BC Bears beat Russian Bears
The British Columbia Bears beat Russia 38-16 British Columbia vs Russia at Bear Mountain Stadium, Langford, British Columbia, on Wednesday, not a great start for the Russians on their first-ever trip to Canada.
For Russia this match is a preparation for the European Nations Cup and the strong possibility of qualification for the final round of the World Cup for the first time.
British Columbia attacked first and scored first when David Spicer chipped and Brock Nicholson fell on the ball to score after just six minutes. Two more tries, by Connor Braid with a sprint down the left and New Zealander Matt Buckley after a passing movement, took the home side to a 19-3 lead at half-time.
Sean Duke, just back from Japan, chased and fell on the ball for the fourth try and then Nicholson intercepted and ran most of the length of the field for his second try. Glen McKinnon got the next try and then Russia made several changes which brought them better results as they ran in two tries, the second a pleasing one by Andrei Prochine, a Russian settled in Canada who had played for British Columbia in the Americas Cup but was now at inside centre in his first match for Russia.
Scorers:
For British Columbia Bears
Tries: Nicholson 2, Braid, Buckley, Duke, McKinnon
Cons: Braid 3, Spicer
For Russia
Tries: Maglakelidze, Prochine
Con: Novikov
Pens: Novikov 2
Teams
British Columbia Bears: 15 Connor Braid (James Bay Athletic Association), 14 Brock Nicholson (Vancouver Rowing Club RFC), 13 Matt Buckley (Castaway Wanderers), 12 David Spicer (U Vic Vikes), 11 Vince Herlaar (James Bay Athletic Association), 10 Charlie Jones (University of BC), 9 Ed Fairhurst c *( Castaway Wanderers), 8 Ben Jones (University of BC), 7 Seamus Gay (Castaway Wanderers), 6 Ben Johnson (James Bay Athletic Association), 5 Glen McKinnon (Capilano RFC), 4 Eric Lopatinsky (Velox), 3 Andrew Tiedemann (U Vic Vikes), 2 Ryan Hamilton (U Vic Vikes), 1 Toby Peyton (U Vic Vikes),
Replacements: 16 Rhodri Hanmer (Meraloma), 17 Jason Marshall (Capilano?), 18 Travis Robertson (Velox Valhllians), 19 Conner Christopher (Capilano RFC), 20 Scott Plummer (Burnaby Lake RFC), 21 Nick Waggott (University of BC), 22 Phil Mack (University of Victoria), 23 Sean Duke (University of Victoria)
Russia: 15 Igor Klyuchnikov (VVA Moscow), 14 Vasily Artemyev (VVA Moscow), 13 Igor Galinovskiy (Krasnyar), 12 Andrei Prochine (Capilano RFC), 11 Pavel Novikov (Yenisei-STM), 10 Alexey Korobeynikov (Yenisei-STM), 9 Alexnder Yanyushkin (VVA Moscow), 8 Alexey Panasenko (VVA Moscow), 7 Kirill Kushnarev (VVA Moscow), 6 Victor Gresev (VVA Moscow), 5 Artem Fatakhov (Yenisei-STM), 4 Alexander Voytov (VVA Moscow), 3 Evgeny Pronenko (Yenisei-STM), 2 Vladislav Korshunov (VVA Moscow), 1 Karlo Maglakelidze (Empire),
Replacements: 16 Serge Bazhenov (Yenisei-STM), 17 Vladimir Botvinnikov (Yenisei-STM), 18 Alexey Travkin (VVA Moscow), 19 Andrey Garbuzov (Krasnyar), 20 Alexander Shakirov (VVA Moscow), 21 Yury Kushnarev (VVA Moscow), 22 Andrey Kuzin (VVA Moscow), 23 Alexander Gvozdovskiy (Krasnyar)
Referee: David Smortchevsky (Canada)
Assistant referees: Bryan Arciero (Canada), Pat Allard (Canada)