<![CDATA[3rd XV

With a change of opponent, venue, start time, eligibility for some players and our illustrious President forgetting the jerseys, there were several issues playing against our team heading into Saturdays match. With a fairly even mix of Academy youth and Men’s team experience the Nomads took the pitch and started strong with a try from Darren Elias in the corner in the early minutes. Barrie realizing this was a Nomad team out for revenge shook off the early jitters and kept the ball in tight with a considerably larger forward pack. While the Nomads defended well, the strength of Barrie and a few key turnovers gave Barrie 3 scores and looking like the side that had won the week earlier. With a couple key substitutions and comments just before half from the Andy & Andy coaching staff, the Nomads were able to close the gap to 5 points before half. The suggestions before half were taken to heart from the start of the 2nd and resulted in our youth filled backline opening the floodgates. Led by James (I’m better than my brother) Hammond, 4 scores put the game seemingly out of reach. Barrie were able to close the gap to within 9 points by the 70 minute mark, but the defense stood its ground and a last try by the Nomads resulted in a final comfortable 16 point victory. Final score 49-33. Outfitted in the baby blues of Barrie due to President Darley’s hangover, the Nomads made the colours look good.

2nd XV

Nomads 2nd XV started as they finished last week, posting an early try to returning club stalwart/maestro Mehdi Mohammadi. The little fella made a mockery of practicing backline movements, carving up the Viking defense with ease. Alisdair Piercy took a typical Scottish approach of waste-not-want-not to the conversion, slotting the extra points. It was only momentarily 7-0, as scrumhalf Ryan Alizadeh elected to keep the ball and score himself – anything to keep Texas off the score sheet. Alisdair making no mistake – 14-0. A bit of confusion around the ruck in defense – As, Bs, Cs boys!!! – allowed the Oshawa scrummy to run in from 22 out and score under the posts. 14-7. Lock Todd Reesor, who doesn’t take any crap this year, took it upon himself to rectify the deficit, backing up Justin Wilks’ wide run to score in the corner. With the try pretty much on the side-line, Alisdair was unable to add the extra points. After Todd’s tries Texas made a handful of handling errors, so Ryan once again elected not to pass to him and score on his own… again. A barnstorming run down the left wing from Justin added another five-pointer, this time Alisdair knocking over the two points for a 31-7 scoreline. The forwards, sick of watching the backs get all the glory, won a scrum against the feed on the half way line, No.8 Geoff Meyers scooping the ball and sprinting up the middle to score completely untouched – with each hair he’s lost he appears to have gained a yard of pace. Another try to Mehdi as well as the extra points gave Nomads a 45-7 halftime lead. Shortly after the half, the forwards were back in the thick of things, Jerome Roy scoring from a maul like hooker should – nice work, mate. Conor “PJ” Graham then scored the first try of his career from the back-row. PJ needs to cherish these moments as his near-future transition to the front row should significantly reduce his chances of scoring. Justin completed his double not long after, followed by a professionally timed penalty goal to substitute Conor “Nev” Nevin. PJ also got a double – surely the last of his career – with Nev adding the two points. Lock Lucas McCann conducted the coda to the Nomads scoring, going in for a late 5-pointer. A second-half hat-trick to Oshawa’s flyhalf added some respectability to the visitor’s score, final score 75-22. Following his man of the match performance for the 3rds last week, Kaveh responded to the call-up to 2nds by winning the same award in this match, giving a glimpse of a bright future at the Nomads.

1st XV

The main attraction of the day was, on paper, set to be a tight match. Oshawa arrived in Toronto undefeated, a draw away to Sarnia their only blip so far this season. Nomads were coming off a big win last week but with defensive improvement needed after leaking 31 points to Sarnia. Much like the 2nds, the lads got off to a quick start, Rob Morgan going over close to the posts for his first Nomads try. Romain Rousseau kicked the conversion, but this is the last goal he got, so less said, the better. Oshawa, to their credit, were up for it today, and responded almost immediately. Early score, 7-5. Despite the dry weather, both sides seemed unable to control the ball when in possession, as many scrums packed as points scored in the opening part of the match. When Oshawa did have the ball, however, Nomads kept their composure, an impenetrable line of defense keeping a tide of Viking attacks out. A well placed touch-finder from Romain put the pack in a good position about 10m. A clinical lineout gave the backs good ball, recycling for a phase before Vu Maphala dived in for a try in the corner after a strong backline move – Eddie Vegetables and Alex Prince combining well in the centres to keep the ball moving. More tough tackling and pressing, as well as some last gasp tackles from returning fullback Mark Magill, protected the 17-5 lead into halftime. Soon after the break, Eddie put in a nice kick that bobbed around the Oshawa goal-line, their fullback putting in an atrocious kick that found Jesse Stevenson. The young flanker running the ball in under the sticks for his debut 1st XV try. Relishing his move from fullback to wing, Vu once again capitalized on an opportunity after the Nomads pack controlled some loose ball, the gazelle-like run producing another wide dive for a try. With a 22-5 lead, Nomads could have been expected to take their foot off the pedal, but defense was still the keyword of the afternoon, keeping the Oshawa attack guessing as to how they could get through. They wouldn’t have cracked it either, until prop Roman Sidey decided to not tackle the Vikings scrumhalf from about two metres out. 22-10 and a sniff for the visitors. Some more late attack from Nomads got Romain over for a try to make up for his three missed conversions (and a missed penalty not mentioned in this article until now), scoring under the sticks, and missing the conversion again – this from a bloke who kicked three from the sideline last week! 27-10 the final score, Nomads gaining a bonus point and denying Oshawa any for themselves. In a much improved defensive display, Emil Borggren claimed]]>

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