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Rugby writer - Ben Buan
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From the Bleachers (well lawn chair in this instance)
[ed. my favourite was when he pronounced Buchanan with the 'ch' as chowder as opposed to chaos. Southern Hemisphere announcer $9.99 at Walmart, bloopers priceless.]
by Ben Buan
posted July 17 2008
A one-sided win for Canada West and another disappointing loss by Canada East were the main features on a gorgeous summer evening at Shawnigan Lake School.
I leave the detailed game reporting to the professional scribes who were on hand, but make these general observations concerning matters at the margin.
It was embarrassing to listen to the public address announcer read out the starting line-ups for the Canada West game. He mangled all but the easiest names and it wasn’t his southern hemisphere accent to blame. How difficult could it be to go over a roster list and if in doubt ask the team manager for the correct pronunciation of a player’s name? Harry Jones, Ben Grant, Matt Evans and Sam Jenkins were among the few who escaped unscathed so you can imagine what he did with TJ David Smortchevsky’s name! Even the captain and multi-capped Adam Kleeberger had to endure some garbled attempt at pronouncing his name.
The same individual, once the score-line began to tilt embarrassingly in favour of Canada West, insisted in announcing the score as Canada West something or other and Hawks zilch. This was needlessly disrespectful. Zero or nil are far preferable to a word with no known etymology and whose origin is circa 1966. Are there not already too many products of the 60’s that are blights on our society?
If the announcer was an inexperienced volunteer, then perhaps Rugby Canada director and SLS Headmaster David Robertson can give the chap a crash course in pronunciation and grammar before Saturday’s matches. Alternatively, I suspect there are numerous folks of an earlier generation for whom language, good manners and protocol still have some meaning, who would be more than willing to volunteer their services on Saturday.
So as not to leave the impression the games were incidental to my main purpose in being there I did have some observations from the full Canada West game and the first half of the Canada East match.
I thought Matt Evans had an excellent game for Canada West at #10 and surely put his hand up for further consideration. Sam Jenkins showed why he was so important to the Meraloma’s success last season and combined well with Bryn Keys in the centres. The U Vic back-row of Kleeberger, Meechan and McKeen were a well-oiled unit. Rower’s Brock Nicholson was a threat with his quickness, scoring two tries, and up front Emil Christensen laboured hard in the trenches from his hooker position. A new face, Nick Blevins of Calgary Saracens, showed excellent pace and had a number of dangerous runs before showing some hesitation in what to do when about to outrun his support. A few times he should have taken to the deck rather than attempt a desperation pass. Sean White in second half relief of Evans gave evidence of the potential for greater depth at #10 than we have had for ages. With Evans, White and Hirayama all pushing for that key spot, we might see the results of iron sharpening iron as the competition heats up.
For Canada East, Jordan Kozina showed good speed and a nice inside out move to break free on his first half try. Stu Ault was alert and in good position to charge down a clearing kick before cleanly handling the bouncing ball for his try. The East generally was less able to generate prolonged periods of possession and pressure, and while both Canadian teams were guilty of numerous handling errors (too many considering the perfect playing conditions), the West appeared to do a better job of offloading in the tackle, something coaches Medina and Hyde-Lay have been stressing for 3 seasons now.
Canada West or the Falcons are assured of finishing 1st or 2nd , the order depending on who wins their Saturday clash. The Hawks look to be by far the weakest link in the tourney so Canada East should finish 3rd heading into the elimination round in Denver on July 29th and August 2nd.
Canada Win Over BC Selects – A Retrospective
by Ben Buan
posted Aug 14, 2007
“A win is a win, but don’t confuse it with victory”. Anon
Canada got its expected and deserved win over a hard-working and feisty BC Selects side, but no one should think this was a victory or that they feel good about it. Assistant Coach John Tait conceded the rustiness of the Canada attack in his post-game interviews, while BC coach Ian Hyde-Lay was extremely proud of all 24 men on his squad. “You all did exactly what we asked of you” said Hyde-Lay in his post-game remarks.
