VICTORIA – The UBC Thunderbirds recorded three wins and three losses over the weekend's Canada West women's rugby sevens series, good for fourth place overall in the six-team tournament.
The 'Birds won two games on the first day of competition, but ran into a tough Victoria Vikes team in their first game Sunday. UBC played sturdy defense but couldn't crack the Alberta goal line and ended up on the losing end of a 10-0 score.
The 'Birds bounced back strong in their second match of the day, as
Elizabeth Theems-Golding's two tries spearheaded a 34-0 victory over the Lethbridge Pronghorns.
The win put the 'Birds in a match-up with the Vikes for the second time in a matter of hours, with the winner claiming third place in the tournament. The second game was similar to the first. The 'Birds defended well but couldn't gain ground in the Vikes end of the pitch and ended up losing 19-0. The match was scoreless after the first half.
UBC finished in a tie for fourth in the overall series after a fifth place finish at Edmonton's version of the tournament in late January. The UBC stop on the tour was cancelled due to a snowstorm.
The University of Calgary Dinos defeated the Alberta Pandas 26-5 in the final game of the series, giving them both the tournament victory as well as the overall Canada West women's rugby sevens series.
The tournament win, combined with their second place finish at the first tournament in Alberta, gives the Dinos 18 points in the overall series standings, two clear of the second-place UVic Vikes.
The Lethbridge Pronghorns secured a 41-0 victory over the UFV Cascades for fifth place.
Even though the series was only two tournaments long, the impact of a competitive sevens series in the Canada West conference will be felt for a long time.
"This series is excellent for the growth of sevens—it's great to have the backing from Rugby Canada and B2Ten," said UVic head coach Brittany Waters. "We only had two tournaments but just out of that, the level of play this tournament was much better than the last one so it's great to have that and to see everyone improve."
Rugby Sevens Scoring Summary Day Two
Game 11: UBC T-Birds (0) vs. UVic Vikes (10)
Scoring summary:
UBC: 0-0: 0
VIC: 5-5: 10
VIC try – #4 Julia Folk (convert missed) – 5-0
Half-time
VIC try - #10 Jess Neilson (convert missed) 10-0
Game 13: Lethbridge Pronghorns (0) vs. UBC T-Birds (34)
Scoring summary:
LET: 0-0: 0
UBC: 17-17: 34
UBC try – #10 Nicole Mallow (#4
Brooke Bazian convert) – 7-0
UBC try – #8
Shayna Slobin (convert missed) – 12-0
UBC try – #15
Elizabeth Theems-Golding (convert missed) – 17-0
Half-time
UBC try – #15
Elizabeth Theems-Golding (convert missed) – 22-0
UBC try – #6
Madison Gold (convert missed) – 27-0
UBC try - #7
Ciara Malone (#7
Ciara Malone convert) – 34-0
Third Place Game: UBC T-Birds (0) vs. UVic Vikes (19)
Scoring summary:
UBC: 0-0: 0
VIC: 0-19: 19
Half-time
VIC try – #12 Gurpreet Dhaliwal (#10 Jess Neilson convert) – 7-0
VIC try – #3 Chanelle Challenger-Edwards (convert missed) – 12-0
VIC try – #4 Julia Folk (#10 Jess Neilson convert) – 19-0
Tournament Standings
W L T Pts.
CGY 5 1 0 24
ALB 4 2 0 18
VIC 4 2 0 18
UBC 3 3 0 15
LETH 2 4 0 12
UFV 0 6 0 6
NOTE: Teams are awarded 4 pts. for a win, 2 pts. for a draw, and 1 pt. for a loss.
Overall series standings
Pts.
CGY 18
VIC 16
ALB 14
UBC 6
LETH 6
UFV 2
About the Canada West Women's Rugby Sevens Series:
2017 marks the first season of the Canada West Women's Rugby Sevens Series, which has been made possible thanks to Canada West's partnership with B2ten and Rugby Canada. Through their joint support, which will include scholarship opportunities for players at all six competing institutions, B2ten and Rugby Canada are committed to helping Canadian female athletes pursue their athletic careers, including an opportunity to progress to the national team.
2017 Canada West Women's Rugby Sevens Series tournament dates: University of Alberta (Jan. 20-21) and University of Victoria (Feb. 18 and 19).
