Monday's Musings

A change of direction from Liam confuses all!

SCHOOLED AGAIN!

Hope springs eternal but it was not to be.  The best laid plans went awry on Saturday when that other University, UVic, visited the House of Windsor.

The Divvies were only six minutes in when UVic’s, Koyote broke two tackles with deft footwork, and fed speedy winger, Crooks for clean heels and first blood.  CW tried to assert some superiority in the sets to create some intrigue as to how this game might play out and they had a good spell in Norse territory, but no points resulted.  UVic broke out with a threatening run from #10 Driscoll, and he fed Leitch who was desperately halted.  A penalty was earned and a few plays later, a deft diagonal kick from Driscoll, saw a 10 – 0 lead which was carried to the break.  Despite a close scoreline, CW had not seriously threatened.

The second stanza started more hopefully for the hosts when “Legend” Hohert crossed early following some secure recycles, 10 – 5.  Things looked potentially rosy when CW won a third tight head scrum, but no advantage was gained due to stout defense.  UVic found themselves with a set scrum some thirty metres out.  A cheeky feed from Barlow saw Kelly (?) break three tackles down the blind side, 15 – 5, and the odds of an upset, grew longer. CW’s incurrence of frequent penalties and their difficulty of handling a wet ball were becoming a challenge and when such a knock on found itself in the hands of an enterprising Kelly, there resulted in 4/5 passes ending with a 75m try, and 20 – 5 bonus point!

UVic kept the screws on, and a 50m run, 3/4 recycles and Miller was over for the 27 – 5 win and an accurate reflection of the proceedings.  It was well officiated by referee Monro.  The Norse (13 – 2) take on Comox (4 – 11) to ice their top-of-the-ladder spot next week.  It appears that CW needs to secure a bonus point win on the road against Burnaby to ensure their playoff berth.  For CW, Jack Goss and George Vorster stood out whilst Thoran Koyote was clearly the Norse M-o-M.


The main game was merely minutes old when the Vikes made their stamp, never to be threatened.  UVic recycled from good field position after a penalty.  A couple of strong carries followed, and a clever switch of direction saw wide ball come Penaluna’s way to be untouched for the tally.  UVic continued to force the play with precision handling and pace. There was a promising chip from Bowd to spring Porter, only to be deemed offside.  A further penalty saw the Vikes ‘held up’.  This seemed to buoy the Viking scrum, and a tight head and solid shunt retained their position and around fifteen minutes from another scrum, #8, Heaney-Corns picked up and was unstoppable for an 8m ‘soft’ try.

Around the mid-mark, it was four sets of quick hands that saw a final pass which was questionably forward by both the balcony refs and the video, from Di Nardo to MacGregor and a 19 – 0 lead.  Di Nardo’s pace was showing why he probably has his spot with the NSMT iced.  CW did manage to threaten with a third visit to the red zone only to knock on.  Further, the anticipated set piece advantage that might have been hoped for was not forthcoming.  The next score was not anticipated, when Coats threw a wide “miss” to Di Nardo, it was well read by the on-debut replacement, Roy, for his 40m scoot, and 19 – 5 score at the interval.

The second half was more of the same, although it was only a 17 – 14 scoring advantage for the visitors.  The teams matched early tries following a wide pass to CW’s Porter to finish with good pace.  At 33 – 12 Poulton blocked Coats’ punt for a just reward.  UVic ensured the margin with a penalty exclamation, 36 – 19.



In a losing cause mention of the CW FRF, Kratz and Espagnol for the full eighty is deserving.  Gammage and Boyd-Porter were the pick of the backs with flashes from Poulton.  For the Vikes I give my M-o-M to prop, Brandon Kim, who arguably avoided a card, but he always comes to play against CW, a hard man who keeps it on the edge.  Neary’s feeds from #9 enabled Coats plenty of time for orchestration of his pacey support crew, of which I recognize #15 Richard deserving of mention. Thanks to today's match officials.

                                                                              Vikes M-o-M

And so, the curtain closes on the season. A time to reflect. To Sheena and her crew of AT’s, thank you.  On the men’s side, To Kevin, Craig, and Hutch, well done.  To Sr Men’s Director, Don, a massive job.  Finally, to Ken and his colleagues – a good grind under difficult parameters.  A sincere thanks and best wishes to Ken Goodland.  Best of luck to the Divvies.  Our women have much to celebrate with both teams making the playoffs.  This is especially exciting for our Divvies ladies.  We wish both squads good luck next weekend.  At this stage opponents are unknown.  Thanks to Catie and her colleagues.  Special thanks to Chris for her tireless efforts.

                                                                   ONE CLUB - GO, CW


                                                                       CWRFC AGM