VANCOUVER - In a rematch of the 2022-23 BC Rugby Premier League Final, the UBC Thunderbirds hosted historic Kitsilano-based club, Meraloma RC, for Saturday afternoon's playoff semifinal clash at the Gerald McGavin Rugby Centre. Defence was on full display for both sides under sunny skies and in front of a packed house, before the T-Birds eventually emerged victorious with a 26-20 win, solidifying a spot in this year's championship final.

Coming into this contest, the 'Birds were on a hot streak, winning five straight heading into playoff action. With their ticket punched, the T-Birds will look to make it seven in the coming weeks, alongside a championship trophy — what would be the team's third in the last four years.

"Our discipline was my message going into the game. Whoever comes out of this game with the least amount of penalties, wins. Unfortunately, we took the most amount of penalties", joked UBC head coach Didier Banse while reflecting on the win. "But listen, I'm proud of the guys. There were so many challenges that we had, but they just kept working to the next action, and that's really what saved us."

Meraloma kicked this one off with an early score, coming off a long run from the midfield, mixed with a solid team effort near the try zone, the visitors tacked on seven points with just over two minutes gone in the game.

Seven minutes later, a well-executed maul by UBC led to a responding T-Birds try from Callum Arnesen; however, a missed conversion resulted in Meraloma holding the 7-5 edge. Both sides would go on to play a hard, physical game for the next ten minutes until UBC's Niko Andrianos found daylight on the right side before tossing it to Joe McNulty for the score. UBC wasn't finished there. Just four minutes later, they piled on with their third consecutive try as Talon McMullin made his way into the try zone, handing his team a 19-7 advantage.

Meraloma responded by fighting hard on the defensive end, gaining momentum in the process. Yet, with only a few minutes remaining in the first half, Meraloma was awarded a penalty kick. With the made conversion, Meraloma narrowed the UBC lead to 19-10 heading into the break.



Each club made up ground to start the second half, only for forced turnovers to shut the door on any sort of scoring opportunity. That is until the 53rd minute when a pair of Meraloma players peeled off to the left side of a maul and found space for the try, trimming their deficit to 19-15 after a subsequent missed conversion.

Momentum would continue for Meraloma, gaining ground before being met by a wall of T-Bird defence. Once UBC regained possession, they looked to do damage. In the 64th minute, Andrianos kept the ball alive near the try-zone. Alongside a racing Andrianos was Stephen Webb, leading to the pair of T-Birds running up the field on a 2-on-1 before Andrianos tossed it to Webb, who then dove in for five points, reestablishing some breathing room for the home side, 26-15. 

The battle for possession and field position remained even until the final three minutes, when Meraloma punched in another try, bringing the UBC advantage back down to a one-score game. However, with limited time remaining, Meraloma couldn't muster much more on offence as UBC closed out the 26-20 victory.

"The first thing to focus on is our recovery now and just make sure we get our bodies back", began Banse when asked about planning ahead of the Cup Final. "Whether it's the Ravens or Westshore, it's playoff footy. Anyone could have won that game today, but fortunately for us, we landed on the right side of the outcome."

With today's victory, the UBC Thunderbirds have punched their ticket to the BC Premier League Final. Now the surging squad must await the outcome of next week's matchup between Westshore RFC and the top ranked, defending champs — UBCOB Ravens, to find out who they will face in the Rounsfell Cup, BC Rugby Premier League Final the following weekend.