Atlantic Rock under-19 coach Brendan Parfrey anticipates seeing a tighter defensive effort from his charges when they take to the refurbished Swilers rugby pitch Saturday afternoon in St. John’s for the national U19 rugby championship.
The Rock, with a healthy smattering of Newfoundland players dotting the roster, along with kids from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, get another kick at the reigning champion Ontario Blues 3 p.m. Saturday at the Swilers.
At stake is the Canadian championship.
We saw a prelude to the final Thursday evening at Swilers as the two teams closed out the round-robin portion of the national U19s, with the Blues coming away with a 33-12 win.
Today’s final is a repeat of last year’s championship final in Saskatoon, Sask. Ontario won that one by five points following a Rock breakdown in the last 15 minutes of play.
“They’re big guys. If you don’t tackle them, they’re going to score tries,” said Parfrey, who is handling the U19 coaching chores with Kevin Parfrey and Peter Densmore.
“We have to do better defensively, and keep coming at them. We did gain ground when we pushed the pace (Thursday) and when we pushed the ferocity of how we play our game.
“We just have to do that for a sustained period on Saturday.”
Ontario enters the final with an unblemished 3-0 record, while the Rock suffered their first defeat Thursday in the final game of the round-robin in the four-team tourney.
Quebec finished 1-2 and Prairie Blizzard were winless in three games.
Thursday, the Blues put the Rock on their heels, scoring minutes in. The visitors led 19-12 at halftime.
“We were a bit weak on defence in a couple of areas, and that gave them opportunities,” Parfrey acknowledged.
“But I did like how team responded to that by making it tight at halftime. We just couldn’t get the result we wanted.”
The Rock will be bolstered today by the return of local products Campbell Clarke and Michael McCarthy to the lineup. Both sat out Thursday game nursing injuries.
Outside half Clarke plays for Canada’s U18 squad, and is the Rock’s co-captain. McCarthy is just back from Brazil and a stint with the national U20 team which finished fifth in the World Trophy junior championship.
“That final is going to be a war,” said Parfrey, with a hint of a grin. “We need to be more solid on defence to stop them on the middle of the field.”