Men’s rugby secured its position at the top of the OUA in commanding fashion.

The Gaels (4-0) became the only undefeated team in the league with a 36-18 road win over the rival Western Mustangs on Saturday. A year after losing their regular-season matchup to Western at Nixon Field, Queen’s returned the favour in London, dropping the Mustangs to second place at 3-1.

It was a slow start for the Gaels, who didn’t score a try until Brendan Sloan scored in the 40th minute, with a conversion completed by Adam McQueen.

The Gaels headed to London, welcoming back many previously injured players, including McQueen. Head coach Peter Huigenbos said having new players back in the lineup is something the team will have to get used to.

“It was great to have one of our strongest lineups of the year,” Huigenbos said. “Having everybody back was great, but it took us the first half to get comfortable again.”

Queen’s dominated the second half with four tries, three of which were scored by rookie wing Kainoa Lloyd. Fellow first-year Lucas Rumball secured the game for Queen’s with the final try in the 75th minute.

McQueen earned 11 points to his name, for a total of 35 for the season. This keeps McQueen at the top of the OUA leaderboard in overall individual points.

Huigenbos said he was very pleased with the men’s performance.

“[We were] dominant up front,” he said. “We focused this week on overpowering them in the scrum and … we had very good success there. Our attack off the line-outs was also very effective.”

Although Queen’s three-game shutout streak was snapped, Huigenbos was impressed with his club’s defensive effort.

“In the back line, we definitely played with a lot of heart and defended well,” he said. “Western had a few breaks, that is for sure, but our backs tracked them down and played a great 80 minutes.”

The men are back at home for Homecoming weekend. They play the McMaster Marauders (2-2) on Nixon Field this Saturday at 1 p.m.