September 5, 2017

OUA Men's Rugby Roundup September 3-4

Sept 4

Queen's 60, Trent 0

The Gaels had no trouble giving new head coach David Butcher his first OUA win as they took down Trent 60-0.

Nicholas DeLallo (Ottawa) lead the Gaels offensively on the day putting down three tries.

In total, the Gaels had seven players find themselves with a try in the match which included Michael Douros (Toronto) who also added a pair for the tricolour.

The Gaels converted on five of their 10 tries on the afternoon and defensively have yet to allow a point.

Source: gogaelsgo.com

McMaster 19, Western 12

Rematching their OUA bronze medal game of a season ago in the first action of 2017, the Marauders and Mustangs engaged in a cagey, vintage encounter at Back 10 Field on Labour Day Monday.

Nudging their way ahead in the first half, and building upon that advantage in the second, the Marauders won their third consecutive game against their traditional rivals, out-duelling the Mustangs in an OUA season-opening 19-12 victory. The trio of David Kavtiashvili, Mike Smith and Brett Sullivan had tries for the Marauders, with Callum Macleay chipping in with a pair of converts in the win.

Western's number eight, Michael Coldwells scored both of his team's tries in a losing effort. After 20 minutes of inconclusive play through the midfield areas, the home side found the game's first opening when Kavtiashvili carved through the Mustangs line to cross for the first try of the afternoon. Touching down centrally, he gave Macleay a rather routine convert, and his teammate dutifully made good on the opportunity.

The half time whistle was beckoning when the Mustangs countered, with Coldwells punching through on a short move to peg the Marauders back. The ensuing convert was no good, however, and the hosts kept their noses out front at 7-5 as the teams' halted for the break. Five minutes from the restart, Smith bullied his way over the try line to pad the Marauders lead, and Macleay's convert pushed the home side's lead to nine at 14-5.

Mac pressed their advantage when Sullivan sprung free late in the half to cross the try line and extend the lead to 19-5, an insurance try that proved useful minutes later. Coldwells proved to be the man of action for the Mustangs once again, as he cut into the visitors' deficit with his second try of the afternoon, which was promptly converted to bring Western within a converted try of their opponents.

But the clock was the Mustangs enemy as they sized up the comeback, and that would be as close as they would come.

NEXT UP: McMaster travels to Peterborough on Saturday, September 9 to take on the Trent Excalibur.

Source: mauraders.ca

Sept 3

Guelph 36, RMC 0

GUELPH - The 2017 OUA men's rugby season is officially underway. And while the defending champion Guelph Gryphons may have a new look after graduating several key players from last year's championship squad, they produced a familiar result in their season opener. Sunday afternoon at Varsity Field, the Gryphons recorded a convincing 36-0 home victory over the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC) Paladins in a match that served as the regular season opener for both schools.

"We were happy with the boys commitment to the game plan today," said Gryphons second year head coach, and reigning OUA Coach of the Year, Cory Hector.

"We had solid structure all match long, but also identified some key areas to work on. Overall thought, we're happy to come away with a win to start things off."

Fifth year lock Blake Aram led the Gryphons in scoring with a pair of tries and also made his impact felt with several big tackles and line breaks. Fourth year wing Jordan Hofstra continued the fine form he showed in 2016 by starting his 2017 campaign by producing several big runs. While Aram and Hofstra were among the returning veterans to impress, the standout rookie on the day was first year fly half John Sheridan who had a strong Gryphon debut. Sheridan, an Economics student from Bolton, Ontario, was excellent on both attack and defence, and also showed off the leg by connecting on a trio of conversions to finish with six points on the day. Rounding out the scoring for the Gryphons on Sunday afternoon were Julian Crowe, Erich Milne and MacLain Wakefield.

Source: gryphons.ca

Laurier 38, Toronto 10

The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's rugby team dropped their season and home opener versus the Laurier Golden Hawks 38-10 Sunday afternoon (Sept. 3) at Varsity Stadium.

A strong start from the Varsity Blues allowed U of T to jump ahead 3-0 in the seventh minute courtesy a successful drop goal from second-year full back Faiyaz Lokhandwala. Both teams battled through a physical next ten minutes, however, Laurier finally broke through in the 21st minute with a try from Matt Fish, putting the Golden Hawks ahead 5-3.

A conversion on the Fish try from Nate Roberts and two more tries from Andrew Quattrin and Chris Matsoukas before the break put Laurier ahead 17-3 at halftime. Toronto was unable to retake momentum as the Golden Hawks added to their lead with tries from David Arner, Benjamin Playfair, and Quattrin in the second half. Roberts finished the afternoon with four total conversions.

The Varsity Blues did show a spark in the final minutes as Lokhandwala hustled his way through the Laurier defence for Toronto's lone try of the afternoon before also kicking the conversion.

The Blue and White will now hit the road as they get set to challenge the Western Mustangs next Saturday, September 9. Kick off is scheduled for 3 p.m.

Source: varsityblues.ca

Brock 49, Waterloo 12

The Brock University men's rugby team opened the 2017 OUA regular season with a 49-12 victory Sunday afternoon at Alumni Field.

Brock jumped out to an early 7-0 with a try from Chris Gladney and convert from Spencer Karn. The Badgers would be called for two penalties, which Waterloo's Mitch Voralek tried to connect on missing both penalty kicks from 30 and 40 yards out sending them wide right and wide left.

Brock's offense would continue to build as Ryan Hickey pounded in three straight tries with Karn connecting on all three converts to make it 28-0 after 40 minutes. Just 30 seconds into the second half, Brock's Nabeel Imtiaz would use his speed and score his first try of the season. Karn would nail the tough convert from the sideline to make it 35-0.

The Badgers would be called for two yellow cards sending both Wade Little and Imtiaz to the sinbin. With two men down, Waterloo would take advantage and score back-to-back tries while only making one convert to make it 35-12.

Brock would get two more tries before the end of the game with Hickey registering a new personal single game high with his fourth try of the contest. Twice in his career he has collected three tries in a game. Zach Zorbaswould pound one in for his first points of 2017. Karn would add two more converts as he went a perfect 7-for-7 with the extra points.

The Badgers are on the road Saturday, September 9th when they travel to Kingston to take on the RMC Paladins. Game time is 3pm.