The Capilano 3B won 51-0 over Surrey Beavers and the 2nd Division Women also won away at Scribes. Those two games were the bright spots on this day for the Caps. The 2nd Division Women continue to sit in first place after this win.
Up first at Jericho was the Premier Reserve team Ravens won this one 53-27.
The premier reserve team has improved somewhat of late, but they are still a rather fragile group. The saving grace is that most of them are young and so they hopefully will improve over time. Ravens in years gone by struggled to field a second 15 but they have improved greatly over the last couple of seasons and now their Reserve team has some very talented players. Ravens posted four unanswered tries before Capilano got on the scoreboard. Ravens missed the conversions but had a healthy 20-0 lead. Caps did respond though and led by big Graeme Buckler who had what is likely his career longest run. The big fellow is tough to handle when he gets his steam up. He didn’t score but unloaded a nifty off load to Matt Lee who was in support and touched down under the sticks. Malcolm Klaver converted and Caps were now on the scoreboard. Caps cut the lead in half with a Malcolm Klaver penalty kick just before the half. The Ravens forwards answered and worked the ball in deep and scored early in the second stanza. Caps managed another try and got it to ten points again with the convert. It was 27-17. After that Ravens number 10 scored a very well deserved try and it was converted by number 15. Sorry I don’t have the player’s names as no program was available. After that it was all Ravens. Tim Adair who came on at the half made put in some hard work for the North Shore team but wasn’t able to put points on the board. I will leave it up to the Ravens scribe, Peter MacDonald, to fill in his teams scorers. Peter always does a fair balanced job on his game summaries. Congratulations to Ravens on the win and thanks to the referee.
The Premier match: Ravens won this game handily by a score of 55-5
Caps have won on this pitch in previous seasons but today it was pretty much all Ravens. It started off well for the visitors and they scored the first try to take a 5-3 lead over the Ravens who had kicked a penalty kick that sailed through from 40 plus meters. Caps try was a good effort as Johnny Franklin got loose and used his speed to get deep into the Ravens end. He got tackled near the goal line, released the ball before picking it up again and stretching for the line. After that it was all Ravens scoring for the rest of the match. Caps haven’t played for four weeks and it showed. They came off a rousing win over UBC then a pretty good effort over Seattle then the rains came and postponed the James Bay game, then came an inopportune bye and and then the Sevens break. If ever a team was off the boil it is this one. They tried hard to do things but it just wasn’t happening. Glen McKinnon suited up after missing the Seattle game and he played well but it wasn’t enough to stop the high flying Ravens who no doubt wanted to get back on the winning track after a loss to the U-Vic Vikes. Ravens were clearly the best side today and they dominated most aspects of the game. The scrums were scary as several times they collapsed. The new rules are supposed to prevent this from happening but today they went down far too many times. The sets were not pretty to watch but the Ravens definitely had the upper hand and used it to their advantage. Referee David Smortchevsky did his best to get the scrums right but it was a problem area all game long. Caps host Nanaimo on Saturday and will have to get their game back together and avenge the loss to the Hornets in Nanaimo.
Congratulations to the Ravens on their solid victory and thanks to David Smortchevsky for refereeing.
All 6 Capilano RFC Sr. teams are playing at home this Saturday. This will be a full day of rugby at Klahanie Park. The Capilano Alumni will also be hosting a lunch for alumni members who have signed up this year (more details to be sent out soon). Come down to the club this Saturday and support the Caps!! Please invite family and friends to attend. It should be a great day at the Capilano Rugby Club!
Schedule for Saturday March 24 at Klahanie Park
10:00am United U23 Men @ Capilano U23 Academy Men
11:15am Kats 3rd Div @ Capilano 3rd Div (Killer Beez)
11:30am Ridge Meadows Women @ Capilano 2nd Div Women
12:45pm CW Women @ Capilano Premier Women
12:45pm Nanaimo Men @ Capilano Premier Reserve Men
2:30pm Nanaimo Men @ Capilano Premier Men
**Kickoff time of each game is subject to change**
