RECAP: Men’s rugby advances to RSEQ final

Under the lights of Matt Anthony Field, the Gee-Gees men's rugby team kicked off their playoff run with a 20-11 win over the McGill Redbirds. It was a revenge match for the Gee-Gees, as last year's season ended at the hands of the Redbirds when they lost 31-24 in the RSEQ final.

The victory marks the program's second RSEQ playoff win in history, and their second appearance in the RSEQ Championship game.

"We've gone to McGill lots of times and have had tough rides home, so it feels really good to beat them twice this year," said half-back, Jamie Armstrong. "We beat them earlier in the season and knew the game plan, we stuck to it, and it worked."

McGill was the first to score, touching the ball in the tryzone only seven minutes into play for a 5-0 lead. The Gee-Gees were quick to respond with Evan Roy powering through for a try, and Glenn Roy kicking the convert.  

Connor Williams was the next to score for Ottawa, and after a few penalty kicks in favour of the Redbirds, Ottawa held onto a 14-11 lead going into halftime.

While there were few points added to the score, it was clear the Gee-Gees had full control of the second half, stopping everything the Redbirds had to throw at them.

"Our pace in the second half was unbelievable, our forwards just took the game over," Gee-Gees head coach, Andrew Armstrong said. "They didn't want to scrum, they didn't want to play with us. We didn't get the points we wanted, but we just controlled the game."

Glenn Roy led the way with 10 points for the Gee-Gees, making two converts and two penalty kicks. Evan Roy and Williams each contributed a try.

A team the Gee-Gees lost to during the regular season stands in the way of them and their first national championship appearance.

The Gee-Gees will hit the road for the RSEQ Championship match next weekend to take on the undefeated ETS squad. Ottawa ended the regular season with a 22-16 loss to ETS, unable to complete a comeback effort to earn the win.