VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds kicked off their 2026-2027 campaign at Ken Woods Field on Friday, soaring to a 66-0 win over the Trinity Western University Spartans in BC Premier League action.

The match had higher stakes than simply the start of a new campaign; it was also the first contest of the Coastal Cup, a three-team tournament between the Thunderbirds, Spartans and the Victoria Vikes, with each team playing a home-and-home to determine the winner.

Eight different T-Birds swooped into the try zone, with Alastair Marshall and Alex Muir combining for four of their ten total tries en route to the win.

"We had a bit of a rough start in the first 5-10 minutes," reflected UBC head coach Didier Banse. "The guys had the jitters, but they got over that, and I thought we did a really good job of playing to the speed of the ball, so I'm super happy with the end result."
 


Both sides came out swinging in the opening few minutes, with heavy hits leading to early turnovers and the majority of play happening in and around centre field. However, after some slick T-Bird passing, second-year wing Lenny Bonduau found some daylight on the left side to dive in and break the ice with the game's first try.
 
A few minutes later, fifth-year forward Joe McNulty looked to add to his team's early lead in multiple ways. After fighting through traffic to add a try of his own, the fifth-year forward launched a perfectly placed chip kick to Max McGavern, who juked around a pair of defenders to clear a wide-open lane for the third score of the game. With two of the three conversions made, the T-Birds held a 19-0 lead by the 20-minute mark.

Despite a hard-fought effort from the Spartans, the 'Birds piled on. Capitalizing on open space after a foul in front of the uprights, Muir hauled in a pass and sprawled out for a superman-diving try. The first-year back row added another just ten minutes later, highlighting a series of tries from his squad in the final 20 minutes as the 'Birds went into the break with a firm grip on the lead, 45-0.

"Space overrides structure. That's our focus this year," noted coach Banse. "If there's easy space to take, I'm all for it. It's one of those things where we've got the skills to play to that speed. We're so comfortable playing to structure. But this year, like I said, I'm just trying to push the guys to really see the easy space and take it."



Coming out of halftime, TWU started strong. Threatening on offence while limiting T-Bird chances on defence, the Spartans had become a wall and held their opposition scoreless in the first 13 minutes. However, UBC eventually broke through as Marshall plowed through a crowd of defenders to get the first score of the second half.

After UBC added another try shortly after, the T-Birds came close once again in the 68^th minute, but the Spartans stood tall. Their defence shut the door on a moving maul attempt just in front of the try line. But the 'Birds kept pressing, adding another tally from second-year centre Liam Turnbull before closing this one out with another from second-year back row Ethan Samuels just before the final buzzer. With the last conversion made, the Thunderbirds sealed a 66-0 win to start their new season.



The Thunderbirds remain on the Point Grey campus for their next contest, where they will take on the University of Victoria Vikes in the first leg of the highly anticipated Wightman Boot. Action kicks off at the Gerald McGavin UBC Rugby Centre on September 12 at 2:30 p.m. PT.

"They're going to be tough," coach Banse said on the upcoming bout with the Vikes. "We saw what happened last year, that loss in the semi-final. That one's still very close to our hearts. So, we have to turn our attention and really focus on training next week, get some good preparation going so that we're ready for them."

SCORING SUMMARY
              1     2      F
UBC      45   21   66
TWU      0     0     0
 
7' - UBC Try – #11 Lenny Bonduau (#10 James Biss convert missed) 5-0 UBC
11' - UBC Try – #5 Joe McNulty (#10 Biss convert) 12-0 UBC
20' - UBC Try – #15 Max McGavern (#10 Biss convert) 19-0 UBC
23' - UBC Try – #4 Alex Muir (#10 Biss convert missed) 24-0 UBC
31' – UBC Try - #6 Callum Arnesen (#10 Biss convert missed) 31-0 UBC
33' – UBC Try - #4 Muir (#10 Biss convert) 38-0 UBC
39' – UBC Try - #13 Alastair Marshall (#10 Biss convert) 45-0 UBC
HALF
53' – UBC Try - #13 Marshall (#10 Biss convert) 52-0 UBC
72' – UBC Try - #22 Liam Turnbull (#10 Biss convert) 59-0 UBC
80' – UBC Try - #17 Ethan Samuels (#10 Biss convert) 66-0 UBC