Others have described the scoring plays better than I, so here is a potpourri of remarks directed more toward some of the action at the margin, to some of the BC player performances and a few images. - BC Man-Of-The Match – Tom McKeen based on his strong play for the 65 or 70 minutes he played. He seems to have a natural feel for the game that puts him in good position both defensively and offensively more often than not.
- Most Improved Player - Kris Witkowski had by far his best game of this summer. He was much more aggressive defensively than he was with Canada East in the NA4 series and probably benefited from the style of play dictated by coach Hyde-Lay on offence. He was a threat offensively with some good runs, and to the surprise of many he was able to chase down Mike Pyke despite a 10-yard head start and make a try-saving tackle on the big fullback in the first half.
- Hard Hat Award - Mark Lawson for another strong game making numerous tackles and often emerging as the man at the bottom of every dog-pile. Not sure how he got the bloodied nose late in the game but there was a lot of niggle in the rucks at times.
- Best Multi-Tasker - Jeff Williams managed to play in, referee and call the play by play the entire game.
- Best Adaptation - Shawn Mercier, unable to get any ball during his 15 or so minutes as a replacement winger, made up for it with several superb dump tackles.
- Mismatch of the game - Diminutive Phil Mack at fullback having to defend against Mike Pyke and Craig Culpan. The game BC player could not defend against the straight-arm from either much larger opponent.
- New Milestone – Jamie Cudmore playing 80 minutes in a Canada jersey.
- Best hair – Sean Michael Stephen with the très chic top knot. [ed. I wonder if this works in grey?]
- Best rodeo tackle – Kevin Tkachuk corralling Tyler Hotson
- Biggest surprise – BC having more possession time than Canada
- Continuing Unsolved Mystery – Mark Lawson’s disappearance from both selection and non-travelling list.
- Why They Play the Game – Mike Pyke (R) and Aidan Buan in Post Game Photo
More on 'wobblies', 'wobble' and alliteratives for weaving Wanderer's wins with witty words
[ed. read Ben's article below and Ian MacLean's CW article for the full picture. An interesting, and unrelated, sidenote is that when the Wallabies are playing poorly the Australian media refer to them as the 'wobblies'.]
posted Oct 23 2006
by Ben Buan
"Kudos to Ian McLean for an excellent detailed summary of the CW/James Bay Elite League contest on Saturday. Also an A+ for cleverly taking me to task for the "wobbly" in my tagline. My zeal for an alliterative title led me to choose a word with more negative implications than I intended.
There were indeed several fine performances particularly from the CW side that I only touched on and Ian reported on with more detail. It was nonetheless in my opinion not a "classic" CW/James Bay encounter as there were several handling and decision-making errors on both sides, many of which were unforced and the result for this observer were long periods of less than compelling action.
One factor I should have commented on was the edge in fitness that the CW side seemed to display and which likely explains its ability to pull away in the second half, and may have contributed to the two 2nd half yellow cards to James Bay.
I don't think Ian wore rose coloured glasses though we did watch the same game but from different vantage points and with varying degrees of attention and interest (less on my part in both instances, I must admit). I also expect we could go to the same restaurant on the same evening, and perhaps even choose the same courses on the menu, and leave with different impressions. It wouldn't make either of us wrong.
Let's hope Phil Meyer files a report from the James Bay perspective and then readers will have the full spectrum of observations."
Castaway Wanderers Wobble Past James Bay... by Ben Buan
by Ben Buan
posted Oct 21 2006
On a brilliant autumn day in the heart of Oak Bay the Castaway Wanderers successfully inaugurated their new Windsor Park facilities with a comfortable victory over cross-town rival James Bay.
To this observer and his two companions, the game lacked much of the tension and fierceness that has come to characterize contests between these two legendary clubs. Even more surprising was the number of turnovers committed by both sides throughout the match. We stopped counting once we ran out of fingers, the number of turnovers in contact and there were many fire drill type scrambles after balls launched hopefully or idly into the general vicinity of a team-mate. Both squads appeared to be equally guilty of this offence.
