible, in recent memory, Canada’s Men schooled their U.S. counterparts in the Glasgow opener, 40 – 0. Unfortunately, the euphoria overtook the matter at hand and their second outing against Argentina lacked a similar quality. However,...
Game Day
Gotta love Port Alberni Mayor, Mike Ruttan who has backed his Black Sheep with an offer to Seattle’s Mayor for today’s BCRU DIV 1 Semi-final – a cedar box of sockeye to “no reply”! ‘Onya, Mike. CW says; “go, you good things, Port!” Best of luck to Jas and his lambs today. Glasgow...
Where Will The Fates Fall?
Burnaby Put The Throttle on Things! Yesterday, at Windsor, The Tricolors had their fate in their hands but did not get the job done. The day started out with a rambling Laker lead in The Ones, 27 – 7 at the half. The second stanza was nothing short of incredible as a bunch of hard workers,...
Skeleton Crew Continue to Amaze
How prophetic was yesterday’s comment regarding “never ceasing to amaze”, as Canada proved on day #2 to be no chopped liver in Cup action after “squeaking in”. Their historic win over N.Z., 19 – 15 was every bit deserving, particularly after N.Z. opened with a try within a record 18 seconds!...
Canada in Cup Quarters
Indeed, blessings from the Easter fairy and a resounding 26 – 10 victory over Kenya, led by Hearn, Douglas and Trainor, edged the boys into Cup play on a points differential. It will be tough sledding as the team has lost Hammond and the opposition is New Zealand however valuable points have...
A Patchwork Quilt
From a Sevens side that looked almost ‘Dead Cert’ for Olympic inclusion one year ago – injuries and a limited player pool have put Canada on the ‘outside fringe’ to do battle in Olympic qualifying tournaments in June thru September. Top four from IRB Comp are automatics, “regional winners”...
Day #3 - Done & (Canada) Dusted!
After a good start with a victory over Kenya (21 – 10), this Ruggernut mused over point differentials, in an effort to prognosticate form and comparison of team performances. What odds Portugal to tie the mighty Kiwis??? ….. and then for Kenya to open a 21 point differential over Portugal???...
Black Saturday
As good as Friday got, mere hours later, results tanked as the NSMT went down to Samoa, 19 - 24, a game which RC's writer's claimed could have gone either way. This fan did not see that, as the boys looked jaded, not at all sharp against a side they have been beating rather regularly of...
Good Friday Comes Early
Although Belgium scored from the opening kick off (pictured, Tchanque on the fly), Canada's NSMT 7's went on to win 28 - 12 in the Hong Kong Opener. From Coach Middleton; "...we knew from film they would be hard work and they were..." To paraphrase a Twitter comment from Captain Moonlight...
Four Decades of Premier Sevens
(It's not a blur, it's just that our lamps have aged!!) On the eve of the Men's RWC Sevens Competition we ask where has the time gone? From an annual event showcasing sevens, moons ago, the Hong Kong Sevens has become the premier event on a circuit that is now a full-on show,...
Monday's Musings
Kicking off with BIG bouquets to Canada ‘A’, NSMT on their come from behind, 28 – 26 reversal of their previous loss, over Samoa ‘A’ for third place finish in the inaugural, Pacific Nations Cup. The boys were down 13 – 21 at the half however, with the scrum being dominant (good news, over...
Wednesday's Ruck & Maul
– Interview with Captain, “Moose” Bydens who proffers his ever articulate take on things. NSMT NEWS. The boys take a rest and spend time with former CW player, Mesa in Fiji – bula, all. Canada’s NSMT wailed on Junior Japan/Japan A in Suva on Monday. It is hard to know what the goals of...
Local Derby
Tomorrow promises an interesting offering at MacDonald Park as cross-town rivals meet to ascertain season’s superiority. Going in, CW won back in September, 29 – 14 and James Bay came back with a lop-sided 54 – 17 win in November. Selections will be interesting as Rugby Canada announced...
Wednesday's Ruck & Maul
Today's kickoff congratulates Rugby Canada on its successful bid to host a leg of the IRB Sevens Circuit next year at B.C. Place Stadium. The news has been all over the Canadian and rugby world scene since the announcement, so not much to add here. We leave it with this question; Can we fill...
Andy, Man of the Match
It's "hat's off" today to CW and Plymouth Albion's, Andy Tiedeman. Tieds, shown here leading the way in the maul, was voted MoM in Albion's weekend, close win over Jersey. Albion, mired at the bottom, have now completed four on the trot at home and have suffered some close losses away. Tieds...
Monday's Musings
Happy Birthday to OUR FLAG! In summary, a weekend of results. Let’s go global to local. IRB’s NSMT’s Round #5 @ Las Vegas. Pool play was good value for Canada, highlighted by wins over England and Argentina (#6) which was a ‘cracker’, to top the pool and a minimum ten competition points...
Vegas - Day #2
Canada almost iced Cup qualifying on day #1 with their exceptional, 15 - 12 win over England however unfortunately, they had been nutted by the Kenyans, 22 - 21 in game #1. For those browsing this site this morning we remind you that this morning's critical game against Argentina can be...
Ones/Thurds Hit the Road
Larsen's Back! The Ones and Thurds travel to Piggieville tomorrow to play Cowichan in a T.C. Div. 'make-up' and 3RD Div. game. This competition is already finished with the Norsemen as winners, so this match will be somewhat of an "exhibition". It is never a 'friendly' on the field at...
Day Two in Wellington
Every picture tells a story! aka Not Much Joy in Mudville. The day started for Canada with a Possession Clinic from Portugal of all teams, a club who had gone 0 – 3 on day #1. Canada played probably its most lack-lustre game in recent Seven’s memory when they dropped a 0 – 26 decision to...
Canada's Campaign
Just about sevens'ed out after watching some great stuff downstreamed.......much improved, almost high def. Main observation, men-in-the-middle still give higher ranked teams the benefit of the doubt at the breakdown. Canada faced tough opposition and lost both their openers, to N.Z....
Wednesday's Ruck & Maul
Tough Times – Tough Players This week, Canadian Sevens is in the news, bigtime. Let’s start with the women who have left Mag Harvey, World Rugby’s Female Player of the Year, at home for the Brazil Sevens, starting on Saturday. Coach Tate has added two rookie “youngsters”. Although these...
Plaudits
Captain Canada, Tyler Ardron has been given the honor with his club, the Ospreys for today's European Championship contest. Reports speak highly of his play in recent weeks and this is quite the honor for the young, 23 year old. In typical fashion, Ardron humbly commented; “It’s a huge honour for...
Wednesday's Ruck & Maul
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Nailed It!
Canada started day #2 with wins over Zimbabwe and a very satisfying victory over Wales to earn a spot in the Bowl Final against a much improved Kenyan side. The Kenyans carried the emotion of a final game for coach Treu but it was never to bear fruit. From the get-go, it was pretty much...