Prairies University Men’s Rugby Championship Finals Recap

The University of Calgary Dinos defended their title as Prairies University Champions beating the Mount Royal University Cougars 43-7 in the final on Sunday. The bronze final was claimed by the University of Alberta with a 33-29 win over the University of British Columbia – Okanagan Heat.

Fullback Keegan Neary from the Dinos captured the Player of the Year Award and Winger Finn Hussey from the Heat won the Rookie of the Year Award, as voted by the member universities. The Coach of the Year Award was presented to Maria Samson of Mount Royal University, rewarding the exciting style of play shown by the Cougars and a first-time appearance in the Championship Final, after beating UBCO on Saturday.

Gold Medal Final: Dinos versus Cougars:

After winning the regular season and coming in as the #1 seed, the Dinos put enormous pressure on the Cougars. The Dinos scored one unconverted try by Matthew Sirianni in the first five minutes, and another try by fly-half Toby Spooner only ten minutes later. The second try was converted by Keegan Neary. The Cougars started hitting their stride around the twenty minutes mark and were rewarded with a try after multiple attacking phases through winger Dakota Konschuh. The try was converted by Eric Gratton. Going into the half, the Dinos led 12-7.

The second half momentum went to the Dinos after Cougars Captain Matt Taylor suffered a game ending injury, and lock Kaden Lenci received a yellow card. The Dinos were rewarded with a penalty try about 10 minutes into the half, and never looked back. Kaiden Powell, Colin Petrillo and Neary each dotted down, with Neary converted all three. Neary slotted a penalty attempt to round out the scoring. The final score was 43-7 for the Dinos.

Dinos Head Coach Nick McAuley said “It was a great outing in the battle of Calgary today. Some great defence from both teams throughout the game. We had a great attitude and commitment on the structure today by the Dino’s, and that led them to the nationals. MRU should hold there heads high as they showed grit and determination.”

Scoring Summary:

University of Calgary Dinos (43)

Try: #2 Matthew Sirianni, #10 Toby Spooner, Penalty Try, #21 Kaiden Powell, #8 Colin Petrillo, #15 Keagan Neary

Convert: #15 Keegan Neary (4)

Penalty: #15 Keegan Neary

Mount Royal University (7)

Try: #11 Dakota Konschuh

Convert: #10 Eric Gratton

Bronze Medal Final: UofA vs Heat

UofA claimed bronze with a 33-29 win over the Heat.

Scoring Summary:

University of Alberta (33)

Try: Michael Reid (2), Josh Gnida, Jaydaan Bayne, Liam George, #

Convert: Jack Loughman (4)

University of British Columbia – Okanagan (29)

Ty: Rhys James (2), Finn Hussey, Devon Stroud

Convert: Jean-Louis Desgouttes (3)

Penalty: Jean-Louis Desgouttes

Individual Awards:

Coach of the Year Award: Mount Royal University – Maria Samson – “Even though the award says Coach of the Year, in my heart, its Team of the Year. This award reflects the guys on the team and the leadership we have within the squad.”

Player of the Year Nominees:

Jean-Louis Desgouttes – University of British Columbia – Okanagan, Olaf Erasmus – University of Saskatchewan, Jacob Horton – Mount Royal University, Keegan Neary – University of Calgary, Michael Reid – University of Alberta

Player of the Year Winner: Keegan Neary – “I am proud to have helped my team reach Nationals. There were several players in the league very deserving of this award so it is an absolute honour to be named MVP"

Rookie of the Year Nominees:

Jaydaan Bayne – University of Alberta, Jacques Bonsant – University of Saskatchewan, Lane Bowker – University of Calgary, Finn Hussey – University of British Columbia – Okanagan, Logan Johnston – Mount Royal University

Rookie of the Year Winner: Finn Hussey – “I am incredibly honoured to receive rookie of the year, I wouldn’t have been able to get to this point without the great coaching, players and support staff at UBCO."

About the Prairies University Men’s Rugby Championship:

The Prairies University Men’s Rugby Championship is comprised of six universities: Mount Royal University, University of Alberta, University of British Columbia – Okanagan, University of Calgary,

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 (Past Player) with input from each member university.

For the first time, the winner of the Prairies University Men’s Rugby Championship gains a direct berth to the Canadian University Men’s Rugby Championship hosted by Queen’s University in Kingston, ON, November 24-28, 2021.

For more information, follow @prairiesumensrugby on Instagram