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Canada U19 forward takes on England tackler
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| © Mark Bryant |
Canadian U19 Women rebound from mid-week loss to defeat England U19 by a score of 20-13
posted March 5 2006
[ed. comments below]
After beating Canada 27-5 in the mid-week fixture, England may have come out with an air of expectancy for the final match at Shawnigan Lake. If they thought this game would be as easy, they were in for a shock.
Canada went into the half 8-0 ahead. The first half was not pretty, everyone looked very nervous including the referee. The whistle would blow about every 30 seconds and the game sputtered from maul to lineout to tap and go at the penalties. The penalty count favoured the English team by a large margin at the beginning and the Canadian team did well to keep their poise. The English coach was marching up and down the sideline in an apoplectic fit trying to make the calls for the referee and just about turned blue when a penalty was finally called against England. Gradually everyone settled down and a game of rugby broke out.
Canada had some strong runs from their forwards but unfortunately they were not always supported and came to nothing. The Canadian backs were being pressured by their English counterparts, the openside flanker especially was quick to get to the Canadian #10. Eventually the England flanker was called for slipping the bind on the scrum as she was sometimes almost there by the time the ball arrived from the scrum half. When the Canadian backs had time to pass the ball they were superior to their English counterparts and scored several nice tries in the corner.
After the half the game picked up pace, the referee calmed down, the England coach calmed down and the players started performing as cohesive units. Canada scored a converted try to go ahead 15-3 (England slotted a penalty). Canada scored another well worked try through the backs to make it 20-3 (unconverted) and the fans, although few, were gaining in confidence that this would be Canada's day.
But just as they did in the mid-week fixture the England team came on and Canada faltered. The Canadian girls had given their all and were barely holding on. The Canadian standoff couldn't find touch on penalty kicks, time after time, she didn't have the energy to kick from the centre of the field to the sideline. One time the kicking duties were changed to #13 who did a superb job and then without reason the next penalty went to the #10 who again failed to find touch. This allowed the England team to get back in the game without worrying about the consequences of penalties in the Canadian half. Two rookie mistakes by the exhausted Canadian backs gifted England two tries and the game was back on. Fortunately for the Canadian team the last try came at the final whistle and the tired but jubilant Canadian team could savour their 20-13 victory over the England U19 team.
We'll have the video highlights on the website by Monday evening, including interviews with the Canadian coach and players from both teams.
REMINDER: Canada U19 vs England U19 in Women's play - Games on Thursday March 2nd at Cowichan RFC and Sunday March 5 at Shawnigan Lake
[ed. remember there are no Premier games on the Island on the weekend of March 4th, so make an extra effort to support the Canadian Women's U19 team on Sunday at Shawnigan Lake. Canada defeated Wales last year in a great game. BC Rugby News will be there for video highlights]
by Brad Skene
posted Feb 22 2006
A few big Canadian U19 Women's games coming up can you post them on your site:
Feb 28 3:30 at Cowichan Secondary School BC select side vs Can U19 women
Mar 2 at Cowichan RFC 3:30 Can U19 women vs. Eng U19
March 5 at Shawnigan Lake School 2:30 Can U19 women vs. Eng U19
Canadian U19 Women to play two games against England U19 Women: March 2nd at Cowichan RFC and March 5th at Shawnigan Lake School
posted Jan 24 2006
SCHEDULE
Tuesday Feb 28th
BC select side vs. Can U19 at Cowichan Secondary School 3:30 KO
Thursday March 2nd
Can U19 vs. Eng U19 at Cowichan Rugby Club 3:30 KO
Sunday March 5th
Can U19 vs. Eng U19 at Shawnigan Lake School KO TBA
Canada take two from Wales with a mid-week victory 27-12
[ed. my notes below, I have video highlights which will be uploaded tonight or tomorrow morning]
posted Feb 22 2005
It was a beautiful day for rugby at Shawnigan Lake although the white carpet of snow behind the goal posts reminded me that on this side of the Malahat, winter lingers a little longer.
Canada charged into a 10-0 lead before the strains of O Canada were barely completed. It looked as if Canada would just pile up the points on the hapless Welsh, then something strange happened, the Welsh started playing rugby and the Canadian team lost the plot. I suspect the Canadian coaches started some of the second string and as the Welsh scored the next 12 points, there was frenetic activity along the sideline as Canadian substitutions were chomping at the bit to get in the game. The half ended 12-10 for the visitors.
