Irish Canadian Rugby Club 10 - Selkirk RFC 17
28 / 05 / 03
Friendly

Five first team debutantes and a 17-0 halftime deficit were just enough to sink Irish hopes against Selkirk in a mid-week friendly at Fletchers Wednesday night.

Irish clawed back 10 points in a nervy second half to close to within one score, but a penalty here and a turnover there ensured Selkirk victory by 17-10.

First night nerves and a late arrival, combined with some scrappy Selkirk defence and an opportunistic intercept try left the greens 17 points adrift after 30 minutes, but the remainder of the game was mostly Irish, as Konrad Nikkel (first game with the Irish, from James Bay AA) kicked a penalty and converted Dean MacLeans' try to close the gap.

A near break-away by another first timer, Nabil Azar, seemed to be leading to a tying score, but Selkirk interference was not detected by ref Dan Berry and his touch judge, and the last gasp chance went astray.

Selkirk thus gained their first win on Canadian soil on the tour in a spirited match.

Irish started only four players from Saturdays' league match at Fergus, with seven players on rep duty with the RCSL and four more unavailable on the day.

"All credit to Selkirk," said Irish coach Mark Winokur, "they defended like demons and took their chances when they had them. For our part, I was delighted with some of the newcomers, while some of the others need work to play at this level.  With as much competition as we have for positions, it was great to field a bunch of the younger players and give them their chance to develop.  People who feel otherwise are entitled to their opinion, of course, but they are not seeing the big picture at all."

After the game, both teams retired to the Rose & Crown, where they enjoyed a late meal and many pints of Foster's.

Next up for the Irish are Brampton, who visit Fletchers on June 7 for three games.

Irish players in the RCSL side for this weeks opener at Ottawa (and who missed Selkirk) include Jon Ashley, Rodrigo Lacassie, George Azar, Mark Thompson, Steve Conlon and Jason Verstraten.