Women’s Rugby beat Western 53-0 on Sept. 17. The next day, Men’s Rugby followed suit and kicked off their 2022 season with an impressive 57-0 win over RMC. Both Queen’s teams are proving they’re a force to be reckoned with on the rugby pitch.
Women’s Rugby stays consistent
Women’s Rugby has held the first spot in the U Sports Top Ten rank thus far, and weren’t willing to give it up on Saturday against the Mustangs. They weren’t willing to give up any tries, either.
Throughout the 2022 season, the Gaels have shown off their quick transitions and this game was no different. Grace Anderson put up their first try off a quick transition.
The Gaels also laid down a crisp defense to which the Mustangs responded with sloppy plays as they struggled to make much progress with the ball.
Lizzie Gibson led Queen’s in scoring once again with 16 points. Her reliable conversions have been crucial in helping the Gaels rack up the points; she earned the Queen’s Athlete of the Week award last week.
Carmen Izyk made a dent on the scoreboard by putting up three tries of her own.
However, Queen’s was sure to share the love; Sophia Tafel, rookie Maddie Donnelly, and Emily Butterworth all put up points of their own too.
The scoreboard showed a decisive 53-0 victory for the Gaels when the final whistle blew.
Queen’s promised a season worth watching, and they’ve delivered. They’ve put up a whopping 222 points so far, but the lack of tries against them is more impressive.
Right now, the Gaels have a tight grip on their 2021 U Sports championship title. They’re inviting students to get out there and watch them continue to defend it.
Despite the cold and rainy weather, the bleachers were packed with fans in rain jackets cheering on the men’s team at their home opener.
The last time the Gaels challenged the Paladins was in October 2021, with a triumphant win of 48-0. Fans were ready to see a repeat demolition.
Queen’s was awarded a try within the first minute of the game, foreshadowing a strong theme of Gael domination for the entire half.
Despite the Paladins’ best defensive efforts, the Gaels only had to wait another 16 minutes before scoring again. Then with less than four minutes left, the Gaels scored again, closing the first half of the game with a tight rein over the lead at 33-0.
The second half started out strong, with Eric Godden and Adam Doyle scoring tries to bring the score up to 45-0. After some hot potato passes and quick ball handling skills, the Golden Gaels scored another try with only nine minutes remaining.
With no time left on the board, the forwards fought a hard battle to win the game’s final points—the final score read 57-0 after the conversion kick.
The Paladins had a strong defense, but the Gaels were dominant with their forward play and unpredictable passes.
Head Coach David Butcher is determined to keep playing quick-paced games this season.
“We’re going to play a very fast, fluid brand of rugby. And we’ll also be investing in our kicking game; we’ve got two fly halfs that can really kick the leather off the ball. It’d be remiss of us not to utilize that,” Butcher said in a press release.
Looking ahead, the men’s team will host the Western Mustangs at Nixon Field on Saturday, Sept. 24 at 3 p.m. On that same day, the women’s team travels to Hamilton to play the McMaster Marauders at 6 p.m.
Tags
home game, rugby, shut out, win
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