It became apparent that comparing the first half teams, the Welsh played better rugby and the Canadians relied on pure athleticism. The field was constantly littered with Welsh bodies after crunching tackles from the stronger Canadian players. An example of where strength doesn't always overcome skill was in the scrum, where the smaller Welsh pack owned their Canadian counterparts, at least for the first half. The Canadians seemed totally without a plan on offense in the first half and continuously and naively lost ball in contact. It was getting to the point where it was a 50-50 toss up whenever a Canadian ball carrier was tackled as to who would win the ensuing ruck. Supporting forwards were either not getting there or not doing their job when they arrived.
Several key substitutes were made in the second half by the Canadian coaches and the Welsh never got a sniff of the goal line after that. It took a while for the second half team to gel but then they discovered their speedy wings and fullback and put 3 quick tries on the board, one of them converted. It all started at the breakdown where Canadian forwards were finding their rhythm and clearing out lingering Welsh defenders, the scrum half could then get quick ball out to the backs who had some room to manoeuver. It all seemed so simple when it was working well.
Canadian forward rumbles ahead with backup support, second half action
Photo by Mark Bryant (editor@bcrugbynews.com)
Lisa Cooper gives her report on Canada's 18-0 victory over Wales, along with Mike Szaszik's photos
posted feb 21 2005
by Lisa Cooper
BC Rugby News made its way up to the Cowichan Rugby Club on Saturday afternoon to watch the Canadian women’s under 19 game and were very impressed with what we saw on the field.
 | Canada 18 - Wales 0
photo by Mike Szaszik (mikeszaszik@shaw.ca) |
These young Canadian players are a talented bunch who played a very spirited game with lots of exciting play for the 300 plus fans including some huge hits which have become so characteristic of Canadian rugby. The team kept the ball tight in their strong forward pack and at the right opportunities Canada’s #9 presented excellent ball for the backs who showed great pace, flair and support to score.
The downside of this game was that it got quite scrappy and messy in the rucks at times which significantly slowed the game in the second half. Had the ref and touch judges taken control of cleaning this up (touch judges had no way of communicating with the ref) perhaps we would have seen more from these two teams on the scoreboard.
 | #4 Tammy Gerbert - BC Rugby News 'Player of the Match'
photo by Mike Szaszik (mikeszaszik@shaw.ca) |
Canadian head coach Brad Skene was really impressed with his team’s play overall.
Only having three returning players to this team meant that he had a relatively new team walking out on the field and he wasn’t sure how they would react to the pressure of their first international. To their credit, the girls stepped up and surprised Skene and came away the victors in a hard fought match on a beauty of a day. Skene felt some notable players on the day were #6 Jen Kish and #10 Candace Barry.
BC Rugby News chose #4 Tammy Gerbert from Quesnel, B.C as our player of the match. Tammy made some great tackles and did a lot of great work around pitch.
Tammy has played rugby for about 3 years, but due to the seasons in Quesnel has only played a total of 10 months. “I had a lot of fun playing in this game and the girls on the team are really supportive”. This is Tammy’s first game for Canada and in our opinion, it won’t be her last.
Canada plays Wales again on Tuesday at Shawnigan Lake School at 1:00pm and will meet up again at the end of June for a tour to Minnesota for matches against the U.S.
MORE PHOTOS BY MIKE SZASZIK
CANADA UNDER 19 GIRLS INTERNATIONAL TEST vs WALES
RUGBY WEEKEND AT COWICHAN
by John James
posted Feb 14 2005
The Cowichan Valley will be hosting a world class International Rugby Test this weekend. Wales vs Canada on Saturday, February 19th with the kick-off at 2:30pm at the Cowichan Rugby Club's Herd Road Field.
The Welsh international Under 19 Women's team, one of the top Junior teams in the world, will be matched up against the Canadian Women's U-19 squad. The Canadian girls are currently holding training camp throughout the week at Shawnigan Lake School, here in the Valley, and will finish up with two matches against the Welsh side who are flying into town later this week and will be making the Silver Bridge Inn their headquarters while here in Duncan for the week.
The Welsh are known for their physical brand of rugby, and according to Coach, Brad Skene, the girls from the Old Country will be big and mobile. Skene, who coaches the U-19 Canadian National side, hails from Duncan and currently teaches at Cowichan High School and plays local rugby with Cowichan RFC. He indicates the Canadians will be up for the game and plan to use their quickness to try and styme the slower, bigger Welsh Ladies.
