Rugby set to ramp up 2024 seasons with respective returns to the pitch

Burlington, Ont. – Rugby gets set to return to the pitch, with the 2024-25 Ontario University Athletics (OUA) women’s campaign kicking off on August 31st and the men following suit on September 6th.

2024 OUA Women’s Rugby Schedule
2024 OUA Men’s Rugby Schedule

The final day of August will see a trio of fixtures, including the season opener for the two-time defending champion Queen’s Gaels, who will take on the semifinalists from Brock. Guelph, who has finished as finalists to the Tricolour the last two seasons, will host Western to start their 2024 campaign, and McMaster takes on Trent.

The Marauders and Excalibur will also be among the initial matchups that make up the foray into the men’s regular season on September 6th, alongside a matchup between the Mustangs and RMC Paladins.

The defending champions on the men’s side – the Guelph Gryphons – will first hit the field the following day on September 7th, as they begin their quest for four-straight Turner Trophy wins against a familiar foe. They will square off with the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks, who they not only toppled in semifinal play in 2023, but also in the OUA finale the year prior.

After dueling with their 2022 championship combatants, the reigning title-holders will be right back at it in Week 2 against their 2023 opponents. The Gryphons and Gaels will renew their rivalry on September 14th, when the former hosts the latter for the first time since claiming a 35-22 win in the OUA Men’s Rugby Championship last November.

Those same two schools also faced off in the women’s finale, a matchup that has dominated the banner season stage for several seasons now. And after Queen’s notched the 33-19 win at Nixon Field to close out last year’s conference campaign, they will add the latest chapter to their powerhouse rivalry the following week on September 21st in Guelph.

To reach the top of the conference mountain a year ago, the Gaels first needed to get through Western in the semifinals, and a rematch of that fixture will take to the pitch on September 27th as part of the Week 5 slate. The other women’s semifinal from a year ago – Guelph versus Brock – will face off once again on September 14th.

For the Brock men’s side – also semifinalists a year ago – they will face their foes from the penultimate week of 2023 OUA play, the Queen’s Gaels, in Week 6 (October 12th).

The sixth and final week of regular season action for the women’s side comes to a close on October 5th, with four final games rounding out the campaign. Two weeks later, the men’s contingent will finish off their seven-week regular season with a four-game slate on October 19th.

Following their respective conclusions, both the women’s and men’s postseason will progress across the following three weeks. Following quarterfinal and semifinal fixtures, the OUA Women’s Championship will be held on October 26th while the Men’s Rugby Championship will take place on November 9th.