On Saturday afternoon, under skies that could not have been more welcoming, women’s rugby returned to MacDonald Park. It was confirmed by alumni in attendance that the last time JBAA fielded a women’s rugby team was December 2009. The honorary naming of this new cup game between JBAA & VRC as the Yanos Cup, holds great significance to family, friends, and former teammates of Nicole Yano, and know she would have been thrilled to see a women’s team playing at the Mac again after this 12-year hiatus.
Prior to kickoff, the JBAA Bettys Alumni and other supporters formed a tunnel to welcome the team onto the pitch. Captain and member of the last 2009 team, Katie McKinty, proudly lead the next generation out, followed by current coach and JBAA alumni, Jen Ross.
The team is playing in a 10/12 a-side development league, that includes 4 x 15-minute quarters of game time, with rolling substitutions. Most of this James Bay team are young players who have recently graduated from our U19 club team, have not played rugby since pre-Covid, or are new to the game entirely. Having this development league is valuable for the growth of women’s rugby at JBAA and province wide.
From the starting kickoff it appeared as though our teams were evenly matched, but perhaps some nerves and confusion amongst the Bays at 3 mins into the 1st quarter helped the Rowers find space to score. The kick was no good. JBAA 0-5 VRC.
The JBAA women used the returning kickoff to push into the Rower’s end for a short period of time but were denied space past the Rower’s 5 m line before spending the remainder of the 1st quarter defending in their own end. There were several strong defensive efforts throughout to deny the Rowers further points.
The 2nd quarter saw a shift of momentum. James Bay came out hard with great offensive pressure, some great phases of play set Sarina Brooks off on a rumbling run to the Rower’s 5 m line where she was stopped but able to release and pick up the ball to charge over the try line to score the first points for the Bays! No conversion made, JBAA 5-5 VRC.
The returning kick off had JBAA defending in their end for the next 5 minutes, until the Rowers managed to wear down the Bays. A missed tackle left an open door to score under the posts and made for an easy conversion. Score at the half JBAA 5-12 VRC.
The 3rd quarter started with pressure from JBAA and threats on the Rower’s 22m, but a turnover resulted in the play returning to half. Captain McKinty received the ball, broke through two defenders before passing to Maggie Swan, who is dangerous with space to run, and run she did to a chorus of alumni urging her forward to score the second try for JBAA. Kick was good, JBAA 12-12 VRC.
The remainder of the 3rd quarter belonged to the Rowers, starting with a blind pick off a scrum on the JBAA 22m for a score in the corner, no conversion JBAA 12-17 VRC. The Rowers held the momentum and returned to the JBAA end after a few quick phases to score one more unconverted try before the end of the quarter JBAA 12-22 VRC.
The final quarter of play saw another shift of momentum as our JBAA women dug deep and set off by a great sideline run from Eliza Woods, the Bays marched into the Rowers half and were rewarded a penalty on the 5m line. The ball went through the hands of the backline, was dropped backward, and scooped up by Jocelyn Buie who sidestepped through a scattered defence to make her way over the line to score. Kick falls short, JBAA 17-22 VRC.
Not long after kick-off, Eliza Woods again makes another long run up the middle to offload to Kylie Good who makes inroads to the Rowers half. A penalty is soon awarded to JBAA and captain McKinty runs for 10m pushing deeper into the Rowers territory with little time remaining. A few back-and-forth phases in the Rowers half leads to a knock on and the Bays get a scrum just shy of the Rower’s 22m. Kylie Good who has been solid for the Bays, picks and goes for a run around 3 defenders to even the score, no conversion JBAA 22-22 VRC!
The last play of the game saw a line-out on the side of the field that volunteer touch judge Steph White was camped out on. With her flag pointing the way of the Rowers, she let our mostly inexperienced squad know that they could in fact contest the line out, and that was all the assistance they needed. Kylie Good was lifted high to secure the ball and our Bays women kept possession until the final whistle. Final score JBAA 22-22 VRC.
The inaugural year of the Yanos Cup is shared between the teams. A fitting end, for a bright future of competition.
Game report and photos courtesy Lisa Cooper.