Inexplicably James Bay with its fixture second row of Dave Ramsay and Eric Forsythe rarely contested the CW line-outs, almost all of which were simple tosses from Aaron Abrams to first jumper Ken Goodland. They did manage to pilfer one or two throw-ins in the second half, but by then it was too late to effect a change in the game result.
A welcomed change to the CW faithful was the assertiveness of the CW front row of Iain Exner, Aaron Abrams and Adam Dowhy as they more than held their own against the Yoon, Dunkley, Warren triumvirate that pushed them around in last year’s encounters. Exner in particular would appear to have made a statement about his absence from the recently published depth chart with some rollicking runs and solid defending.
John Graf did his best Dorian Gray stand-in act with another clever display of tactical rugby. An exquisite dummy early in the first half opened a gaping hole in the James Bay defence, which Graf swept through with alacrity. His kicking from hand, especially a number of perfectly positioned grubbers, kept the James Bay defenders on the back foot. Eventually, Graf’s persistence had its effect on the young James Bay wizards DTH Van Der Merwe and Phil Mack, each of whom took turns to ill-advisedly attempt solo dashes out of the shadow of their own goal posts after being pinned back with Graf kicks. Graf even threw in a coolly slotted drop-goal in the second half after the James Bay defence had held up against a series of forward dominated thrusts at goal.
For the winning side, Derek Daypuck had a good game with his running and kicking. Matt Weingart looked at home in his relatively new position at left wing, and captain Sipili Molia provided ample inspiration with his hard running and tackling from his outside centre spot.
Exner looked strong at prop and #8 Goodland was solid with his work in the air and anchoring the CW pack. Right-winger Tony LaCarte had a few dangerous breaks and scored a pretty try when CW stretched the James Bay defence after a 5-meter lineout and an attempted rolling maul failed to produce the desired results. Mike Webb looks to have bulked up after his rehab from shoulder surgery but seemed more intent on chirping into distraction his James Bay counterpart, Hugo Belanger than in punishing him with his tackles.
For James Bay, Van Der Merwe had a few swivelling exhibitions, one of which set up a try for Phil Mack, but overall he was kept well under control. Geoff Warden showed his pace as he accepted a gift interception near his own 22 and romped the rest of the way to touchdown, but only after a risky move near the goal line aimed at gaining a marginally better angle for the conversion caused him to be tackled only inches on the right side of the in goal.
Overall, the absence of both drama and sustained periods of possession, along with a distressingly high number of turnovers made this game a C+ on the enjoyment and execution scale and was eerily reminiscent of last weekend’s match between the Rowers and Meraloma. We will be generous and say it is still early in the season.
The early kowtows of some prognosticators toward James Bay’s dominance of the VIRU Elite League seem to be have been decidedly premature. A loss next weekend to U Vic will leave the defending champs firmly mired in 3rd position in the Elite league – an unimaginable prospect only a few weeks ago.
The new Windsor Park facilities are superb but remember if you want to enjoy the game with a beer and view from the balcony, get there early as the bureaucratic regulations restricts the number of supporters who can gain access to the lounge facilities while the game is on.
Hot Fire + Low Tide = Smouldering Ashes of Island Rugby Hopes: Bun Buan again entertains rugby fans with his insightful comments and palatable prose
by Ben Buan
posted July 9 2006
Starved for rugby this relative newcomer to the Cowichan Valley trekked up to Herd Road on a beautiful sunny afternoon to take in the contest between the league leading Prairie Fire and the perennial West Coast powerhouse Crimson Tide. I left my notebook at home determined that rather than focus on the details of the action I would try to take in the ambience and look for signs of some of the intangibles that often play a bigger role in the outcome of sporting matches than we care to believe. I packed my camera thinking I might be able to get a few action shots in focus if freed of my pen and notepad.
