Posted: Sep 22, 2023

Rugby routs Seneca in 2023 home opener

By: William Shoukri
Humber Athletics Communications

ETOBICOKE - Sunny, clear skies and a raucous home crowd set the scene for Friday's game at Valley Field as Humber Rugby (2-0, 1st West) trounced the Seneca Sting (0-2, 4th East) in their home opener, 44-3. Humber's offence stood out from the first rush, and its defence didn't allow a single try.

Seth Kirkham lit up the Seneca defence, scoring three tries in the first half and adding another one in the second.

First Half

Humber came out blazing in front of hundreds of fans Friday evening. The offence wasted no time, scoring on their first drive of the day, with second-year wing Robert Vatri opening the scoring for the Hawks. Humber would miss the conversion and go up 5-0.

The Sting would make the match close a few minutes later, converting a penalty kick to trim Humber's lead to two but that would be as close as they would get all afternoon.

Humber's defence held strong, though, shutting down a couple of Seneca runs before a huge run by David Jenkinson allowed Seth Kirkham to run in his first try of the game, making it 10-3.

Humber wasted no time after the try, stifling Seneca at the center line and forcing a turnover. The Hawks continued to use their vision to get back to the goal line, setting up Seth Kirkham for his second try of the game. Rafael Tamayo converted to make it 17-3 for Humber.

The Hawks' defence would continue to stump Seneca as they forced a turnover on the try line. After the turnover, Humber eased its way into the offensive zone with a couple of strong scrums, letting Kirkham score his third try of the half. With Humber up 22-3, they would keep the ball in Seneca's zone until the halftime whistle.

Second Half

Humber continued their dominance from the first half, with Seth Kirkham running in Humber's first drive of the half to score his fourth try of the evening. Tamayo converted, making it 29-3 for the Hawks.

Humber's defence shone in this one as well, shutting down Seneca at the try line to force a turnover in the 51^st minute. Once Humber had possession back, they wasted no time getting down the field as Gabe Merjavec ran in his first try of the game to make it 34-3 Humber. Humber would score two more tries late in the game, with Gospel Ogoanah and Che Bacchus scoring, respectively. Tempers flared after Bacchus scored in the 79^th minute, but the teams would stay civil as the game ended 44-3 for Humber.

Seth Kirkham dominates offensively

Seth Kirkham was the standout player tonight, scoring four tries and making several game-changing runs. The second-year hook from Mississauga gave the team credit for his performance. "I gotta put a lot of that on my teammates - I probably would have only had one on my own."

Kirkham ensured HSN knew how much the crowd meant to the team. "it felt awesome. The crowd was alive today. It definitely helped us get the momentum going right away".