GUELPH, Ont. - For a fourth consecutive season, the Guelph Gryphons men's rugby team has raised the Turner Trophy as OUA champions. On Friday night (Nov. 8) in front of a sold-out crowd of 1,000 fans at the University of Guelph's Varsity Field, the Gryphons men's rugby team defeated the Queen's Gaels, 31-21, to claim the 2024 OUA title. It marks the 7th conference banner in program history for the Gryphons, and their fourth in as many years. The Gryphons overcame an early 14-0 deficit, outscoring the Gaels 31-7 the rest of the way.
Three different Gryphon players recorded tries on the night, with fifth-year hooker,
David Scollon (Mississauga, ON) scoring the decisive tries in the 65th minute to tie the game at 21-21, then again in the 73rd minute to give the Gryphons a 28-21 lead. Gryphons third-year winger,
Tomas Dallan (Oakville, ON), would add a penalty kick in the 78th minute to extend the U of G lead to 31-21. Dallan accounted for 11 points on the night, with 4 successful converts to go along with his late penalty kick. With the win, the Gryphons remain undefeated on the season (6-0 in regular season, 2-0 in playoffs) and will now head to Ottawa for nationals (Nov. 13-17).
"We knew that if we stuck to our plan, that eventually we might be able to break them," said Gryphons head coach,
Cory Hector, who has now led the University of Guelph men's rugby program to five OUA titles in his nine seasons in charge. "The impact of our substitutions really helped change the game for us. The guys just stuck to the plan and the way we wanted to play the game. Our depth has been critical all season, especially the couple times we have played against Queen's. We talked very early on this season, and set some big goals, but had everybody believe in it. Today was just another great example of the guys believing what we can achieve."
The Gryphons men's rugby team will now prepare to head to the nation's capital for the 2024 Canadian University Men's Rugby Championships, hosted by the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees. The Gryphons have claimed bronze at nationals in each of the past two seasons.
"This is just one stop along the way, there is still much more in front of us and achieving some of our goals," adds Hector, who was named OUA Coach of the Year for the 2024 men's rugby season. "So we will try to recover a little bit here, and then we go again."
Scheduling details for nationals to be confirmed in the coming days. More info available on the
University of Ottawa website, or at
Gee-Gees athletics website.
Scoring Summary | 2024 OUA Men's Rugby Championship (Nov. 8, 2024 - Queen's @ Guelph)
| Minute |
School |
Type of Score |
Player |
Convert |
Score |
| 7' |
Queen's |
try |
11 Noah Gittens |
Yes – 10 Marcus D'acre |
Guelph 0 | Queen's 7 |
| 13' |
Queen's |
try |
13 Treker James |
Yes – 10 Marcus D'acre |
Guelph 0 | Queen's 14 |
| 34' |
Guelph |
try |
8 Owen Williams |
Yes – 11 Tomas Dallan |
Guelph 7 | Queen's 14 |
| 55' |
Guelph |
try |
13 Liam Bowman |
Yes – 11 Tomas Dallan |
Guelph 14 | Queen's 14 |
| 59' |
Queen's |
try |
11 Noah Gittens |
Yes – 10 Marcus D'acre |
Guelph 14 | Queen's 21 |
| 65' |
Guelph |
try |
2 David Scollon |
Yes – 11 Tomas Dallan |
Guelph 21 | Queen's 21 |
| 73' |
Guelph |
try |
2 David Scollon |
Yes – 11 Tomas Dallan |
Guelph 28 | Queen's 21 |
| 78' |
Guelph |
Penalty kick |
11 - Tomas Dallan |
|
Guelph 31 | Queen's 21 |