Saskatchewan’s Prairie Fire took to the pastoral setting of the Cowichan RFC like a starving cow to a pristine new pasture. Within 15 or 20 minutes the host Crimson Tide was reduced to cud in one of the bellies of the voracious Regina-based squad.
The halfback combination of Jon Clifford and Scott Kennedy for the Prairie Fire completely outshone the Tide’s Andrew Gudmunseth and Jared Barker, distributing the ball and quickly and accurately. Clifford orchestrated a lovely try that had NSMT assistant coach Dave Johnston waxing downright lyrically. Young Nanyak Dala from his open side flanker spot showed why he was the one-man wrecking crew for Saskatchewan at last year’s National age grade championships. One can only hope the Natal native plans to stay in Canada permanently so he would be eligible for the 2011 World Cup.
The early Fire eruption was aided by a strangely listless starting XV for the Tide. Would be tacklers often resembled somnambulists waving their arms at unseen walls and lamp stands. The most energy generated from the Tide was the embarrassing ebullience of James “Hubby” Hubbard who was even more frenetic than usual as he paced the sidelines beneath the grandstand engaging all comers in his unique patois once mistaken by a Chilean sportscaster as a rare Canadian dialect. Perhaps it was the presence of the Fire’s mascot, a Daliesque cross between the Michelin Man and an overweight Yosemite Sam, complete with fire throwing helmet, face paint and WWI fighter pilot goggles, which so inflamed Hubby’s passions. He was kept busy with his fire siren and erupting helmet as the Fire scored a half dozen tries on the day.
No one who knows Hubby doubts his love for and commitment to the game and the “nosepicks” who play it but his schtick loses its charm very quickly, particularly when he engages the opposition players in tawdry dialogue. Hubby would much better serve his beloved players and his game by curbing his enthusiasm, or confining it to a chalk box on the far side of the field.
The Prairie Fire replacements bench and coaching staff showed considerable class and restraint by for the most part ignoring Hubbard’s antics and instead focused on the task at hand. Assistant coach Lee Lindwall, the affable Aussie handled the bench work as head coach Shane Thompson wore the #12 jersey and led his charges on the field.
Grumbles from Tide fans on the sidelines could be heard at the sight of Francis Yoon, Aaron Abrams and Scott Franklin on the sidelines while the Fire scorched the Tide’s starting XV in the opening 20 minutes. The Tide could only counter with a brave effort from starters #8 Pat Kearney, solid work from #5 Andrew Mooney and the dazzling energy and effort of Phil Mack, from the fullback spot in the first half and then at #9 in place of the overmatched Gudmunseth.
The eventual insertion of Franklin, Yoon and Abrams helped even the contest somewhat but even with them on the field the Fire put the game out of reach with 3 late tries after the Tide had pulled to within 5 points. Abrams showed some heretofore unseen feistiness to his game but continued to struggle with some line-out throws.
If there was a defining moment for the Prairie Fire it was about half way through the second half. The Tide had begun to narrow the gap and was pressing in the Fire end. In a series inside the Fire 22 two of its men went down, #14 Tryan Sapergia with a nasty cut to his head and another backline player. The Fire forced a turnover and counter attacked through the hands of #8 Caine Elisara (a tower of strength all game), Scott Kennedy, Nanyak Dala and DTH van der Merwe. With the training staff attending to the fallen players the 13 remaining Fire players drove the ball downfield and almost scored.
Not long afterward Coach MacMillan and Assistant Coach Chris May could be seen sitting on the lower rail of the fence, closer to the grazing sheep than to the Tide bench. All the substitutions had been made so one shouldn’t make too much of this perhaps, but there did seem to be some relevant symbolism as they watched their team stumble its way to another loss, doubtlessly failing to execute many parts of the game plan laid out for it in the weeks of preparation leading up to this critical game.
