A try from replacement centre Nick Blevins of Calgary proved to be the difference as Canada West beat Canada East 30-24 to book a spot in their third straight North America Four (NA4) final. The match between the two Canadian sides, played at the state of the art rugby facility, Infinity Park, in suburban Denver, was one of two semi-final matches on the evening. Canada West will play the US Falcons in the final this Saturday, also at Infinity Park in Glendale, Colorado.

The NA4 is in its third year, and is funded by rugby's governing body, the International Rugby Board, and is used as a development tool for transitioning local club players to the international game.

Coming into the match Canada East had not won a game in three round robin matches, but they played Canada West tight taking the lead three different times before second half tries from Nanyak Dala and Blevins put the West ahead for good. With the East leading 21-16 after a try from Brantford's Jordan Kozina and conversion from Steve Piatek, the West came back with two tries to dash hopes of an upset.

Adam Kleeberger is the Captain of the West team and said while it was a difficult job, he knew his team would come through in the clutch.

"I had a lot of faith in my team," said the flanker, who is tied atop the try scoring table with teammate Brock Nicholson. "We've come through in all the games so far but we knew it was going to be a hard match against the East so I am glad the boys were up to it."

West Coach Tony Medina, who has taken his team to the first two championships, was obviously pleased with the win, though he admits a combination of missed opportunities and slow down tactics by the East worked against the West.

"I knew we had the horses, but not the way they played today," said the Victoria resident emphatically.  "The East forced us to play down to their pace. It was a stop, start game in the first twenty minutes that suited them.

"We turned over too much ball and didn't take the chances when we had them."

Piatek traded penalties with tournament scoring leader Matt Evans of the West to make the score 3-3 after sixteen minutes.

A big run by East No. 8 Aaron Carpenter fell just short of the try line, but the ensuing ruck saw wing Phil Mackenzie pick and drive across the line for an 8-3 lead.

Evans drew his side to within two at 8-6 with his second penalty.

The West then created their own chance on the restart, with Phil Mack hacking through on a handling error, gathering it in and feeding trailing No. 8 Tom McKeen, who made no mistake crossing in the 28th minute. With the Evans conversion the West got their first lead at 13-8.

Then, when they could least afford it East's Chauncey O'Toole got a yellow card for hands in the ruck, putting his side down to fourteen men for ten minutes.

But despite being shorthanded it was Piatek getting his side close with a penalty kick to make the score 13-11, with Evans adding a penalty to increase the West lead to 16-11 with 35 minutes to go.

A retaliation by Matt Evans for an elbow by Jebb Sinclair saw Piatek pull the East to within two at 16-14.

Feeling confident the West began playing some open rugby but paid the price as Jordan Kozina snared an errant pass and sprinted sixty metres for the go ahead score for Canada East.

Piatek's conversion gave the East a 21-16 lead, but it was short lived as a quick lineout and blazing run from Adam Kleeberger who released to Dala for a tying try at 21-21. Evans converted the touchline effort for the lead 23-21.

East kept up the pressure however, and netted Piatek's fourth penalty to retake the lead 24-23. That set the table for the Blevins try, who was released from a quick turnover twenty metres out from the East line for the win.

Canada East will play the US Hawks in a battle for third spot.

CANADA WEST
1. Hubert Buydens, 2. Pat Riordan, 3. Emil Christensen, 4. Nolan Miles, 5. Jeff Oudyk, 6. Neil Meechan, 7. Adam Kleeberger (c), 8. Thomas Mckeen, 9. Phil Mack, 10. Matt Evans, 11. Brock Nicholson, 12. Ben Grant, 13. Bryn Keys, 14. Sean Duke, 15. Robin Macdowell.

Replacements: 16 Ryan Hamilton, 17. Beau Chapman, 18. Struan Robertson, 19. Nanyak Dala, 20. Jason Marshall, 21. Spencer Dalziel, 22. Nick Blevins.

Tries: McKeen, Dala, Blevins
Cons: Evans 3
PGs: Evans 3

CANADA EAST
1. Doug Wooldridge, 2. Mike Pletch, 3. Rogan Verboven, 4. Scott Dunham, 5. Stu Ault (c), 6. Jebb Sinclair, 7. Chauncey O'Toole , 8. Aaron Carpenter, 9. Colin Brown, 10. Steve Piatek, 11. Jordan Kozina, 12. Tyler Wish, 13. Derek Daypuck, 14. Phil MacKenzie, 15. Ciaran Hearn.

Replacements: 16. Tyler Hawes, 17. Tom Malin, 18. Toni Wodzicki, 19. Keegan Selby, 20. Adam Schouten, 21. Dan West, 22. Marc Cuglietta.

Tries: MacKenzie, Kozina
Cons: Piatek
PGs: Piatek 4
YCs: O'Toole

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