After waiting all day to see the home team play, the crowd at Thunderbird Stadium was rewarded for their patience, watching the sixth-seeded UBC Women’s Rugby team pull off an upset against the third-seeded RSEQ champion L’Université Laval Rouge et Or at the U Sports Women’s Rugby Championship. On a day where the first two seeds in the tournament were dominant, with Victoria winning by 33 and Queens by 80, the ‘Birds broke the trend, making Laval the highest seed in the tournament to lose thus far, defeating the Rouge et Or 32-10.
Yet, even as the sixth seed, the ‘Birds entered the game with high expectations. As not only the host school, but also the defending U Sports champions, a quarterfinals loss, even to a higher seed, would have been a disappointment. On Wednesday night, UBC rose to the occasion.
Doing so was no easy task, however. Laval was the third seed for a reason. Over the last half-decade, Laval has established itself as a women’s rugby powerhouse, capturing three national titles between 2019 and 2023. That success continued into 2025, with Laval coming into the game undefeated this season — but they were handed their first loss by a UBC team that was dominant from the beginning.
It only took three minutes for the ‘Birds to get on the board. It was UBC’s Brooklyn Roddham — a former member of Canada’s U18 Rugby Sevens team — who had her fingers all over this game, scoring the T-Birds’ first points off of a penalty kick.
After that quick initial score, however, the game settled in. From there, it was a game of forced turnovers and strong defence from both teams — at least, until around the 24 minute mark. It was then that the UBC’s fourth-year wing, Tia Jordo, exploded for two tries in three minutes, putting UBC up 13–0.
Her first try was set up when, after UBC advanced close to the try line but were unable to punch it in, the ‘Birds quickly flipped the ball out wide to two-time Olympic medallist Charity Williams. With a two-on-one on the right sideline, Williams pitched a well-timed pass to Jordo, who dove in for the try. For her second, Jordo was the beneficiary of a great off-load to bring the T-Birds downfield on a drive out of the scrum from near the 50-metre line, before a good bounce out of a missed pass fell right into Jordo’s hands, with her taking it in for the score. Her tries electrified the home crowd and shifted momentum firmly in UBC’s favour.
While her scoring burst was clearly a factor in putting the ‘Birds ahead, Jordo was keen to emphasize the positive effect her teammates had on her play.
“As a wing, I’m just a product of [my teammates] successes,” she said. “When they set the platform and my centres give me a two-on-one, my job is just to finish. They set me up for success.”
Even on plays like her second try, where UBC missed a pass, for Jordo, the team’s ability to capitalize despite their mistakes shone through.
“Things didn't necessarily go to plan in our set piece, but I was in the right place at the right time. We [had] our momentum going forward and that intensity and will to score.”
While the first half belonged to Jordo, the second half belonged to the former Olympians, Charity Williams and Piper Logan. Logan — an Olympic silver medallist in 2024 — scored her first and only try of the game out of a ruck that came right in front of the goal line. Similarly to Jordo’s first score, Logan found space after UBC pitched the ball out wide, cutting inside with an excellent fake to dive in for five.
However, the shining moment of the evening belonged to Williams, who was named the U Sports player of the game. In the 59th minute, Williams caught the ball near the 55-metre line, took off and never looked back. On her sprint down the field, Williams juked out multiple defenders and completed the try with her signature move, a leaping somersault into the try zone.
UBC’s offence has been explosive all season, putting up 94 points against Calgary, 86 against Lethbridge and 82 against Alberta. However, Laval has been an offensive powerhouse themselves, having multiple outings this year where they posted over 75 points. This game was always going to be about defensive intensity — which team would be able to keep the other’s offence at bay? In the end, the ‘Birds won because they did this tremendously, holding Laval to just 3 points in the first half, and 10 points in the game.
After the game, head coach Dean Murten emphasized how success on the defensive side of the ball translates to overall team success.
“One of the things we talk about is priding ourselves on the defence. We don’t want people to score, it’s obvious, if they don’t score we win the game. So I'm really happy with that. There’s a bit more work to do … but we’re going in the right direction.”
UBC is now set to face a juggernaut, the second-seeded Queen’s Gaels, in the semifinals. As the T-Birds were warming up, they got to witness the end of the Gaels’ previous game, a 90–10 blowout of the Acadia Axewomen. Winning by 80 is no small task. Doing it against one of the eight best teams in the country is astounding. In scoring 90, the Gaels notched the most points ever recorded in a U Sports Women’s Rugby championship game — breaking the record previously held by the St. Francis Xavier University X-Men, who scored 76 points back in 2011.
The Gaels are 9-0 on the season and on one outing this year scored a ludicrous 160 points. Driving this scoring bonanza is star player Lizzie Gibson, who is the country’s leading scorer, with 157 points on the year. The next highest scorer in the country has 75.
Despite these gaudy numbers, it sounds like the UBC squad is more than up for the challenge. For Murten, if you can’t beat every single team in the tournament, you’re not going to be able to call yourselves national champions.
“One thing we said at the start of this tournament is ‘We’re going the hard way,’” he said. Laval is very good, Queen’s is outstanding. It’s gonna take a lot out of us but we have to be ready for it. If you want to win you’ve gotta win all three games.”
Jordo, on the other hand, seemed eager and energized by the potential opportunity the next game could provide for her and her team.
“I'm feeling so excited for our next game. We got a hard draw in this [tournament] but that’s just fuelling us. I think that this momentum we’re getting from this game is gonna carry us to get some really positive success against Queens.”
UBC’s first game was a testament to the team’s resilient identity — reminding everyone why this team is a perennial contender. For the ‘Birds, this game wasn’t just an upset, it was a statement.
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