ONTARIO BLUES DEFEAT BC BEARS TO ADVANCE TO CRC FINALS

(Calgary, AB) - The Ontario Blues Senior Men had a chance to book their ticket to the MacTier Cup Final (Canadian Rugby Championship Final) when they played in the semi-finals on Thursday. They had to go through the defending champions though in the BC Bears - the team that beat the Blues in the 2017 MacTier Cup Final by a score of 30-29. The Ontario Blues were able to enact revenge on the BC squad and won the semi-final match by an impressive 58-36 margin.

The stage was set for the Blues to have a dazzling performance with multiple players on the roster having caps for Canada on the Men’s National 15’s and 7’s sides, as well as multiple players having represented the Ontario Arrows Rugby Club.

Andrew Ferguson kick-started the game for the Blues, scoring a try by slipping through a partial gap, giving the Blues an early 5-0 lead. The BC Bears were then penalized deep in their own territory, giving Ferguson an opportunity to slot a penalty in close. He made no mistake slotting the kick to make it 8-5. The Bears would not go away in the first half showing resilience and answering to every try the Blues scored within seconds. The Blues turned it on in the last ten minutes of the first half, though. Pete Milazzo and Kainoa Lloyd both scored tries to give Ontario the 27-15 lead going into the second half.

In the second half, Lucas Rumball made a slick play at the breakdown, catching the Bears defence overcommitting and sneaking his way untouched under the posts for a score. The Rumball try increased the Blues lead to 34-15. Lloyd scored his second of the game from another defensive lapse by the Bears, breaking away clean on a nice blindside run to start putting the game out of reach at 41-15. Kieron Martin slotted a penalty from deep to make it 44-15 and Eric Howard increased the Blues lead to 51-22 with a quick try in succession to Martin’s penalty. The Blues started to have some defensive breakdowns late in the game and let the Bears back into it with two quick tries, making it 51-36. Mitch Richardson put the game out of reach late to make the final score 58-36.

The Ontario Blues Senior Men will play the Atlantic Rock in the MacTier Cup. They spilt the first two games of their Canadian Rugby Championship campaign, with the Rock beating the boys from Ontario in Montreal 34-22 and the Blues winning on home soil in Burlington by a score of 22-9.

Try Scorers – Kainoa Lloyd (2), Peter Milazzo, Mitch Richardson, Lucas Rumball, Paul Ciulini, Andrew Ferguson, Eric Howard

Conversions – Andrew Ferguson (5)

Penalties – Andrew Ferguson (2) Kieron Martin

For more information on the Canadian Rugby Championship, go to www.canadianrugbychampionship.com. For more information on the Ontario Blues Senior Men’s program, go to www.rugbyontario.com/blues-senior-men/.

Ontario Blues Starting XV vs. BC Bears - August 23, 2018

1. Djustice Sears-Duru, Crusaders

2. Andrew Quattrin, Aurora Barbarians/Ontario Arrows

3. Rob Brouwer, Lindsay RFC/Ontario Arrows (Capt.)

4. Paul Ciulini, Aurora Barbarians/Ontario Arrows

5. Kolby Francis, Brantford Harlequins/Ontario Arrows

6. Peter Milazzo, Toronto Scottish/Ontario Arrows

7. Marcello Wainwright, Toronto Scottish/Ontario Arrows

8. Lucas Rumball, Balmy Beach

9. Andrew Ferguson, Crusaders/Ontario Arrows

10. Shawn Windsor, Stoney Creek Camels/Ontario Arrows (Vice Capt.)

11. John Sheridan, Markham Irish/Ontario Arrows

12. Jamie Leveridge, Crusaders/Ontario Arrows

13. Andrew Coe, Markham Irish

23. Kainoa Lloyd, Mississauga Blues/Ontario Arrows

15. Lucas Hammond, Toronto Nomads

Reserves

16. Eric Howard, Brantford Harlequins/New Orleans Gold

17. Roman Cao-Riquelme, University of Montreal Carabins

18. Douglas Wooldridge, Lindsay RFC

20. Ben Jones, Balmy Beach

21. Riley Dinardo, Toronto Scottish

22. Mitch Richardson, Stoney Creek Camels/Ontario Arrows

25. Kieron Martin, Hamilton Hornets

26. Josh Van Horne, Brantford Harlequins/Ontario Arrows

Coaching Staff

Head Coach-Chris Silverthorn

Assistant Coach-Cory Hector

Assistant Coach-Aaron Carpenter

Manager-Mark Winokur

Performance Analyst-Rodin Lozada

Ontario Blues Senior Men’s Canadian Rugby Championship Schedule

GAME 1: Blues 22 - 34 Atlantic Rock – August 4, 2018 – Montreal QC

GAME 2: Atlantic Rock 9 - 22 Blues – August 7, 2018 – Burlington ON

SEMI FINAL: Blues 58 - 36 BC Bears - August 23, 2018 - Calgary AB

GOLD: Blues vs. Atlantic Rock - August 26, 2018 at 4pm ET – Calgary, AB (Calgary Rugby Park)