The Brampton Rugby Club is home to the Brampton Rugby Football Club, a Senior Club in the Ontario Rugby Union with five senior teams and six junior teams, and the XL Club, an over 40s team drawing from across the GTA. Contacts, club history, rosters, schedules, and news on this club can be found at http://www.rugbybrampton.com/
The Eastern Ontario Rugby Union does not run Leagues for Under 16 or Under 18 Rugby, so the Barrhaven Scottish Juniors are travelling teams. On Sunday 13th August, they made the long trek down from the Nation's capital to take on their Brampton Beavers counterparts, and at the Under 16 level, the match was a hard-fought enjoyable contest which Brampton might have won on the last play of the game. Instead, the home team succumbed 12 - 17, but as the Brampton coaches Terry Bennell and Doug Purdy noted, "the match provided good practice to prepare the team for the upcoming ORU play-offs.
Brampton elected to kick-off in hot dry conditions, but they took time to settle down. In their new green and red uniforms, the Barrhaven forwards showed that they were a well-drilled side as their forwards powered through the Brampton mauls and rucks. It did not take long for the visitors to drive in through some weak tackling to score wide left. The conversion missed 0 - 5.
The score seemed to awaken the home team and they clawed their way back into the game. In the set pieces, Brampton showed their dominance, especially in the scrums, and with more possession, "Wiggles" at scrum half managed to distribute the ball to the backs. With DanJohn Dowie-Chin playing in the centre, the Beavers had a powerful runner who sucked in the opposition in defence, but they found it hard to move the ball wide after the initial thrust. There were some good running and passing movements, but the best ground was obtained through long kick and chase sequences.
Just before the half, some good Brampton pressure led to a score to the left of the posts. Paulo missed his first conversion attempt, but on the second attempt, following a Barrhaven infraction, he succeeded. Brampton led at the half 7 - 5.
After the interval, Barrhaven launched a renewed offensive with their kick-off. Using a shortened lineout, Barrhaven was awarded a free kick when Brampton failed to match them, and a bullocking run by the Barrhaven Number 8 led to a score. The try was not converted. 7 - 10.
As both teams tired, the number of unforced handling errors increased. Knock-ons and forward passes often spoiled promising moves and killed the game as a spectacle. However, both sides were guilty, and both teams played the match hard, but in good spirit. A kick ahead by Barrhaven saw the Brampton backs mishandle the ball and the Barrhaven wing kicked on. The ball bounced up for him just in front of the posts, but he knocked the ball on. However, soon afterwards, the Barrhaven Number 8 escaped a series of tackles to break away and score under the posts. The conversion brought the score to 7 - 17.
To their credit, Brampton responded yet again and forced their way to a lineout on the opposition 22m line. Following the ensuing maul, Nicco managed to worm his way free for a 15 metre scamper to score. 12 - 17.
With time running down the Brampton team pressed hard and won a series of scrums near the Barrhaven line. In the final seconds, Brampton won another scrum 5 metres from the Barrhaven line. The ball was moved wide left, and after a nice break, an overlap was created. With the line at their mercy, the backs knocked the ball on under the posts, and the game was over 12 - 17.
The Brampton Rugby Club is home to the Brampton Rugby Football Club, a Senior Club in the Ontario Rugby Union with five senior teams and six junior teams, and the XL Club, an over 40s team drawing from across the GTA. Contacts, club history, rosters, schedules, and news on this club can be found at