The provincial juggernauts of premier men's rugby are on a collision course today for the coveted Labatt's Cup.
The fantastic first 15 at the St. Albert Rugby Football Club – four-time provincial finalists in the last six years and 2010 champions – and the Calgary Hornets – three-time defending champions and winners of four of the last five Labatt's Cups – will go toe-to-toe to see who taps out first. The cage match kicks off at 4:15 p.m. at Calgary Rugby Park.
"We're both quite evenly matched. It will be a barnburner," predicted Paul Flynn, a wily hooker for the firsts, at Tuesday's training session.
It's the fourth provincial showdown between the perennial championship contenders since 2009, when the Hornets stunned the undefeated firsts 24-22.
The Hornets also spoiled the party for the firsts with lopsided results of 31-13 in 2011 and 47-10 last year.
"Every season we always strive to be at our best for the very last game and it just happens that St. Albert is the team we play again. It always seems that St. Albert is the best team in Edmonton," said Spencer Massiah, a veteran Hornet at lock.
The firsts are 1-4 in Labatt's Cup finals after the second division men captured the provincial Lor-Ann Cup in 2007, the year SARFC didn't field a premier team.
"We've had rough history when it comes to provincial finals," said Flynn, who described the mood of the firsts as "a tentative confidence but it's confidence" on the eve of the big game.
"We've won the city finals so many times and the guys are ready to take the next step and win a provincial final," he said
The firsts are 13-1 after winning their sixth Ken Ann Cup north final in seven years.
"Our record for the season really speaks for itself," said Flynn, one of 11 players in the north final who were on last year's 22-man provincial roster. "Some of the guys are still around from the time we won before but many of them are not, so to win a provincial championship would be awesome."
Hornets regroup
The Hornets are 9-5 after finishing on top of the Alberta Cup table the last four years, including a near-perfect 13-1 record in 2013.
"It definitely wasn't like last year when we had an extraordinary season," said Massiah of the Hornets who had big holes to fill after their standoff went back to Scotland to play for a Glasgow A squad and a prop signed a contract to scrum down in Australia. "At one point, I think we had a game with a change of 12 players from last year to this year. We've had a lot of young guys step up. We've had players figuring they wouldn't be playing first division rugby and they were definitely given chances and they made the best of it.
"We definitely worked good as a group together to get this far."
The Hornets also lost the services of Graeme Moffat, the director of rugby during their provincial three-peat, who is now the Alberta Rugby Union's technical director. The transplanted Scotsman coaches the Calgary-based Prairie Wolfpack in the Canadian Rugby Championship circuit and has coaching ties with Rugby Canada.
"We've always had extraordinary players to rely on and he definitely gave us direction," Massiah said. "With Steve Thomas this year we have the same direction. He's given us a lot of goals to strive for and we have a group of guys who play for each other and will cover each others' backs and do what needs to be done in order to win."
The Hornets have more losses this season than the last three years combined but the Black and Yellow team is still a tough nut to crack.
"I'm not sure what it is that's made them struggle somewhat this year but we're not taking them lightly that's for sure. We've done that before," Flynn said. "They're a very good team from top to bottom. They've got a lot of good players who play Wolfpack and things like that. They're very, very quick and strong. They hit up really hard, especially in the centres, and we expect that. They are really good at getting it out wide and expose space on the wings too."
Massiah also tossed bouquets at the firsts.
"We always expect a tough game when we play St. Albert," said the teammate of several SARFC players on the Wolfpack. "You can always expect a battle in the forwards. They've got some power in the backs as well. You've always got to mark up on Adam Bontus because he's definitely a powerful runner and we're expecting lot from Shea (O'Hallahan at fullback) this year. He's made a big contribution to them."
Rare win
The firsts suffered eight losses in a row to the Hornets before the tide turned in a hard-fought affair in late May. The landmark 24-23 come-from-behind decision by the firsts was decided on the last play as the Hornets pushed a penalty kick wide of the posts from tough angle around the 20-metre line.
"It was one of the funnest games actually to play all season but it was so, so close. So, to say that would build our confidence any more than normal would be a little bit silly," Flynn said of the one-point margin of victory. "That's a drop ball either way depending on the situation so I think that just shows how good of a final it will be."
Massiah, 34, said the Hornets let the win slip away.
"We were up for most of the game then there were a couple of changes in the lead and unfortunately we made a few mistakes in the end that cost us," he admitted. "We definitely used that as a marker in the season and planned to rectify that."
Last weekend in the south final the Hornets rallied to beat the Calgary Canucks (8-5) in a tight 32-27 encounter. It was payback time for the Hornets, who were upset in the 2010 playoffs by the Canucks with a trip to provincials on the line.
"I remembered that loss and so did a few of the veterans," Massiah said. "It definitely took a lot of work to come back from behind to secure that game. It was a tough, chippy game. When you play the Canucks you always expect a battle, especially when they make the playoffs."
The firsts also had their hands full with the Strathcona Druids in the north final, but prevailed 19-5.
The unsung heroes for the firsts were the front row of Flynn in the middle of a pair of bookends at props in Angus (Gus) MacDonald and Irish import Jason Carton. The trio are the tip of the spear for the forward pack in the scrums.
"It's a combination of experience and strength with us three. They're both very, very big guys and I'm a pretty big guy myself too so when we put our weight on people and push it's hard for other teams to compete with that," said Flynn, the second-oldest player on the firsts at age 32 who gives way to a young Robert Blunden on lineout throws. "Other than in the first Druids' game that we lost (13-8 in late July) I don't think our scrum has been under pressure at all and some of that credit goes to the second rows as well because they're pushing on us as hard as we're pushing on the other team. The tight five is the engine room of this team, especially in the scrum."
SCRUM BALLS: Both teams will be missing key starters due to injuries or commitments with Canada at the IRB Americas Rugby Championship, starting next weekend in Langford, B.C. Selected Wolfpack players from the firsts and Hornets were invited to a training camp comprised of members of all four CRC teams.
Spotted at training Tuesday was injured captain Brett Kelly, an intimidating forward who described his status for the final as 50/50 despite missing the last four matches with a wrecked knee.
The early scouting report on the starting 15 for the final has Bontus moving to wing with Conor Power, a blazing runner and Irish import. Antony Fitch, 20, replaces the injured Adam Gowing at standoff and Justin (Bomber) Armitt joins the steady Adam Higgins in the centres positions.
A 56-seat passenger bus full of loyal and thirsty supporters departs this morning at 11:30 to cheer on the firsts to victory.
