Queen’s rugby continues to add wins to the column, even from opposite sides of the province.
Queen’s Women’s Rugby returned to Nixon Field on Sept. 12 with a 60-7 win over Brock in its Alumni, Family, and Friends Game. The win moved the Gaels to 2-0 after their 116-0 season-opening win over York.
For veteran player Izzy Page, ArtSci ’27, the Brock game gave Queen’s its first real chance to see how this year’s roster would respond against a more physical opponent.
“Every year we come back to Queen’s, it’s kind of this test,” Page said in an interview with The Journal. “We have this legacy program, so we always expect a certain level of rugby from our athletes”
Page said the program deals with roster turnover every year, with new athletes stepping into the Queen’s jersey and carrying the expectations built by past teams.
“The Brock game was the first real test of hard rugby,” Page said. “I think we played exceptionally well.”
Page said one of the strongest parts of the game was seeing players apply what the team has worked on early in the season.
“Beyond our structure as Queen’s, from our coaches and our team environment, it’s really cool to just see athletes shine,” she said.
With a Guelph away game next on the schedule, Page said Queen’s wants its team values to show in the way it plays. She said the Gaels’ two internal goals are “belonging and excellence,” which the team tries to center in everything it does.
“We are incredibly relentless,” Page said.
Every game is another chance for Queen’s to show the level it expects from itself, she said.
“Every single opportunity we have on the field, we essentially are sending a message to all the other programs in the country that we’re here to compete year after year,” she said.
After 14 athletes graduated from last year’s roster, Page said this year’s group has more to prove.
“Everyone has a little bit more weight to pull, and I think it’s extremely motivating,” she said.
On the men’s side, the team opened its season with a 31-19 road win over Laurier on Sept. 13, giving the Gaels a strong start before another road matchup against Guelph.
The Laurier game was a rematch of last year’s OUA semifinal, but veteran player Coen Quinn, Sci ’29, said this year’s group is still building its own identity after significant roster turnover.
“There’s a lot of turnaround in terms of graduating players,” Quinn said in an interview with The Journal. “It’s a much younger team this year for sure.”
Quinn said several players are stepping into larger roles this season.
“A lot of guys, including myself, are stepping up into newer, bigger roles,” he said. “We’re almost creating a new identity this year.”
For Quinn, that process has included building chemistry outside of games. He said the team has spent time together through training camp and team events as new players settle into the group.
“It’s been great to kind of get to know everyone else, all the new guys especially,” he said.
Queen’s will now travel to Guelph for a rematch of last year’s OUA Championship game.
Guelph entered the season as the reigning national champion, but Quinn said Queen’s is approaching the matchup with confidence.
“We have a lot of confidence ourselves,” Quinn said. “We think that we are the standard for the OUA.”
Quinn said the Gaels are excited for the season after opening with a win.
“With the result last week, we’re confident going forward into the season,” he said. “Coming into Guelph, this is the big week.”
Both teams will travel to Guelph this weekend. The women’s team will face off on Sept. 19 at 1:00 p.m., with the men’s team playing afterwards at 3:30 p.m.
Tags
Men's rugby, Queen's Rugby, Women's rugby
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