Barbarians advance to Division 2 final

The Brandon Barbarians parlayed a flawless first half into a trip to Rugby Manitoba’s Men’s Division 2 final next weekend, beating the visiting Winnipeg Assassins 46-22 in the semifinals on Saturday at John Reilly Field.

“It was almost a complete shutdown on their side,” said Richard Pierreroy, who had a pair of tries for Brandon. “If we had played through the entire game like that, they would have had no points at all. We could have totally shut them out.”

In the other semifinal, the fourth-place Dauphin Mavericks (5-6-0) fell 24-12 to the first-place Winnipeg Wanderers (8-2-0) in a game that was tied 12-12 at the half.

A preview of coming attractions arrived early on Saturday morning at John Reilly Field. The second-place Assassins, who were 6-4-1 in the regular season, received the ball off the kickoff and while they held it off for a while, they had to battle for every yard.

A mistake eventually shifted possession, and second-place Brandon (6-3-1) took the lead seven minutes into the game when Pierreroy touched the ball down. McNish then converted on a tough kick from the sideline to put Brandon up 7-0.

“I think it was really important to set the tone and establish our dominance out there,” said Pierreroy, who lines up at flank. “I think we just needed them on their heels quick and that really set us up for later in the game when we were able to push it on again.”

The game turned for good 10 minutes later.

In a 15-minute span, the Barbarians pushed the ball across five times — Bryson McNish, Austin Landers, Pierreroy, Adam Kowalchuk and Randy Cooke had the tries and McNish added two more converts — while seldom relinquishing possession off kickoffs as they built a 36-0 first-half lead.

“That was a good half,” McNish said. “That was all of our starters, all of our core boys who have been coming to practice. Our killer this year has been guys not showing up for practice, so even for guys like myself, Doug (Tyler Colquhoun) and Adam (Kowalchuk), who have been there for every practice, our cardio is not where it should be.

“We fall apart in second halves unfortunately.”

Head coach Bryce Colquhoun was simply blown away by what he saw.

“There have been games where we came out and scored more in the first half where we’ve had somebody really fast on the wing and maybe the opposition couldn’t defend against it,” Colquhoun said. “We’ve never played that cohesive, with hard defence coming up, making our passes out wide, supporting each other, getting over the ruck. Every single piece of the game, we played it to perfection. I’m so proud of them.”

The big, physical Brandon team dominated scrums in the first half, pushing the Winnipeggers back with the ball dragged along behind them. McNish said that’s his team’s strength.

“When we play with our heads in the game and we play smart, simple rugby, that’s where we shine,” McNish said. “We’re a team that is athletic and strong. We’re not a showboat-y, fancy team, we’re a drive-and-get-it-done team.”

In the second half, which included some light drizzle, the Barbarians went up 41-0 on a try by Keegan Pitcairn-Freiheit. They began pulling their starters soon after, and following an injury with all their substitutions already gone, were reduced to 14 players.

The Assassins responded with four tries of their own in a 19-minute span, with the game fittingly ending on another Brandon score by Pitcairn-Freiheit.

“I’m unbelievably happy,” Colquhoun said of the performance by his substitutes. “I wish we could get them more game time. It’s a game where you can only get 23 guys in and I hate having people sitting on the sidelines but if you put everybody in and suddenly you need another guy or two, then you’re down.

“It was incredible. Everybody played hard for every minute they were out on that field.”

Colquhoun noted the Assassins sent out a good team, including a couple of players who suit up with the Division 1 team.

“They came out hard and gave us a good match,” Colquhoun said. “You saw it especially in that second half. They were scoring a lot, but we had great passes, great everything and the guys just kept smiles on their faces. That’s what we need, even when the opposition scores, to remain positive.”

Pierreroy, 22, came off at one point in the second half with an ugly gash between his eye brows. He did a quick repair job by wrapping tape around his head — it looked like a Civil War bandage — and quickly returned to the field.

“That was a supposed freak accident,” the 22-year-old Pierreroy said. “That was one of their props who came in with his head down and hit me with the crown of his head and it split open. I came off, taped it up and kept going.”

Pierreroy played youth rugby in Brandon and with the regional Westman Rush squad and provincial team, but went to Neelin, so he didn’t pursue the sport in high school.

Now he’s in a senior men’s final.

“It’s incredibly exciting,” Pierreroy said. “It’s something I haven’t had a whole lot of experience with, just a couple of years in my career. It’s really exciting to go back.”

The Barbs were founded in 1981, and have won Division 2 titles in 1986, 2003, 2004, 2005 (the Manitoba Cup), 2006 and 2010. They made the jump to Division 1 in 2007, and lost in the final five years in a row from 2009 to 2013.

They also fielded a Division 2 team, and along with the Barbs women, all three Brandon teams competed for championships in 2010. However, the Division 2 men were the only squad to earn gold.

The women, meanwhile, won in 2011, 2014 and 2015.

“It’s been a long time since we won it all,” Colquhoun said. “We get to the finals a fair bit in the last 20 but it’s been tough for us to get over that final hurdle.”

The Division 2 men last made the final in 2023.

The team has unsuccessfully appeared in three finals during McNish’s eight seasons, although he was away at a wedding for the overtime heartbreaker in 2022.

Saturday’s final in Winnipeg might be the last dance for the 32-year-old fly half McNish, which would make a championship that much sweeter.

“This is probably my last year, for full time anyway, and winning it this year would be massive for the boys,” McNish said. “I know a lot of the guys have been together now four years straight, the same team, and this would be the cherry to christen the little dynasty we’ve had going.”

Last year they fell in the quarterfinals.

“I think we should be incredibly happy and hold our heads high,” Pierreroy said. “Definitely the work is not done. We’re ready for next week.”

» pbergson@brandonsun.com