Despite poor weather conditions, men’s rugby was able to extend their season-long shutout streak to three games – and set up a crucial showdown with a hated rival.

After blanking the Laurier Golden Hawks and the Waterloo Warriors in consecutive weeks, Queen’s (3-0) beat the RMC Paladins 30-0 on Saturday.

With 140 points scored and zero conceded, the Gaels are tied for first in the OUA with the Western Mustangs, who they’ll face next Saturday night in London.

Last November, the Gaels beat the Mustangs 29-18 to capture the 2012 OUA Championship.

“We’re expecting a well-organized, attacking team that will challenge us more so than perhaps our previous opponents,” said Gaels head coach Peter Huigenbos. “Our boys know the team well – we’ve had numerous matches against them over the past few years.

“It will definitely be our biggest challenge this season.”

At RMC, the Gaels built a slim halftime lead of 13-0. Queen’s Andrew Carr opened the scoring with a penalty goal at the five-minute mark. That was followed by two more tries from Jeff MacDonald in the 15th minute and Teddy Taggart in the 37th.

The momentum flowed into the second half with Brendan McGovern scoring and Carr kicking the conversion in the 66th minute. James Dent finished off the Paladins with a 70th-minute try to end the game at 30-0.

Huigenbos noted the difficult conditions as a factor behind the relatively low score.

“Some difficult weather conditions, that’s for sure. It rained throughout the entire game,” he said. “Very few penalties by both teams, so very well-played.”

Huigenbos named fourth-year wing Graham Turner as a standout performer, adding that Turner served as interim captain against RMC.

“He was a very good leader, keeping the team focused as well as adaptive,” he said. “His defence was rock solid.”