VICTORIA, B.C. – The opening game of the Canadian University Men's Rugby Championship presented by title sponsors, Victoria Mitsubishi and Carson Automotive Group, and corporate sponsors Pemberton Holmes Ltd. And the Canadian Rugby Foundation got underway with dominating win for the reigning champion UBC Thunderbirds. The T-Birds downed Quebec champions Concordia by 41-8 to start off the six-team tournament hosted at Wallace Field in Victoria.
 
UBC were led by second-year winger Elias Ergas with three tries while Will Percillier had four converts and a penalty kick. Concordia's lone try in the games was scored by Nicolas Tronche.
 
"We expected them to bring a physical game plan today," said UBC head coach Curry Hitchborn. "They have excellent coaches and some very talented athletes who have played representative rugby in the country. Our start today wasn't great. We leaked a lot of yards around the breakdown and couldn't find any continuity but we were able to adjust as the game went on."
 

The Thunderbirds took advantage of an early penalty just outside the Concordia 22-metre line. UBC's Percillier slotted the penalty kick to give the Vancouver side the early 3-0 lead. Less than a minute later, the Stingers answered with a try. The chip kick in behind the Thunderbirds back line was picked up by Concordia winger Tronche to give the Stingers a 5-3 lead just five minutes into the match.
 
UBC tallied four more tries before time was up in the first half. West Vancouver native Ergas touched down his first of two in the half when a Concordia pass hit the ground and Ergas kicked it past the Stinger defenders to give himself enough time and space to touch the ball down in the end goal. UBC No. 8 Nick Allen, Percillier and Ergas rounded out the scoring for UBC in the first half. Stingers fly half Moritz Wittman successfully kicked a drop goal to go with the single try of the half for Concordia. The Thunderbirds led 27-8 after the opening 30-minute half.
 

Fresh off the bench and on his first touch of the match, UBC centre John Jubenvill sliced through the Concordia backline to open the scoring in the second half. Ergas scored his third try of the game in the 39th minute to give the T-Birds a 41-8 lead and eventual final score.
 
Concordia will now need a win against the Guelph Gryphons on Nov. 23 if they want to compete for a medal on Sunday.

"We made a couple of key mistakes that helped put UBC up early," said Concordia head coach Craig Beemer. "Overall, I was happy with the way we played. Once we let them go up on us early I think we got a bit down on ourselves. If we can carry over the way we played physically today I am confident in what we can do against Guelph on Friday."
 
Ergas' hat trick earned him player of the game honours for UBC while Wittman was selected at the player of the game for the Stingers.
 
UBC will now face the Guelph Gryphons Nov. 22 at 12 noon in their second game of the tournament. Concordia will enjoy a day off before facing the same Guelph side on Nov. 23 at 4 p.m.
 
All games are streamed live on the Rugby Canada facebook page, while scores, recaps and more are available at govikesgo.com/rugby. To purchase tickets for the championship, visit govikesgo.com/tickets.
 
GAME MVPs
UBC: #14 Elias Ergas
CON: #10 Mortiz Wittmann
 
SCORING SUMMARY
                  1       2       F
CON:        8       0      8
UBC:        27     14    41
 
FIRST HALF
4': UBC Penalty Kick - #9 Will Percillier 3-0 UBC
5': CON Try- #24 Nicolas Tronche (Convert Missed) 5-3 CON
12': UBC Try- #14 Elias Ergas (Convert Will Percillier) 10-5 UBC
18': UBC Try- #8 Nick Allen (Convert Missed) 15-5 UBC
22': CON Drop Goal - #10 Mortiz Wittman 15-8 UBC
27': UBC Try- #14 Elias Ergas (Convert Missed) 20-8 UBC
30': UBC Try- #9 Will Percillier (Convert Will Percillier)  27-8 UBC
 
SECOND HALF
34': UBC Try- #20 John Jubenvill (Convert Will Percillier) 34-8 UBC
39': UBC Try- #14 Elias Ergas (Convert Will Percillier) 41-8 UBC
46': CON Yellow Card #11 Jean-Christophe Vinette
 

2018 CANADIAN UNIVERSITY MEN'S RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP
VICTORIA, B.C.
 
Wednesday, November 21
Pool A: UBC Thunderbirds (41) vs. Concordia Stingers (8)
Pool B: Queen's Gaels (76) vs. New Brunswick Ironmen (5)
 
Thursday, November 22
Pool A: UBC Thunderbirds vs. Guelph Gryphons (12 p.m. – Wallace Field)
Pool B: Queen's Gaels vs. Victoria Vikes (2 p.m. – Wallace Field)
 
Friday, November 23
Pool A: Guelph Gryphons vs. Concordia Stingers (4 p.m. – Centennial Stadium)
Pool B: Victoria Vikes vs. New Brunswick Ironmen (6 p.m. – Centennial Stadium)
 
Saturday, November 24
Fifth Place Game (2 p.m. – Wallace Field)
 
Sunday, November 25
Bronze Medal Game (11 a.m. – Centennial Stadium)
Gold Medal Game (1 p.m. – Centennial Stadium)