Prems Game Report
Thomas Burton led the way with eighteen points, as JBAA made it two wins from two following their 38-20 victory over UVIC on Saturday afternoon at MacDonald Park.
A healthy collection of new and tenured and old and young JBAA fans were in attendance on a mild Saturday afternoon deep in James Bay. Shouts from ardent Bays’ supporters Vader Waddell and Mother Hubbard drowned out any attempts at heckling from the student peanut gallery.
Also in attendance was former Bays’ and Canada captain Hans de Goede, shouting his usual “Come on you Bays!” throughout the day. Dave Ramsay fresh off heckling UVIC third division players provided a quiet confidence from the sidelines. Barry Robbins outwitted any and all attempts at quips from the students while also carrying on thorough discussions about our Prime Minister on the Bays’ touchline. And, of course, manager Mike de Goede provided the most insight – from the highest of high yells of delight to the lowest of low moans, groans, and curses of despair.
A few phases into the match, nervous Bays’ hands toss a pass straight out of bounds. A collective sigh is let out from the JBAA faithful.
The first points of the match comes at five minutes when the UVIC goal kicker slots a penalty just to the right of the posts. 3-0 UVIC.
Off the ensuing kickoff, a nervous Vike forward errs, catching the ball while standing in touch. Moments later, after sustained pressure from the JBAA Foreign Legion of Rhys Gregory and man-of-the-match Jean Charles Fidende, the Vikes give away a penalty in their own territory. The man from the land of Samuel de Champlain, Thomas Burton, makes no mistake with the penalty. 3-3.
Thomas adds two more penalties over the next ten minutes, bringing the Bays’ lead to six points (that’s 9-3 JBAA for those who struggle with numbers), predominantly as a result of pressure from the now two-hundred pound but just as fast Nathan Tough out wide, and the happy-he’s-on-our-team-not-on-yours constant annoyance from Bay number eight, Carson O’Sullivan, at and around the breakdown.
At twenty-two minutes, and from the JBAA twenty-two meter line, UVIC pull a penalty kick attempt wide. Jake Slobodian and Cole Braid, who both play like they weigh the same as Blake van Heyningen, connect from the twenty-two drop-out, easing the UVIC pressure.
Ten minutes from halftime, Rhys Gregory jukes and steps at midfield gathering a good twenty meters of territory, mounting pressure on the UVIC defense. But it’s not meant to be, as a penalty is awarded to UVIC. They clear to their own forty, and from the line-out, a tackle and jackal from Mitch Sora and Mike Nieuwenhuysen. The Vike holds on and it penalized in front of his own posts. Thomas misses the penalty kick, but from the drop-out Mitch cuts and chips, nearly tallying. The UVIC defender carries the ball into his own in-goal before touching it down, though, so a five meter scrum is awarded to James Bay. The Bays tight-five of Blake, JC, Nic Krawczyk, Peter Massimo, and Jim de Goede set a solid foundation at the scrum, allowing the nine-ten-fifteen set piece to go exactly as planned. Aaron Evison dots down. Thomas makes no mistake with the conversion. Half one ends 16-3 JBAA.
Half two begins with multiple UVIC phases that ultimately result in knock-ons and Bays’ scrums. It’s important to note that if UVIC avoided these handling errors, this game would have been a different story. It’s also important to note that the line speed from the JBAA defense most definitely contributed to the Vikes’ handling errors.
Minutes later, JC of France picks from the breakdown, and steps through the UVIC ruck, dotting down under the posts. Thomas of Quebec makes no mistake. 23-3 JBAA.
At ten minutes, after multiple phases of broken play between the teams’ twenty-twos, a UVIC chip kick lands in Aaron Evison’s hands. He runs like late-nineties American 200m sprinter, Michael Johnson – perfectly upright – sprinting past a few would-be UVIC tacklers before offloading to Mike Nieuwenhuysen. Mike jaunts a few more yards, and sees JC on his inside, ready to collect the pass and score, but a UVIC player bats the ball down, killing the play. The student sees yellow, and Thomas finds touch. The Blue Crush mauls deep in UVIC territory, but can’t find the in-goal. Jake Slobodian’s running continues to put UVIC on the back foot, eventually winning a penalty for JBAA. Thomas slots the penalty. 26-3 JBAA.
