VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds men's rugby team clinched the Okanagan Spring Brewery League Division One regular season title with an 81-7 victory over an undermanned Seattle RFC squad Saturay at Wolfson Field.
RUGM: UBC v. Seattle RFC (Apr. 20, 2013) Gallery
UBC controlled the game from the start, unleashing a 13-try affair, which saw forwards and backs equally contribute to the bottom line.
The front-row forwards led the way, with
Neil Courtney (North Vancouver) crossing twice along with individual efforts from
Alex Kam (Richmond, B.C.) and
Paul Ahn (Abbotsford, B.C.). Number eight Ben Middlestead (North Vancouver) added to the forwards' contribution as did sophomore
Mike O'Toole (Delta, B.C.).
For the backs, it was a two-try effort for
Erik Hunter-James (West Vancouver) and
Liam Murphy-Burke (White Rock, B.C.) along with single scores from
Jorden Sandover-Best (Abbotsford, B.C.),
Kyle Leeners (West Vancouver) and
Sean Ferguson (Mill Bay, B.C.).
Bryan Tyrer (Richmond, B.C.) chipped in eight conversions on the day.
In the second game of the day, the UBC Braves followed the same path as the T-Birds and ended up with a 54-12 result.
Once again the front row were greatly involved with Damian McClarty (Fort St. John, B.C.),
Chris Holt (Surrey, B.C.) and
Paul Reid (O'Leary, P.E.I.) leading the way.
Angus McWhirter (Sydney, Australia) and John Harrison (Victoria, B.C.) added single scores for the forwards.
Gabe Grzybowski (Victoria, B.C.) crossed twice while
Shane Bates (North Vancouver), Eric Chau (Vancouver) and
Carson White (Toronto) provided singles from the backs.
Ten Seattle players ended up dressing for both games, tallying 160 minutes of rugby on the day.
The Thunderbirds are 12-1-2 in Division One play while the Braves, who will likely finish second in Division Two, are 13-1-1.
Both squads will play their final league matches against Richmond RFC on Saturday, April 27. The first game will take place at 1 p.m. while the second will kick off at 2:30 p.m. Both matches will be contested at King George Park in Richmond.
The 'Birds will host a provincial semifinal match on May 4 at Wolfson Field with a 2:30 p.m. kick-off.
