VICTORIA – In what's become a very familiar pairing in recent years, the Thunderbirds and Vikes faced off in the Canada West Final on Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately for the T-Birds, they were forced to settle for silver for the second season in a row as the Vikes held serve on their home turf.
Standout rookie Teniola Epemolu scored both of UBC's tries on the day, one in each half, but they came amongst a wave of UVic points that allowed the home team to win comfortably in the end.
Larah Wright was the high-scorer on the day for the Vikes with three tries, and got her first in the eighth minute to open the scoring. After an Olivia Newsome penalty kick made it 10-0, the T-Birds responded in the 20th minute. They did so off a quick restart following a UVic penalty, with Adia Pye dishing a sweet pass to Epemolu on the outside who dove in for the try.
The Vikes were undeterred, however, and scored three more tries before the half was out (two of them from Wright) to take a 29-5 lead into the break.
Epemolu's second try came in the 64th, when she picked up a bouncing ball following a scrum and immediately barrelled straight through the heart of the Victoria defence, gouging her way forward for the score.
That was as much offence as UBC could muster, however, and a pair of second half tries each from Piper Walsh and Krissy Scurfield on the other side of the ball helped the match end with a 67-12 final score.
The Thunderbirds will now turn their attention to defending their national championship title, as they head to Guelph in two weeks' time to face off against the best in the country at the 2026 U SPORTS Women's Rugby Championship.
SCORING SUMMARY
|
|
1
|
2
|
F
|
|
VIC
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29
|
38
|
67
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|
UBC
|
5
|
7
|
12
|
8' VIC Try - #8 Larah Wright, conversion #15 Olivia Newsome, 7-0 VIC
18' VIC Penalty Kick - #15 Olivia Newsome, 10-0 VIC
20' UBC Try - #14 Teniola Epemolu, conversion missed, 10-5 VIC
23' VIC Try - #2 Kendra Cousineau, conversion #15 Olivia Newsome, 17-5 VIC
31' VIC Try - #8 Larah Wright, conversion #15 Olivia Newsome, 24-5 VIC
37' VIC Try - #8 Larah Wright, conversion missed, 29-5 VIC
HALF
41' VIC Try - #13 Maddy Grant, conversion missed, 34-5 VIC
49' VIC Try - #5 Piper Walsh, conversion #12 Maggie MacKinnon, 41-5 VIC
64' UBC Try - #14 Teniola Epemolu, conversion #10 Sarah MacPherson, 41-12 VIC
69' VIC Try - #5 Piper Walsh, conversion #16 Remee Brown, 48-12 VIC
71' VIC Try - #22 Emilie Brett, conversion missed, 53-12 VIC
77' VIC Try - #11 Krissy Scurfield, conversion #11 Krissy Scurfield, 60-12 VIC
80' VIC Try - #11 Krissy Scurfield, conversion #11 Krissy Scurfield, 67-12 VIC
