Redmen ruggers rule, win 3rd straight Quebec title
MONTREAL – Josh Reznick of Toronto, Matthew Edwards of Guelph,
Ont., and Anton Nestel of Bridgewater, N.S., each scored
tries as McGill coasted to a 21-0 whitewash over Bishop’s to
capture the Quebec University Rugby League championship before 400
in rainy conditions at Percival Molson Stadium, Saturday.
It was the third consecutive provincial rugby crown for the Redmen,
who reached the conference title game for the eighth straight
year.
"To consistently finish at the top or in the final is a good
testament to both the guys that are competing and our program in
terms of our developmental side," said co-head coach Sean
McCaffrey, in his 12th year with the Redmen.
"Every year we come in and anything short of a championship is a
failure," added co-coach Craig Beemer. "I don't want to sound cocky
but it would have taken something unforeseen for us to lose this
game."
McGill took the early initiative off the opening kickoff, pushing
the ball to within 10 yards of the Gaiters’ goal. Bishop’s
responded with a multi-phase possession through the next 10
minutes, but could not get penetrate the McGill 22-metre
line.
Late in the first half, the Redmen applied steady pressure and
finally broke through in the dying minutes, as Reznick stole a
five-metre scrum and put the ball down in the endzone. The
conversion attempt by Calgary’s Sam Skulsky’s made it 7-0 heading
into the halftime break.
Early in the second stanza, McGill continued to hold the majority
of the possession time and Redmen stretched their lead to 14-0 at
the eight-minute mark, when Edwards scored his second try of the
season, converted by Skulsky.
The Gaiters had their best chance to reply almost immediately with
a penalty goal attempt by fly-half Bill Murphy but BU was unable to
recover the ball five metres out from the goal. The Bishop’s pack
pushed the ball to within a metre out, but could not force it
over.
McGill closed out the scoring on the final play of the game, as
Nestel found the end zone.
"It took us the whole first half to get seven points on the board,"
said Bryce Thomassin, an alternate captain and engineering junior
from Pointe Claire, Que. "In weather like this it's tougher but I
knew we were eventually going to crack one over and once we did, we
started rolling and got a couple more."Â
It was the 11th consecutive rugby championship for Thomassin,
dating back to his high school years.
"I've been pretty lucky," he said. "I have been on some very good
rugby teams, had really good coaches and been with great players.
It's a wonderful feeling to win again."
According to McCaffrey, the success and consistency of the McGill
rugby program is largely due to "the dedication of the
developmental team to stick it out and really work toward the goal
of making the senior varsity club."
The Redmen completed their season with a 7-2-1 record overall and
although the recently proposed national championships have been
postponed for a year, the team can look forward to an Eastern
Canadian championships next week, against the two top university
teams in the Maritimes.Â
The program will be looking to deliver a fourth title next year,
despite the departure of graduating players Matthew Edwards, Adam
Sommer, Jon Phelan, Jacob Chai, Jonathan Glancy and Jesse Myers, as
well as the loss of exchange students Peter Klestov and Ian
Turner, who will return to Queensland University in
Australia.
“Everybody left it on the field today,” said a disappointed Gaiters
head coach Bill Robson. “We were a completely different team from
the start of the year to the end, and this was the toughest game
McGill had all year.”
Robson's Gaiters finish the year with an overall record of 6-4,
including a 4-2 mark in regular season play.