VANCOUVER – After a history-making 2024 campaign – where the T-Birds won their fifth straight Canada West title before claiming the program's first-ever national championship – the blue and gold will aim to recapture those heights beginning this Saturday, August 30th, here in Vancouver.
Making things even bigger this year is the fact that UBC will be hosting the 2025 CGIS U SPORTS Women's Rugby Championship from October 29th to November 2nd. With the best rugby programs from across the country in town, the Thunderbirds aim to be just the second team since 2009 to win back-to-back national titles, following the Laval Rouge et Or who did it in 2022 and 2023.
Fittingly, their opponents for the opening match of the Canada West season are the Victoria Vikes, who were with the T-Birds every step of the way last season. The two sides not only faced off twice in the regular season, but also in both the Canada West and U SPORTS championship finals. While UBC got the better of their rivals in both gold medal matches, the Vikes did hand them their only loss of the campaign in the regular season – a 22-17 road defeat on opening day.
"UVic are a very good team. They have a lot of pace and skill in the backs, their forwards are extremely physical and make you work hard for every inch of territory," said UBC head coach
Dean Murten. "No better way to start than with one of the top teams in the country to see how we look."
While the T-Birds lost some talented players from last season's team, including former U SPORTS MVP and all-time Canada West leading scorer
Savannah Bauder, the blue and gold still boast a star-studded roster.
Those high-profile players feature Canada West Player of the Year and U SPORTS National Championship Tournament MVP
Rachel Smith, Canada West Rookie of the Year
Mya Koleba, and the conference's leading scorer last season
Adia Pye. There are also plenty of players with Canadian national team experience, including
Florence Symonds,
Charity Williams,
Piper Logan and
Olivia Sarabura.
Not everyone will be available for selection to begin the season, however, with some players injured and both Smith and Symonds currently representing Canada at the Women's Rugby World Cup in England. That will open the door for some of the less experienced athletes on the roster to have the chance to shine.
"We have some very exciting new recruits," remarked Murten. "With the team having several injuries, and players at the World Cup, we might be throwing them in the deep end. I have a lot of trust and faith in them to do a great job."
There are six new first-years on this fall's varsity roster, all of whom hail from British Columbia. One of those new recruits is
Belle Rousseau, who arrives at UBC as a national champion in both 7s and 15s having won gold at the Canadian Rugby Championships and the Canada Summer Games.
A graduate of Royal Bay Secondary School on Vancouver Island, she's a smart player who can read the game very well. Also decorated off the field as an Honour Roll student, Rousseau plans to study Kinesiology.
"UBC's strong academic reputation and the opportunity to play rugby at UBC as a Thunderbird made the decision easy," she said. "I was drawn to the high level of competition and the supportive athletic community."
Richmond native
Ayana Titifanua begins her T-Bird journey following an equally decorated youth career. The still 17-year-old is a Bay of Plenty Premier Women's League champion, and was selected to represent BC at the Global Youth Sevens tournament.
"I chose UBC because of the outstanding Women's Rugby program and the high-ranking academics," said Titifanua, who also plans to study Kinesiology.
The middle of the pitch will receive a boost in the form of
Poppy-Anne Elcock, who heads to the Point Grey campus after winning a provincial championship at Gleneagle Secondary School in Coquitlam. The 6'0" lock averaged three tries a match in her senior season, and is a hard runner and leader on the field while also being an Honour Roll student off of it.
"I chose to come to UBC because of the amazing community built here between athletes and how much of an honour it is to be a Thunderbird," said Elcock, who plans to study Psychology.
Rounding out the new T-Birds are
Abigail Stanley from Victoria,
Ruby Kaltiainen from Vernon, and
Yixue Wang from Coquitlam. They will all be fighting for a place on the team sheet, beginning with Saturday's face-off against UVic. That match begins at 1:00 p.m. (PT) at the Gerald McGavin Rugby Centre.
