November 7, 2005
GUELPH TAKES BRONZE AT NATIONALS
VICTORIA – With 13 combined Canadian Interuniversity Sport women’s rugby championship appearances between them, the McGill Martlets and the Guelph Gryphons were on the field playing for the bronze medal on Sunday afternoon.
The match marked the third bronze-medal meeting for the Martlets and Gryphons, with McGill the victor in both previous games.
That streak was laid to rest on Sunday as Guelph defeated McGill by a score of 32-0.
The Gryphons began the game with a strong attack, pinning the Martlets deep for much of the initial minutes of play, but were unable to translate the offence into points on the board. It wasn’t until the 15-minute mark that Guelph was able to break the deadlock when scrum-half Alison Smith (Barrie, Ont.) broke through the McGill line, touching the ball down to give the Gryphons a 5-0 lead.
“Once we got the ‘scoring monkey’ off our backs, we relaxed and we played great rugby,” said Gryphon head coach Jim Atkinson.
Guelph continued its intense pressure with a beautiful forward drive, linking passes across the field to stretch the McGill line wide. Fullback Rachel Shaw (Surrey, B.C.) drew to the Martlet defenders wide, then passed the ball to an open Leila Hughes (Toronto), who pushed off a defender and crossed in for the score.
Guelph’s third score came off a Shannon Kane (Ottawa) set-up. Kane made a run off the restart bringing the ball to within ten metres of the McGill goal. The Gryphons picked up the ball off a penalty and dished off to Meaghan Howat (Toronto) who finished the play, giving Guelph a 15-0 lead at the half.
The Gryphon attack struck moments into the second frame. Working the ball across the turf, Shaw was able to run on to the ball off an overlap for Guelph’s fourth try.
The OUA runners-up continued to press and a try by Kane between the posts put the game out of reach. With a Michelle Gauer’s (Oakville, Ont.) convert, the score was 27-0.
With time running down, Kane made a breakaway run through the McGill defence. A quick tap-and-go after a penalty and a dive across the line by Kane was enough to power the Gryphons to a 32-0 bronze medal victory.
“Unfortunately we are not used to the physical nature of rugby played in the other CIS conferences. We came into this game battered and bruised, but we played well,” said Martlet head coach Vince deGrandpre.
“It was a tough weekend and this bronze is a good reward for the girls who battled hard all weekend,” said Atkinson.
(Source: Pete Lewis, University of Victoria Sports Information)
The match marked the third bronze-medal meeting for the Martlets and Gryphons, with McGill the victor in both previous games.
That streak was laid to rest on Sunday as Guelph defeated McGill by a score of 32-0.
The Gryphons began the game with a strong attack, pinning the Martlets deep for much of the initial minutes of play, but were unable to translate the offence into points on the board. It wasn’t until the 15-minute mark that Guelph was able to break the deadlock when scrum-half Alison Smith (Barrie, Ont.) broke through the McGill line, touching the ball down to give the Gryphons a 5-0 lead.
“Once we got the ‘scoring monkey’ off our backs, we relaxed and we played great rugby,” said Gryphon head coach Jim Atkinson.
Guelph continued its intense pressure with a beautiful forward drive, linking passes across the field to stretch the McGill line wide. Fullback Rachel Shaw (Surrey, B.C.) drew to the Martlet defenders wide, then passed the ball to an open Leila Hughes (Toronto), who pushed off a defender and crossed in for the score.
Guelph’s third score came off a Shannon Kane (Ottawa) set-up. Kane made a run off the restart bringing the ball to within ten metres of the McGill goal. The Gryphons picked up the ball off a penalty and dished off to Meaghan Howat (Toronto) who finished the play, giving Guelph a 15-0 lead at the half.
The Gryphon attack struck moments into the second frame. Working the ball across the turf, Shaw was able to run on to the ball off an overlap for Guelph’s fourth try.
The OUA runners-up continued to press and a try by Kane between the posts put the game out of reach. With a Michelle Gauer’s (Oakville, Ont.) convert, the score was 27-0.
With time running down, Kane made a breakaway run through the McGill defence. A quick tap-and-go after a penalty and a dive across the line by Kane was enough to power the Gryphons to a 32-0 bronze medal victory.
“Unfortunately we are not used to the physical nature of rugby played in the other CIS conferences. We came into this game battered and bruised, but we played well,” said Martlet head coach Vince deGrandpre.
“It was a tough weekend and this bronze is a good reward for the girls who battled hard all weekend,” said Atkinson.
(Source: Pete Lewis, University of Victoria Sports Information)
