T-Birds book spot in gold medal game with victory over Guelph
Nov. 22: UBC Thunderbirds 34, Guelph Gryphons 7 (Victoria, B.C.)
By Braedan Willis, Vikes Communications
  
VICTORIA, BC – The Guelph Gryphons' hopes are still alive when it comes to reaching the podium at nationals. But the dream of taking home a gold or silver came to an end Thursday afternoon following a 34-7 defeat at the hands of a talented UBC Thunderbirds squad. UBC, a perennial power in B.C.'s premier league, and the winners of last year's inaugural Canadian University Men's Rugby Championship, jumped out to a 22-0 lead by halftime and never looked back.

Andrew Douglas scored the lone try of the match for the Gryphons (0-1), who will now need to defeat Concordia on Friday (7pm ET) if they want to contend for a medal this weekend.

While Thursday's match marked Guelph's first of the 2018 national championship, it was UBC's second straight day of competition after their 41-8 win on Wednesday over Concordia.

William McDougall-Percillier had two tries, a penalty goal and two converts in the game for the UBC Thunderbirds who led through the entire 60 minutes of the game. Cal Martinez, Daniel Archer and John Jubenvill also got on the scoresheet for the T-Birds.
 
"We played really well defensively today and did a great job when we had a ball in hand," said Thunderbirds head coach Curry Hitchborn. "Guelph is an excellent team. They are very well coached and came out aggressive today which made it difficult on us. We will need to improve on a lot of aspects of our game if we want to compete with our opponent on Sunday."
 
"We knew coming into this match today that UBC was a powerhouse," said Cory Hector, head coach of the Gryphons. "The one day turnaround will be tough but our game plan will remain the same but we will have to clean up the fine details and little things in our game if we want to be being for a medal on Sunday."
 
It took just two minutes for the Thunderbirds to score the game's first try. Scrum half McDougall-Percillier found a hole off the UBC lineout and broke away down the sideline. The speedy second-year was caught just inside the Guelph 22-metre line but his run set up T-birds prop Martinez for a try in the corner just a few moments later. Immediately after the UBC try, Guelph had an opportunity to answer. Gryphons fly half Aria Keshoofy swung the ball out wide into the hands of winger Andrew Douglas but the Chippawa, Ont. native was tackled out of bounds by the last UBC defender.
 
Just a few minutes later, Douglas chased down his own kick to set up the Gryphons for a chance to tie up the game but with no support in the breakdown inside the UBC 10-metre line. The Thunderbirds turned the ball over in the ruck.
 
Penalties haunted the Gryphons throughout the first half. Most notably, a penalty taken deep inside their own 22-metre line resulted directly in a try for the Thunderbirds to increase their lead to 14-0 in the 12^th minute.
 
Despite the penalty trouble, Guelph No. 8 Mitch Talbot managed to exploit a gap in the UBC line and rumbled down to just a few metres outside the T-birds end goal but a knock on resulted in a turn over in favour of the Thunderbirds.
 
McDougall-Percillier added a penalty goal and Archer added a try before the half was over to give the Thunderbirds the 22-0 lead at the break.
 
The Gryphons finally broke free in the 32^nd minute when Douglas found a gap and cruised 50-metres down the pitch for Gryphon's first try. That would be as close as Guelph would get as  UBC's Jubenvill and McDougall-Percillier both got over the goal line in the second half to solidify a 34-7 victory.
 
The Thunderbirds will now have to wait and see who their opponent will be in Sunday's gold medal final at Centennial Stadium on Nov. 25 at 1:00 p.m. Guelph will need a victory over the Concordia Stingers on Nov. 23 to get a chance at the bronze medal.
 
McDougall-Percillier was honoured as the player of the game for the Thunderbirds, while Marcello Wainwright got the nod for the Gryphons.
 
All games are streamed live on the Rugby Canada facebook page, while scores, recaps and more are available at govikesgo.com/rugby. To purchase tickets for the championship, visit govikesgo.com/tickets.
 
GAME MVPs
UBC: #9 William McDougall-Percillier
GUE: #7 Marcello Wainwright
 
SCORING SUMMARY
                   1         2       F
GUE:          0         7       7
UBC:         22       12      34
 
FIRST HALF
2': UBC Try- #3 Cal Martinez (Convert William McDougall-Percillier ) 7-0 UBC
12': UBC Try- #9 William McDougall-Percillier (Convert William McDougall-Percillier) 14-0 UBC
15': UBC Penalty Goal- #9 William McDougall-Percillier 17-0 UBC
22': UBC Try- #13 Daniel Archer (Convert Missed) 22-0 UBC
30': UBC Yellow Card- #4 James Carson
 
SECOND HALF
 
32': GUE Try- #14 Andrew Douglas (Convert Mario Vanderwesthuizen) 22-7 UBC
40': UBC Try- #12 John Jubenvill (Convert Missed) 27-7 UBC
57': UBC Try- #9 William McDougall-Percillier (Convert William McDougall-Percillier) 34-7 UBC
 
 
2018 CANADIAN UNIVERSITY MEN'S RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP
VICTORIA, B.C.
 
Wednesday November 21
Pool A: UBC Thunderbirds (41) vs. Concordia Stingers (8)
Pool B: Queen's Gaels (76) vs. New Brunswick Ironmen (5)
 
Thursday, November 22
Pool A: UBC Thunderbirds (34) vs. Guelph Gryphons (7)
Pool B: Queen's Gaels vs. Victoria Vikes (2:00 p.m. – Wallace Field)
 
Friday, November 23
Pool A: Guelph Gryphons vs. Concordia Stingers (4:00 p.m. – Centennial Stadium)
Pool B: Victoria Vikes vs. New Brunswick Ironmen (6:00 p.m. – Centennial Stadium)
 
Saturday, November 24
5^th Place Game (2:00 p.m. – Wallace Field)
 
Sunday, November 25
Bronze Medal Game (11:00 a.m. – Centennial Stadium)
Gold Medal Game – UBC vs TBD (1:00 p.m. – Centennial Stadium)