The Prairie Fire team was the deserving winner and will be a formidable opponent for whichever club emerges from the Eastern conference. Coaches Thompson and Lindwall should be congratulated on a fine job of creating a fusion of home-grown Saskatchewan talent combined with Scottish, South African, New Zealand and Australian savvy supplied to them by the uber-rugby man from Wascana Greens, Karl Fix.
Kudos must go to the Cowichan RFC for once again acting as superb hosts. This jewel of a facility in the rolling hills of the Cowichan Valley is surely one of the most pleasant places to watch a rugby game in all of Canada. From the courteous parking attendants to the friendly tender of the well-stocked bar, to the backdrop of forest canopy on the slopes of Mt. Maxwell, to the smell of the sea in the air, the entire package is food for the soul.
Ben Buan – Mill Bay, BC
Canada Takes Both Ends of Doubleheader in NA4 - Ben Buan gives his view from the Bleachers
posted May 28 2006
Canada East 34 – US Hawks 11
Canada West 25 – US Falcons 24
Canada West continued its Houdini impersonation with a narrow 1- point victory over a game US Falcons side. Missed conversions on the last two Falcon tries allowed Canada West to emerge from the first round of the NA4 competition in first place with a 2-1-0 record and 11 points in the standings. This came on the heels of their come from behind draw with Canada East last Wednesday when they were the beneficiaries of a very long injury time segment.
Canada East meanwhile put up a more convincing win over the Hawks to grasp second place with a 1-1-1 record.
While neither game could be labelled sterling examples of high calibre rugby, there were some good individual performances noted and moments of well-constructed play. On the day the Canada East squad looked to be the better-organized and more effective side of the four and will be a serious threat when the series resumes in Columbus, Ohio in July.
To this observer the standout players in the first game were Canada East’s #7 Sean Michael Stephen and US Hawks #9 Tyson Meek with honourable mention to
Derek Daypuck and Jared Selby for Canada.
For Canada West Mark Lawson stood above the crowd with honourable mention to #8 David Biddle and #3 Garth Cooke. For the Falcons #7 Jarvis Albury and winger Brian Barnard were the key performers.
Game Summaries – Canada East vs. US Hawks
Canada East started slowly and gave up an early penalty to trail 3-0. Handling errors caused by unexpected passes and stiff hands on the part of scrum half Matt Weingart and lock Oliver Atkinson didn’t bode well in the early moments. Daypuck sent a dreadful pass into the feet of his winger but was saved by a Hawk penalty and redeemed himself with a 22-meter penalty to knot the score at 3-3.
Daypuck then had a fine run off a deep clearing kick he fielded. He spread the defence wide and created space for Rob Wilson and Kris Witkowski to penetrate deep into Hawk territory before Witkowski was pushed into touch. Atkinson and Carpenter next combined for a long run. This set up a scrum from which Daypuck found Witkowski streaking through a gap off the right edge to touch down under the posts. Daypuck converted and Canada East led 10-3
Canada lost a lineout but moments later Sean Michael Stephen stole a ball and showed the great pace Victoria fans were treated to during his two-year stint at the Pacific Pride. 40 meters later he had Canada’s second try. Daypuck missed the conversion.
On the restart Atkinson mishandled the high ball but the Hawks did not capitalize. Carpenter and Selby combined for a long run but under pressure Selby passed to a spectral teammate. Despite the efforts of Hawk’s scrum half Tyson Meek, the Hawks could not mount any consistent offence and from a ruck outside the US 22 meter mark Weingart moved the ball wide through Daypuck into the hands of the speedy Witkowski who ran the tramline down the left touchline to score an easy try. Daypuck could not hit the tough angled conversion but Canada led 20-3
Atkinson missed the restart again, the ball bouncing off his head this time but the Hawks turned the ball over. Canada’s Jared Selby cleverly took a quick tap after taking a mark on a kick inside his 22 and scampered 30 meters before outrunning his support. The Hawks regained possession and Meek scored a brilliant try with an exquisite side step followed by the sale of a gorgeous dummy to beat 3 or more defenders from 40 meters. The conversion was missed but the gap was narrowed to 20-8 at halftime.
