For the fifth consecutive season, the UBC Thunderbirds are headed to the U SPORTS Rugby Championship as Canada West champions. This year, their travels take them about as far as they could possibly go, all the way to Charlottetown for the five-day tournament that runs from Wednesday, October 30th to Sunday, November 3rd.

The T-Birds are the #2 seed at the tournament, ranked only behind two-time defending national champs Laval. UBC's lineup includes six Canada West All-Stars, including conference MVP Rachel Smith, as well as Rookie of the Year Mya Koleba.
 

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Rachel Smith has been named Player of the Year!

The fourth year lock has been an essential part of the @ubctbirds recent dynasty, leading the T-Birds to their fifth straight conference title ?? pic.twitter.com/5jPkZ0jgZ0

— Canada West (@CanadaWest) October 21, 2024

In the quarter-finals, the Thunderbirds face off against the tournament hosts UPEI Panthers, a team they have recent history with. The Thunderbirds and Panthers battled in the consolation semifinals of last year's national championship, with UBC coming out on top 75-0.

Despite that amount of familiarity, on the whole nationals is a time when you face opponents you don't know nearly as much about compared to Canada West opposition. And with such a quick turnaround between games (playing up to three in just five days), there's not quite as much time as usual to be studying film in the later rounds.

"The main thing is to really focus on ourselves, and really just be good at the things we know we can do," said Thunderbirds head coach Dean Murten. "That's the way that preparation has gone so far, and of course it really is just looking at one game at a time and making sure we don't get too far ahead of ourselves."
 
Murten has presided over five of the eight trips to nationals in the program's history, and all five of UBC's Canada West banners, the most recent coming in a victory over UVic in Calgary two weeks ago.
 
The T-Birds' improvement over the course of the season can be charted over their three clashes with the Vikes: losing 22-17 to their rivals to open the year, beating them 17-8 to close the regular season, then winning the conference championship in a 51-22 blowout.
 

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The next step is tasting success on the U SPORTS stage, with the Thunderbirds aiming to win the program's first national medal since a bronze at the inaugural U SPORTS (then CIS) Rugby Championship in 1998.
 
After finishing 5th at nationals each of the last three seasons, Murten believes this year's team has what it takes to break through to the medal games.
 
"I think we've got some really good individuals in the team," he added. "Now that they're working together as a team, they're really well connected at the moment and I think there's a lot of belief there. That's really important, just having that confidence and believing in themselves."
 
The quarter-final matchup against UPEI begins at 11:00 a.m. (PT) on Wednesday. That game, like all others at the tournament, will be available to watch for free on CBC's digital platforms.