MONTREAL – Rookie Alexandre Laurendeau of Ormstown, Que., scored a pair of tries, including the game-winning major as the McGill University men's rugby squad defeated Ottawa 31-24 to capture the RSEQ championship before a raucous crowd of 1,830 at Percival Molson Stadium, Friday.

The crowd size was the largest ever to witness a game in the RSEQ conference and the result was McGill's first league  title since 2015 and the 16th dating back to 1989.

"Our guys thrived on the noise from a great crowd. It was an outstanding game, back-and forth, that's what you should get when the top two teams meet in the final," said Ian Baillie, who took over as head coach in 2013 and has reached the final in seven of his nine seasons, including his first conference banner in 2015. "Ottawa played with great heart and composure today. They just kept coming and our guys were a mature group that just knew how to close things down and win.

"We were playing a game of 'turn em', as we call it," explained Baillie, when asked about the unusual plethora of quick kicks in the game. "We wanted to put the ball behind them, make them turn their backs and retreat. They were big, big boys and we wanted to get them running around the field, so we put the ball behind them in order to wear them down and take some territory away."

Ottawa, which won last week's semifinal 31-24 over third-place ETS after finishing second in the eight-team RSEQ conference with a 6-1 record, threw an early scare in McGill's direction when Jacob Harries scored a converted try in just the second minute of play.

But it only took the Redbirds seven minutes to reply when senior fly-half Monty Weatherall, the team captain, connected for his first of two penalty kicks. Weatherall, who ended up with eight points, narrowed the gap to 7-6 with another kick but Ottawa padded their lead to 10-6 when Zak Campbell connected on a PK with five minutes remaining in the half.  A converted try by Alexander Armstrong two minutes later finally gave the Redbirds  a lead at 13-10.

"The guys showed up when we needed them, it's unbelievable and I'm at a loss for words," said an emotional Weatherall, a 22-year-old who came to McGill in 2019 from the UK and will be graduating with a degree in international development studies. "We worked so hard and it feels amazing to get this reward. I'm proud of everybody We're super privileged to have such a fantastic crowd of supporters. They came out tonight, were definitely the 16th man and helped push us over that line. Full credit to Ottawa too. They put up a fantastic fight."

The second half didn't look too promising for the host team when both Alex Pantis and Nicholas Smith received yellow cards in the 44th and 51st minutes, respectively,  and McGill had to play shorthanded for 10 minutes in each instance.

But Laurendeau deflated the Gee-Gees with a shorthanded try in the 47th minute and senior Owen Cumming forced a turnover at McGill's goal line on a play that led to a quick kick, which moved the ball out of harm's way to midfield.

"That was absolutely a turning point because we were playing with two guys in the bin at the time and playing 13 versus 15," Baillie recalled. "So for our guys to get that work done when Ottawa was two or three metres from scoring, was huge. Forcing that turnover, kicking the ball about 40 metres downfield and getting out of Dodge (City) was massive and a key to winning."

The Gee-Gees narrowed the deficit to 18-17 when former McGill player Andreas Dionisopoulos scored a converted try in the 53rd minute but the Redbirds responded with a pair of majors from Martin Laval sandwiched around Laurendeau's second try.

Glenn Roy gave the visitors a glimmer of home with a try in the 75th minute but Laval's second marker doused the flames.

McGill, which improved to 8-1 overall, has now qualified for the "Canadian University Men's Rugby Championship", an eight-team invitational tournament, slated for Vancouver, B.C., Nov. 30 to Dec. 4.

Others to qualify include Victoria, UBC, Calgary and Memorial University from Newfoundland. The two OUA finalists from the Nov. 12 championship game between Guelph and Laurier will also be invited. The eighth berth will be offered to the winner of a Nov. 19 wild card game between Trinity Western and UBC-Okanagan

REDBIRDS RAP: The championship game marked the final home contest for at least a dozen seniors who are expected to graduate. That group includes club co-presidents Owen Cumming and Peter Demers, captain Monty Weatherall, Alex Pantis, Liam Pantis, Henry Carr, Gaspard Poiré, Zachary Auger, Jacob "Jack" Davidson, Noah LeFrancois, Jack Preston, and Philippe Robinson... McGill's largest attended men's rugby games at Molson Stadium prior to the 2022 RSEQ final include: 1,560 in a 47-15 win over Harvard (Covo Cup, Sept. 7/19), 1,463 in a 33-0 loss to Concordia (RSEQ championship, Nov. 6/21), 1,044 in a 31-19 win vs Ottawa (Sept. 17/22), 1,020 in a 48-6 win vs Montreal (Sept. 11/21) and 997 in a 10-9 win over Montreal (RSEQ championship, Nov. 13/15).

SCORING SUMMARY
McGill 31, Ottawa 24

RSEQ CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
(Nov. 4, 2022 @ Perival Molson Stadium)

FIRST HALF:
1. OTT: Jacob Harries (TRY; convert by Zak Campbell), 2' (OTT 7-0)
2. McG: Monty Weatherall (Penalty Kick), 9' (OTT 7-3)
3. McG: Monty Weatherall (Penalty Kick), 24' (OTT 7-6)
4. OTT: Zak Campbell (Penalty Kick), 35' (OTT 10-6)
5. McG: Alexander Armstrong (TRY; convert by Monty Weatherall), 37' (McG 13-10)
 
SECOND HALF:
6. McG: Alexander Pantis (Yellow Card), 44'
7. McG: Alexandre Laurendeau (TRY; convert missed by Monty Weatherall), 47' (McG 18-10)
8. McG: Nicholas Smith (Yellow Card), 51'
9. OTT: Andreas Dionisopoulos (TRY; convert by Zak Campbell), 53' (McG 18-17)
10. McG: Martin Laval (Penalty Kick), 67' (McG 21-17)
11. McG: Alexandre Laurendeau (TRY; convert by Martin Laval), 72' (McG 28-17)
12. OTT: Glenn Roy (TRY; convert by Zak Campbell), 75' (McG 28-24)
13. McG: Martin Laval (Penalty Kick), 78' (McG wins 31-24)


RSEQ MEN'S RUGBY CHAMPIONS (since 1989)
 

YEAR	TEAM
1989	McGill
1990	Bishop's
1991	McGill
1992	Bishop's
1993	Bishop's
1994	Bishop's
1995	McGill
1996	Concordia
1997	McGill
1998	Bishop's
1999	Concordia
2000	Concordia
2001	Concordia
2002	McGill
2003	Bishop's
2004	McGill
2005	Concordia
2006	McGill
2007	McGill
2008	McGill
2009	McGill
2010	McGill
2011	McGill
2012	McGill
2013	McGill
2014	Concordia
2015	McGill
2016	Montréal
2017	Concordia
2018	Concordia
2019	Concordia
2020	Season canceled due to COVID pandemic
2021	Concordia
2022	McGill

SOURCE:
 
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012
www.mcgillathletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca
@EarlZukerman (twitter)