MONTREAL – The T-Birds earned an emphatic opening round win at the Canadian University Men's Rugby Championship, defeating the Montreal Carabins 40-0 on a chilly day at the Claude-Robillard Sports Complex.
Emmett Allan and
Stephen Webb combined to score 31 of those 40 UBC points, with the former scoring three tries and the latter notching two tries and three successful converts. T-Birds captain
Relmu Wilson-Valdes was named the Player of the Match for the blue and gold.
UBC took it to Montreal early, scoring three tries in the opening 20 minutes.
Aidan Sutherland got the party started, before Webb scored both of his tries while also taking the converts.
The Carabins did have some strong offensive possession in the UBC end as halftime neared, but the T-Birds' defence held strong with some nice tackling and cutting off of passing angles.
The 'Birds then put the match out of reach in the second half, with Allan breaking through for his first try less than five minutes in following some great work by
Cody Nhanala and Webb to push to the ball forward.
The Carabins nearly got themselves on the board soon after, as they tried to capitalize on a T-Birds turnover by kicking the ball down the sideline with a Montreal winger attempting to run onto it and pick it up for a try. But the Thunderbirds recovered beautifully, with
Alastair Marshall tracking back to knock the ball away from the onrushing attacker to keep the shutout going.
Allan scored his second try of the half in the 49th minute, as part of another period of sustained pressure by the T-Birds. The Courtenay, B.C. native scored once again in the final few minutes to cap his great individual – and a great team – performance.
Liam James made the convert on both of the last two tries.
UBC will be taking on another team with some momentum under their wings in the semifinal round, as they face the Guelph Gryphons, who beat UBC Okanagan 59-0 in their quarterfinal.
The rematch of last year's bronze medal game will be on Friday, with a spot in the national championship final on the line.
