2021 U Sports Women’s Rugby Championships: Round three recap
Consolation Final—Guelph Gryphons vs UBC Thunderbirds
The Thunderbirds and the Gryphons battled it out on the field Sunday morning in the consolation final to settle fifth and sixth place tournament finishes. The Thunderbirds went to work straight from the kick-off and gained a 33-0 lead by halftime. Guelph scored three tries and kicked two converts to get on the board in the second half, but it wasn’t enough to sustain a successful comeback. The Thunderbirds scored four more tries to seal the victory. With this win, UBC finished in fifth place, and the Gryphons settled for sixth.
Final score: 57-19 Thunderbirds.
Bronze Medal Game—Laval Rouge et Or vs. UVic Vikes
The Laval Rouge et Or entered this tournament as reigning champions—now they sport a different colour of hardware with their win against the UVic Vikes in the Bronze medal match.
Both Laval and UVic went into the game with something to prove after suffering heartbreaking overtime losses in Friday’s semi-finals. They traded tries in the first half, the Vikes trailing by just seven points going into the second. Laval was able to sustain the lead—a try from Laura Guay and convert by Audrey Champagne in the 68th minute sealing the game and the Bronze medal. Despite losing this one to the Rouge et Or, The Vikes fourth-place finish is their best result at the National Championship in program history.
Final score: 32-26 Rouge et Or.
U Sports Championship—Queen’s Gaels vs. Ottawa Gee-Gees
As the rain poured down under the lights of Nixon Field, the Gaels dazzled the home crowd with a golden performance against the Ottawa Gee-Gees, earning their first national title in program history. Queen’s and Ottawa kept the cheering crowd on the edge of their seats as they traded the edge throughout the match, the score at halftime even at 15-15. In the second half, Queen’s pulled ahead in the 49th minute with the game-winning try from Jaden Walker. With ice water in her veins, Gaels own Sophie de Goede, the 2021 U Sports player of the year, scored two critical penalty converts that helped her team hold the narrow lead until the final whistle blow.
As the Gaels hoisted their first Monilex Trophy, Ottawa took home silver for the second time in program history, the first being in 2016.
Final score: 26-18 Gaels.
