Ontario Blues U19 Men name 25-man roster for CRCs in Saskatoon

July 06, 2018

Ontario Blues U19 Men name 25-man roster for CRCs in Saskatoon

The Ontario Blues Under-19 Men’s team has been busy preparing for the 2018 Canadian Rugby Championship and have now officially named their 25-man roster that will be travelling to the event.

Head Coach Mike Curran named the squad after their recent series against the Eagle Impact Rugby Academy (EIRA) in Guelph and is excited for what’s in store as they fine tune and reflect ahead of the tournament.

The Blues split the series with their American foes on Canada Day weekend. The Ontario side lost the first game of the series by a score of 36-22, but they came out with vengeance to win the second game 14-9. This is the first Under-19 Blues squad in four years to pick up a victory against a strong EIRA (previously High School All-Americans) program.

“I was extremely impressed with our defense against EIRA in game two of our series,” said Curran. “We only gave up three penalty kicks and had a number of goal line stands, including an important one in the last three minutes of the game.”

The 25 players who will be representing Ontario in the U19 Canadian Rugby Championship come from sixteen different Rugby Ontario clubs, ranging from the Niagara Rugby Union’s Norfolk Harvesters to the Eastern Ontario Rugby Union’s Bytown Blues. Thirteen colleges and universities are also represented on the roster.

“We would like to thank the 60 plus different players who raised their hand and showcased themselves to the coaching staff over the past 12 weeks of training and competition,” said Curran.

The freshly-named U19 Blues look ahead to the Canadian Rugby Championship in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The event will run from July 16-22 and will see the team face strong competition from across the country.

Last year, the Blues just narrowly lost out on a Gold Medal at the tournament to a strong BC Bears Squad. The 2018 edition of the team looks to build off of a successful series with their American neighbours and have success in the National Championship tournament.

The Blues open up the round robin on June 16 against the Atlantic Rock. The tournament will be streamed. Details on the streaming service will be updated on www.rugby.ca and www.canadianrugbychampionship.com in advance of the tournament.

Be sure to also follow Rugby Ontario on Twitter at www.twitter.com/rugbyontario for updates on all three Blues teams travelling to Saskatchewan.

U19 BLUES SCHEDULE – 2018 CANADIAN RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP

Game 1 – Blues vs. Atlantic Rock – July 16 at 6:00pm ET
Game 2 – Blues vs. Prairie Blizzard – July 17 at 6:00pm ET
Semi-Finals – July 20 at 4:00pm ET
Finals – July 22 at 2:00pm ET

U19 BLUES ROSTER – 2018 CANADIAN RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP

Aaron Pacha, Guelph Redcoats

Alex Circelli, Aurora Barbarians

Braden Bruce, Peterborough Pagans

Cam Hurst, Mississauga Blues

Carter Smith, Brampton Beavers

Danny Vasica, Crusaders

Devan Hunter, Toronto Scottish

Dominic Johnson, Crusaders

Gabe Casey, Bytown Blues

Guerschom Mukendi, Stoney Creek Camels

Isaac Brown, Aurora Barbarians

Jack Shaw, Crusaders

Jackson Scott, Norfolk Harvesters

Joshua Ho, Aurora Barbarians

Kevin Oh, Waterloo County

Levi Konecny, Ajax Wanderers

Liam Geddes, Lindsay

Mason Flesch, Cobourg Saxons

Max Goodwin, Aurora Barbarians

Owen McLean Lavado, Toronto Scottish

Quenton McLean Lavado, Toronto Scottish

Talen De St. Croix, Brantford Harlequins

Tyler Rowlands, Toronto Nomads

Tyler Webb, Barrie

William Cheesewright, Crusaders

Non-Travelling Reserves:

Caleb English, Aurora Barbarians

Ryan Connolly, Barrie

Erik Keppen, Ajax Wanderers

Malik James, Balmy Beach

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. The program includes representative teams from Under-15 to Senior in both Women’s and Men’s Fifteens and Under-18 Men's and Women's Sevens. 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/