VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds men's rugby team earned a dramatic 22-20 comeback win over the Victoria Vikes Saturday to retain the Wightman Boot for the fifth straight year, and improve to 11-2 in B.C. Premier League play. The Vikes, meanwhile, fall to 3-9 in Premier League action with the loss at the Gerald McGavin Rugby Centre.

"It was amazing," exclaimed Theo Sauder, who finished the match with a try, a penalty, and a couple of converts for a UBC-best 12 points. "We started off slow, and didn't play the way we wanted to, down 14-0 at the half, but then we got back to our game plan and played some more physical rugby and squeaked out a win in the last minute."

UBC claimed both ends of the annual two-match series for the Wightman Boot, named after the former coach of the Thunderbirds. The T-Birds triumphed 44-24 in the first leg in September at Wallace Field. UBC also beat Victoria in the final of the Canadian University Men's Rugby Championship in November.
 

On Saturday, Gradyn Bowd scored 15 points for the Vikes on a try, two converts and a pair of penalties. James O'Neill got the other try for the visitors.

Victoria dominated the first half, controlling the pace of the proceedings. The Vikes led 17-0 in the second half before the T-Birds got on the scoreboard with a Sauder penalty kick. Bowd replied quickly with a kick to make it 20-3.

UBC cut the lead to 20-10 on a Sauder try before T-Bird John Jubenvill got on to the end of a Sauder kick beyond the try line to close the gap to 20-15.

On the last possession of the contest, the T-Birds – aided by three penalties – marched down the field before Nick Allen finally broke through to tie the match at 20-20.

Standing close to the left sideline, Sauder coolly knocked the convert through the uprights for the game-winning points, as the final whistle sounded immediately afterwards, setting off a boisterous UBC celebration.
 

"We just got back to playing simple, physical rugby like we know how to, using our big boys up front, and it all came from there," said Sauder of his team's comeback. "It just shows resilience. We obviously didn't start off well but we came back and we fought and we played hard."

The Thunderbirds will take on Capilano next Saturday at Klahanie Park in West Vancouver. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. At the same time, the Vikes will host the Nanaimo Hornets at Wallace Field.