“The guys expended an excellent effort on both sides of the ball”
It’s playoff time for the almighty Gee-Gees men’s rugby team. After finishing the regular season with a record of 5-1, the team faced off in the RSEQ semi-finals against their biggest competition, the McGill Redbirds, who were responsible for their lone regular season loss (37-21 on Oct. 5).
On a chilly day at Matt Anthony Field, the fans were rowdy, and the Gees were even rowdier. The Gees would ultimately beat the Redbirds 24-12 in the RSEQ semi-finals from a great game from the team, and remarkable performances from the Roy brothers.
The Redbirds had a chance to put the first numbers on the board opting for a long kick from a Gees penalty, but the wind would prove too challenging and the kick went wide. The next chance would come from the Gees but kicker Glenn Roy would miss as well.
Fantastic plays from Evan Roy and Matthew Robinson pushed the Gees within five yards of the Redbirds try line, it would be Zach Auger breaking through for the first try; the conversion from Glenn Roy was good putting them up 7-0.
The Gees would then hold off the Redbirds at the one yard line, and would be cleared after a Gees scrum. A big run by the Redbirds fullback would get them within a couple yards of the try zone where their wingers took over and Raphael Seigner finished the scoring chance. The kick was good, and the score was tied 7-7 to finish the half.
Starting the second half, the Gees pushed up within 10 yards of the try line, and after a penalty it was the tank Evan Roy plowing through the Redbirds defensive line for the second Gees try. The conversion ffrom his brother 14-7, starting the second half off with a bang.
The next scoring chance came for the Gees once more, as they were granted a penalty within the Redbirds try line. To breakthrough for the Gees third try of the game was none other than Evan Roy, and again the conversion from his brother was good to increase the Gees lead to 21-7.
With 20 minutes remaining everything was looking set for a Gees win. The Redbacks would break through with 12 minutes remaining from a try from Harry Corkum, but the conversion was wide to make the score 21-12. Time was running low, and the Gees were in the driver’s seat for another visit to the RSEQ championship. To ice the game in extra time, the Gees were granted a penalty after a dirty tackle from the Redbirds, it was Glenn Roy with some icing on the cake, putting three more on the board to win the game 24-12.
Head coach James Flemming had a tactical game plan in this matchup, learning from previous mistakes in their prior matchup against the Redbirds. “Last game we gave them the ball 42 times between penalties and turnovers,” said Flemming.
“We knew we’d need to be far more disciplined and we were. The guys expended an excellent effort on both sides of the ball.” The team will head to the RSEQ championship game for the second year in a row, looking for back-to-back golds.
They matchup against their rivals, the ETS Piranhas, once again. When asked about the championship matchup against ETS, Coach Flemming said “We are playing ETS so we know it will be another battle. It always is against them. We’ll look at the finer details throughout the week and get the guys physically prepared for a war.” It is always a special game when two titans of RSEQ rugby face off.
