Aurora Barbarians continue struggle on the Rugby field

July 30, 2014 · 0 Comments

By John Reich

Despite near perfect conditions for rugby, it was a less than pleasant day for the Aurora Barbarians Senior Men’s team on Saturday as they hosted clubs from the Niagara Region and Toronto for three matches at Fletcher’s Fields.

In the Premiership match versus Stoney Creek Camels, the Barbarians started the game in good form, picking up where they left off from their victory a week earlier in Waterloo, showing creative movement of the ball and crashing the line with authority.

The Barbarians were unlucky not to score several times early in the game with untimely knock-ons and kicks that missed the mark.

Stoney Creek fielded a large and physical team that displayed excellent defence and, as the first half wore on, they organized their offence with punishing runs and superior force at every breakdown.

Stoney Creek broke through for two trys before the half ended and led at the interval 12-0.

The second half saw the Aurora side fatigue early and the mistakes mounted with missed passes, dropped balls and unfinished tackles. Stoney Creek was up 33-0 before replacement player James Hulbert was able cross the line for the Barbarians to avoid the goose egg, but the Camels scored again to make the final count 38-5.

After the match, head coach Ian McLeod consoled his players, pointing out that if they had been able to score with the opportunities they had early in the game, the match would have been more competitive. He expected the return of some injured players for the next match and praised the team for playing bravely through to the final whistle.

In the second team game, the Barbarians were again outsized by Stoney Creek’s development side and, despite solid play for 60 minutes, Aurora gave up a 26-16 lead to lose 47-26.

Scoring for Aurora was Nick Manoukas, James Hulbert, Brandon Olivera and Nick Szabino each scoring trys. Hulbert added three conversions.

In the third team match, the Barbarians took on Etobicoke Invictus, a junior club in just its third year in Toronto Division 5.

The Aurora side was an interesting blend of high school aged youngsters and grizzled veterans and entertained the fans with a display of old school rugby before succumbing to Etobicoke 22-20.

Scoring for Aurora was Luke Travell, Brad Legere and Ty Brochu each with a try. James Hulbert added a penalty kick and Nick Daniels a convert.

Ontario rugby shuts down for the Civic Holiday Weekend and play resumes on August 9 with the Barbarians visiting Brantford Harlequins for two matches.