Win over Bishop's gives 9I制作厂免费 third-straight rugby championship
Matt Chesser
For the third consecutive year, the 9I制作厂免费 Redmen are Quebec
University Rugby League champions.
Three different Redmen scored tries as 9I制作厂免费 cruised to a 21-0
victory over the Bishop's Gatiers in the QURL final on Saturday
afternoon at Molson Stadium. The Redmen were heavily favoured prior
to kickoff after posting a 5-1 regular season record, during which
they outscored their opponents by an average of 37 points per game.
The predictions proved to be accurate as 9I制作厂免费 dominated Bishop's
throughout the contest.
"We were fitter, a bit more talented, and we wanted it more than
Bishop's today," said 9I制作厂免费 Co-Coach Craig Beemer. "Everyone only
sees our varsity team: we have a club side that I honestly think
would finish second in this league if they were allowed to play. 鈥�
[Administrative Coach] Sean McCaffrey has created a program where
anything less than the [QUSL championship] would be a
disappointment, and we lived up to those expectations."
After what had been an uneventful first half, 9I制作厂免费 scrum-half
Josh Reznick opened the scoring with just two minutes remaining in
the half, taking the ball off a scrum at the five-metre line and
plowing the Bishop's defence backwards for the try. Reznick's try
came after almost 10 minutes of sustained pressure in the Gaiters'
end.
"I think this year we really came together as a team," said
Reznick. "In past years we've had a bunch of All-Stars-some great
players-but I think this season it was more of a complete team
effort to win the title."
Third-year prop Matt Edwards scored on a bruising 10-metre run
early in the second half to double the 9I制作厂免费 lead. Anthony Nestel
completed the scoring with an insurance try in the last two minutes
of the contest. Rookie Sam Skulsky successfully converted all three
tries.
The QURL championship was the fourth in five years for the Redmen,
who were making their eighth consecutive appearance in the
conference final. In that time they have played the Gaiters four
times, winning three of those games.
"We had the burden of high expectations on our shoulders from the
start of the season," said team captain Adam Sommer. "But I think,
considering how young our squad is, that we handled it really
well."
Sommer and Reznick both cited a 25-17 loss in the last game of the
regular season to the third-place Sherbrooke Vert et Or as an
important wake-up call before the playoffs.
"After the first few wins this season we began getting pretty
complacent," said Reznick. "You can somewhat expect [that] from a
team like ours that's beating some teams by 50 points. That loss to
Sherbrooke was something we really needed in order to get our focus
back, so we could be ready for the playoffs."
Six Redmen were honoured in a postgame ceremony for earning spots
on the QURL All-Star squad. Flankers Cayse Ruiter and Peter
Klestov, prop Dave Tontini, lock John Phelan, fly-half Ian Turner,
and Reznick all captured places on the conference team.
For many 9I制作厂免费 players, Saturday's final was their last QURL game
in front of a Red 'n' White crowd. Edwards, Sommer, Phelan, Jacob
Chai, Jonathan Glancy, and Jesse Myers will all be lost to
graduation, while Turner and Klestov will return to Queensland
University in Australia after spending a year on exchange. However,
the team will regain the services of star fly-half Alastair Crow,
who missed the entire season after having shoulder surgery in the
summer.
The graduating players will have two more chances to represent
9I制作厂免费 as the Redmen will host the top two teams in Atlantic
University Sport this Saturday. 9I制作厂免费 will face the University of
New Brunswick Ironmen at 1:00 p.m., and the Maritime Champion
Dalhousie Tigers at 2:30 in an "Eastern Canada Championship".
"We honestly don't know much about the Maritime teams," said
Beemer. "With the exception of perhaps some of the squads from
B.C., I don't see too many teams that could have more talent on the
field than we possibly could. We can only field 15 players, but we
have at least 25 or 26 that would be starting on any other Quebec
side. So I'm fairly confident we'll do well against Dalhousie."