Ten or so minutes into the second half; Kevin Parfrey came on for Carpenter and Mike McLean for Peter Densmore. Sean Michael Stephen moved to #8 and Parfrey took his #7 spot. Most of the action for the next several minutes was between the 22’s and the fans became rather silent. The US goaled a 35 meter penalty to narrow the gap to 9 points.
Stephen alertly picked up from the base of a scrum and darted round the blind side. Perhaps reminding some folks of the speed John Tait used to flash for Canada in years past, the big forward sped 40 meters downfield before off-loading in the tackle to Atkinson who carried another 5. Canada eventually drove to the 1 metre mark but without success. Daypuck reversed the ball out wide right and a series of passes took the ball into the hands of Rob Wilson who scored with a tackler on his back. Daypuck hit the difficult kick from the right touchline and Canada breathed more easily at 27.
Steve Piatek came on for Cameron Ough at right wing. He was on to witness close up a lovely try. Sean Michael Stephen stole the ball and broke out to midfield before lofting a lovely left handed 20 meter spin pass that was gathered in by the speedy Selby who angled back toward the posts to score. Daypuck converted and the scoring was over at 34-11. Hawk’s #4 and captain Campbell MacKenzie took offence to being cleared out of a ruck by Sean Michael Stephen and doubtlessly fuelled by frustration threw a number of roundhouse punches at Stephen. The latter showed great discipline and intelligence by not retaliating.
Canada East was a deserving winner over an enigmatic Hawks squad that was blown away in its first game before defeating the Falcons in the mid-week match and coming out flat in this contest.
Canada West vs. US Falcons
Already suffering from injuries and with only two backs on the reserve bench, Canada West lost winger Brodie Henderson on the first sequence with what looked like a serious ankle injury. Tony Weller subbed in wearing a numberless jersey.
Canada struck early when from a ruck 30 meters out; fullback Eric Wilson scored when set free from passes through the hands of Ian Smortchevsky, Pat Desaulles and Craig Culpan. Ed Fairhurst goaled the conversion and Canada led 7-0
Canada #8 David Biddle charged through the middle of the US defence for 20 meters, and threw a dummy for another 10. The Falcon’s were penalized and Fairhurst struck the penalty for a 10-0 lead.
A few minutes letter Eric Wilson lofted a perfect kick deep to the right corner inside 10 meters of the US in goal. Canada soon had possession and looked threatening when a series of crisp short passes ended in the hands of Geoff Warden. Regrettably Warden chose not to lower his shoulder and fight for the goal line and was easily pushed to touch.
Warden had a chance to redeem himself a few minutes later when on an overlap Craig Culpan raced for the corner absorbed a tackle and offloaded to Warden. Unfortunately the big winger lost control of the ball as he was tackled and attempted to reach down to ground the ball in goal for knock on.
Canada had to make coincidental blood substitutions when Neil Meechan and Garth Cooke both were cut. Thomas McKeen came in for Meechan and Scott Franklin for Cooke. The match had been somewhat stuttering to this point, with a number of handling errors on both sides and some questionable decision making by both sides when under pressure.
The Falcon’s began to find their stride and started by a fine run by its #7 Jarvis Albury who broke tackles at midfield, the play ended with speedy winger Brian Barnard touching down in the right corner with Tony Weller wrapped all over him. #13 Enrico Ferri slotted the conversion and the score was 10-7.
Canada pressed and was deep in the Falcon’s territory threatening with an overlap developing wide left. Eric Wilson lofted a pass and immediately wished he had it on a string, but alas he could not play Linus to Brian Barnard’s Charlie Brown and the Falcon’s winger romped 80 metres to score under the posts. Ferri converted and the US was back in the game.
