VANCOUVER – The Trinity Western men's rugby team lost 17-11 in Canadian University Men's Rugby Championship (CUMRC) semifinal after the McGill Redbirds Jack Tucker scored the game-winning try in the 56th minute of the 60-minute contest Friday at Thunderbird Stadium.
In a closely contested semifinal that saw the lead change four times, the Spartans held an 11-10 lead until late, but were unable to close it out. Playing in the CUMRC for the first time in program history, the Spartans took the lead in the 41st minute on a try by
Favour Olaniyan (Gibsons, B.C.), but with the Spartans forced to play the final third of the match with 14 men, after a red card was issued to
Nate Schroeder (West Kelowna, B.C.), McGill was able to capitalize late to secure a win.
The Spartans will now play for a bronze medal Sunday at 1 p.m. (PT) against Guelph at Thunderbird Stadium. Guelph lost to UBC 37-17 in the other semifinal.
AS IT HAPPENED
Trinity Western set their stall out early that they wanted to get points on the board when they were presented with opportunities to do so, with
Matthew Willemse (Langley) kicking two penalties within the opening 12 minutes.
Those points came either side of a converted McGill try, when Alexander Armstrong got the ball just over 30 yards out and powered his way through the middle of the Trinity Western defense to go over for the first five pointer of the game. Monty Weatherall converted to give the Redbirds the narrow lead.
Willemse missed another penalty attempt in the 16th minute for the Spartans and another in the dying seconds of the half, but his Redbirds counterpart Weatherall made no mistake from 44 yards to extend McGill's lead to four with six minutes of the half remaining and they took that advantage into the break.
The second half had predominantly been played in McGill half and after the red card to Schroeder in the 39th minute, Trinity Western finally got the reward their territorial dominance deserved when Olaniyan carried it over the try line in the 41st minute after a series of pick and gos. Willemse conversion attempt crashed off the uprights and the 14-man Spartans had to be content with a one-point lead.
As the minutes ticked down, McGill upped the pressure and a failed TWU clearance allowed Tucker to scoop up a loose ball and power over the try line to give the RSEQ champions a lead they weren't to give up.
Weatherall hit the conversion to leave Trinity Western needing a converted try to win it, but McGill saw out the last few minutes to book their ticket in the final.
Armstrong was named Player of the Game for the Redbirds, with Olaniyan getting the honour for the Spartans.
Scoring Summary
First Half
TWU - Penalty Convert,
Matthew Willemse 6' 3-0
MCG - Try, Alexander Armstrong (Monty Weatherall convert) 8' 3-7
TWU - Penalty Convert,
Matthew Willemse 12' 6-7
MCG - Penalty Convert, Monty Weatherall 24' 6-10
Second Half
TWU - Try,
Favour Olaniyan (convert unsuccessful) 41' 11-10
MCG - Try, Jack Tucker (Monty Weatherall convert) 56' 11-
QUOTABLE
Andrew Evans – Director of Rugby
"Early on we had set piece dominance and our scrum and our maul were going really well and McGill was getting penalized. Then those calls weren't going our way later on in the game.
"I think these men have proven what our program is about and proven their value. The message now from
Caleb Gerth (Langley, B.C.) and other leaders is that they are men and we're going back to work tomorrow.
"McGill played a very good game. The way they closed out the game at the end was impressive. They had a good try at the end. We knew they were a good team. That didn't surprise us. Congratulations to McGill. I wish them all the best in the final and that they continue to play some really good rugby.
"To our boys, we played a lot of that game down a man and we didn't have the greatest execution today, but I think you saw the determination of what these Spartan men are like. You can watch that game and just see the character of these men. I'm certainly proud of them and they have a lot to be proud about themselves. Ultimately, Spartan rugby isn't about rugby. We use rugby to refine these young men and to make them into the leaders that they ought to be for the rest of their lives. It's not about the rugby, but we certainly want the rugby to display the type of men that they are and they did that today, so I'm really proud of them."
NOTABLE
• TWU earned its spot in the national semifinal with a 23-22 win over Victoria in the CUMRC quarter-finals.
• The bronze medal match against Guelph will mark TWU's first-ever contest against an opponent from Ontario. Prior to Friday, the Spartans men's 15 team had never played a team from outside of the Pacific Time Zone.
UP NEXT
TWU plays Guelph in the CUMRC Bronze Medal Match. Kick-off is at 1 p.m. (PT) at Thunderbird Stadium on the campus of UBC. The game will be live streamed on
www.therugbynetwork.com. Meanwhile, the Redbirds will look to claim their first men's rugby championship on Sunday in a final showdown against defending champions, UBC Thunderbirds at 3:30 p.m. PT.
About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 13 sports in the Canada West conference, including women's and men's soccer, volleyball, basketball, hockey, cross country and track & field, as well as women's rugby sevens. TWU also competes as an independent team in men's rugby. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 13 U SPORTS team championships and 32 Canada West team championships.
About Trinity Western University
Recognized for quality, TWU has received seven consecutive A+ rankings for Quality of Teaching and Learning, holds three Canada Research Chairs, and wins national championships in CIS sports. More importantly, lives are changed at TWU through its whole-person, Christ-centred approach to education. With a wide array of undergraduate, graduate, and adult degree-completion programs, TWU equips leaders of character and competence to make a positive impact in the lives of others.
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