KINGSTON, Ont. – They were in familiar territory. The Guelph Gryphons men's rugby side is well aware of what it takes to compete for, and win, the Turner Trophy and be crowned OUA champions. But the Gryphons could not hold off the talented Queen's Gaels, who repeated as banner winners with a 48-10 victory on the Nixon Field pitch in Kingston.
 
Guelph trailed early and was never able to get in rhythm to compete with the Gaels, who executed with pace and precision to register their 20^th consecutive win and sixth title in the past seven years, the only miss coming in 2016 when the Gryphons beat them at Varsity Field.
 
It was a disappointing result for a strong Guelph side that lost just once all season, a 40-13 defeat to the same Gaels back on September 28. The Gryphons regretted a slow start that saw them down 31-0 at the half because they were much better in the second, not only retaining possession but also playing with the fire necessary in a championship match.

"I was happy with the response and certainly can't question their effort," head coach Cory Hector said of how his team came out for the second half. "Unfortunately, it's an 80-minute game – and we didn't perform for 80 minutes."
 
Guelph appeared re-energized after the break and got its first try from rookie lock Guerschom Mukendi in the  51st minute after a period of rucking. The Gryphons would add another from Graeme Francolini 10 minutes later to suddenly put the Gaels on their heels. But Queen's halted that momentum with back-to-back tries from OUA All-star eighth man Nicolas De Lallo, who finished with three on the afternoon. And with time running out, John Varriano ran another one in to make it 48-10 and put any hopes of a comeback out of reach.
 
The Gryphons had several good moments early as the visitors applied pressure to the Gaels and pinned them in their own end. But Queen's, as they have done to every opponent in recent years, began to mount waves of attacks, racking up five unanswered tries before the first half concluded.
  
The Gaels would get the first points of the match in the 8th minute on a sequence that began with a successful lineout in the Gryphons' end. While they bravely denied several attempts by the Gaels right on the try line, Dylan Young eventually touched down after faking a pass and diving in from a yard out. Young's kick was good to put the hosts up 7-0.
 
Queen's, a team that typically dominates possession, didn't let up and stormed down the pitch again minutes later with RoryMacphail getting across the line. That try increased the lead to 14-0 after Young's convert. De Lallo then touched down from in close, extending the margin to 21 points before scrum half Joshua Englebrecht and lock Trevor Helgason added a try each for a commanding 31-0 lead.

"You can't spot a team that strong a 31-0 lead," said Hector. "We had a few opportunities that we squandered in the first half and unfortunately, we needed to do more with them."
  
The Gryphons will now turn their attention to nationals scheduled from November 21-25 at the University of Victoria in British Columbia. Guelph hosted the inaugural event in 2017 and  the side had a good tournament, inclduing a memorable 11-11 standoff with the powerful Victoria Vikes. 

"We will have another opportunity to test ourselves against some of the top programs in the country," the coach said. "It will also give us a chance to get some new guys game time."

 

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Scoring Summary
 

Minute	University	Type of Score	Player	Convert	Match Score
8'	Queen's	Try	D. Young	Good (Young)	7-0 Queen's
15'	Queen's	Try	R. Macphail	Good (Young)	14-0 Queen's
21'	Queen's	Try	N. De Lallo	Good (Young)	21-0 Queen's
32'	Queen's	Try	J. Englebrecht	Missed	26-0 Queen's
36'	Queen's	Try	T. Helgason	Missed	31-0 Queen's
51'	Guelph	Try	G. Mukendi	Missed	31-5 Queen's
61'	Guelph	Try	G. Francolini	Missed	31-10 Queen's
64'	Queen's	Try	N. Delallo	Good (Young)	38-10 Queen's
67'	Queen's	Try	N. De Lallo	Missed	43-10 Queen's
73'	Queen's	Try	J. Varriano	Missed	48-10 Queen's