Chris Krause Tournament 2007 |
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Saturday April 28, 2007 Hamilton's senior men represented the NRU well on Saturday in Oshawa at the 27th annual Chris Kraus tournament. The Hornets started the day slowly against a determined Peterborough side. Peterborough played well and were ahead by one try to nil with seconds to go in the match when, club captain, Peter Van Zyl scored in the corner from a tapped penalty. This forced the match into sudden death extra time and the Hornets now had the momentum. Revelling in his new role at #8, veteran Hornet, Matt Barrett, picked from the base of a Hornets attacking scrum and ran over two tacklers to cross the line and ensure Hamilton's advancement. In the second round, Hamilton faced a familiar foe in Brock RFC. And Brock certainly came to play with their big, agile pack. The Hornets forwards didn't take a step back though and took the game to their opposite numbers with some huge hits going in early, led by flanker Dave Rivers who had the number of Brock's giant #8 – no pun intended... Rivers put in a couple of massive hits early on against his opposite back row men to assert and fire up the Hornets' forwards. That being said, it was a tough contest and Brock certainly did not back down either. The break in the deadlock came when Hornets' scrum-half, John Tavares, intercepted a pass near the Brock 10 meter line and then side stepped 2 or 3 opposite players before turning on the gas to beat the defenders and cross the line. The second try came from, lock forward, Travis Lee who crashed over from the base of a loose ruck. Brock was far from finished and managed to get one back late on from a momentary lapse in Hornets' defence. The match boiled over at that point and bit of melee broke out which resulted in both sides being reduced to 14 men for the remainder of the contest. The match ended minutes later on a bit of a scary moment as Hamilton centre, Steve Ferreira, had a nasty collision of heads with his opposite number as the players went for the ball. Both players required medical treatment with the Brock player going to hospital for closer examination. So ended a bruising encounter against a club that Hamilton travels to next Saturday for a pre-season friendly which promises to be an exciting match. Brock went on to win the 3rd/4th place match handily over Sudbury and Hamilton went on to its first final in the Krause against hosts Oshawa Vikings. The final saw two very evenly matched sides. Unfortunately Hamilton was reduced by 3 starting players through injuries earlier in the day but their replacements did an excellent job filling in. The first half was dominated by Hamilton and it is remarkable that the Vikings kept the Hornets off the score board. In the second half, Oshawa scored early on and then kept kicking the Hornets back into the corners. Hamilton came close a couple of times. The play of the day was a 40 yard driving maul that the Hornets set from a line out near half. It looked reminiscent of watching England in the late 90s as the Hornets pack marched their way into the Oshawa end with the Vikings seemingly powerless to stop the maul's momentum. In the end it was stopped when the maul was brought down near the Oshawa 5m line. The Hornets may feel slightly aggrieved not to have been awarded a penalty try. After the energy-sapping maul, Oshawa continued to play well and managed to hold off the Hornets to defend their tournament. Maybe next year boys!! It was a great day for rugby, a great day for the club and a great start to the senior mens' season. Shaun Hill was named man of the match for an outstanding outing on the wing. The rookie fearlessly made tackle after tackle, ran the ball well and was always in perfect position. Way to go Shaun!! Special thanks also to all the Hornets' 2nd team players who made the journey to support. A Raglan Barbarians team was formed with a mix of players from the Hamilton 2nds and Oshawa 2nds and the guys had two very tough matches against Brock and Peterborough. Hornets junior prop, Thomas Earl, was named man of the match for the Barbarians. The new lads will be sore on Sunday but all had an excellent time on and off the pitch and gained some valuable experience. Match Report by:
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