Following a tough loss against the No. 3 University of Victoria Vikes in the semi-finals, the No. 2 Gaels played the host No. 4 Concordia Stingers in the bronze medal match. The game was a hard-fought battle that earned the Gaels their second consecutive national medal.

The Gaels were able to open the scoring in the tenth minute when lock Liam Casey was able to bust through for a try following a lengthy series of rucks at the try line. A successful conversion from scrum half Dylan Young brought the Gaels an early 7-0 lead.

Just nine minutes later, Young faked a pass off a ruck and snuck past a staggered Concordia team to score again. After converting on his own try, Young had increased the lead to 14-0.

Concordia, unwilling to compromise on their own turf, responded in the 25th minute with their first try of the day. They missed the conversion, and the Gaels went into halftime with a promising 14-5 lead.

The Gaels set the tone early after the intermission, with Young once again scoring and converting following an intense effort from the forwards.

Ten minutes later, Young reminded everyone why he was named OUA MVP when he scored his third try of the match to bring Queen’s lead to 26-5, with 21 of those points coming from Young.

The Stingers answered with another try but were once again unable to hit the conversion. They would go on to score 12 more points before the end of the match, but another try for the Gaels put the game out of reach.

Although it wasn’t the gold they were aiming for, the bronze medal game marked an impressive victory to end another dominant year for the Gaels.

Next year, Queen’s will host the Canadian University Men’s Rugby Championship, where they will strive to win a national gold in front of a home crowd.