“For all the guys that came close before – but didn’t quite make it atop the mountain – well, this is for them, us, and the next generation.”
Last year, the men’s rugby team came devastatingly close to winning their first-ever conference championship, as they lost by just a single try and conversion to McGill in the RSEQ final. But the team wasn’t going to let glory slip out of their grasp two years in a row.
The Gee-Gees came out strong on the afternoon of Nov. 4, and made a push towards the try zone about 15 minutes into the game. Ottawa native Evan Roy tapped the ball down, and his older brother Glenn Roy converted the kick.
But the previously undefeated ETS Piranhas showed why they had risen to the occasion and beaten the Gees just a few weeks previously. They evened the score with a try and conversion of their own, and then added another pair to go up 14-7 at the half.
Coach Andrew Armstrong knew the team would need to be prepared and disciplined coming into the match. “ETS are a very good team, as evidenced by their unbeaten season.” Armstrong explained after the game. “The two areas where we made improvements this game were discipline and execution. Less costly penalties than a couple of weeks ago; better execution on attack when it was critical.”
After ETS took a penalty just 10 minutes into the second half, Roy stepped up to the ball on the 50-yard line for a kick. He showed off his massive leg, drilling the shot with room to spare. The older Roy led the conference in total points this season, mostly due to his astonishing 18 conversions and eight penalties in just six games.
After playing kick tennis for a few minutes, the game took a turn. Donovan Tran received a pass on the right side of the field, on the Gee-Gees side of half. He bolted down the field, dodging a couple of tackles, and evading a few hands on the way to the right side of the try zone. The kick, from a bad angle, was a good one, but it spun into the post and bounced away. The doink was unfortunate, but the Gees still had the lead.
ETS converted their own penalty about 10 minutes later, leaving the Gees staring at a two-point deficit as the clock ticked down. With just minutes remaining, ETS committed a foul as the Gee-Gees were within 20 yards of the try zone.
Glenn Roy easily nailed the kick, and the win looked all but secured. But after kicking back to the Gees, ETS came up with the ball on a turnover within yards of the try zone. The Gee-Gees remained disciplined and didn’t foul, and although the Piranhas got close, the Gees kicked the ball out of bounds and came out with the win.
Armstrong touched on what the win meant for the program, who only joined the conference in 2018. “It’s hard to put into words what it means. A few years ago, we got to a point where we could compete with the big teams of the league — but beating them in the playoffs is another story. For all the guys that came close before, but didn’t quite make it atop the mountain, well, this is for them, us, and the next generation. That banner will hang at [the U of O] forever.”
The team will travel to Trinity Western University in British Columbia for the Canadian University Men’s Rugby Championship, which begins Nov. 15 and carries on until Nov. 19.
Armstrong spoke about the challenges of being a part of a program which doesn’t have full-time staff. “The first part of prep is all the admin –we don’t have the luxury of a manager, so it’s all hands on deck. As far as rugby, we’ll continue to train hard, but with reduced contact. Time to get everyone as healthy as possible!”
