The men’s rugby team avenged the loss that knocked them out of the 2005 playoffs, opening its season with an 11-6 win over the Brock Badgers.
“This game was important for us to win because it’s Brock. We needed to start the season with a win against a tough team,” captain James Potter said.
“Everyone put in a lot of time in the gym in the off-season so that the only thing we needed to worry about was gelling as a team, not fitness.”
After five minutes of play, and a successful penalty kick for each side, the score was tied at 3-3. Three minutes later, Bryn Davies made his second penalty kick, restoring the Gaels’ lead. Twenty-five minutes later, eightman Haddon Murray scored a try on a run from 10 metres. But Davies couldn’t make the conversion, and Queen’s took an 11-3 lead into the second half.
The only scoring in the second half came from Brock’s Jarod Selby who made his second penalty kick of the game, bringing the score to 11-6.
As the game wore on, the Gaels altered their strategy to protect the lead.
“We really focused on our defensive game,” Potter said. “We were tight as a team, and I can’t think of anyone who missed a big open field tackle.” Potter said new players on the backline created confusion at times on offence, but he added that a little time and training are all that are needed to work out the kinks.
“I’m not worried,” he said. “These are things that will be worked out before our game next Saturday against Windsor,” he said.
Women’s rugby dominated the Carleton Ravens with a landslide 62-0 victory at last Saturday’s exhibition game at Kingston Field.
In an e-mail to the Journal head coach Beth Barz stated, “We certainly proved that we can score, but our defence remains largely unproven against an outmanned Carleton team.”
The bigger challenge lies ahead at the homecoming match against Laurier.
“We will certainly need to improve our defensive focus and communication for the league games,” Barz said.
However, Coach Barz also noted that several fourth-year athletes gave standout performances and that the team made good, tactical decisions under pressure.
Every Queen’s rugby team has a game scheduled on homecoming weekend to celebrate the Queen’s Rugby Football Club’s 40th anniversary. All games will be on Kingston Field except for the men’s 3rd team, who will play Windsor’s 2nd team on Tindall Field behind Victoria Hall at 3 p.m.
Two games start at 10 a.m. and 11 a.m., featuring two alumni teams facing the men’s 2nd team and 4th team respectively. The men’s 1st team plays Windsor at 1 p.m. and the women’s 1st team plays Laurier at 3 p.m..
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