SEASON PREVIEW: Women’s rugby eyeing another Nationals push

A seventh straight medal at the U SPORTS National Championship is within their grasp as the Gee-Gees women's rugby team takes the field for the 2022 season. 

Ottawa has medaled at the National Championship each year since 2015, most recently capturing silver last season, becoming just the third school to medal at six or more straight championships. The streak is punctuated by a gold medal in 2017.

Tickets for all Gee-Gees home games are available for purchase at tickets.geegees.ca.

"It's been a long wait since that loss in the final last year," said Gee-Gees head coach Jen Boyd, who is entering her tenth year at the helm of the program. "We have roughly 28 returning players, plus some mature athletes who are coming to do their master's or law school. We've gelled really well thus far through camp." 

The regular season opens on the road with a match against Concordia on Sunday, Sept. 4 (kickoff at noon). Ottawa will play a total of six regular season matchups, travelling to Laval to round out the regular season on Oct. 8 in a rematch of the 2021 RSEQ Championship game.

It was a unique summer for the women's rugby program, as they hosted the USA Rugby U20 and U23 National Teams at Matt Anthony Field in July. Ottawa is looking to carry the momentum from those two encouraging victories and a number of strong practices into the regular season. 

"We've never been together in the summer, so that was massive and a real good build for us as we prepare for the fall," said Boyd.

The Gee-Gees will be without long-time stalwarts Alex Ondo, Taylor Donato and Maya Montiel in 2022 after all three wrapped up their U SPORTS careers. Maddy Grant, a 2021 RSEQ First Team All-Star, is training with the Rugby Canada national program.

Captain Claire Gallagher highlights a deep contingent of backs, having led the conference in scoring in 2021. The Caledon East, Ont., product will once again handle the kicking duties for the Gee-Gees. Quynh-Ni Au, Julia Latremouille, Sarah White and Ngozi Mosindi are among the backs who are expected to make an impact in Garnet and Grey.

The forward group is getting a boost with the return of Georgia Stewart, a member of the 2017 National Championship squad. Stewart is entering his fifth year of eligibility while starting a master's degree. Veterans Talia Hennessy, Ketsia Kamba, Tylo Borsboom and Ritaj Abdulla are returning, while second years Deborah Oyetoran and Blessing Okundaye are looking to build on strong freshman campaigns.

"They've stepped into those roles seamlessly," said Boyd. "I'm sure there's some stress and anxiety there, but I'm excited to see them on the field. We do a pretty good job with leadership development and have a lot of great mentorship from alumni and other great women in the community." 

Boyd will once again be joined by assistant coach and assistant program manager Patrick Thompson and set piece coach Asya Bartley.Bartley was selected for the U SPORTS Female Apprentice Coach Program earlier in 2022.

Tickets for all Gee-Gees home games, including the home opener on Sept. 10 against Montreal, are available for purchase at tickets.geegees.ca. The home games will be streamed live on the Gee-Gees YouTube channel.

This year's U SPORTS National Championship tournament runs from Nov. 2-6 at the University of Victoria.