Game Report: July 12, 2007

Senior Men's First Team
Week 7: Aurora Barbarians RFC (ABRFC) 30 - Irish Canadian RC 11

The week 7 fixture against the Irish Canadian RC in the 2007 was a rare mid-week evening game, re-scheduled to accommodate the RCSL game this Saturday. The Aurora Barbarians RFC played well to maintain their unbeaten record with their sixth win and fifth bonus point, and recorded the league double against the Irish.

The Barbs team was one of the strongest that the club has been able to field this season, with the return of Ollie Atkinson from NSMT duty and no major injury problems from last Saturday’s game against Stoney Creek RFC. There is continuity of selection and this is beginning to show results as players settle into regular positions, and develop timing and trust. In contrast, the Irish Canadians are re-building, and had a number of recent acquisitions on display in the backs, mixed with a number of longer service forwards.

This was a game that Aurora Fly-half Dave Poettcker will remember as he scored the rugby equivalent of the “cycle”, namely a try, a penalty, a dropped goal and two conversions – no mean achievement!! In addition to this excellent display from Dave, the team played well and Marco diGirolamo scored an inspirational try at a key point on the game. More on these outstanding achievements later in this report, first the sequence of scoring.

The Irish came out flying, with their three stalwarts in the back row, (Mark Thompson, George Azar and Steve Conlon), playing inspired rugby – they led the Irish pack ferociously in the opening 15 minutes, and consistently “out-rucked” the Barbs. On the very first possession Aurora were penalised by referee Dan Berry and the Irish jumped into a 3 – 0 lead. From the restart, the Barbs caught the Irish in an offside position and Dave P. started his cycle with a penalty, all tied after 3 minutes at 3 – 3.

At the 12 minute mark the Irish fly-half put a kick deep into the Barbs 22 and Marco “Deej” took the ball and in his best sevens form decided to run – he beat his opposite winger on the out-side and ran down the touchline to the half way line, where he put a deep kick through to the Irish 22 and followed up to hack the ball to the Irish goal line and fall on the ball to score a remarkable and inspirational try. This 10 point turnaround, (from an Irish attack deep in the Barbs 22 to a score 90 plus meters downfield), was engineered exclusively by Marco’s unique ability to conjure something out of nothing, magnificent!! Dave P. was unable to convert the try, Barbs 8 ICRC 3.

This score inspired the Barbs at a time when the Irish were out-rucking their opposition and the Green Machine came close to scoring when the young Full back dropped the ball in the motion of scoring, a lucky let-off!! Immediately after the Barbs were penalised and the Irish kick was successful to close the score to Barbs 8 ICRC 6. The Barbs now settled down and started to play better rugby and at 22 minutes “Deej” made another clean break in mid-field and when he was finally tackled, set-up a good ruck and the ball moved from Rob Ashwood to Dave P. who crossed for a try in the corner, the second part of his cycle. Dave was unable to kick a difficult conversion, Barbs 13 ICRC 6.

There was a flurry of scoring close to the half time whistle. At 36 minutes Mark Thompson took an Aurora line-out and crashed over for the Irish try, but the conversion was wide, Barbs 13 ICRC 11. From the ensuing kick-off Aurora Flanker Dave Neilsen made an excellent break and play went down into the Irish 22 where after a series of rucks, Referee Beery awarded a penalty try for repeated handling in the ruck by the Irish forwards. Dave P. kicked the conversion and immediately blew for half-time, Aurora Barbs 20 Irish Canadian RC 11.

The second half was a basic replay of the first, with Aurora defending well, when required, and capitalising on their scoring opportunities - the young Irish backs made a number of unforced errors, including the big mistake of frequently missing touch from clearing kicks – at this level of play these mistakes are punished and the Barbs used every opportunity to set-up in the Irish half of the field. A deep kick from Aurora #10, Dave P. took play deep into the Irish 22 and the resulting ruck set-up a huge overlap for the Barbs, the ball moved through three sets of hands to Ollie Atkinson who ran 15 meters for a well taken try - Dave P. was successful with the conversion, Barbs 27 Irish 11.

At this point in the game, Coaches Drew McPherson and Irish Coach Mark Winokur introduced a number of subs from their respective benches. This did not slow the pace of the game and Aurora Barbs kept the pressure on the Irish, and at 70 minutes Aurora won a scrum at the Irish 22 and Dave P. completed his cycle by hitting a clean drop goal; this goal completed the scoring and Dave’s cycle, Aurora Barbarians RFC 30 Irish Canadian RC 11.

This was an interesting game, the first that the Barbs have played against the new look Irish – the Green machine has introduced a number of young players, and it is clear that these “rookies” need a period of time to adjust to the speed and intensity of Marshall games. The Irish made a number of errors at key periods in the game, (missed touch from clearing kicks and penalties and dropped balls), and the Barbs punished the opposition by turning these mistakes into scoring opportunities. In their best tradition, the Irish did not quit and this was a clean and strongly contested game – better days are ahead for the Irish as they re-build through youth, not an easy exercise.

The Barbs had a good outing and continue to look impressive in all areas of the game – the pack worked extremely hard and the backs showed their usual speed, exciting running and expansive game. The excellent performance by Dave Poettcker and Marco diGirolamo were inspirational and the Aurora back row had another tremendous game with Shaun Allen, Dave Neilsen and Nolan Ott playing outstanding rugby. As usual a number of “unsung heroes” put in the solid effort that they contribute week in and week out – prop Dan Resnik had a big game and Steve Bowie worked hard in the loose. Leighton put in 40 solid minutes and his substitute, Matt Chown played a good second half as he grows in experience and confidence.

All in all a good performance, as the unbeaten season continues through week 7. Clearly, the Barbs are on a roll and will look to extend their run against the Toronto Saracens RFC in their next scheduled game on July 21, (subject to decisions on the clash of fixtures with the RCSL).