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Opening day
May. 14th, 2006 09:23 amYesterday was the opening day of the Ontario rugby season. I was going to go out to Fletcher's to watch the Nomads but I didn't really fancy the drive. That turned out to be a good thing as apparently all the games at Fletcher's were cancelled due to flooding. Instead I got my bike out and cycled to Gage Field to watch Brampton play the Beach.
It was an odd game. Beach are rated #2 nationally but looked distinctly sluggish in the opening twenty minutes. Brampton scored two excellent tries through some slick interplay among the forwards. The shape of things to come though revealed itself when both Brampton conversions, one from right in front of the sticks, went horribly awry.
The rest of the first half was a bit shapeless. Beach managed a converted try and a penalty so the score at the break was 10-10. The second half was a different story. Beach finally showed up! They comprehensively outplayed Brampton, at least in part through excellent tactical kicking whereas Brampton's kicking from hand was as dire as their goal kicking. The Beach got a few breaks from the ref too. Not really shockers but they adapted distinctly better to the slightly eccentric way he was calling the game than Brampton did. A succession of penalties and booming kicks to touch pretty much kept Brampton penned in their own end though they managed three (unconverted) second half tries on break outs. Beach kept piling on the pressure though and turning it into points. I think it ended up 48-25 to the Beach.
There was an interesting insight into modern international rugby. Paul Abrams whose brother Aaron plays hooker for Canada, played at blind side flank. Now Paul is 6'7" tall and weighs 245 pounds but he's been told that he's too small to play second row at international level so he's making the positional switch to see if he can revive his international prospects!
It was an odd game. Beach are rated #2 nationally but looked distinctly sluggish in the opening twenty minutes. Brampton scored two excellent tries through some slick interplay among the forwards. The shape of things to come though revealed itself when both Brampton conversions, one from right in front of the sticks, went horribly awry.
The rest of the first half was a bit shapeless. Beach managed a converted try and a penalty so the score at the break was 10-10. The second half was a different story. Beach finally showed up! They comprehensively outplayed Brampton, at least in part through excellent tactical kicking whereas Brampton's kicking from hand was as dire as their goal kicking. The Beach got a few breaks from the ref too. Not really shockers but they adapted distinctly better to the slightly eccentric way he was calling the game than Brampton did. A succession of penalties and booming kicks to touch pretty much kept Brampton penned in their own end though they managed three (unconverted) second half tries on break outs. Beach kept piling on the pressure though and turning it into points. I think it ended up 48-25 to the Beach.
There was an interesting insight into modern international rugby. Paul Abrams whose brother Aaron plays hooker for Canada, played at blind side flank. Now Paul is 6'7" tall and weighs 245 pounds but he's been told that he's too small to play second row at international level so he's making the positional switch to see if he can revive his international prospects!
