VICTORIA - Rising national rugby star #
Brett Beukeboom# scored three second-half tries as part of 32 unanswered points, pacing the University of Victoria Vikes men's rugby team past Vancouver Rowing Club 39-5 in the season-opener of the 2011 B.C. Rugby Union Premier League schedule.
"He's an up-and-comer because he has the size and the weight for the (national team) second row," said Vikes men's rugby head coach Doug Tate.
Perfect conditions at kick-off deteriorated to a driving rain that hampered ball handling -- at least in the opening half.
"We seemed to handle the ball better as the weather got worse," Tate said. "Our guys were trying to play too wide a game because of weather, but we did tighten up our back line passing after the half."
Vancouver Rowing Club mounted a strong defence in the opening stanza. A tactical kicking game with plenty of hard tackling hovered near midfield for most of the opening 45 minutes.
The Vikes led 7-5 going to break after a try and convert by #
Tye Hamblin#.
But after Beukeboom burst through a scrum breakdown to score in the opening three minutes of the second half, UVic never looked back.
Beukeboom capitalized on a Rowing Club defensive mix-up to score on a quick tap and go minutes later after sustained Vikes pressure.
Most of the second half was played in the Rowing Club's end of the field.
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Cam Pierce# of the Vikes scored next after further UVic pressure, with #
Ben Thomson# converting to put the Vikes up 24-5.
UVic's defensive pressure created the next score. The Vikes intercepted a Rowing Club lateral and two breakdowns later, Beukeboom broke through with his third tally of the match.
Hamblin added his second try of the day as he took a tidy pass off a brilliant run by #Willem Du Plessis# to push the score to 34-5. #
Dean Neville# completed scoring after another Rowing Club breakdown from about 30 metres out.
Fitness was clearly a factor in the second half, favouring the better conditioned Vikes.
"Rowers looked tired at the end of the game," Tate observed. "Our guys our getting fitter as the season goes on."
Vikes travel to Abbotsford next weekend for their third match in the BCRU Premier League schedule on Feb. 5.
