(NATLFEST) BC teams advance to semifinals at Nationals in Sherbrooke
Published Thursday, August 9, 2012
by Andrew Smith, BC Rugby Communications
SHERBROOKE - All four British Columbia provincial rugby teams are through to the Rugby Canada National Championships semifinals after impressive outings on day two of the competition which is currently underway at Bishop's University.
The BC U18 men and BC U16-1 Gold team both went undefeated in pool play and posted 4-0 records. The BC U18 women bounced back from a tough 1-1 opening day with two convincing victories as they blanked Manitoba 48-0 and downed New Brunswick 92-0. The BC-2 U16 Blue team narrowly lost 0-12 to the BC-1 U16 Gold and were awarded a default 15-0 win after Quebec were unable to field a full lineup due to injuries.
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BC U18 Men - National Championships Wed. August 8th: BC 36-5 vs Ontario-2 Wed. August 8th: BC 55-0 Newfoundland Thurs. August 9th: BC 68-0 Manitoba Thurs. August 9th: BC 27-0 Nova Scotia Saturday August 11th: SEMIFINALS BC vs Ontario (12:00pm KO at Grant Field) Sunday August 12th: Placement Finals
Reigning champions British Columbia and 2011 runners-up Ontario are set to square off in this year's semifinals. BC clinched the top seed with four straight wins over Ontario-2, Newfoundland, Manitoba and Nova Scotia. While their offence ran rampant scoring 186 points, BC's defence was especially impressive having conceded just one try in 160 minutes of rugby.
Ontario stumbled in their opening match against hosts Quebec as they fell 5-17 and then narrowly edged Alberta 12-8 on day one. The Eastern powerhouse bounced back on Thursday morning, however, with a 76-7 win over Saskatchewan and a 33-10 victory over Ontario-2.
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BC U18 Women - National Championships Wed. August 8th: BC 13 - 0 Saskatchewan Wed. August 8th: BC 10-15 Alberta Thurs. August 9th: BC 48-0 Manitoba Thurs. August 9th: BC 92-0 New Brunswick Saturday August 11th: SEMIFINALS BC vs Alberta (3:00pm KO at Field 2) Sunday August 12th: Placement Finals
British Columbia's U18 women's provincial team are through to the semifinals after going 3-1 in pool play at the National Championships. BC will have the opportunity to avenge their only loss of the tournament, when they battle Alberta in the semifinals on Saturday at 3:00pm. Alberta had previously edged BC 15-10 on Wednesday afternoon. On Thursday, BC held both Manitoba and New Brunswick scoreless as they recorded 140 points in offence and clinched the third seed ahead of the playoff rounds.
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BC-1 U16 Gold - National Championships Wed. August 8th: BC-1 Gold 45-0 New Brunswick Wed. August 8th: BC-1 Gold 42-0 Alberta Thurs. August 9th: BC-1 Gold 12-0 BC-2 Blue Thurs. August 9th: BC-1 Gold 41-5 Ontario-2 Saturday August 11th: SEMIFINALS BC-1 U16 Gold vs BC-2 U16 Blue (10:30am KO at Grant Field) Sunday August 12th: Placement Finals
British Columbia's U16 Gold team faced their toughest opponents of the tournament on Friday when they defeated fellow provincial reps BC U16 Blue by a 12-0 score line. Jack Nyren recorded a brace of tries and Nick Collett tacked on a conversion to round out the scoring. In their four round-robin matches, BC recorded 140 points in offence and conceded one try - against Ontario-2.
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BC-2 U16 Blue - National Championships Wed. August 8th: BC-2 Blue 8-7 Ontario-1 Wed. August 8th: BC-2 Blue 42-0 New Brunswick Thurs. August 9th: BC-2 Blue 0-12 BC-1 Gold Thurs. August 9th: BC-2 Blue 15-0 Quebec (Quebec Defaulted) Saturday August 11th: SEMIFINALS BC-1 U16 Gold vs BC-2 U16 Blue (10:30am KO at Grant Field) Sunday August 12th: Placement Finals
The BC-2 U16 Blue men's team wrapped up the round-robin with a 3-1 record after recording a loss and a default win on Friday. The BC-2s recorded a major upset on Thursday with a 8-7 win over Ontario-1 and then blanked New Brunswick 42-0. On day two the squad were held scoreless by fellow provincial reps BC-1 U16 Gold and unfortunately were unable to play Quebec due to the hosts having too many injuries to field a full match roster. With the default 15-0 win, the BC-2s will be seeded fourth heading into the playoffs and will take on top-seeded BC-1 Gold in the semifinals on Saturday.