Rugby League America’s Championship
Game 1 Review
Canada Wolverines – 38 defeated Jamaica Reggae Warriors – 2
Played in Levittown, Pennsylvania, USA – Saturday July 16th, 2016
The Rugby League America’s Championship kicked off with a game that nobody really knew what to expect? The two teams were very different to the squads that played in the World Cup Qualifiers seven months ago. Also Canada had some last minute changes that saw Coach Jamie Lester forced to come out of retirement and play after young half Barak Pauls failed his fitness test at the Captains run a few hours before the game.
Despite the disruptions Canada came out strong and were the first to score after Prop Denny McCarthy showed his strength close to the try line to score the first try. His try was converted by Josh Kelly and Canada were leading 6-0.
The 2nd try was scored when a Jamaica player dropped the ball and Canada Full Back Robin Legault toed the ball forward before kicking it again and then regathering to score. Legault showed his class & patience by kicking instead of picking up the ball and then waiting for the ball to bounce up before grabbing it and grounding the ball for the try! Kelly converted and it was 12-0.
Alex Boyd ran onto a nice pass to cruise over the try line minutes later with Kelly once again converting the try. With the score at 18-0 the skies were becoming black and a storm was being predicted to cool off the very warm day.
Fortunately for Canada they were able to cross again for another try before the storm hit! Cam Grace powered his way through the defence to show everyone he was back in the Wolverine jersey and wanting to prove his value to the team. Kelly added the extras to put Canada up 24-0 and people were asking what was going to stop the Wolverines. With a minute to go before halftime the storm managed to stop Canada’s progress and play was halted for 30 minutes with a large storm hitting the ground!
The wet ball was the big problem for both teams, after the storm finished, as neither team really handled the ball very well. Another casualty from the storm was the Canada video of the game as the water damaged the equipment being used and the cameraman had to cease filming the game!
In the last ten minutes there was finally some entertaining Rugby League played again after the ball becoming a “piece of slippery soap” and the completions dropping down to single digits! Captain of the Day for the Wolverines, experienced senior player Christian Miller, busted through tackles to score out wide! Kelly made it 5 from 5 with his conversion to wrap up the game and move the scoreboard up to 30-0.
Amazingly the passes started sticking for the Wolverines as the game wound down. Rick Schouten made a 30 metre bust down the right side before passing inside to debutant Tyler Hergott who raced away to score under the posts in a really slick piece of play! For some strange reason Kelly gave the easy kick to Tony Felex who missed the conversion so the score stayed at 34-0. Rick Schouten then crossed the try line himself and ran around under the posts. This time the other Canada winger Billy Gemmell stepped up for the conversion but it was missed and even worst than the previous attempt! Maybe this lead to Lester’s frustration when he was sin binned in the last minute of the game for talking back to the referee Vince Lawson from the USARL. The penalty was given to Jamaica and Adrian Myers stepped up to kick the penalty goal to finish the scoring and making the Full Time score 38-2.
Half Time – Canada 24 lead Jamaica 0
Full Time – Canada 38 defeated Jamaica 2
Canada Wolverines 38 – D.McCarthy, R.Legault, A.Boyd, C.Grace, C.Miller, T.Hergott, R.Schoutten Tries. J.Kelly 5 Goals from 5 attempts, T.Felix 0 from 1, B.Gemmell 0 from 1
Jamaica Reggae Warriors 2 – A.Myers 1 penalty goal.
Referee – Vince Lawson (USARL)
Teams
Canada Wolverines
1. Robin Legault
2. Billy Gemmell
3. Tyler Hergott
4. Rick Schouten
5. Tony Felix
6. Eddie Bilborough
7. Jamie Lester
8. Cam Grace
9. Alan Lafferty
10. Denny McCarthy
11. Alex Boyd
12. Christian Miller (C)
13. Josh Kelly
15. Duncan Earl
16. Eric Moyer
21. Erick Alvarado
22. Ben Fleming
Jamaica Reggae Warriors
1. Renaldo Wade
2. Andrew Dixon
3. Ryan Grant
4. Adrian Myers
5. Robert Rodney
6. Adrian Hall
7. Marvin Thompson
8. Romaen Campbell
9. Leon Thomas
10. Jason Gooden
11. Wesley Haughton
12. Nicholas Wright
13. Peter Tapper
14. Demone McDougal
15. Adrian McKenzie
16. Mike Williams
17. Antonio Baker
Get your tickets for Game 3 in Toronto from http://torontoticket.ca
