Completing their journey back to success after losing in the tournament’s opening game, L’Université Laval Rouge et Or dominated their in-conference rivals, the University of Ottawa’s Gee-Gees by a score of 40 –14. This was the consolation final for the U Sports Women’s Rugby Championship — the first match of the final day of competition at Thunderbird Stadium — with fifth place on the line.
While they got back on track in this game, the Rouge et Or had a rollercoaster of a week, starting with a quarterfinal loss to the Thunderbirds by a score of 32–10, their first loss of the season. Despite having a higher seed, the visitors weren’t able to stop an inspired UBC team — who got on the scoreboard early and refused to relinquish their advantage. The match ended with a win for the host school, who would go on to win the championship.
Two days later, however, Laval recovered from that loss with a dominant victory against the Acadia University Axewomen. The consolation semifinal match ended with a 41–7 score for the team from Quebec, taking the lead early — never really being in danger.
The University of Ottawa had a similar journey in the tournament, being dominated in the first game, but being able to recover and show resolve in the next.
The first game of the championship for Ottawa — against the number 1 seed, the University of Victoria Vikes — at first seemed to be an upset in-the-making for the Gee-Gees, the eighth seed in the competition, with the Vikes being outplayed in the first half, being only up six points. However, in the second half of the game, the Vikes showed why they were the number 1 team in the tournament, winning the match convincingly, 41–8.
Like Laval, Ottawa recovered from their previous loss, dominating their adversary — St. Francis Xavier University X-Women. The Gee-Gees impressive offensive push, combined with their stout defence, saw the fourth-seeded X-Women lose to the Gee-Gees, 55–3.
With both teams showing their tenacity and ability to bounce back from tough loses, the consolation final was setting up to be an impressive game — but the Gee-Gees didn’t seem to get the memo.
The Rouge et Or dominated Ottawa for the entirety of the match. For Laval head coach François Vachon-Marceau, his team’s performance was a credit to their toughness.
“[We were] so tired after three games in five days,” he said. “Everyone is a bit banged up, so [it’s about] just finding the heart to keep going.”
Early in the game, while the Gee-Gees were able to make a few runs into the Laval end, thanks to Laval’s heavy defence, they weren’t able to score at all in the first half.
The third-seed Rouge et Or, on the other hand, spent the majority of the period on the offensive zone, with their first try coming only 12 minutes in.
After gaining possession of the ball off a line out, Laval made a push toward the try-zone. Breaking tackle after tackle, the Rouge et Or persevered, and even after being knocked to the ground, Camille Arvin-Bérod still managed to dive ahead to score the first try for the team. Fly-half Anne Lamothe nailed the conversion, the first kick in what was a great performance for her, notching five out of six conversion opportunities.
After getting those first seven points, Laval seemed energized, with players visibly working harder to keep possession of the ball and make their way into the opponents’ try-zone.
Keeping the offensive momentum going, the scoreboard was lit up the second time in the 21st minute of play. After a scrum near the Ottawa goal line, Laval pushed forward off three rucks before Anne-Sophie Carreau managed to score — cutting through Ottawa’s goal line defence by diving for the try. Lamothe made another conversion, bringing the score to 14–0.
The last try of the first half was scored only three minutes later, after Laval flipped the field following a scrum. Off a well-timed offload to Sarah Taupier, the Rouge et Or found space in the Ottawa line to get deep in the Gee-Gees zone. Soon after, with Maude Chabot getting the ball off a ruck, she made it past the try line to further expand the Rouge et Or’s advantage.
Down by multiple scores, the first few minutes of the second half saw the Gee-Gees finally show some signs of life with a great run by Ottawa’s Sydney Noseworthy, who caught the ball off the ruck with speed, broke past two would-be tacklers to bring the ball within five metres of the try line.
Taking advantage of that fortuitous field position, finally, in the 42nd minute, they scored a try for the first time in the game. After a scrum right in front of Laval’s try line, the Gee-Gees drove the ball through the defenders and into the end-zone. Fly-half Claire Bennett was quick in the conversion, bringing the score to 19–7.
Yet, any chance at an Ottawa momentum shift was promptly snuffed out by the Rouge et Or, who showed their intra-conference rival why they were the number 1 team in the conference. In the next ten minutes, Laval scored another three times.
After a great sequence of offloads brought them down the field, Laval was set up near the goal line. While they initially weren’t able to punch it in, Laval was quick to get the ball out wide, eventually going into Arvin-Bérod’s arms, who then threw herself across the line to score her second try of the game.
Four minutes later, in the fourty-eighth minute of the match, Chabot caught Ottawa off guard, being quick off the ruck to speed into scoring position. While the Gee-Gees eventually got the ball back off a scrum, they almost immediately turned it back over, resulting in a successful try by Sandrine Faucher, who managed to power through Ottawa’s dedicated defence, who were working their hardest to keep the deficit manageable.
To close out their impressive scoring run, Laval added points one last time at the 54 minute mark, with Faucher again scoring a try. After receiving the ball off a ruck, the blind-side flanker pushed through the Gee-Gees’ defenders to score for the second time in the game.
Despite being dead in the water for most of the game, the Gee-Gees managed to make the score seem a bit closer in the final minute of play with Grace Dingwall scoring off a long run. After a scrum, the back quickly took the ball off a ruck and rushed ahead to score five points to Ottawa. A successful conversion by Noseworthy brought the score to a 40–14.
While perhaps this result was to be expected given that Laval had previously beaten the Gee-Gees twice this year, including in the conference final, for the Rouge et Or, it was still a rewarding result to finish their season with a win.
“Last year we got to the fifth place game and we didn't really show up,” said Vachon-Marceau. “We just wanted to be better this year … it's a big rivalry, so I think the girls have showed up.”
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