Queen’s rugby is looking to continue their dominance as being one of the premier programs in the nation.
To get a glimpse of what’s to come, The Journal sat down with men’s head coach, John Lavery, and women’s head coach, Dan Valley.
Men’s Rugby
The men’s rugby Team is coming off a hard-earned top five finish at the U-SPORTS National Championships last season, on top of a silver medal from the OUA Championships. The season before, they finished second at the National Championships, so expectations will be high on the team to have another successful season.
READ MORE: Men’s rugby grind for top-5 finish at Nationals
While the Gaels have made it to the OUA final four in the last five seasons, each time they’ve been beaten by the Guelph Gryphons. Before the Gryphons’ run of five straight OUA crowns, it was the Gaels who dominated men’s rugby, winning seven of eight championships from 2012-2019 before sports were shut down due to COVID-19. Their lone finals loss during their dominant run was in 2016 to Guelph.
Many players have spent the summer in Kingston to train with ery. The head coach has focused on drilling the fundamentals into the players, which is what he believes his team needs to take down the Gryphons and be successful this season.
“The secret to rugby is that there’s no secret to rugby,” Lavery said in an interview with The Journal. “The basics are what really make up the game, you got to be really accurate when you have opportunities to score.”
According to the head coach, Coen Quinn, Sci ’29, Cameron Bubyn, ArtSci ’27, and Trekker James, ArtSci ’27, will be key players to watch during the 2026-27 season. Quinn, who was appointed captain of the team, “has got all the right habits that a player needs to be successful,” Lavery said.
Men’s rugby will kick off their season on the road against the Laurier Golden Hawks on Sept. 13. Their home opener is on Sept. 26 against the Western Mustangs at Nixon Field.
Lavery said that the players have “put themselves in a good position to be successful” for this exciting upcoming season.
Women’s Rugby
Queen’s women’s rugby will look to keep up their dominance, coming off an OUA championship and a third-place finish at the U-SPORTS National Championships. The bronze medal at nationals was the team’s third consecutive one, and their OUA crown was their third in the last four years.
READ MORE: Women’s rugby takes home bronze at U Sports Championship in Vancouver
For the last decade, the women’s rugby division in the OUA has also been dominated by the Gaels and Gryphons. Since 2016, either Queen’s or Guelph has taken home the trophy each season, with each team winning five championships in that time span. There was no champion in 2020 due to COVID-19.
However, the Gaels’ regular season dominance has been unmatched. With their recent first place finish, the team has now rattled off six consecutive undefeated regular seasons while also taking down the Gryphons in every regular season match. Expectations will be high for the team to continue their dominance during the regular season and carry it into the playoffs.
In an interview with The Journal, Head Coach Dan Valley stated that the team is “doing whatever we can to maintain our conference dominance,” emphasizing that the teams they face will be extra motivated to take down the reigning champions and end the Gaels’ dominance.
This mindset has helped the players realize the extra work needed to be put in over the summer in preparation for the upcoming season.
“We’re not entitled to anything,” Valley said. “Regardless of who we’re getting on any given week, we know that because they need to show up and give it their best, we have to assume that that’s what we’re getting. So that helped shape our training.”
When asked about some key players to watch for, Valley said to look out for Kyleigh Chandran, ArtSci ’27, and Kennedi Stevenson, ArtSci ’28, the latter of whom was nominated for the World Rugby Women’s SVNS Rookie of the Year award earlier this summer. However, the head coach stressed the importance of all his players contributing, and that it “has to be a total team effort” for them to be successful this year.
Women’s Rugby will begin their season on Sept. 5 when they visit the York Lions. Their home opener will be on Sept. 12 at Nixon Field when they take on the Brock Badgers. A week later they will face the Guelph Gryphons, for which Valley believes will be the biggest game of their regular season.
“That [game against Guelph] should be a pretty big litmus test for us,” he said.
All in all, it’s gearing up to be a season full of high expectations, optimism, and excitement.
Tags
Men's rugby, rugby, Women's rugby
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