UBC claim third consecutive Rounsefell Cup

The UBC Thunderbirds have achieved the mythical ‘three-peat’, defeating Burnaby Lake in the CDI Premier League final by a score of 29-17 to lift the Rounsefell Cup for a third consecutive year on Saturday. Three tries from fullback Andrew Coe led the way as the rain held off in Abbotsford and sunshine poured into Rotary Stadium at Exhibition Park.

It was a sharp contrast in styles for the two sides, and also in fortunes as a dreadful first half cost Burnaby dearly. The feeling-out process ended at the 20 minute mark when some quick thinking from quicksilver scrumhalf Jorden Sandover-Best put Coe in for his first try, with Adam McQueen’s conversion on target to make it a seven point score.

Burnaby had sufficient possession to do damage but could not recycle ball quickly enough, allowing the UBC defense to reset and stop the larger Burnaby forwards with two and three tacklers at a time. As they struggled to make the gainline UBC won turnovers that sparked two more first half tries, one to winger Elias Ergas down the left sideline and then another via the same channel for Coe. McQueen missed the first conversion but bounced the second off the crossbar and over to make it a 19-0 score at the break.

The second half started just as badly for Burnaby who watched Coe break through under the posts to make it 26-0 with McQueen’s extras and a blowout result looked on the cards. A couple replacements were made and suddenly there was an extra step in the Burnaby attack, with Lucas Albornoz, Andrew Lackner, and then Fuku Vikilani all adding impetus. From an attacking scrum the enormous pressure from Ryan Ackerman proved too much and UBC collapsed to concede a penalty try.

With momentum now firmly in favor of Burnaby and the big men starting to create space it was fullback Cole McQueen who dove over in the corner to finish off an attacking sequence. The pressure continued and once again the UBC defense cracked, with Mike O’Toole touching down in almost the same spot. James Reekie could not land either conversion, however, which left the deficit at nine points with only a couple minutes left on the clock.

The Thunderbirds collected themselves at last and won another turnover at the breakdown, kicking downfield for an attacking lineout. Burnaby were forced to concede a penalty themselves with time now their enemy and McQueen took the opportunity to knock over one last penalty kick before the final whistle sounded.

 

SCORING

BURNABY LAKE 17
Tries – Penalty try (50’), C. McQueen (67’), M. O’Toole (77’)

UBC THUNDERBIRDS 29
Tries – A. Coe 3 (20’, 35’, 42’), E. Ergas (31’)
Cons – A. McQueen 3 (21’, 36’, 43’)
Pens – A. McQueen (80’)

 

TEAMS

BURNABY LAKE
1 Anthony Luca (capt.), 2 Micha Govorchin, 3 Ryan Ackerman, 4 Craig McLaughlin, 5 Mike O’Toole, 6 Admir Cejvanovic, 7 Cole Mosychuk, 8 Taitusi Vikilani, 9 Cody Rockson, 10 James Reekie, 11 Kimi Vunituraga, 12 Mike Goodall, 13 Jeke Gotegote, 14 Shane Dagg, 15 Cole McQueen

Replacements: 16 Andrew Lackner, 17 Juan Videla, 18 Adrian Longbone, 19 Lucas Albornoz, 20 Fuku Vikilani, 21 Mark Higgins, 22 Nolan Shelley, 23 Dan Josok

UBC THUNDERBIRDS
1 Neil Courtney, 2 Alex Mascott, 3 Chris Taylor, 4 James Carson, 5 Connor Weyell, 6 Nick Allen, 7 Nakai Penny, 8 Connor Hamilton (co-capt.), 9 Jorden Sandover-Best (co-capt.), 10 Theo Sauder, 11 Manar Kulkhan, 12 Adam McQueen, 13 Ben LeSage, 14 Elias Ergas, 15 Andrew Coe

Replacements: 16 Connor Sampson, 17 Clint Lemkus, 18 Nick Frost, 19 Thomas Roche, 20 Jake Ikeda, 21 Daniel Archer, 22 Niko Clironomos, 23 Cole Keffer

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: David Smortchevsky
Assistants: Chris Assmus & Saro Turner