CanWest Men’s Rugby Championship Finals Weekend – Day 1 Recap

Cougars versus Heat:

Playing in zero degree weather and swirling winds, the Heat came out to an early lead through two quick tries even though they were starved for territory by the Cougars. Following the first ten minutes, the rest of the half remained scored less with the halftime score being 10-0 for the Heat.

Early in the second half, Cougar Rylan Gibb was rewarded for his big hits and direct running with a long run down the sideline to touchdown in the corner. The Heat answered with numerous phases in the Cougars 22, eventually seeing Rhys James getting quick ball at first receiver and stepping in under the posts. The Cougars answered back with a try from fullback Andy Jacobs, converted by Braydon Johnson. Another Heat try rounded out the scoring. Final score was 22-12 fort the Heat.

Greg Toews, the Cougar Head Coach commended both sides for a well fought game in touch conditions adding “We had great performances by senior fly-half Billy Hoden and outside centre Al Patrico as well as a great rookie season from scrum half Eric Hudon.”

Dinos versus UofS:

The stage was set for one of the biggest upsets in CanWest play-off history if UofS could upend the perennial winner of the cup, the UofC Dinos. It was looking good for UofS in their rookie season as they struck first through a penalty kick from Andre Gericke. It took almost to the end of the first half for the Dinos to break through the UoS defense, seeing Oliver White showing hit pace and touching the ball down between the posts and Josh Windley successfully converting. The score being 7-3 for the Dinos going into the half.

UofS was unable to hit their rhythm in the second half and the Dinos took advantage with Nolan Kernick slicing through the UofS defense and then Oliver White adding a second tally to his name. Final score 24-3 for the Dinos. After the game, Dinos Head Coach, Rayner Hart commented “It was a hard fought game in tough conditions but we got the upper hand in the set pieces which made the difference. Credit to Saskatchewan, it was a great semi-final. “

From UoS, Head Coach Brennan Marcoux remained confident in his side: “We stuck to our game plan, but unfortunately had too many minor mistakes. The team didn’t quit all game and we came out with our heads high. We look forward to put on a good showing tomorrow for third place.”

Finals Day Schedule:

Sunday, October 27, 2019 @ University of Calgary Field 7

11:00 am: BRONZE FINAL: University of Regina versus University of Saskatchewan

1:00 pm CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL: University of Calgary versus University of British Columbia – Okanagan.

About the CanWest Men’s Rugby Championship:

The CanWest Men’s Rugby Championship is comprised of six universities: Mount Royal University, University of British Columbia – Okanagan, University of Calgary, University of Lethbridge, University of Regina and University of Saskatchewan. The league is run by an Executive Committee comprised of Rayner Hart (Calgary - Chair), Maria Samson (Mount Royal) and Nathan Sgrazzutti (Regina) with input from each member university.

The winner of CanWest has travelled to Kelowna the past two years to play the loser of the UBC-UVic game for a berth to the Canadian University Men's Rugby Championship. This year, the CanWest Champion will make the trek to Langley, BC to play UVic on November 9 at Trinity Western University. Next year, the CanWest winners will have their own berth to Nationals, reflecting the strength of competition in the Prairies.

For more information, follow @canwestmensrugby on Instagram