Game Report: Sat. July 7, 2004

Aurora Barbarians U-19 Women
The U19 girls’ second game last Wednesday (July 7) against Caledon was big improvement over their opener. The skies over Bolton opened up about 20 minutes before game time, thoroughly drenching the players and spectators and erasing the powdered lines on the field. Caledon focused on their big forwards to rumble the ball slowly down the field, utilizing rolling mauls effectively. Fortunately, they knocked on in the end zone, and Aurora adjusted to this tactic. Caledon did score first 10 minutes in, but Barbs were able to answer shortly after when Katie Quinn turned on the jets, and beat three defenders to cross the try line.

The game became a see-saw affair. When Caledon had the ball, the game slowed to a game of short gains. When the Barbs had the ball, the runs were fast and only barely contained. Caledon scored a second converted try in the second half, which again, Katie Quinn answered with another great run to score a try, and then kicked a convert to tie the game. Caledon scored another try late in the game. Despite playing the remaining five minutes inside the Caledon half, Aurora simply ran out of time. Final score: 17 - 12. The girls came off the field knowing they had a tie or victory within their grasp. They look forward to playing Markham at Fletcher’s on July 14 and trying to notch their first win.

Sat. July 10, 2004

U-16 Barbarians Off to Strong Start
The young Aurora Barbarians rugby team capped off a strong week of practice with a decisive 30-5 victory over the Nomads from Toronto on Saturday. The Barbs were led on the day by strong performances from Adam Hankins at the number 8 spot, Sandy Craig at Fly half and Rob Egan at Fullback. Adam's crunching tackles and powerful running created a strong platform for the backs to attack and they responded well creating four tries.Sandy counted two tries, a penalty and a conversion and James Hulbert and Mendela Caesar added other tries. The try of the match however, was a sixty metre solo dash by Rob Egan as he returned a kick and ran through the entire Nomads squad to touch down for a superb score.

The Barbs are now 2 and 1 for the season and are poised to make another run at the provincial finals. The Barbs also had some other good news as both Sandy Craig and James Hulbert were selected to the Ontario U-16 team currently preparing for the National Championships. Sandy and James were selected from a series of try out camps held province wide which attracted over 200 of the best players in the province. Sandy will be touring with the team to Indianapolis in July and both players will represent Aurora and the Barbs well should they be called upon for the Nationals.