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Senior Men 3rd XV

A full schedule for the Nomads at Fletcher’s Fields kicked off with the 3rd XV playing Barrie. A strong side was available to follow on from a good win in Brampton last week, however three early injuries culled the numbers significantly. Debutant Shu Wang rolled his ankle during the warm up, fullback Matt Ackers succumbed to foot troubles and centre Mike Bridge separated his shoulder quite badly. Some good attacking play was encouraging, and tries to scrumhalf Ryan Alizadeh and flyhalf Sebastian Logan gave the boys some reward, however the Barrie attack was very slick and hard to contain. Another late injury to Biggsy (who had a bit of trouble distinguishing between the light and navy blue stripes of the two sides) was probably inevitable, as the poor bloke seems to have the worst luck this season every time he’s put his boots on. A strong performance from youngster Kaveh Sodeifi was rewarded with man of the match honours, and Mark ‘BLK’ Murphy played his last match for the club before going “home” to Australia.

Senior Men 2nd XV

Nomads 2nd XV went into their match against Sarnia Saints looking for the first win in a while and also had a very strong side on the park, with elusive fullback Mark Magill making a rare start in place of the injured Young Kyle, Scotsman Alisdair Piercy starting at flyhalf. Jaime Santana stepped up as captain in the absence of Adam Mernick, and led by example from the front – a young statesman in the making. The players wanted this win, and, despite the presence of weak link Texas, didn’t let up during the entire match, running in eight tries to three to win 49-17. Tries to scrummy Kurt Barrington, winger Justin Wilks, lock Lucas McCann, the aforementioned Magill, other winger Jason Kovacs, the ever improving lock Todd Reesor were relieving after a tough stretch of low scoring matches. A final two tries to lively substitute Kaveh as well as a yellow card gave the junior graduate a colourful 2nds debut. Kurt was able to add a penalty and two conversions as well as a conversion to Man of the Match Alisdair.

Senior Men 1st XV

Confident yet weary of continued defensive mistakes was the mindset of the 1st XV after a tight win last week. Injuries forced the promotion of three deserving players, with Felix Grignon, Steve Parfitt (not running water this week) and Emil Borggren coming into the side. It didn’t take long for the Nomads’ to stamp their authority on the match, with the backline putting some slick passes together to put the impressive youngster Evan Underwood in the corner. French flyhalf Romain (still can’t spell his name correctly) slotted the extra points for a perfect start to the match. Not long after, a penalty to Romaine stretched the lead to 10-0 and it looked like the Nomads had found a groove. Then the lads decided that tackling was for the plebs, and Sarnia hit back with two quick tries. Luckily, the Saints kicker was about as accurate as Burnsie’s weather reports, the score staying stable at 10-12. After losing those tries, the Nomads stepped it up a gear, Eddie Vegetables weaving through a tiring defense to score under the posts. Romain added the extra points for a 17-12 halftime lead. The second half started in similar fashion to the first, with the home side going straight down the field. The new total rugby approach worked brilliantly as Ryan Manton scored off of two passes from the forwards.

Not slowing down there, Emil Borggren then went in for his debut try. Romain converting both tries to increase the lead to 19 points. Seemingly heading for a decent victory, defense once again became a chore rather than a joy, and the Sarnia backline tore holes through the entire 15 players to bring the score back to 31-31 in the blink of an eye. The first of the three tries was followed by a yellow card to fullback Vu Maphala for a late high tackle on the scoring outside centre, which definitely didn’t help in defending the next two tries. Enough nonsense had been had, and the Nomads once again stepped up the tempo, Manto going in for another 5-pointer and a neat conversion from a wide position to Romain – 38-31. Tomas Gargantini was brought on at hooker for the aging Roman Sidey, not long before poor old Dale Ryan hyper-extended his knee, being replaced by the returning Lloyd Dobson. The fresh legs helped lay a solid foundation in the pack, and the backline took advantage, scoring a handful of late tries. Evan won a footrace with the Sarnia fullback to pounce on a loose ball in goal, and Gethin Roberts, knowing full well the match was being filmed, strutted over untouched and delayed putting the ball down like a real show pony. Final score (somehow) was 54-31, even though it was probably 52-31. Man of the match was big Rob Morgan for his seriously industrious running and totally reliable defense. High praise also should be given to the three debutants Felix, Steve and Emil as well as another fantastic display from Manto.

Senior Women

The Nomads Women’s team made the hike to Brampton hoping to build on a successful opening game against a young Barrie team. Co-captains Meghan Iley and Natalie Rosecky commanded the team admirably in captain Jenn Russell‘s absence. Iley lead the forwards against a tricky Brampton pack, while Rosecky forced the opposition to keep an eye on her as she lead the backline from outside centre.

The Nomads got off to a poor start, finding themselves down 0-14 after missed tackles proved costly. Some soul searching at halftime and a big turnaround in defence allowed the Nomads to narrow the score to 10-19, with Sienna Gulino creating a try from nothing, scorching through on a 50-metre run with one supporter commenting that she was “like a cat shot up the arse.” This was followed by fellow rookie Clare Street stepping off her right to score under the posts, showing great speed and agility. A letter has since arrive from a W. Gatland asking Clare to travel to NZ for an upcoming series.

Unfortunately, the game came to an end with the score still at 10-19, with the Nomads finishing stronger and a fresh appetite for when they next meet Brampton. Stand out performers were Courtney Allain, Sophie Flitt and Caroline Aksich in the forwards, with another big game in the backline for Megan Watcher.

Next up are the Crusaders in Oakville, with the girls wanting to get back on track with another win on the road.]]>

Posted in Rugby News, Senior men, Senior Women