VANCOUVER, BC - The Guelph Gryphons men's rugby team fell one win short of reaching the 2022 national title game, following a hard-fought 37-17 defeat on Friday evening in Vancouver at the hands of the defending national champion and tournament host UBC Thunderbirds.
The tournament hosts scored four tries to Guelph's three, with UBC's Takoda McMullin putting up 17 points from three penalties and four conversions, in a pulsating encounter that saw play go end-to-end before the Thunderbirds established a foothold and started to pull ahead.
The Gryphons, who were crowned OUA champions back on November 13, entered the tournament as the No. 2-seed, and earned a spot in the semifinals after a dramatic win over Memorial on Wednesday night.
On Friday, however, the Gryphons were unable to overcome a slow start, with UBC wasting no time in getting off and running, capitalizing on some early pressure to send Relmu Wilson-Vardes over the tryline within the first three minutes, which was converted by McMullin for the early seven point lead.
Guelph responded with some pressure of their own and some quick movement saw the ball come out to
Jack Morris on the right wing and he went over for an unconverted try to get the Gryphons on the board. The Thunderbirds got straight back at taking the game to the Ontario side but they weren't able to make their territorial play pay and were punished for it in the 19th minute.
Guelph's last gasp quarter final hero from Wednesday,
Brenden Black, tore up the left wing, sold a couple of dummies to UBC and went in for the score, which
Kobe Faust duly converted to give the OUA champs their first lead of the evening.
But it was a lead the Gryphons didn't hold on to for long, with the Thunderbirds coming roaring back four minutes later through a Flynn Heyes try. McMullin was good again with the convert and UBC went back in front, and this time it was a lead they weren't to give up. The Thunderbirds extended their advantage as time expired at the end of the first half, with a pick and go carry over from Hillyard Carson and another McMullin convert, as UBC headed into the break with a nine point lead.
McMullin kicked a 13-yard penalty three minutes after the restart and then another from one yard further out four minutes later to move UBC further ahead and make it a three score game, as Guelph struggled to get a foothold in the second half.
UBC took the opportunity of their lead to go to their bench and one of those substitutes, Joe McNulty, went over for the Thunderbirds fifth try of the evening in the 49th minute, with McMullin converting once again and then adding another late penalty. Guelph fought till the end, however, and an overlapping
Tomas Dallan showed a burst of speed to go over in the dying seconds.
Matthew Percillier-McDougall was named Player of the Game for the Thunderbirds, with
Brenden Black getting the honour for the Gryphons. No. 3-ranked UBC will now look to claim their fourth men's rugby championship in five seasons on Sunday, with a final showdown awaiting against the winner of Friday's second semifinal between Trinity Western and McGill.
The Gryphons will now look to end their 2022 season on a high note on Sunday, where they will face either Trinity Western or McGill in the bronze medal match. A win on Sunday would give the Gryphons their best-ever finish at nationals, with the previous best result for Guelph being a 4th-place finish, something they have accomplished twice in the first four years of existence at the Canadian University Men's Rugby Championships. Sunday's bronze medal match gets underway at 4pm ET and can be seen live online at
www.therugbynetwork.com.
Scoring Summary
UBC 37 GUELPH 17
First Half
UBC - Try, Relmu Wilson-Vardes (Takoda McMullin convert) 3' 7-0
GUE - Try,
Jack Morris (convert unsuccessful) 11' 7-5
GUE - Try,
Brenden Black (
Kobe Faust convert) 19' 7-12
UBC - Try, Flynn Heyes (Takoda McMullin convert) 23' 14-12
UBC - Try, Hillyard Carson (Takoda McMullin convert) 30' 21-12
Second Half
UBC - Penalty Convert, Takoda McMullin 33' 24-12
UBC - Penalty Convert, Takoda McMullin 37' 27-12
UBC - Try, Joe McNulty (Takoda McMullin convert) 49' 34-12
UBC - Penalty Convert, Takoda McMullin 57' 37-12
GUE - Try,
Tomas Dallan (convert unsuccessful) 60' 37-17'
