Gee Gage Cup Round One Preview
September 27th, 2019
(WHITBY, ON) - The Gee Gage Cup is a Rugby Ontario Championship which is contested by Marshall 2nd League sides and Branch Union first teams. This year, five clubs will be competing in a bracket style competition. The five clubs have been seeded, with the 1st seeded team earning a BYE into the second round. The first round of competition begins Saturday, September 28th, 2019. The Gee Gage Cup Championships match will take place on Saturday, October 19th at Fletcher’s Fields, as part of McCormick Cup Day. Below is a preview of the Round one matchups. To view the full tournament draw and schedule, click here.
Hamilton Hornets (Seed #1 ): BYE
The Hamilton Hornets enter the Gee Gage Cup as the top seeded team in the competition. The Hornets earned the top seed by virtue of being the defending Gee Gee Cup Champions. Hamilton defeated the Toronto Scottish to capture the 2018 title. In the Niagara Rugby Union A league in 2019, the Hornets went 3-7-0, earning 20 points, finishing in 6th place.
Toronto Scottish (Seed #2 ) v. Niagara Wasps (Seed #5), Fletcher’s Fields, 1PM
The Toronto Scottish were one of the two best teams in the Marshall 2nd League this season. The Scottish finished with a record of 12-2-0, earning 60 points. The Scottish finished in a tie for top spot in the entire Marshall 2nd League with the Peterborough Pagans, who had an identical 12-2-0 record. The Scottish will look to avenge their loss in the 2018 Gee Gage Cup Finals at the hands of the Hamilton Hornets.
The Niagara Wasps competed in the Niagara Rugby Union Men’s A league in 2019. The club finished with a record of 7-3-0, finishing with 37 points. They finished in a tie for 2nd place with the Sarnia Saints, nine points behind the Champions, the Guelph Redcoats. The Wasps did not compete in the Gee Gage Cup in 2018.
Bay Street Pigs (Seed #3 ) v. Balmy Beach RFC (Seed #4), Tubs and Gee Gage, 1PM
The Bay Street Pigs competed in the Keenan League in the Toronto Rugby Union. The Pigs finished with a perfect 10-0-0 record during the regular season, earning 50 points along the way. Bay Street’s only loss this season came in the Keenan Championship Match. They fell 26-14 to the Vaughn Yeoman, who finished 2nd during the regular season. Bay Street competed in the 2018 Gee Gage Cup, finishing with a record of 1-1-1 in Pool play, second in their pool behind the Hamilton Hornets.
Balmy Beach with a record of 10-4-0 during the Marshall 2nd League season, good enough for second-place in the West Division with 52 points. The team finished one point behind first-place Barrie RFC. The teams performance in the Marshall 2nd League was a major factor in Balmy Beach winning the West Marshall Club Championship, a trophy awarded to the club with the most combined points from their Marshall 1st & 2nd League sides. The team competed in the Gee Gage Cup in 2018. They went 1-2-0 in Pool play, with their victory coming against the Crusaders Rugby Club.
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/
WANT MORE INFORMATION?
Dalton Finkbeiner
Communications and Marketing Coordinator - Rugby Ontario
647-560-4790 x 1006
dfinkbeiner@rugbyontario.com
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