For many Gaels fans, last weekend’s OUA finals may have felt more like Groundhog Day.
On Nov. 6, the Queen’s men’s rugby team travelled to Guelph, ON., to face the Guelph University Gryphons in the 2025 OUA Men’s Rugby Championship. It was a hard-fought game, but Guelph took a commanding 43-21 victory to clinch OUA gold.
The win is Guelph’s fifth in a row and comes almost a year to the day of when the Gryphons took the 2024 OUA Championship, with a heartbreaking Gaels loss in Guelph.
It was an intense match, but Guelph jumped out to a lead in front of its home crowd just six minutes in, when the Gryphons barrelled through the try line to make it 5-0. Queen’s quickly responded six minutes later, when Coen Quinn, Sci ’28, capped off a lengthy push along the try line, followed by a conversion by Adam Stander, Sci ’29, to give the Gaels a 7-5 lead.
That’d be Queen’s last lead of the night. The next twenty minutes featured an intense back-and-forth, but in the 36th minute, Guelph’s Owen Williams scored a try, barrelling through a last-ditch Gaels defensive effort thanks to a boost from teammate Brenden Black.
The Gaels went into halftime with the game well in reach, with Guelph leading 12-7. In the second half, though, Guelph opened the game up.
Four minutes into the second half, Guelph’s Logan Cako scored, giving the Gryphons a 19-7 lead after a conversion from Tomas Dalla. Just three minutes later, Williams drove through Queen’s defence to make it 24-7 Guelph. Despite strong attempts from Queen’s to stop the bleeding, Guelph’s Dylan Shaw still found his way through to score Guelph’s third try in nine minutes to cap off a disastrous spell for the Gaels.
Yet, while they may have bent, the Gaels made it clear that they wouldn’t break. Three minutes after the Guelph barrage, Tao Nichol, Sci ’26 survived a fierce Gryphons defensive effort for a try. Stander was clinical in his conversion to cut the host’s lead to 29-14.
It took just four minutes for Guelph to answer, with a try from Josh Henry. The score was quickly followed by an intense shoving match that involved all of both teams, after Gryphons players laid extra shoves on Adam Doyle, Kin ’26.
In the 67th minute, Nichol pushed through once again, with his try and a subsequent conversion from Marcus D’Acre, ArtSci ’26, bringing the score to 36-21. Five minutes later, though, Guelph’s Kal Sager iced the game with a try, with the ensuing conversion bringing the game to its final score of 41-21.
The Gaels put on a fight without three-star players once again, with Trekker James, ArtSci ’26, Bauer Mercer, ArtSci ’26, and Connor Hay, ArtSci ’26, out due to injury.
There’s no time for them to dwell, though, as the team’s currently in Montreal, QC., as they compete for the Canadian University Men’s Rugby Championship. The Gaels will aim for another shot at the national final, where they fell last year to the École de technologie supérieure Piranhas.
Queen’s listed James and Hay on their tournament roster, meaning they can expect to add some crucial veteran presences ahead of the event. The championship will run from Nov. 12 to 16.
Tags
Adam Stander, Coen Quinn, Guelph Gryphons, OUA Men’s Rugby Championship, Tao Nichol
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