GUELPH, Ont. – There was a business-like approach in the Guelph Gryphons men's rugby training camp this summer. And it appeared to carry over into Guelph's OUA season opener against the McMaster Marauders on a sweltering hot Labour Day Monday at Varsity Field. Last year's silver medalists began 2018 on a high after taking an early lead and finishing off the Marauders 51-10.
 
Scrum half Rudolph Van Der Westhuizen had a try and three converts, while veteran flanker Marcello Wainwright added a couple-second-half tries in the lopsided victory.
 
The Gryphons have been working on a new system that utilizes their size and speed and while it took a bit to get comfortable, the hosts made life difficult on a good McMaster side. Fourth-year lock Matthew Van Camp got things started with a try in the 15^th minute and 6-5, 250-pound 8^th man Kolby Francis would touch down minutes later, increasing the Guelph lead to 14-0 after Van Der Westhuizen's convert.

 
McMaster replied with their only try of the afternoon, from EJ Berri in the 24^th minute, but the Gryphons essentially closed the doors on the match after that, allowing only a penalty kick in the 45^th minute. Guelph then ran off 27 straight points, with two trys coming from Wainwright. The hosts capped off the scoring with an Alexander Williamson try in the 75^th minute for a dominating opening effort.
 
Turning point
McMaster got an injection of life when Berri capitalized on a Guelph mistake to cut the lead to 14-7 but it proved to be the highlight of their day. Van Der Westhuizen answered right back with a penalty kick three minutes later. But fourth-year centre Kyle Lagasca all but sealed the right before the half when he exploded up the middle and earned a try, which ended with a convert from Van Der Westhuizen. The play made the score 24-7 and the Marauders had no way back.

Gryphon Take
"It was important for us to at least get a game under our belts and play in the structure that we've already put in. It took a little while to get into the rhythm but once we did, we were able to execute what we had been working on during the week. We implemented the bare bones of our structure that we want to play this year and the guys really worked to play within that, giving us a lot of organization around the field. That was one of the big differences. We were able to hold our structure in attack and on defence. It gave us confidence because guys knew where they were supposed to be." – head coach Cory Hector
 
"We have the same group of guys, 15 of us graduating this year. All of us have pretty much played together and we're just looking to make a comeback from last year and build our chemistry. We have a very good bench this year with a lot of young guys coming in. We should be good moving forward." –  fourth-year centre Kyle Lagasca
 
 
The Record
Guelph is 1-0.
 
Next up
@ Western, Sunday, Sept. 9, 3:00 pm
 

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Scoring Summary
 

Minute	University	Type of Score	Player	Convert	Match Score
15'	Guelph	Try	Matthew Van Camp	Good (Van Der Westhuizen)	7-0 Guelph
19'	Guelph	Try	Kolby Francis	Good (Van Der Westhuizen)	14-0 Guelph
24'	McMaster	Try	EJ Berri	Good (Richardson)	14-7 Guelph
27'	Guelph	Penalty Kick	Rudolph Van Der Westhuizen		17-7 Guelph
38'	Guelph	Try	Kyle Lagasca	Good (Van Der Westhuizen)	24-7 Guelph
45'	McMaster	Penalty Kick	Mitchell Richardson		24-10 Guelph
51'	Guelph	Penalty Kick	Rudolph Van Der Westhuizen		27-10 Guelph
59'	Guelph	Try	Marcello Wainwright	Missed	32-10 Guelph
65'	Guelph	Try	Alexander Williamson	Good (Keshoofy)	39-10 Guelph
71'	Guelph	Try	Marcello Wainwright	Good (Keshoofy)	46-10 Guelph
75'	Guelph	Try	Alexander Williamson	Missed	51-10 Guelph

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