Irish Canadian Rugby Club 41 - Fergus Highland 5
16 / 04 / 04
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Debuting six new players, Irish Canadians downed Fergus 41-5 on a wet day in the central Ontario village.

The one game format saw the first teams play the first half and a mixed side play the second half for each team.

Irish opened the scoring with a try from former CFLer Fabian Rayne, back after a five year gridiron career, and a Jon Jenkins convert.  The Irish got a second score playing up the slope on a fantastic three way play; prop Brett Domenchuk chipped a loose ball through to the "Wheeler corner", where captain George Azar gathered, popped back over his outside shoulder, straight into the arms of flying winger Chris Verstraten for the 14-0 halftime lead.

Verstraten scored again just after halftime, with Dave Stratton, Joff Kilger, Marty McLaughlin and Henry Miers also dotting down for the final tally of 41-5.

"We have a different team this year," admitted coach Mark Winokur "different players, a different running rugby style, a different attitude.  But change is not always bad, and if we can continue to build on this and buy into the changes, we can have an exciting year."

Particularly impressive in their debuts were out-half Rafal Kazmareck (York University), fullback / centre Ruairi Carson (London Irish Academy) and the younger Verstraten.

Next weeks mixed format is against Ottawa Scottish, likely in Peterborough.  Check this space for details.