Blues Sr. Men: Silverthorn announces Starting XV for CRC Game 1

July 20, 2017

Blues Sr. Men: Silverthorn announces Starting XV for CRC Game 1 vs. Atlantic Rock

(TRURO, NS) – Chris Silverthorn – Head Coach of the Ontario Blues Senior Men – has announced their Starting XV ahead of their first match of the Canadian Rugby Championship season.
The Ontario Blues Senior Men's team will take the pitch for their Canadian Rugby Championship (CRC) opener against the Atlantic Rock this Saturday (July 22, 2017) at 4:00pm Eastern Standard Time. The Blues have had a tremendously successful off-season and are looking to bring that momentum into their 2017 CRC season.
The roster for the Blues opener includes four changes from the 23-man roster that beat Glendale in May. Will Kelly will replace Jon West, Kolby Francis is in for Paul Ciulini, Peter Milazzo replaces Seb Pearson and Dolezel will take the place of DJ Sears-Duru.
Possible CRC debutants include Will Kelly, Alex Colborne, Mario Van der Westhuizen, Pat Lynott and Francis. If Francis comes off the bench, it will also be his first cap for the Ontario Blues.
Rob Brouwer is back from injury and will captain the Ontario side that is looking for their sixth MacTier Cup. Rob Brouwer and Josh Campbell are the only players from the original Ontario Blues Senior Men's team (2009). Currently in the national program, Rob debuted for the Blues on August 21, 2009 against the Midwest Thunderbirds in Elkhart, Indiana. Campbell debuted in the game, as well. The Blues won the game by a score of 38-5.
The Blues met the Atlantic Rock just two weeks ago, on the Canada Day weekend in Peterborough and came out victorious in that match by a score of 29-17. The story line could be very different though, as the Rock will have home field advantage this time around and both teams will have many of their regulars back in their lineups.
This Saturday marks the first time that the Ontario Blues Senior Men will play a regular season game in Nova Scotia, though they have a strong historic record in the Maritimes. The Blues have a 5-1 record in St. Johns, Newfoundland and won their only friendly match in Halifax 40-19 over the Rock in May of 2015.
The Blues and Rock have played each other in CRC action a total of 12 times. Ontario has won 10 of those matches, while the Atlantic side has won two.
Rugby Ontario clubs represented on the roster (13) : Lindsay, Brantford, London, Balmy Beach, Stoney Creek, Toronto Saracens, Crusaders, Mississauga, Toronto Scottish, Aurora, Bytown, Markham and Guelph.

WATCH THE GAME LIVE (July 22 at 4:00pm ET): goo.gl/my2y4b

Ontario Blues Sr. Men vs. Atlantic Rock – July 22, 2017
1. Rob Brouwer, Lindsay RFC (Captain)
2. Eric Howard, Brantford Harlequins
3. Tom Dolezel, London St. Georges
4. Hank McQueen, Balmy Beach
5. Mike Sheppard, Stoney Creek Camels
6. Peter Milazzo, Toronto Saracens
7. Lucas Rumball, Balmy Beach
8. Jeremy Wright, Lindsay RFC
9. Andrew Ferguson, Crusaders
10. Shawn Windsor, Stoney Creek Camels
11. Kainoa Lloyd, Mississauga Blues
12. Alex Colborne, Toronto Scottish
13. Josh Campbell, London St. Georges
14. Dan Moor, Balmy Beach
15. Rory McDonnell, Brantford Harlequins
16. Andrew Quattrin, Aurora Barbarians
17. Pat Lynott, Bytown Blues
18. Ryan Surgenor, Bytown Blues
19. Kolby Francis, Brantford Harlequins
20. Andrew Wilson, Crusaders
21. John Sheridan, Markham Irish
22. Will Kelly, Brantford Harlequins
23. Mario Van Der Westhuizen, Guelph Redcoats

ABOUT THE ONTARIO BLUES

The Ontario Blues program is the high performance representative program for male and female rugby players in Ontario. Rugby Ontario is represented at the provincial level by the Ontario Blues High Performance program. The program includes representative teams from Under-15 to Senior in both Women’s and Men’s Fifteens. Specifically, the program is designed to develop and showcase rugby players for Canadian representative national teams.

ABOUT RUGBY ONTARIO

Rugby Ontario is the provincial sports governing body responsible for the organization of rugby in Ontario. Our mission is to establish a stronger identity for rugby in Ontario by promoting the sport’s core values and by fostering a culture of inclusiveness and excellence on and off the field of play.

To learn more, visit https://www.rugbyontario.com/