GUELPH, Ont. – Seed them wherever you want, but the two-time defending champs are back and advancing at the 2026 U SPORTS Rugby Championship.
The No.8-seed UBC Thunderbirds pulled off a 15-10 upset win over the No.1-seed Queen's Gaels in their quarterfinal in Guelph on Friday afternoon.
Fourth-year wing
Adia Pye was named UBC's Nike Player of the Game after scoring two second-half tries, while
Jaime Dickson had the T-Birds' other tally. A defensive stand sealed the tight win over OUA Champion Queen's, which had medaled at each of the last three national championships.
"Queen's is a very, very good defensive team," praised UBC head coach
Dean Murten, after the match. "They went hard at us. We didn't quite do what we wanted to do, we wanted to get around them a little bit, but Queen's defended extremely well."
The Gaels were the aggressors early on, pressing hard in the match's opening minutes. The Thunderbirds made a try line stand in the sixth minute, with Pye making the key try-saving tackle, but Queen's eventually punched in the first score in the 12
th, following a UBC yellow card.
The T-Birds then found their legs, with the field gradually tilting towards Queen's end as the half went on.
Lana Dueck nearly evened the score in the 25
th minute after an interception on a Gaels kick, but she was unable to touch the ball down after barreling across the try line.
At half-time, the score remained 5-0 Queen's.
"They came out hard at us, and that was probably their game plan, to come out hard," reflected Murten. "I kind of knew that if we could contain them and get a little bit more ball then we could get some wind in our sails and get going a little bit. It was just a matter of time. Then when we did, we had the ball for a long time."
UBC came out strong in the second half, pushing the play up the pitch by peppering Queen's with powerful runs and crisply executed rucks.
In the 40
th minute, Pye took a pass from
Piper Logan and broke through the line with a full head of steam, punching through a hole in the defence that Logan had just created, and dashing over 20 yards to tie the match at 5-5.
Four minutes later, the T-Birds were able to recover their own kick deep downfield, before the ball found
Jaime Dickson off of a quick scrum. The second-year wing then scampered in for a 15 yard try. With both teams still unable to make their converts, the score became 10-5 UBC.
The Gaels punched back after the 'Birds' two quick scores, answering with a methodical drive down the pitch. The T-Birds turned them away at the try line multiple times, before the top seed was able to grind their way to a score and tie the match. Queen's convert attempt rang off of the upright, leaving the match tied at 10-10 with 20 minutes to play.
Both teams had their chances to take the lead.
Queen's was deep in UBC territory again in the 57
th minute, but the T-Birds turned them away. Another strong kick recovered by the blue and gold flipped field position, before Pye went back to work. 20 yards out, the ball was swung out to the left, finding Pye in a one-on-one matchup. She took a quick first step, then juked to her right in a blink, and was past the defender and in to open space, racing to the try zone to touch down the winning score.
"I think she had a bit of a point to prove," noted Murten. "The player she was up against is an international winger. So she was up for this one, and as we know she can score tries. Tonight, I could tell that she just wanted it and she did the job for us tonight for sure."
The Gaels pressed for the equalizer, but the 'Birds held strong, and a knock-on 15 yards out in the final minutes ended Queen's best opportunity.
Final score: UBC 15, Queen's 10.
"Now it's time for us to regroup," concluded Murten. "We've come here with players missing, we suffered another injury tonight, but I'm really proud of the people who have not played a lot for us this season but are really stepping up now, in this environment. Someone else will have to step up on Friday."
The Thunderbirds now move on to the second U SPORTS semifinal on Friday at 4:30 p.m. (PCT) where they will take on the host and No.4-seed Guelph Gryphons.
TRIES & CARDS SUMMARY
UBC Tries: Pye 2 (40', 61'); Dickson (43').
UBC Yellow cards: Logan (11'); Valenzuela (45').
Queen's Tries: Stone (12'); Johnston (48').
Queen's Yellow card: Johnston (35').