Local Valley favourites playing for Canada will be Vice Captain, and local star, Katlin Gibbons playing at stand off and Jennifer Waddy who will be playing either wing or fullback.
Cowichan's Rugby is a full service facility with covered seating for 400, concession, parking and other amenities condusive to the game of rugby. Admission is by donation.
A complete roster of the Canadian team is below.
A second match will played later next week and will be hosted by Shawnigan Lake School.
Canada U19 Women's Squad
Elissa Alarie QC full back
Nicole Bailey ON lock
Stephanie Bailey ON flanker
Candace Barry BC fly half
Tandra Carvery NS hooker/flanker
Jayne Cation (c) ON centre
Brianne Cordick BC wing/fullback
Jessica Dovanne BC centre/wing
Katherine Foulds ON fly half
Tammy Gebert BC lock
Katlin Gibbons BC centre/wing
Michelle Joslin ON prop/flanker/hooker
Jennifer Kish AB lock/backrow
Cassie MacKenzie PEI scrum half
Leysa Matity SK hooker/backrow
Lana McInnis SK hooker/flanker
Martha Goodrow ON fullback
Elie Papineau QC prop
Ashley Patzer AB full back/wing
Kelly Russell ON lock/backrow
Laura Russell ON lock/backrow
Rachel Spearing ON scrum half
Tabitha Stavrou ON prop
Nicole Tyminski SK prop
Jennifer Waddy BC full back/wing
Natascha Wesch ON Coach
Brad Skene BC Coach
Eva Havaris ON Manager
John James
Cowichan RFC
Canadian U19 Women’s News - Two matches against Welsh U19 Women on Feb 13th and Feb 19th
posted Jan 28, 2005
It will be an exciting year for the National U19 women's team this year. The team meets on Feb 13th to prepare for games against the Welsh U19 Women on Saturday Feb 19th at Cowichan Rugby Club, 2:30pm KO and Wednesday Feb 22nd at Shawnigan Lake School, 1pm KO. The camp that was held in December was very effective for selecting the team for the upcoming series against Wales. Shawnigan Lake School was an ideal setting for the players to trial and the school, with the great help of Gary Dukelow, again will be a wonderful facility to train for these upcoming two games.
This year's team only has 3 returning players from the UK tour early last summer. Jayne Cation (Ont), Katlin Gibbons (BC) and Leysa Matity (SASK) will be expected to lead this inexperienced group against the team they beat 15-12 during the UK Tour. "With the attitude and athletic ability of the players at the December camp and the class shown by the group selected," said coach Brad Skene, "we are expecting players to rise to the occasion and to find a few diamonds in the rough."
In addition, the team is in the early planning stages of a June trip to play the US U19’s in Minnesota. To select the squad for this trip, Natasch Wesch and Skene will analyze the performance of players selected for the Welsh games and then revisit the performance of players on the long list who were not picked for the immediate camp. The squad may change in the future depending on player’s form.
RUGBY CANADA U19 WOMEN’S TEAM TRAINING CAMP/INBOUND TOUR SQUAD – 2005
Elissa Alarie QC full back
Nicole Bailey ON lock
Stephanie Bailey ON flanker
Candace Barry BC fly half
Tandra Carvery NS hooker/flanker
Jayne Cation ON centre
Brianne Cordick BC wing/fullback
Jessica Dovanne BC centre/wing
Katherine Foulds ON fly half
Tammy Gebert BC lock
Katlin Gibbons BC centre/wing
Michelle Joslin ON prop/flanker/hooker
Jennifer Kish AB lock/backrow
Cassie MacKenzie PEI scrum half
Leysa Matity SK hooker/backrow
Lana McInnis SK hooker/flanker
Martha Goodrow ON fullback
Elie Papineau QC prop
Ashley Patzer AB full back/wing
Kelly Russell ON lock/backrow
Laura Russell ON lock/backrow
Rachel Spearing ON scrum half
Tabitha Stavrou ON prop
Nicole Tyminski SK prop
Jennifer Waddy BC full back/wing
Natascha Wesch ON Coach
Brad Skene BC Coach
Eva Havaris ON Manager
Review of the Canadian U19 Women’s Camp held in December at Shawnigan Lake School
[ed. the selection list should be published within the next two weeks]
by Brad Skene
Jan. 3, 2005
The U19 Canadian Women’s Shawnigan Lake School Camp last December was used to select the 2005 team. From December 4th – 9th, 44 athletes from around the country traveled to BC and Shawnigan Lake School to demonstrate their abilities. The selection process began the summer before at the 2004 National Festival. A number of selectors from all levels of the women’s national programs studied athletes during the U17 and U19 women’s tournaments. The National Festival is an outstanding venue for the players to perform, be identified and be evaluated. A long list of 50 players was created after the Festival.
