The Seattle Seawolves defeated Vancouver Island’s Crimson Tide 48-7, on December 22nd at City Centre Park. The match was streamed on the https://www.facebook.com/VancouverIslandTide/. Prior to the match, the Seawolves conducted a free youth clinic for ages 10-15.
Seattle Seawolves vs. Vancouver Island Rugby Union Crimson Tide Recap
The first half was a very competitive one with the Seattle Seawolves taking a 19-7 lead at the break. The Crimson Tide are playing for MLR contract and Canada Head Coach Kingsley Jones is at the match, looking at potential players for Canada.
The Seawolves took an early lead with Mat Turner taking the ball in the wide channel in for a try with Brock Staller missing the conversion.
The Crimson Tide attacked to within 2-meters of the line, but a penalty allowed the Seawolves to clear. The Crimson Tide attacked again with Jared Stephens finding a gap. After a penalty by Seattle, the Crimson Tide elected to not kick for points and kicked to touch. Their ensuing lineout was then stolen by Aladdin Schirmer. This created a Seawolves attack with Mat Turner accelerating through the wide channel for his second try. Staller slotted the conversion for a 12-0 lead.
The Crimson Tide had the second intercept of a Seawolves pass and then won a scrum penalty. The ball was turned over at the breakdown by Mike Shepherd and Peter Tiberio finished off the attack with a try under the posts. Staller again converted pushing the lead to 19-0.
The Crimson Tide scored their first try just prior to the break as James O’Neill powered his way in-goal. Cam Hall slotted the conversion cutting the lead to 19-7 at the break.
Seattle attack from the onset of the second half, but the Tide defense stood strong repelling multiple attacks. Peter Tiberio finally scored on a switch and Brock Staller converted for a 24-7 lead.
The Seawolves attacked again swinging the ball wide left and Peter Tiberio offloaded inside to Phil Mack for a try and a 31-7 lead.
Then it was the Tide’s turn to attack reaching within 2-meters of the line before a knock on thwarted their attack. The Seawolves capitalized from a Roland Suniula break and Scott Dean finished with a try, pushing the lead to 36-7.
Hope Motokana, who entered the match at scrum-half, attacked the 9 channel from a scrum for a try and Ben Cima converted for a 43-7 lead.
The Tide defense held off a Seawolves attack, defending their goal, but Vili Toluta’u powered over the line for a final try to end the match at 48-7.
At half-time Canada Head Coach was asked about who stood out for the Tide and Jared Stephens was the first name mentioned. he is a firefighter and is a player on Canada’s radar and perhaps other MLR clubs. Captain Luke Campbell’s name was also mentioned. Phil Mack was mentioned for the Seawolves.
The Seawolves power, line speed, and lineout prowess stood out, however with the rain, knock-ons, and penalties will be addressed as the team returns to practice.
The Crimson Tide scrum was very effective and their red zone defense worked well. The lineouts needed some work, along with handling errors. The team trained three times together and with the rain, handling was problematic for both sides.
The match between the Seawolves and the Crimson Tide will be played each year with next year’s match in Seattle. Players played well on both sides and several players may be signing MLR contracts in the near future.
The commentary by Bryan Kelly and Gareth Rees was outstanding. Kingsley Jones also mentioned at the break that Canada and the MLR owners have discussed the need for players to be available at critical times for cohesion. It is recognized that the owners have a stake in playing for their teams, but a spirit of cooperation
Squads
Vancouver Island Crimson Tide: 1 John Braddock (Castaway Wanderers) 2 Foster Dewitt (Westshore) 3 Blake Van Heynigen (James Bay) 4 Mike Finnemore (Castaway Wanderers) 5 Shea Wakefield (James Bay) 6 Nathan Stewart (Castaway Wanderers) 7 Kelton Dawe (Castaway Wanderers) 8 Luke Campbell (James Bay) 9 Sam Fowler (Nanaimo) 10 Cam Hall (Castaway Wanderers) 11 Crosby Stewart (UVic) 12 Brandon Schellenberger (Castaway Wanderers) 13 Jared Stephens (Nanaimo) 14 Nate Tough (James Bay) 15 Thomas Burton (James Bay)
Reserves: 16 Andrew MacPherson (James Bay – Prop) 17 Antonio Corbin (Nanaimo – Prop) 18 Clayton Thornber (Castaway Wanderers – Hooker) 19 Hayden Evans (Castaway Wanderers) 20 James O’Neill (UVic – Flanker) 21 Matt Weir (Nanaimo – No. 8) 22 Zephyr Melnyk (Nanaimo- Flanker) 23 Owen Wood (Cowichan – Back) 24 Nabeel Imtiaz (James Bay – FB) 25 Isaac Gonevou (Westshore – Center) 26 Baluci Kegode (Castaway Wanderers – Wing) 27 Jordan Tait (Westshore – W/FB) 28 Mitch Sora (James Bay – Wing) 29 Shane Dagg (Westshore – Wing)
Coaches: Sean White, Aaron Frisby, Nanyak Dala, Simon Fitzgerald Managers: John Lyall, Riley Ilnicki Trainers: Kevin Sommerfeldt, Emily Peck
Seattle Seawolves: 1 Kellen Gordon 2 Mike Shepherd 3 John Hayden 4 Taylor Krumrei 5 Jérémy Lenaerts 6 Eric Duechle 7 Vili Toluta’u 8 Aladdin Schirmer 9 Phil Mack 10 Shalom Suniula 11 Peter Tiberio 12 George Barton 13 William Rasileka 14 Brock Staller 15 Mat Turner Reserves: 16 Dan Trierweiler 17 Cam Polson 18 Brad Tucker 19 Nakai Penny 20 Cole Van Harn 21 Scott Dean 22 Roland Suniula 23 Ben Cima 243 Moses Lalasava 25 Eric Soto 26 Jope Motokana 27 Matt Brennan
Coach: Anton Moolman Manager: Kevin Flynn Physio: Lee Schuster
Referee: Chris Assmus Assistant Referees: Kevin Smith, Latoya Blackwood
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