Vancouver Rowing Club womens fall to Capilano 62-7 at home

The Vancouver Rowing Club division 2 women’s side fell short this weekend, losing to the Capilano division 2 in their third game of the season. The VRC women  came out of the prestigious “red room” mentally prepared for battle against long time club rival Capilanos RFC. Although the girls came out with a bit of a slow start. The score board, which hasn’t been on the Rowers side, has not been a valid representation of the growth and perseverance of this club.

To start the first half of the game it was agreed upon by both coaches to proceed with uncontested scrums to start off due to an un-experienced Capilano front row. As the game progressed the girls moved on to second half of contested scrums, which the VRC Women dominated. This year, the VRC has picked up some great new players who have made their scrums one of the strongest packs the club has seen in their short 2 year tenure. There were only 10 scrums against Caps, 6 uncontested and 4 contested. The Rowers won all 4.

Standout forward and brand new Rower Ashley Osachuk, a Team Canada wrestler, showed dominance at the prop position and a strong tackling game in her first game of rugby with the club.
Another brand new Rower, Holly Patton, playing her first ever game of rugby, was named back of the match and earned the beloved VRC hammer (hardest hit of the game) which by the ref’s standards was still one of the best hits he’s seen while refereeing rugby. She finished the game with  with an astonishing 13 tackles, the highest total in the game. The only Rower who was close to her number of hits was Captain Chantalle Bracken with 6 tackles.

As the game went on the Caps kept coming, breaking off long runs and scoring tries. But the VRC ladies did not give up. As the second half started, the Rowers kept pushing on with a stellar second half performance, spending a lot of time in the Capilano end. The Rowers dominated in the rucks in the second half. With many good pushes in the 5 meter mark from the try line the Rowers finally put some numbers on the board courtesy of Irish prop Sarah Hayes’ first try in the red and white. Bracken slotted the conversion.
Despite a lopsided score line, the girls showed a tremendous amount of heart, and showed the coaches, fans, and other teams the heart of a true Rower.
You can catch the girls back in action on November 17th @ Brit Lions home field.
Photos by Dan Francis