BC was well represented at the National Festival by its U17 team and U19 teams. From the bronze winning U17 team, Candace Barry and Shannon Lambie attended the U19 national camp. The U19 team, which won gold and comprised largely of players in their last eligible year of U19 participation, had Jenna Waddy, Tammy Gebert, Jess Dovanne, Katlin Gibbons, Brianne Cordick and Catherine Regan at the December camp.
The first day of the camp included fitness testing in the morning and in the afternoon, drills and game situations were used to evaluate player’s skill level. The second day of camp began with snow falling, this was surprising since the west coast of BC was picked for its mild and predictable weather. The players and coaching staff endured the cold and snow. The eastern athletes may have enjoyed a small advantage over the temperate west coasters. The second and third days of the camp were filled with drills and game scenarios used to test players and teach standards, expectations and patterns of the national U19 team. A trial game was played on the final day of the camp. Referee John de Goode orchestrated a fine and flowing performance by the athletes. The coaches Brad Skene (BC) and Natascha Wesch (Ontario), and selectors Frank Ellestad, Ron Glass and Neil Langevin (National Senior Women’s coach) were impressed by the high level of play. The attitude and effort of the players throughout the camp was outstanding and the game demonstrated their level of desire and commitment.
The U19 National Women’s team will gather at Shawnigan Lake School for a camp to play the U19 Welsh team on February 19th at Cowichan RFC and on the 22nd at Shawnigan Lake School. Game times are anticipated to be at 2:30pm. A second event in 2005 has the Canadian team traveling in late June to play the U19 USA team but this is only in preliminary discussions.
U19 Women's Selection camp at Shawnigan Lake
[ed. below is the original article by Rugby Canada, the camp was held at Shawnigan Lake and is now completed. We're hoping to get a story on the success of the camp. Also news that the Welsh U19 Women will be travelling to BC in February.]
December 06, 2004
Victoria, BC
It's an exciting time again for the Under 19 Women's program as they embark on a 5-day camp in Victoria to select the next group of athletes to represent Canada in this age group. 45 participants have been selected from across the country and have been training for the last 3 months in preparation for their opportunity to compete amongst the best for a spot in this program. With the exception of three players who participated in the U19 tour to Wales during the summer of 2004, the remaining 42 participants attending will be new to the program. U19 player selections are slated to be announced shortly after the new year.
U19 Women's Long List – December Selection Camp
Elissa Alarie - QC
Nicole Bailey - ON
Stephanie Bailey - ON
Candace Barry - BC
Andrea Boulter - PEI
Tandra Carvery - NS
Jayne Cation - ON
Joannah Clift - NF
Brianne Cordick - BC
Natalie Davis - MB
Isabelle Delwaide - QC
Natacha Desroches - QC
Ellan Dickieson - PEI
Jessica Dovanne - BC
Jill Eaden - BC
Katherine Foulds - ON
Jillian Gagnon - AB
Kate Gauley - QC
Tammy Gebert - BC
Katlin Gibbons - BC
Martha Goodrow - ON
Stephanie Harland - MB
Robin Hunter - QC
Michelle Joslin - ON
Jennifer Kish - AB
Niki Kolskog - AB
Shannon Lambie - BC
Cassie MacKenzie - PEI
Leysa Matity - SK
Lana McInnis - SK
Erica Moeskau - AB
Michelle Mullie - SK
Jacey Murphy - ON
Kayla Ormond - AB
Elie Papineau - QC
Ashley Patzer - AB
Catherine Regan - BC
Kelly Russell - ON
Laura Russell - ON
Rachel Spearing - ON
Tabitha Stavrou - ON
Nicole Tyminski - SK
Jennifer Waddy - BC
Monica Waite - PEI
Megan Witbeck - SK
Natascha Wesch – Coach
Brad Skene - Coach
Eva Havaris - Manager
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