VANCOUVER - It's the return of a familiar foe for the UBC Thunderbirds (2-2) this Sunday as they host the U SPORTS No. 5 ranked University of Victoria Vikes (4-0) in their final Canada West regular season match at 1:00 p.m. PT at the Gerald McGavin Rugby Centre.
The last time these two teams squared off in their Legends Cup rivalry series, the Vikes erased a ten-point deficit at home in the second half to edge the 'Birds 36-34 on September 15. Since then, the T-Birds have won back-to-back matches and have shown continual improvement ahead of the regular season finale.
The Vikes are the lone undefeated team in the Canada West, but trail the three-time defending champion Calgary Dinos by one bonus point - awarded to the Dinos for losing by seven points or less in their 17-18 loss to Victoria. UBC is now ranked No. 9 in the nation with twelve points and lead the Canada West with 160 points scored, while also allowing the second fewest points with 73. The top three teams in the conference will join host Lethbridge (1-3) in the Canada West semifinal on October 18.
UBC's Shoshanah Seumanutafa and Hunter Czeppel are tied for the Canada West lead with six tries apiece, while Seumanutafa's 10 converts propels her to first overall in scoring with 50 points. Victoria's Madison Aberg is second with 32 points and Czeppel is third with 30 points.
Last Action
UBC earned a commanding 49-15 victory over the Lethbridge Pronghorns last Sunday and scored nine tries on the afternoon. Czeppel scored three tries while Seumanutafa had two important tries in the second half after Lethbridge came out strong with back-to-back scores out of the break.
Victoria also defeated the Pronghorns in their last action, topping Lethbridge 17-15 on a Aberg convert with fourteen minutes remaining after Jenn Appleby scored her second try of the match.
Coach's Take
UBC head coach Dean Murten says his team learned a lot from their first matchup with the Vikes earlier this season.
"UVic have many threats within their team so we can't focus on one individual," said Murten. "They like to play a fast open game so we need to be prepared to defend with a higher intensity than our first game. We need to have outstanding discipline, they have a great kicker that will punish any poor discipline, and when we went down to 14 players they punished us."
Murten recognizes his team's progress heading into their last regular season contest after dropping their first two matches of the season.
"We are getting better every game, at times we're playing some of the best rugby we have ever played, however we must do it for 80 minutes and not 60 minutes, and do it against the number one team in CanWest."
