KINGSTON, Ont. – It has been nearly half a century in the making, but the Guelph Gryphons men's rugby team did it.
For the first time in 47 years, the Gryphons men's rugby team defeated the perennial powerhouse Queen's Gaels on their home field. On Saturday night in Kingston (Nov. 6, 2021), the Gryphons men's rugby team left Nixon Field with a hard-fought 37-28 victory over the Queen's Gaels, giving Guelph their 4th OUA men's rugby title in program history (2021, 2016, 1998 & 1974).
The last time the Gryphons beat Queen's
in Kingston was in the 1974 OUA final played at Richardson Stadium (won 14-6 by the Gryphons for the first Ontario title in men's rugby program history). Now, the Gryphons have added their name to the Turner Trophy once again, ending a run of three straight OUA titles by Queen's.
"We talked all week about belief in ourselves and believing we were champions," said Gryphons head coach
Cory Hector, who back in 2016 in his first year as head coach, helped Guelph capture the OUA title to end a run of four straight championships by Queen's. "We brought out the 2016 banner this week and talked about it needing a friend to hang beside. So every day, the boys looked at that 2016 banner and every day we talked about adding the next one. So proud of how the guys performed. We knew we would have to be able to match up physically with Queen's, and we felt like the boys did that really well."
After Queen's flanker Will Matthews (Montreal, Que.) opened the scoring for Queen's with a try in the 15th minute, it would be the Gryphons taking control with U of G's fourth-year wing
Alex Williamson (Uxbridge, Ont.) punching in the next two tries to give the Gryphons a lead they would not surrender.
Williamson added another try in the second half to finish with a game-high three tries for Guelph. The Gryphons took a 22-7 lead into half time and led Queen's 34-7 in the 57th minute. The Gaels tried to mount a late comeback, scoring the last three tries of the game, but it wasn't enough to catch Guelph, who added a late kick for three points to win 37-28 and capture the OUA Championship.
The Gryphons will not have to wait long to make a return trip to Kingston, with Queen's University set to host nationals at the end of November. Nixon Field in Kingston will be the site of the 2021 Canadian University Men's Rugby Championship which will take place from Nov. 24-28. Both Queen's and Guelph will represent the OUA at this year's national championship event. The Canadian University Men's Rugby Championship was created in 2017, with Guelph hosting the inaugural tournament and finishing 4th.