A knock on by Culpan led to a dangerous run by US #11 Jason Pye but Canada forced a turnover. On the US next possession, David Biddle forced a turnover by making a big tackle and immediately regaining his feet to force a penalty against the US ball carrier.
Geoff Warden followed with a long run of 30 meters but under pressure made the wrong decision and passed instead of taking the ball to ground and a turnover ensued.
Falcons cleared with a deep kick and were penalized at the tackle. Mark Lawson alertly tapped and ran. Lawson displayed some moves gleaned from his brief 7’s stint. He avoided tackles and stayed on his feet long enough for his forward support to catch up. This caught the Falcon’s out of position and Eric Wilson and Craig Culpan combined to move the ball ahead and Culpan sliced through the last gap from 20 metres to score under the posts. Fairhurst converted and Canada led 17-14
A few minutes later Canada pressured again, this time with a series of passes with the ball moving first right to the sidelines where Warden kept the ball in play, allowing Smortchevsky to spin the ball back left and through a number of hands before Tony Weller dashed into the left corner by the flag. Fairhurst missed the conversion but Canada led 22-14 and seemed to be in control as the first half came to a close.
Notable performances in the first 40 minutes came from David Biddle and Mark Lawson with hard tackling and a high number of involvements. Prop Garth Cooke displayed power and balance with a number of runs up the middle of the Falcon defence. Surprisingly absent was a level of overall intensity and passion one would have expected from this level of competition.
The second half started with the sun trying to peak through the clouds for the first time in the game. A deep clearing kick by Eric Wilson led to a Falcon penalty and Fairhurst goaled the attempt from 38 meters to stretch the lead to 25-14 with 25 minutes or so remaining.
Charles Baumberg came on for Geoff Warden and Scott Franklin came back on as a blood sub for Cooke. Baumberg showed versatility playing at the wing spot and was soon involved with a nice run, as was Franklin who was soon threatening to cross the goal line. A penalty for a forward leaving his feet killed this promising chance.
Baumberg and Weller combined for another thrust deep into Falcon’s territory but Canada could not maintain possession. Scrum half Ian Smortchevsky fearlessly dove for a loose ball inside the Falcon’s 10-meter line and took a knee or foot to the head. He subbed out and now the creativity of the Canada West coaching staff and its players was put to the full test. Pat Riordan came on for Smortchevsky and played hooker. Lawson moved back to wing, Fairhurst moved up to #9 and Baumberg to #10. It was a bit of a fire drill for the next several minutes for Canada as the US tried to take advantage. Another change occurred as Tyler Hotson came on in place of Darryl Hall at lock.
Barnard took the ball inside his 22 and sped down the right sideline. He undressed first Franklin then Wilson as he raced into Canada territory with only one winger to beat. Unfortunately for him it was Mark Lawson and the veteran showed his famous powers of concentration as no amount of shifting by Barnard could deflect Lawson’s attention from the winger’s navel and Lawson’s jarring tackle separated Barnard from the ball.
Undeterred the Falcons kept pressing and were rewarded when #12 Vaha Esikia finished a drive with a break from 20 meters. Ferri missed the conversion but suddenly with 13 minutes to go Canada West led by only 6 points.
The risk was real that the lack of intensity noted earlier might jump up to bite the Canada squad. Lawson did his best to fire up the quiet crowd and his mates when he laid another enormous tackle on Barnard at midfield as he fielded a kick. Mr. Kuklinski thought he saw Barnard’s feet in the air at the point of contact and penalized Lawson.
Smortchevsky returned to action and some semblance of order returned to the Canada West positional assignments. Ed Fairhurst made a big tackle and stole the ball to end one Falcon threat.
Garth Cooke returned to action with his bloody nose. Milan Mrdjenovich had to endure a tough few minutes where he first knocked on and then had a ball bounce off him and into touch. From the 15 meter lineout the Falcons mounted a forward drive and #2 Patrick Bell found the in-goal to score. A conversion by Ferri would put the Falcons into the lead with only 3 minutes plus injury time remaining.
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