BEAVER PRIDE AND PASSION                9th July 2007  

This past weekend’s games 7th-8th July 2007, added some new excitement to the Club. The Brampton Beavers showed up on Saturday with a sense of pride and passion.

The 3rd XV started the day off with a well-deserved victory over a younger Irish Canadian team. Some strong leadership and great play from Kent Tumber, Tony Cudini, Rick Heslop, and Dave Carbone helped seal this victory.

I would also like to comment on some skilful work from Chris Allen. His commitment to the Club, especially in his approach to developing basic skills for all players, was evident again on Saturday. He was willing to give up a try for his players just to demonstrate how NOT to pass to the right. The backs had a two man overlap and nothing, but green space in front of them, and Chris knew it would be best for his team to pass it 20 yards high and wide. Chris has spoken to his coaches and they have decided that it would be best for the Club for him to teach the proper skill on Tuesday night!

The 2nd XV had a harder match than the 3rds, and were up against a well organized and aggressive Irish team who consistently attacked wide . The Beavers had a line-up that mixed veteran and novice players. The skill and talent of the 2nd XV was was better than the score indicates. Again, this comes back to training together. Over half of this team had never played together before Saturday, and until they start training as a squad,  it will be hard to win at this level.  See you all on Tuesday.

The first XV match was a different story. The Brampton Men's 15 were tested early as the Irish scored in the first 15 minutes with a front peel from a lineout. But once again, the Beavers stepped up to the challenge and marched down the field to score 3 points. The game went back and forth, with both teams scoring points, like a tennis game. Brampton matched the Irish well, except for the scrummaging, which in both offence and defense, was too much for Brampton to handle. This is something the forwards need to work on much harder to improve.

There were an outstanding performance from our new addition, Jordan Wilson Ross. Jordan attacked with pace and fire, and defended the back zone with determination. Having guys like Mike Shannon and Ryan Luffman sacrifice everything, including their own health for this team, was a very impressive thing to see. The man of the match and the guy whom I thought was the most dominating player of both teams was Andre. There is no question in my mind that he leaves everything on the field. He plays for himself and the players around him, but most importantly for the crest he represents: This is a true Brampton Beaver. Final score was 22 - 22. 

We will have a tough game this weekend against a much improved Toronto Nomads side. I know the Beaver juice is starting to swell in the veins of many players, and this will give us a major advantage over the Nomads. Passion, Pressure and Pride are the main ingredients to Beaver juice.  

See you all for a hard training Tuesday night.