Okanagan Rugby Club

Bayside 2022 tournament summary 🥈

The Okanagan boys set their alarms, packed up their cars and set out to Vancouver early this Saturday morning. There was a lot of excitement heading into our first tournament since the 2nd place finish at Vancouver Sevens in 2020.

Game 1 was against a very experienced UBCOB Ravens squad. Although we looked a little rusty having never even practiced together, there were many signs of a solid squad. The boys showed some fight and narrowed the gap, but it was too late. Wyatt Henry of Kamloops was forfeited for the remainder of the tournament due to injury, all the best on a speedy recovery.
Result: UBCOB 24-19 Coos
Tries: Rhys (2). Sully.

Game 2 was against TWU and that’s when things started coming together. Our first try was scored by Kelowna’s Finn Hussey within a minute and the boys showed no signs of slowing down. Charlie Kinloch showed his leadership skills by stepping up and leading the team in positive communication on the pitch. Forward Quinn Baak was dominant on defence, not missing a single tackle. Unfortunately the Vernon star and our captain, Isaac Olson was forced to forfeit for the remainder of the tournament due too injury, a huge loss for our next tournament as well. Get better soon Isaac! Dylan Marshal took over as Captain while Jeff Lohse stepped up as Vice-Captain.
Result: Win
Tries: Kimi (2). Finn. Quinn. ??

Game 3 was against the home side, Bayside Sharks, a close matchup with some great performances on either side. With Jeff Lohse moving back up too the forwards, he was a dominant presence on the field, bowling over anyone in his path. The Welsh/UBCO Heat speedster Lewis Jenkins scored his first try for the coos with a big run down the wing to slot in for a great try. Finn Hussey lead the new players as they came out on top, securing 2nd place in the round robin and a rematch vs TWU in the semi final.
Result: Win
Tries: Finn (2). Jeff (2). Lewis. Charlie

Semi-Final against TWU had everyone on edge. Kamloops’ Charlie Kinloch brought the energy as the boys rallied behind the loss of Jeff Lohse in the opening minute. Kyle Tremblay (UBCO Heat alumni) joined the team late as he sped through through traffic to make it just in time, stepping in for Jeff as our new flying Fijian Kimi made his way into the forwards. Impact sub Sullivan Curran came into the game and made his presence known on the pitch. The boys ran away with it in the end.
Result: Win
Tries: Rhys (2). Finn (2). Kyle. Dylan.

The Final against Ravens (with nine players) was off to a good start, tied at one try a piece and possession in the Ravens 22 before half looked promising. In typical sevens fashion, a few handling errors had the boys quickly on their back feet and left them down by one try at half. Captain Dylan Marshal (who had an exceptional tournament) tried to rally the team at halftime but the more experienced Ravens side were on a roll and although we showed perseverance and heart, it wasn’t our year. All the best to them in the future.
Result: Ravens 29 - Coos 10
Tries: Dylan Marshall (2)

Record: 3 Wins, 2 Losses
MVP: Rhys James
Rookie of the tournament: Finn Hussey
Clubs represented: UBCO. Kelowna. Kamloops. UVic. Burnaby Lake. New England Free Jacks.

Special shout out to Manager Chantalle Bracken for keeping the boys hydrated, motivated, and organized all day!! Thank you to Bayside for a great day of fast paced rugby and to our opponents for being good sports. Looking forward to having 8 returnees for next weekend at Westshore Sevens.

MASSIVE congratulations to two of our Coos, Luke Toroca & Darsha Wadduwage for their selection with professional rugby league team the Toronto Wolfpack 🎉🏉

Head Coach, Matt Wyles along with Assistant Coaches Robin Legault, Henry Miers, Steve Piatek and Akarika Dawn are pleased to announce their initial 20-man team squad along with a Train-on squad for the inaugural North American Rugby League (NARL) game against the DC Cavalry at Lamport Stadium on Saturday, September 18.

Initially planning to announce a final 25-man squad, the Coaching staff have decided to name an initial 20-man squad and to use the remaining practices and roster spots to challenge players in the Train-On squad to see who wants to rise to the occasion and grab one of the remaining 5 spots. “The selection process has been tough, which is a credit to the players. It’s difficult to view all players equally, and it’s a tough vetting process to work through” Wyles commented. “With the practices, trial games and tools we had, and the people we spoke to, we feel we have done the best possible job and have selected the strongest squad. The team is representative of the type of players that we want.”

The initial Toronto Wolfpack 20-man roster for the game against the DC Cavalry and the Train-On squad are:

Roster: Josh Allan, Brent Anderson, David Astley, Matthew Barron, Andrei Bashevsky, Eddie Bilborough, Ray Bissonette, Callum Botchar, Scott Christian, Jason Chuck, Charles Curran, Scyler Dumas, Jordon Henry, Lee Keegel, Jay Park, Nathan Roberts, Tyronie Rowe, Luke Toroca, Darsha Wadduwage, Greg Wise.

Train-On Squad: Steve Adu, Nathan Bingley, Mikkel Borggren, Jahdeek Clarke, Tony Felix, Alex Geraldo, Kymani Akeem Green, Tremaine Griffiths-Thompson, Nick Hails, Orlando Jones, David Kavtiashvili, Ethan Langs, Blake Mahovic, Michael Mastroianni, Tyler McGrattan, Kamron Miller, Andrew Porter, Cooper Powell, James Tripp, Daniel Tupou.

Photo Credit: David Wayne - Northern Polo

Well done to two of our boys .toroca & for trying out for the 💪🏾

RAFFLE IS LIVE!!
The BC Grassroots Rugby Foundation in partnership with The Rugby Shop are happy to announce our Fundraising Raffle. There are exceptional prizes provided by the Rugby Shop, Welton Arms Restaurant, Alexander Michael Hill PhotoGraphics, and many more.
Tickets are $5 for 1, and $20 for 5. Raffle will be open until September 11th, 2021. Winning tickets will be randomly selected, and prizes will be determined on draw order.
Proceeds will go to the BC Grassroots Rugby Foundation, as well as local rugby clubs (Kelowna Crows and UBCO Heat)
Click the link below, and best of luck!

https://therugbyshop.com/pages/bc-grassroots-fundraising-drive?fbclid=IwAR17dWiT30-HTT8M8C4qniFGPmkl1Ry9xzMxfaGrCoNaZs-z1_J-7nkHk2M