HOME

SENIOR MEN  D1

SENIOR MEN D2

SENIOR WOMEN

HIGH SCHOOL

NOTICES

TIME MACHINE

PRIVACY POLICY

Brandon Barbarians Rugby Football Club

Senior Men Division One

May 30, 2009

Game Played at Reilly Field, Canada Games Rugby Park, Brandon

Brandon Barbarians 30 Winnipeg Saracens 27

On a bright and warm Saturday afternoon (ideal for the first sunburn of the year), the Barbarians dedicated the season and the game to late co-founder John Reilly and player/supporter Darcy Parrott. Field One has been renamed Reilly Field. It even says so on the new big and bold scoreboard. Other changes include refined team benches with stadium seating.

A returning Wayne Davis showed that he still had “it,” opening and closing the scoring with a penalty kick and a conversion. Another returnee after a couple of absent seasons, Scott McMullan, proved the he had never lost “it,” scoring a try in the first half. Other tries were scored by Nathan Peto, Eric Arpin, Aaron Kaluzniak and Warren Truscott.

The third “returnee” arrives as a special assistant coach. Although Brent Littlejohn retired as the Barbs’ coach for eleven seasons in 2006 (a stretch that included three Division II provincial championships in ‘03,’04 and ‘06 and the Rugby Manitoba Cup in ‘05) he finally came to the conclusion that there was indeed less to life without rugby. He wasn’t interested in becoming a player again, even Brent has his limits. Coach Jon Fitzpatrick, who loves to play, was looking for a “helper” to observe the play on the field. Jon concurred that Brent with his knowledge and experience would be ideal for the job. Brent placed himself  up on the west berm at the Saracens game with notebook and pen jotting stuff down to be discussed at the half or at game’s end or perhaps even to be worked on at an upcoming practice. The concept was tried out for the first time at the Saracens game and, with the Barbs’ win, worked so well that Jon can now call himself “Head Coach.”

The webmaster is no dummy, either. He remembers how Brent helped out with game coverage providing special insight that was recorded with the game report. He asked Brent to do the same for this year. Brent’s story about the game follows the game photos below. Enjoy.

Brent Littlejohn’s Jottings

From

The Berm

The goal heading into this match was to produce a positive 80 minutes of rugby - to start the 2009 season on a 'high note'... And the guys did exactly that.

The first game of any rugby season, always presents a personal challenge to the players - both individually and collectively... And I thought they responded to the occasion very well.

I had hoped that we would have better control of the match over the first 20-30 minutes... However, the Saracens were certainly challenging our guys - at every opportunity. To their credit, the Saracens played determined rugby - through to the final whistle.

The Second-half was much more positive for us - all around..... Certainly, we would have liked a bit more 'breathing-room' on the scoreboard; however, the guys worked very hard to maintain control of the match..... And, in the scheme of things, it's more helpful to have a honest 'test', to begin a season.Offensively, I would have liked to have seen us link more phases together, at some crucial times. However, our 5 Tries in the match were all well-earned.

And, although the day was only the first on-field outing of the season for our guys, I know that the recent deaths of John Reilly and Darcy Parrott have helped us to become closer as a club, and as a team.

Click HERE to return to the Sr Men Div II Schedule

Click HERE to return to the Home Page.