John Buck scores from a mistimed UVIC back three passing play shortly after the restart. Thomas is unsuccessful with the boot. 31-3 JBAA. Not long after, the students score from a drive in the corner, but miss the conversion. 31-8 JBAA.
At twenty minutes, Aaron Evison receives a gift from above. A UVIC drop-out lands in his hands while he’s perfectly upright and in stride. He steps through the UVIC defense, dotting down. Thomas succeeds with the conversion. 38-8 JBAA.
Five minutes later, tempers flare, but credit to the referee and his team for calming it down quickly. UVIC score two tries in the last ten minutes, one of which is converted. It’s too little too late, though, as the Bays come away from the first match in the Bays-Vikes Challenge ahead by eighteen points.
Credit to both teams for an entertaining afternoon, and credit to the referee and his team for being unnoticed – the best way a referee team can be.
As noted earlier, had UVIC minimized their mistakes, the afternoon could have looked a lot different. But credit to the Bays’ defense for forcing the UVIC errors. JC was immense all afternoon, Rhys provided quick ball from the base early and often, Cole and Jake were am annoyance at the best of times, and the JBAA pack dominated at scrum and lineout time.
Speaking with Bays’ captain Blake van Heyningen post-game, and after first having to listen to him espouse the brilliance of famed Vic West eatery Chicken on the Run for a few minutes, he remarked: “we put together a comprehensive game plan and executed, but it’s only September, and it’s only been two games.” The quiet confidence is appreciated.
Game report courtesy of Bernhard the Brewer
Premier Reserves and Third Division Reports
In the premier reserve game (aka the firsts), hard-running Tom Eton made his mark seven minutes into the match with a barging run to put the Bays up 5-nil. Five minutes later an innocuous Norseman kick is allowed to bounce inside the Bays 22 and fortuitously lands in a charging UVIC player's hands. Convert good. 12-5.
The contest quickly becomes obvious with the Bays being superior in the forwards and the students having the edge with the backs. Following the UVIC tally JBAA put together 16 phases of assault, led by Ben Johnson and Tom Eton. This eventually resulted in a try by Etienne Roberts. Without the convert we have a 12-10 UVIC lead. A score just prior to the half, makes the score 19-10 for the visitors.
Going uphill the second half, without the hard-running Ben Johnson, (now resting a recurring knee injury) the task looks formidable for the Bays. UVIC is making unlimited substitutions from a monstrous pool of players (like the UVIC endowment), while the Bays soldier on subless. Strangely, the Bays take it to the students for the first 10 minutes of the second half and are awarded a penalty kick, promptly missed, unfortunately. However, at the 20 minute mark Etienne is sprung loose to score and with the ensuing convert by JT Boheme the score becomes 19-17.
After a yellow card is given to the Norseman for repeated high tackles, the Bays have yet another penalty attempt to go ahead...not to be...flubbed.
Another bout of missed tackles allows the students to make the score 26-17 as fitness and player depth begins to take it's toll on the home squad. Incredibly, the Bays rally to pressure UVIC and are rewarded with a nifty try by Sean Stewart and with the Boheme convert are able to pull within two points.
With one minute remaining, the students plunge a dagger into the Blue Machine as a surprised student scoops up the ball from his own 22m line and runs through a sea of injured blue-jerseyed bodies for an easy tally to seal the victory with a score of 33-24.
Not the win we hoped for, but considerably better than the 80 point loss of last year's first game against the same outfit.
The third division team lost 28-24 to Saxons. Tom Hollingsworth, David Ramsay, Tony Healy, Brad Underwood and Jacob de Goede lead our veteran squad. Jacob, of course, facewashed a number of the students, because he could. Jonathan Poppitt of JBAA was the Man of the Match; playing in his first rugby game ever! An ex-football player, Jonathan recently lost 60lbs from a forced diet initiated by his wife. His son plays for our juniors so 'he decided to go for it.’
Game report courtesy of The Black Rat