The University of British Columbia Rugby Club

Under brilliant sunny blue skies the UBC Braves hosted Simon Fraser University this past weekend at Wolfson Field. They put on a masterful display of running rugby with an eleven try performance to register a 74-7 result. Liam Murphy-Burke (Semiahmoo) led the way for UBC with 19 points from a try and seven conversions. Cam Graham (Merritt) and Matthew Cheong (Singapore) scored two tries, while Mike O’Toole (Seaquam), Gavin Stephen (Brentwood), Adrian Semmelink (Kelowna), Eddy Robinson (Harrow), Dane Peterson (Kelowna), Alex Mascott (St. George’s) and Eric Chau (Charles Tupper) all contributed with a try. The Braves finished their winter/spring season with an 8 win and 1 loss record this second term. An interesting statistic is that of the twenty two players that took to the field on the day, sixteen were freshmen.

We had our potluck year end barbeque on Saturday, March 31^st at the clubhouse. Close to seventy players, coaches and trainers brought a wide variety of succulent dishes from around the world which were systematically consumed over a two hour period. Congratulations to all the players for a great effort over the season along with thanks to the coaches and trainers for all their work and time committed.

Best Frosh Forward                         Michael O’Toole              Seaquam Secondary

Best Frosh Back                                                Liam Murphy-Burke        Semiahmoo Secondary

Best Brave Forward                        Adrian Semmelink          Kelowna Secondary

Best Brave Back/Bird                      Dafydd Samuel                 Shawnigan

Best Bird Back                                   Carlin Hamstra                  Shawnigan

Best Bird Forward                            Alex Kam                             McRoberts Secondary

 

We had a new award this year…The Sports Council for Wales Player of the Year Award. I was going through one of Buzz Moore’s many boxes and I came across a long lost trophy…a player of the year award shield, given to Don Spence and UBC by the Sports Council of Wales. It was given to Don during the UBC tour of 1973 and Don presented that award every year up to and not including 1984 ( I’m not really sure if Don did indeed give this out on a yearly basis but I will assume he did). The 1984 name plate is blank as Don passed away during the spring of 1984 and the award was not given that year. The small shield has been placed on a bigger shield with new name plates. The 2012 winner is our team captain and tight prop, Alex Kam. You would really be surprised at what Buzz has in those boxes!

Winners from the past include:

1973       Stephen Owen

1974       Barry Legh

1975       Ro Hindson

1976       Preston Wiley

1977       Bill Collins

1978       Garry Hirayama

1979       Rob Greig

1980       Rob Millard

1981       Doug Tate

1982       Robin Russell

1983       Peter McLean

1984       blank

2012       Alex Kam

 

Spence McTavish

Department of Athletics and Recreation

272 6081 University Blvd

Vancouver BC V6T 1Z1

Email: spence.mctavish@ubc.ca

Website: www.ubcrugby.com