There wasn’t any nail-biting at Kingston Field on Sunday afternoon. The Gaels kept their first home-appearance of the season far from close against the University of Toronto Varsity Blues, demolishing the visitors 77-3.
The crowded spectator section witnessed a display reminiscent of the Gaels’ season opener at the Royal Military College when the Gaels opened up a similar lead. The team combined a total of 149 points for while giving up a only three against.
Queen’s controlled the pace of Sunday’s game throughout. Twelve Gaels combined for 14 tries, with eight coming in the first and six in the second, eight-man Tim Richardson scoring arguably the most prolific try of the day with a 60-yard kickoff return.
Queen’s winger Scott Kyle said he was proud of the Gaels’ kick returning.
“We had guys running good lines off the kick-off,” he said. “That brought a few breakthroughs, like Tim [Richardson], and Pat [Richardson] and [Ryan] Kruyne scored tries because of that.”
Although the Gaels’ locked the Varsity Blues in a vicious circle by scoring tries that led to kicks and returning kicks that led to tries, Kyle said there’s still room for improvement.
“We had a game plan and we tried to stick to it, but sometimes it got a bit loose,” he said. “We need to compose ourselves a bit more and up the chat. It’s all about communication.”
Head coach Peter Huigenbos said the team’s performance had flaws, but they’re fixable.
“We seemed a little frantic at times,” he said. “We like to play a fast style and I think today we could have been a little more composed, but all in all it was just some guys eager to play some rugby.”
Interim captain Kruyne posted several impressive runs and scored a try. He knocked through six conversions out of 14 attempts, with most of the kicks coming from difficult positioning on the field. Huigenbos said that aspect of the game is a work in progress.
“We’re always looking for improvement in our kicking game.”
The 2-0 Gaels will look to maintain their unblemished record against the 0-2 Waterloo Warriors on Saturday.
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