The Inaugural Americas Rugby League Nines Championship

This afternoon Teena and I were at the Americas Rugby League Nines Championship at Lamport Stadium in Toronto. This was the first of its kind and will take place every two years.  I am unsure if the location will be rotated.

The men's tournament consisted of four teams, Canada Wolverines, USA Hawks, Latin Heat and the Reggae Warriors competing for the Championship. The women's competition had three teams from Canada, Ontario and Jamaica.

The tournament was over 6 hours long and featured 11 matches. Teena and I wondered if we might take a break and go home in the middle (we live a 10 minute walk away) but enjoyed the action and stayed for the entire afternoon.

The women played a round robin tournament with the winner receiving the silver trophy on the left. The men played a round robin with the top two teams playing a sudden death match for the other.

Canada won the women's division with a 2-0 record. The scores:
Canada 28 - Ontario - 8
Ontario 24 - Jamaica- 4
Canada 26 - Jamaica - 0

Some pictures:

On the men's side, Canada and the USA met in their final game of the round robin and tied 14-14. They headed to the championship game with each team sporting a 2-0-1 record.

The first half was close with the teams tied 4-4 but the USA prevailed in the second half to take the inaugural trophy by a 20-8 score. Jamaica took third place by beating Latin Heat 34-4.

Before looking at some action form this match, I want to show how tough these players are. I'm not sure if this player from Canada was protecting a broken nose but I've never seen a tape job like this. In every game, he never shied away from the action as you can see in Teena's action shot below.

Here are some photos from the men's tournament.

It was a fun afternoon. If the next tournament is back at Lamport Stadium, we'll certainly be there.

Wheelchair Rugby (Murderball) at the 2017 Toronto Invictus Games

This afternoon I went to see the pool rounds for Wheelchair Rugby at the Invictus Games being held here in Toronto.

Most of us will never know the horrors of combat. Many servicemen and women suffer life-changing injuries, both visible and invisible, while serving their countries. How do they find the motivation to move on and to not be defined by their injuries? How can they be recognized for their achievements?

The Invictus Games Foundation was established in London, England, in 2014 to pursue and develop the legacy of the Invictus Games, Prince Harry’s adaptive sport event for injured, ill and wounded servicemen and women and veterans.

As you can see the place was packed, and the crowd was boisterous. (note: The yellow are not empty seats. Many on the other side of the arena were wearing yellow tee-shirts)

The games were played in the main arena (top picture) and in the Coca-Cola Centre of Ryerson's Mattamy Athletic Centre.

So what is Wheelchair Rugby?

Any sport originally coined “murderball” has excitement written all over it. Wheelchair rugby is a team sport played indoors on a hardwood court. Competitors play in wheelchairs, and their objective is to score the most goals by carrying, dribbling, or passing the ball toward the opponent’s end. Contact between wheelchairs is allowed and players frequently collide as they attempt to stop their opponents and take control of the ball. Players gain points by touching the goal line with two wheels while in possession of the ball. The team with the most points wins the game.

I saw Team Canada play Australia first. The fans cheered hard but Canada lost.

There was great camaraderie between the players as you can see during their handshakes after the game.

Next up was Canada vs Denmark who is a highly ranked team. We played hard but lost again.

Each team has a stack of spare tires ready to go.

The chairs are crashed around so much and the wheels so exposed that they do break. Each game seems to have one or two tire changes, which are done as fast as any car racing team.

Action from the Australia ~ New Zealand game.

Flags were everywhere.

This video shot today of the Australia ~ New Zealand game gives you some idea of the game. It is only 45 seconds long but features a rollover crash and a goal. Wheelchair rugby is a hard but fast game.

I really enjoyed all the action today. It's a fun game to watch. I even bought myself an Invictus baseball style shirt. Tomorrow night is the semi-finals, finals and medal presentations and if you have a chance, it would be worth your while to attend.

Toronto Wolfpack Finish Season Undefeated at Home

Last week the Toronto Wolfpack defeated the Barrow Raiders to clinch the championship. As the rugby league has the top 8 teams play each other once with the top club winning the championship and promotion to the next level, it meant that the Pack still had one more game today. That was this afternoon against Doncaster RLFC.

For the Wolfpack, the game was meaningless but for Doncaster a win would clinch 5th place and a chance to play for the second promotion to the Kingstone Press Champions League. Toronto was not about to lay down for them.

 This week I bought fold up chairs to use on the hard benches of Lamport. Teena and I both appreciated having a supported back for the game.

Here we are ready to cheer on the boys.

The Championship Toronto Wolfpack make their way onto the field.

The national anthems were sung. Teena and I sat on the west side of the stadium in the shade so had a better view of the anthems.

Opening kickoff.

A hard tackle by Doncaster.

Team Canada was playing USA after the Wolfpack game and lined up for pictures. Go Boys!

The Wolfpack were down 12-4 at the half and Doncaster was dominating. The She-wolves came out to perform.

The hot dog gun is always popular.

Second half kick-off.

Chugging for a try. He was pulled down but Toronto scored shortly after.

I would be in pain too if I had three big guys piling on me.

Pushing for a try but stopped.

The announced crowd was 8,456

QLT (Quentin Laulu-Togaga'e) being taken down.

Toronto stopped Doncaster dead in their tracks in the second half.

The game ended with a 26-14 Toronto Wolfpack victory. As always, the players shake hands and congratulate each other.

Toronto Mayor John Tory was there (in the white jersey) to help present the medals.

Yes, the celebrated last week with the cup. This week they celebrate again, this time with the shield. Much better for Teena and I as we were on the west side of the stadium and the presentations faced us, so yes, this is my picture and not copied from anywhere else.

So happy to see the Toronto Wolfpack have such a great season and win it all. So sad it's over.

'Til next season boys!!