OTTAWA, Ont. – On Sunday afternoon (Nov. 17) at Matt Anthony Field in Ottawa, the Guelph Gryphons men's rugby team saw their comeback efforts come up just short in a 47-40 loss to the three-time defending national champion, UBC Thunderbirds, in the bronze medal match of the 2024 Canadian University Men's Rugby Championship. For the Gryphons, who entered the tournament as OUA champions and the No. 2-seed in the eight-team field, it marks the end of their 2024 campaign, with Guelph finishing fourth at the 2024 national championship tournament, hosted by the University of Ottawa.
After a pair of upsets in the semifinal stage, the bronze medal match of the 2024 Canadian University Men's Rugby Championships pitted the top-two seeds in the tournament against each other in the No. 2-seeded Guelph Gryphons and the No. 1-seeded UBC Thunderbirds. The Thunderbirds would get off to a fast start, scoring the game's first try of the match in the 3rd minute. UBC would take control of the first half, scoring on three of the next four drives to establish a 28-7 lead at halftime. The second half would start out in similar fashion, with UBC scoring another try to extend their lead to 35-7 in the 33rd minute. But Guelph would show the fight and resolve of a championship team, with
Tomas Dallan racing down the wing and scoring a try a minute later to start the U of G comeback. The Gryphons would get closer when Tadi Murewa powered in for a try in the 40th minute to trim the deficit down to 16 points. Both sides would trade tries throughout the second half, which included two tries from
David Scollon. Guelph would cut the deficit down to just seven points when
Augustus Murphy scored his team's sixth try of the match to make the score 47-40, but it would be the last play of the match as time ran out on the Gryphons, who would fall just short of capturing what would have been a third consecutive bronze medal at the national championships. The
Montreal-based ÉTS (École de technologie supérieur) Piranhas would claim the national title, defeating Queen's by a score of 23-19 on Sunday night, to claim gold at the 2024 Canadian University Men's Rugby Championships.
Players of the game:
GUE:
Quinn Foley
UBC: Talon McMullin
Scoring summary:
FIRST HALF
UBC: Try Alastair Marshall (Talon McMullin conversion) – 3'
UBC: Try Emmet Allan (Talon McMullin conversion) – 7'
UBC: Try Joe McNulty (Talon McMullin conversion) – 19'
GUE: Try Brenden Black (Tomas Dallan conversion) – 22'
UBC: Try Talon McMullin (Talon McMullin conversion) – 25'
SECOND HALF
UBC: Try Ben Beauchamp (Talon McMullin conversion) – 32'
GUE: Try Tomas Dallan (Tomas Dallan conversion) – 33'
GUE: Try Tadiwanashe Murewa (conversion missed) – 40'
UBC: Try Tate Hartley (conversion missed) – 45'
GUE: Try David Scollon (Tomas Dallan conversion) – 47'
UBC: Try Ben Martin (Talon McMullin conversion) – 49'
GUE: Try David Scollon (Tomas Dallan conversion) – 52'
GUE: Try Augustus Murphy (Tomas Dallan conversion) – 60'
