UBC earn 4th Canadian University Men’s title in dominant fashion

UBC claimed their 4th Canadian University Men’s Championship in the five years of the competition with a dominant 48-5 win over McGill on Sunday. The Redbirds simply had no answer for the size and speed of the home town Thunderbirds, who featured a number of Canada age-grade internationals.

Relmu Wilson-Valdes tore off the back of an advancing scrum to score the first try just four minutes into the game. A scrum set the platform for a second try soon after, as Tenniel Cowen came off his wing to bash his way through on first phase.

Scrumhalf Jack Carson spotted a gap on the edge of a ruck and fended off a would-be tackler to break free. He would swerve past the final defender to score a fine individual effort from 40 meters. Takoda McMullin added the extras before kicking a penalty goal to make the halftime score 20-nil to UBC.

Any hopes of a comeback were dashed in decisive fashion after the restart. Izzak Kelly blasted through barely a minute into the second half, and then replacement winger Alastair Marshall showed his pace with two searing finishes in a span of five minutes.

Alexandre Laurendeau would score a consolation effort for the Redbirds with 10 minutes to play after a turnover in UBC territory. A pair of T-Birds forwards, Raymond Chou and Joe McNulty, found themselves in trouble for separate dangerous tackles. In between flanker Callum Arneson wrapped up the scoring after peeling away from a rolling maul.

Earlier in the day the Guelph Gryphons edged Trinity Western Spartans 32-31 to claim the Bronze. The UVic Vikes wrapped up 5th place with a 52-15 win over the Memorial Sea-Hawks, and 7th place went to the Calgary Dinos after a 20-12 victory over the Laurier Golden Hawks.

 

SCORING

UBC 48
Tries – R. Wilson-Valdes (4′), T. Cowen (11′), J. Carson (17′), I. Kelly (31′), A. Marshall 2 (34′, 39′), C. Arneson (56′)
Cons – Tak. McMullin 4/6 (18′, 32′, 35′, 40′), M. Abercrombie 1/1 (57′)
Pens – Tak. McMullin 1/1 (27′)
YC – R. Chou (52′), J. McNulty (59′)

McGILL 5
Tries – A. Laurendeau (50′)
Cons – M. Weatherall 0/1

 

TEAMS

UBC THUNDERBIRDS
1 Josh Tweed (capt.), 2 Jacob Bossi, 3 Conor O’Flaherty, 4 Hillyard Carson, 5 Izzak Kelly, 6 Flynn Heyes, 7 Josh Downes, 8 Relmu Wilson-Valdes, 9 Jack Carson, 10 James Biss, 11 Tenniel Cowen, 12 Ethan Berry, 13 Takoda McMullin, 14 Jacob Bourne, 15 Matthew Percillier

Replacements: 16 Koen Buckingham, 17 Raymond Chou, 18 Joe McNulty, 19 Payton Teneycke, 20 Caden Wilson, 21 Callum Arneson, 22 Alasdair Bulman, 23 Max Abercrombie, 24 Alastair Marshall, 25 Kieran Martin, 26 Talon McMullin

McGILL REDBIRDS
1 Nick Smith, 2 Evan Tennant, 3 Alex Pantis, 4 Dakota Stevenson, 5 Jack Davidson, 6 Zach Auger, 7 Liam Pantis, 8 Nicolas Dubé-Mercier, 9 Owen Cumming, 10 Monty Weatherall (capt.), 11 Alexandre Laurendeau, 12 Peter Demers, 13 Ferreol Amigues, 14 Martin Laval, 15 Gaspard Poiré

Replacements: 16 Matt Zeitouni, 17 Neos Dionisopoulos, 18 Léo Delvart, 19 Jack Preston, 20 Brad Hunger, 21 Elliot Descarreaux, 22 Philippe Robinson, 23 Adrien Osakwe, 24 Jack Tucker, 25 Ben Reynolds, 26 Alexander Armstrong (injured, did not dress)

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Chris Assmus (Canada)
Assistants: Peter Pender (Canada) & Ryan Alguire (Canada)

 

TOURNAMENT ALL-STARS

1st TEAM
1 Ethan Jurgeneit (Trinity Western Spartans)
2 Jacob Bossi (UBC Thunderbirds)
3 Conor O’Flaherty (UBC Thunderbirds)
4 Brad Hunger (McGill Redbirds)
5 Izzak Kelly (UBC Thunderbirds)
6 Taine Clague (UVic Vikes)
7 Dylan DiGirolamo (Laurier Golden Hawks)
8 Relmu Wilson-Valdes (UBC Thunderbirds)
9 Jack Carson (UBC Thunderbirds)
10 Monty Weatherall (McGill Redbirds)
11 Brenden Black (Guelph Gryphons)
12 Alexander Armstrong (McGill Redbirds)
13 Takoda McMullin (UBC Thunderbirds)
14 Jonas Robinson (UVic Vikes)
15 Matt Willemse (Trinity Western Spartans)

2nd TEAM
1 Josh Tweed (UBC Thunderbirds)
2 Seth Klassen (Trinity Western Spartans)
3 Denver Fatt (UVic Vikes)
4 Hillyard Carson (UBC Thunderbirds)
5 Ayo Ogunlade (UVic Vikes)
6 Matthew Murphy (Memorial Sea-Hawks)
7 Nate Schroeder (Trinity Western Spartans)
8 Cam Hurst (Guelph Gryphons)
9 Tony Pomroy (Memorial Sea-Hawks)
10 Keegan Neary (Calgary Dinos)
11 Kobe Faust (Guelph Gryphons)
12 Jacob Ince (Guelph Gryphons)
13 Ethan Berry (UBC Thunderbirds)
14 Lynden Duggan (Trinity Western Spartans)
15 Ethan Hager (UVic Vikes)