Victoire à Calgary 31 - 23 (bonus offensif)

Salut à tous, premier match et première victoire à Calgary (voir article de Rugby Canada ci-dessous)

The Rock - the Atlantic Canada entry into the new Americas Rugby Championship, beat the Prairie Wolf Pack 31-23 in front of a crowd of over 1,000 at Calgary Rugby Park.

The win, which included a bonus point for scoring four tries, puts The Rock atop the ARC standings with 5 points in the four team Canadian division.The Rock got tries from National team flankers Chauncey O'Toole and Jebb Sinclair of New Brunswick and prop Frank Walsh, while the backs finished well in the second half with Rob Wilson and Tyler Wish crossing as well.Dean Blanks had six points from three conversions.

The Wolf Pack responded with scores from prop Travis Robertson, wing Jordan Kohn and Dustin MacPherson.The tournament, funded by the International Rugby Board, is seen as a development tool for Tier II nations looking to bridge the gap between domestic and International Test rugby.

Man of the Match from the Rock, Chauncey O'Toole was matter of fact in the assessment of his team's efforts on the day, saying, "I didn't feel like I got around the park as much as I wanted to but to come to Calgary and come away with five points, yeah - we'll take that.

"Winning Coach Pat Parfrey was pleased with his team, remarking the forwards had a big impact on the day despite the team traveling a long way from Newfoundland for the game."Coming from a long distance and playing at altitude I knew we were going to tire in the last few minutes so it was important that we were a fair distance ahead earlier in the game," he said of his team's 21-3 half time lead."Our forwards played particularly well and Chauncey O'Toole had a blinder.

Tyler Wish was able to break the line regularly."

Wolf Pack Captain Ryan Smith was disappointed with the result but felt the second half was a glimpse of what his team is capable of as they scored twenty points. "It was pretty disappointing," offered Smith."We let ourselves down with individual errors. I think we are capable of a lot more. "There was a couple of minor mistakes that let us down in the second half."Playing with the wind in the second definitely helped but at the same time we need to look within ourselves for some answers."

The Prairie Wolf Pack are next in action on September 19th when they travel to Ontario to play the Blues in Markham, ON, while the Atlantic will host the BC Bears at Swilers RFC on the same day in St. John's, Newfoundland.

To see an archived version of the game go to http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/2122738