OAKVILLE, Ont. - Less than a week after setting new team records for points, tries and margin of victory in their season opener, the Sheridan Bruins men's rugby team (2-0 OCAA) re-wrote their record book once again, scoring seven tries and 45 points in the first half of a 45-5 triumph over Seneca.
"I think we played well for the most part. The first half was pretty much clinical, the boys ran our offence to a tee," head coach Rick Bria said. "Right now we've just got to get away from getting lazy when we have a lead. Unfortunately when teams get a large lead at the beginning of a game, they think it's over and we can't have that. We need to continue to have that killer instinct for 80 minutes, not for 40 or 50."
Matt DaCosta opened the scoring with his first of two tries just four minutes into the game.
His second came in more dramatic fashion at the half hour mark, taking off on a 90-metre dash, after the Bruins thwarted several Seneca attempts near the Sheridan goal line.
In addition to DaCosta's pair of tries, Tristian Hylton and Andrew Zondona also had a pair each, while Justin Tota added one.
Owen Schimpl kicked four converts, while Jad Hamade tacked on one to round out the scoring.
The Double-Blue were moments away from securing their second shutout in program history -- the first a 22-0 win against Mohawk on Sept. 22, 2013 -- before Seneca was able to get on the board with a try on the game's final play.
And though it wasn't enough to dampen what was a very good day to be wearing Double-Blue, according to Bria it underscored two key areas where the team must improve.
"We definitely need to work more on our defence and some fitness," he said. "It is an 80 minute game. Some guys were starting to run out of gas around the 55th, 60th minute. Luckily we have a full bench of experienced players that we could switch in. Overall I think fitness is our biggest enemy right now and we need to continue to improve that. It's not going to get any easier, we have our sights set on the playoffs and hopefully finishing top-2 this year."
Fortunately, the club will have a little bit of time to work on both.
After opening their season with a pair of games in five days, they now have a little under two weeks to prepare for a home date with Conestoga during Sheridan Homecoming on Sept. 30 (11am).
Blue notes: The Bruins have picked up bonus points in each of their first two contests, having only picked up two bonus points total in the program's first five seasons.
