LANGFORD, B.C. – Trinity Western was within two points, trailing 19-17, with less than 20 minutes to play, but the Pacific Pride – Canada's Development Academy Team – tallied three tries late to pull away for a 36-17 win Saturday at Starlight Stadium.
Lynden Duggan (Edinburgh, Scotland) and
Connor Bernardin (Langley, B.C.) each scored a try for the Spartans, while Guiseppe du Toit (Maple Ridge, B.C.) earned seven points from the tee, including a penalty and two conversions.
TWU went 0-6 in the Coastal Cup, having taken on the three best rugby programs in the country twice apiece.
The Pride finished the Coastal Cup with a perfect 6-0 record, having earned two wins over UBC (42-19 and 78-19), two wins over Victoria (52-12 and 29-15) and two wins against TWU (the Spartans also lost 54-3 two weeks ago).
The Spartans will host the Canadian University Men's Rugby Championship Nov. 15-19 at Willoughby Community Park Stadium. The tournament will feature eight of the top university teams in Canada as they vie for the national title.
AS IT HAPPENED
The Pride opened the scoring with a try six minutes into the contest, but TWU struck back 10 minutes later with du Toit slotting a penalty to close the gap to 5-3. The Pride tallied a second try before the break to take a 12-3 lead into halftime.
Just after halftime, the Pride extended their lead to 19-3 with a converted try, but the Spartans were not to be put away easily.
In the 54th minute, Duggan scored on a 60-metre run and, with du Toit hitting the conversion, the Spartans got back to within nine points, at 19-10. In the 63rd minute, the Spartans attack was rewarded with Bernardin dotting down after a run down the wing. Du Toit converted again to make it a two-point game.
However from there, the Pride responded and closed out the game with three tries in the final 15 minutes.
QUOTABLE
Andrew Evans – Director of Rugby
"Overall, it was good to see us scoring points against a good Pride team. I think our scrums went well and our lineouts were much-improved. Our defence was much better overall, especially for the first 70 minutes. The last 10 minutes were a little disappointing. Our attack started to get going and we had players like
Connor Bernardin backing themselves and being dangerous against a Pride team that is really the best team in the country.
"At 63 minutes, it was a two-point difference so we were gunning for the win at that point. We have the belief that we can knock off any team, especially within 60 minutes. I think we're in a good spot heading to nationals and I think we can beat any team there, but we're going to continue to be humble and know that we can lose to anyone as well if we don't take each team seriously. We're going to work really hard leading up to nationals so we can have a good performance in our first game and take it one game at a time."
NOTABLE
· Along with their games against the Pride, the Spartans opponents this fall have been exclusively against Victoria, who is ranked No. 1 in the country and UBC, who is currently No. 2.
· The Spartans will enter the national championship as the third-ranked team from B.C.
· TWU finished fourth at last year's national championship, having earned a quarter-final win over Victoria before close losses against McGill (17-11 in the semifinal) and Guelph (32-31 in the bronze medal match).
UP NEXT
The Spartans will play in the quarter-final of the Canadian University Men's Rugby Championship Nov. 15 at 5 p.m. at Willoughby Community Park Stadium in Langley.
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 and disc golf. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 13 U SPORTS team championships and 32 Canada West team championships.
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