On Sunday afternoon at the Calgary Rugby Park the Ontario Blues narrowly defeated the Atlantic Rock 22-17 to capture their sixth MacTier Cup as Canadian Rugby Championship winners

(CALGARY, AB ) – The Ontario Blues Senior Men have won the 2018 Canadian Rugby Championship Final with a 22-17 win over the Atlantic Rock. The Blues were crowned MacTier Cup Champions on Sunday afternoon in Calgary.

The Blues had met the Atlantic Rock twice before during the season, splitting their home-and-home series. With a familiar foe on the other side of the pitch, the Blues and Rock were bound to reignite the rivalry on Saturday.

The Atlantic Rock opened things up in the championship match with a penalty try after some sloppy play in the set piece from the Blues. Kainoa Lloyd scored a try off of a Shawn Windsor and Lucas Hammond connection to answer back. The Blues scored once more in the first half to take a 10-7 lead, with the scoring play coming from Marcello Wainwright. With a penalty conversion from the Rock’s Cooper Coats, the Atlantic side would tie things up before half time and the Blues and Rock were deadlocked at 10.

There was no scoring by either team for the first half of the second frame, but Lucas Hammond was able to break the dry-spell at the 65-minute mark. Andrew Coe then side-stepped his way through the Rock defense at the 71-minute mark to further Ontario’s lead in the Canadian Rugby Championship Final. Ferguson hit an easy conversion to bring the Blues’ lead to 22-10. The Rock added one more converted try to bring the final score to 22-17.

Lucas Rumball was awarded Man of the Match honours.

With the MacTier Cup win, the Blues have now hoisted the Canadian Rugby Championship trophy a total of six times (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2018).

For more information on the Canadian Rugby Championship, go to www.canadianrugbychampionship.com. For more information on the Ontario Blues Senior Men’s program, go to www.rugbyontario.com/blues-senior-men/.

Ontario Blues Starting XV vs. Atlantic Rock - August 26, 2018

1. Djustice Sears-Duru, Crusaders

2. Andrew Quattrin, Aurora Barbarians/Ontario Arrows

3. Rob Brouwer, Lindsay RFC/Ontario Arrows (Capt.)

4. Paul Ciulini, Aurora Barbarians/Ontario Arrows

5. Mike Sheppard, Stoney Creek Camels/Ontario Arrows

6. Marcello Wainwright, Toronto Scottish/Ontario Arrows

7. Peter Milazzo, Toronto Scottish/Ontario Arrows

8. Lucas Rumball, Balmy Beach

9. Andrew Ferguson, Crusaders/Ontario Arrows

10. Shawn Windsor, Stoney Creek Camels/Ontario Arrows (Vice Capt.)

11. Kainoa Lloyd, Mississauga Blues/Ontario Arrows

12. Jamie Leveridge, Crusaders/Ontario Arrows

13. Andrew Coe, Markham Irish

14. John Sheridan, Markham Irish/Ontario Arrows

15. Lucas Hammond, Toronto Nomads

Reserves

16. Eric Howard, Brantford Harlequins/New Orleans Gold

17. Douglas Wooldridge, Lindsay RFC

19. Kolby Francis, Brantford Harlequins/Ontario Arrows

20. Josh Van Horne, Brantford Harlequins/Ontario Arrows

21. Riley Dinardo, Toronto Scottish

24. Mitch Richardson, Stoney Creek Camels/Ontario Arrows

25. Kieron Martin, Hamilton Hornets

26. Roman Cao-Riquelme, University of Montreal Carabins

Coaching Staff

Head Coach-Chris Silverthorn

Assistant Coach-Cory Hector

Assistant Coach-Aaron Carpenter

Manager-Mark Winokur

Performance Analyst-Rodin Lozada

Ontario Blues Senior Men’s Canadian Rugby Championship Schedule

GAME 1: Blues 22 - 34 Atlantic Rock – August 4, 2018 – Montreal QC

GAME 2: Atlantic Rock 9 - 22 Blues – August 7, 2018 – Burlington ON

SEMI FINAL: Blues 58-36 BC Bears - August 23, 2018 - Calgary AB

GOLD: Blues 22-17 Atlantic Rock - August 26, 2018 - Calgary AB