The B.C. Bears came up sixes in the Canadian Rugby Championship opener thanks in part to six represenatitives from the Burnaby Lake Rugby Club.
Joe Dolesau and Esava Nakulanisa both scored tries for the Bears in B.C.'s 43-19 victory at Klahanie Park on Saturday over the defending champion, The Rock from Newfoundland-Labrador.
Three quick scores in the first half of play did the bulk of the damage, forcing the Atlantic club to play from behind.
"(B.C.'s) backs were outstanding tonight," said former national team and The Rock head coach Pat Parfrey in a B.C. Rugby Union press release. "Their back line had three quick tries under the posts. We tried to fight back, but it was an uphill struggle from there."
National team backs Conor Trainor and fly half Nathan Hirayama opened the scoring for B.C., but Newfoundland kept it close with a second penalty goal.
Dolesau sparked a 17-point run for the home side, scoring from his inside centre position to give the Bears the lead for good.
Hiriyama scored shortly after, adding both conversions and a threepoint penalty to put B.C. up 24-6.
After the interval, the forward pack of the Bears continued to match the heavier Rock front eight, allowing B.C.'s speedier back line to run in two more tries.
"Defensively, I think our forwards won the game for us inside," said B.C. scrum half Eric Wilson. "They set up some great ball for the backs and we have some great runners that we put into space."
Trainor tallied his second fivepointer of the match, while wing forward Josh Clarke sprinted half the length of the pitch to score B.C.'s fifth try of the game.
Winger Nakulanisa scored the final try for the Bears on a late break in the back line.
The win was the first in two seasons for the B.C. Bears, which also included Burnaby Lake's Nathan Mantle, Scott McKay, Anthony Luca and Aaron Goddard.
The Bears were 0-4 in last season's championships, including a 34-12 loss to the The Rock at Klahanie in West Vancouver.
"I have said going into this year that we were going to be a performance-based team, and that was a great performance from out players," said first-year B.C. head coach Kris De Scossa. "We are still the underdogs but we can take a lot away from that result."
The Bears hoped to carry that momentum into Tuesday's matchup with the Ontario Blues (played after NOW deadlines).
LIGHTHOUSE 7S ON SAT.
Burnaby Lake will be hosting its annual Lighthouse rugby 7s tournament this Saturday at Burnaby Lake Sports Complex-East.
Burnaby Lake elite men's and women's teams currently both lead their respective divisional B.C. Sevens Series standings.
The BLRC women knocked off Capilano 22-12 in last week's championship sevens final in Abbotsford. It was the fourth consecutive sevens win for the Burnaby women.
The Burnaby Lake men were awarded the plate final and now lead the B.C. sevens standings by 14 points over James Bay Athletic Association.
