Following a regular season that's featured both ups and downs, the Thunderbirds enter the Canada West playoffs as the No. 2 seed. The T-Birds ended conference play with a three-match win streak bookended by losses to archrivals UVic, and know that they will need to bring their top level of play this week if they are to take back the Canada West banner.
"We just have to keep backing ourselves, trusting our processes, not looking too far ahead, and really sticking together," assessed UBC head coach Dean Murten. "You can't blame each other – you need to take responsibility and be accountable for your actions, and we have to stay positive."
For the first time in over a decade, the Canada West Final Four is not being held in the province of Alberta. Instead, it's on the University of Victoria campus, with semifinal matches set for Thursday, October 22, and the gold and bronze bouts on Sunday, October 25.
After their streak of five conference titles in a row was snapped last season, the T-Birds are motivated to reassert themselves as the top team in the west. To do so, they'll first need to defeat the Lethbridge Pronghorns in the semifinal round, with a berth in both the Canada West Final as well as the U SPORTS Women's Rugby Championship (held this year in Guelph, Ontario) on the line.
The Thunderbirds and Pronghorns faced off in Lethbridge on October 1, with the blue and gold coming away with a dominant 51-7 victory. The prairie side have shown their mettle throughout the rest of their season, however, winning all four of their matches against other Albertan sides and scoring 26 points in a loss to Victoria back in September, the most the Vikes have given up in a match this year.
"The Pronghorns have certainly grown since we last played them and got a few players back in the team," mused Murten. "What happened in previous games is irrelevant, and we need to stay focused on what we do really well, prepare for what we do and build on our strengths…there's no looking past this game against the Pronghorns: this is our most important game and that's how we're approaching it."
Should the Thunderbirds advance to the conference championship match, they will most likely face hosts UVic, who for the second year in a row enter the postseason with a 5-0 record. The Vikes are the lone team that have had the T-Birds' number in the last couple seasons, with Victoria winning five of their last six meetings. The one exception, of course, being UBC's dramatic triumph in last November's national championship final.
"UVic are a very good team, they've got some good senior players – they're mature, they've got some good leaders in there," said Murten on the potential Sunday matchup. "If we face them, what I don't want is us getting overwhelmed or intimidated by them. I want us to show guts and courage…we need to tweak some things technically and tactically, but I really do believe that 90% of it is the uncoachable things: the commitment, the dominance in the tackle, the ability to keep working together."
The Thunderbirds' first match of the postseason begins at 1:00 p.m. (PT) against Lethbridge on Thursday. Then, they'll play either for Canada West bronze at 11:00 a.m. or for gold at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, with all the action broadcast on Canada West TV.
