Irish Canadian Rugby Club 24 - Waterloo County 7
May 26th, 2007
League Game # 1

On Saturday May 26^th new Irish captain Kirsten Sample led her team down the 401 to Rogers Fields in Cambridge for the season opener against the Waterloo County RFC as the Irish Women began the defense of the OWL Cup title they won last season.

With veterans Danielle Dillon, Christine Ford, Sarah DeLeeuw, Catharine Bucknam and Jane Segal all having stepped down from last year’s cup championship squad and with a team that had an average age of slightly over 22 years old, there was a definite youth movement as the Irish kicked off the league schedule.  Included in the squad were Megan Gibbs and Allison Lamoureux who have returned from duty with the national team and the 2006 Women’s World Cup.  The addition to the squad of Canada U19 player Tabitha Stavrou and Ontario Sr. Women player Paige Churchill also helped augment the loss of the veterans players.

The day started with the Irish 2^nd XV losing a heartbreaker as they dropped a close 7 – 5 decision to a Waterloo team that rotated numerous 1^st XV players in and out of the game.  The Irish 2s are the defending three time champions of the OWL 2^nd Division and also started the game with a relatively young team who took it to their opponents for the majority of the game but could not come up with the go ahead score.  The lone try was scored by Captain Becki Lee who led her young team from the front all game long.

The 1^st XV dominated play from the get go but a string of errors and strong Waterloo defense helped keep the Irish off the scoreboard for most of the first half.  The Irish only managed to open the scoring in the 36^th minute as Jackie Scott crashed through the Waterloo defense and off-loaded to Danika McDermott who went over and touched down for the opening try of the game.  Jenni Wong converted to make the score 7 – 0.  The Irish then let their guard down just before halftime as they allowed Waterloo player Sarah Formiglio to slice through and score under the posts to level the score at the break.

The halftime break allowed the women in green to refocus which resulted in Karen Dillane scored a wonderful team try one minute into the half as she touched down in the right corner after the Irish forwards had stolen a lineout and driven the ball 20 meters up field before releasing to the backs where Lindsey Bernrot ran through a gap and sent Dillane away.  Jess Belchos added the second try of the half  nine minutes later as she finished off an impressive forward drive.  Jenni Wong finished the scoring with a try at the whistle as the impressive Irish backline moved the ball wide and pushed the Waterloo defense to its limits.  Final score was 24 – 7 and a win in the league opener.

“Still some things to work out, but we controlled the game and the result was never really in doubt” commented Head Coach Rodin Lozada.  “ Waterloo is much improved and I believe that they have a chance at finishing in the top 4.”

The Irish return to their home at Fletcher’s Fields this coming weekend with a match against the Toronto Saracens.  The Saracens were the most improved team in 2006 and with their opening day demolishing of the Toronto Nomads, will surely prove to be a tough test for the Irish.  The 2^nd XV kicks off at 12pm and the 1^st XV kick-off at 1:30pm.