RUGBY: It's a five-peat! UBC downs Victoria 51-22 in CW Final
Dominant UBC claims fifth straight conference crown
Oct. 20, 2024 - The UBC Thunderbirds jumped out to a 15-0 lead in the first 15 minutes and never looked back for a 51-22 win to capture the 2024 Canada West Women’s Rugby 15s Championship Sunday afternoon from McMahon Stadium.
The rubber match of a pair of lower-scoring affairs in the regular season, UBC flexed its muscle against a banged-up Vikes squad – claiming their fifth consecutive CW crown.
“We got the scoreboard moving pretty quickly and that just settled the nerves a little bit and allowed us to play the way we wanted to play,” UBC head coach Dean Murten said.
“We’ve had two really good league games against each other. We kind of knew we had a lot more to come because we’ve just gradually been getting better, so we’re peaking at the right time. All credit to UVic – they did have a few players injured. But that’s the way it goes. You need that bit of luck. We’ve come through this with no injuries, which is good for us. I just think we performed to the best of our abilities today.”
Savannah Bauder opened the scoring with a penalty goal just six minutes in for the early 3-0 lead. The fifth-year fly half then picked up a loose ball at midfield and turned on the jets, sprinting 60 yards for the first try of the game and a quick 10-0 lead just 11 minutes in.
Charity Williams added another long run for the T-Birds and just like that it was 15-0.
The Vikes started to find their footing midway through the first half. Maddy Grant took a handoff and split the defence, touching the ball down before Vanessa Chiapetta’s first convert of the evening to get Victoria right back in this one at 15-7.
Rachel Smith added a try and Bauder kicked home another penalty goal before Chiapetta had a nice run for the Vikes to make it 25-12 in the 29th minute.
Adia Pye added another try before halftime to stretch the UBC lead to 32-12 at the break.
The Thunderbirds came out of halftime and immediately added to their lead, with Williams once again showing off her speed. The Olympian took a pass outside and burst down the sideline 80 yards for the somersault score on her birthday to make it 39-12 less than one minute into the second half to set the tone for the rest of the way.
Victoria added the next 10 points off a try from Chloe Hill-Huse and a penalty goal from Chiapetta, but it was too little too late, as the T-Birds salted this one away with insurance tries from Florence Symonds and Shalaya Valenzuela for a 51-22 final.
.JPG "Photo by Chris Lindsey")
“UBC played really well today,” Victoria head coach Brittany Waters said postgame. “They capitalized on every single one of our mistakes and just ran away with it. All their players showed up and when a collective group shows up, they’re hard to beat. I’m really proud of our athletes fighting for the full 80 minutes. We talked a lot about grit and we never let off. The game didn’t go our way, but still really proud of our athletes.”
The two teams will now turn their attention to the 2024 U SPORTS Championships, hosted this year in Charlottetown, P.E.I., starting Wednesday, Oct. 30.
SCORING SUMMARY
1 2 F
VIC 12 10 22
UBC 32 19 51
First Half
6’ – Savannah Bauder penalty goal – 3-0 UBC
11’ – Savannah Bauder try (Savannah Bauder convert) – 10-0 UBC
15’ – Charity Williams try (convert unsuccessful) – 15-0 UBC
19’ – Maddy Grant try (Vanessa Chiapetta convert) – 15-7 UBC
23’ – Rachel Smith try (Savannah Bauder convert) – 22-7 UBC
27’ – Savannah Bauder penalty goal – 25-7 UBC
29’ – Vanessa Chiapetta try (convert unsuccessful) – 25-12 UBC
37’ – Adia Pye try (Savannah Bauder convert) – 32-12 UBC
Second Half
41’ – Charity Williams try (Savannah Bauder convert) – 39-12 UBC
50’ – Chloe Hill-Huse (Vanessa Chiapetta convert) – 39-19 UBC
64’ – Vanessa Chiapetta penalty goal – 39-22 UBC
66’ – Florence Symonds try (Savannah Bauder convert) – 46-22 UBC
70’ – Shalaya Valenzuela try (convert unsuccessful) – 51-22 UBC