2018 U SPORTS Women's Rugby Championship: Day 2 Recap

Semifinal 1: StFX advances to final, downs Laval 26-12

A steady rain fell throughout Friday’s women’s rugby semifinal, ideal conditions for the StFX X-Women’s unrelenting pick-and-go ground attack. It’s the tried-and-true formula for success that the Antigonish, N.S., school once again used to its full advantage to earn a berth in Sunday’s U SPORTS national final. 

·      Schedule & Results
·      Livestream – USPORTS.LIVE

The X-Women, buttressed by a partisan crowd at Acadia’s Raymond Field, defeated the Laval Rouge et Or 26-12.

“Playing in weather like this, the key was to grind it out and keep possession of the ball, which we managed to do,” noted Sam Lake, who along with fellow prop Joanna Alphonso chewed up valuable yardage inside, steadily moving the ball while wearing down Laval defenders. “That’s (the strategy) that’s been so successful for us.”

StFX Player of the game Olivia DeMerchant scored two tries for the victors, who nursed a 12-7 lead at the break. Sophia Parker and Amelia Hatfield added the other tries, while Danielle Franada added a trio of converts and has now hit seven of eight attempts in two games in the tournament.
 
Jan-Ma Létinois and Nele Pien registered tries for Laval, whose style of play was adversely affected by the damp conditions.

“The conditions definitely didn’t favour us,” noted Laval flyhalf Véronique Gagné. “They are a very physical team that loves to play the pick-and-go game. We are used to playing more of a wing game, getting the ball out to our backs and that is not an easy way to play in wet weather.”
 
The X-Women opened the scoring 11 minutes in, moving the ball half the length of the field with a series of short, punishing runs. The try Hatfield eventually scored was hard-earned, as Laval gamely repelled charge after charge inside their own five-yard line for over three minutes.

Létinois’s try and Gagné’s convert knotted the score in the 17th minute.

However, the ensuing kick by the Rouge et Or bounced in and out of the hands of a Laval player straight into the welcoming arms of DeMerchant, who rumbled 25 yards to inside the Laval 10. Moments later Parker tallied the try. Franada missed the convert, breaking a string of seven in a row that included a 6-for-6 game in Thursday’s quarterfinal victory.
 
Much like they did in the first half, StFX struck quickly in the latter half, with DeMerchant collecting her first try after a sustained march.

Trailing 19-7, Laval’s Marie-Laura Choquette took off on a splendid open-field run of 60 yards and was trying to dash around Franada - the last line of defence - when she inexplicably dropped the ball, which StFX recovered.
Laval made things interesting with a try at the 55-minute mark, but StFX countered with DeMerchant’s second try five minutes before the end of regulation.

The X-Women advance to Sunday’s final at 3:30 p.m. ET / 12:30 p.m. PT against the winner of the second semifinal between defending national champion Ottawa and Guelph. Laval will play the loser of that match in the bronze medal game on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT.

SCORING SUMMARY
StFX 12-14: 26
LAV 7-5: 12
First half
·      StFX – Amelia Hatfield try (Danielle Franada convert) 11th
·      LAV – Jan-Ma Létinois try (Veronique Gagne convert) 17th
·      StFX – Sophia Parker try 20th
Second half
·      StFX – Olivia DeMerchant try (Franada convert) 39th
·      LAV – Nele Pien try 55th
·      StFX – Olivia DeMerchant try (Franada convert) 66th
Players of the game
·      StFX: Olivia DeMerchant
·      LAV: Nele Pien
 

Semifinal 2: Gryphons punch ticket to U SPORTS final with 15-12 win over Ottawa
 
The weather outside was frightful, but the final result was simply delightful for the Guelph Gryphons.
The Gryphons used their trademark swarming defense and managed just enough offence for a 15-12 nailbiter win over the defending champion Ottawa Gee-Gees in the second of two championship semifinals at the U SPORTS Women's Rugby Championship.

·      Schedule & Results
·      Livestream – USPORTS.LIVE

In a close defensive struggle throughout played through a steady downpour on Raymond Field, Ottawa opened the scoring on an Emily Gray try at the 17:22 mark. The conversion attempt failed; in fact, the weather was tough on conversions all evening, with only one of five attempts being successful.
 
Leading 5-0, the Gee-Gees narrowly missed a second try when they could not keep an onside kick into the end zone in-bounds. Guelph seemed to take strength from the near miss by Ottawa, but while both teams were able to move the ball with some success, scoring chances proved hard to come by.

The Gryphons finally found the scoresheet at the 34:27 mark, just before the end of the first half. Emilie Nicholl, who would be named the Gryphons' Player of the Game, pushed the ball across the end line. A missed conversion attempt left the score tied 5-5.

Guelph continued to apply the pressure, and the Gryphons were ultimately rewarded when Brodie Schmidt scored a try at 38:14 with the game clock well into first-half injury time. Guelph took its first lead of the game, 10-5, into the locker room.

After the break, Guelph drove to the goal line, but was held up by the Ottawa defence. Two minutes later, the Gryphons were again held up on the goal line, but finally, on their third try, Amara Hill scored the try that increased the Guelph lead to 15-5.
 
Ottawa recovered the ball on the ensuing kickoff, and marched to the goal line before being held up by the Gryphons' defence. The Gee-Gees persisted, and in the 59thminute, Gray scored her second try of the game off a goal-line scramble. Claire Gallagher was good on the only successful conversion attempt of the game, narrowing Guelph's lead to 15-12 and making for a riveting finish.

Both teams turned the ball over in the final minutes before the Gryphons took possession and kept it, running out the clock to punch their ticket to the final on Sunday against the StFX X-Women.

While some might have termed the result an upset over the defending national champs, according to Nicholl, the Gryphons simply “wanted it more.”

“Last year, we were disappointed with our finish at nationals. We came in this year with a positive attitude,” she said. “We kept telling ourselves, 'Keep pushing, and good things will happen.’ You just have to believe they can. If you believe you can, your body ends up doing great things.”

Asked about Sunday's final, Nicholl said the Gryphons would be approaching it “like any other game. We'll keep pouring our heart and soul into it, pushing each other forward.”   

SCORING SUMMARY
OTTAWA - 5-7-12
GUELPH - 10-5-15

First half
·      OTT – Emily Gray try (conversion attempt failed) 17:22 
·      GUE – Emilie Nicholl try (conversion attempt failed) 34:27 
·      GUE – Brodie Schmidt try (conversion attempt failed) 38:14 
Second half
·      GUE– Amara Hill try (conversion attempt failed) 45:51 
·      OTT – Emily Gray try (Claire Gallagher conversion good)  59:51 

Players of the game
OTT: Georgia Stewart
GUE: Emilie Nicholl