With four wins over the two-day event, the Heat men’s rugby team finished with their best ever placing at the National University 7s championships. (Photo Credit – Trevor Yip).
Men’s Rugby 7s
Friday, March 17 | Day 1 | Round Robin:
10:00 AM | Round Robin | Victoria Vikes (22) def. UBC Okanagan (0) | Box | Video
12:52 PM | Round Robin | UBC Okanagan (24) def. Regina (14) | Box | Video
2:30 PM | Round Robin | UBC Okanagan (12) def. Mount Royal (10) | Box | Video
Saturday, March 18 | Day 2 | Cup Elimination:
9:22 AM | Cup Quarter-final | Victoria Norseman (40) def. UBC Okanagan (7) | Box | Video
12:00 PM | Cup Consolation | UBC Okanagan (19) def. Trent (15) | Box | Video
3:57 PM | 5th/6th Playoff | UBC Okanagan (22) def. Regina (10) | Box | Video
LANGFORD, B.C. – An impressive weekend saw the Heat men win four of six matches played across March 17 & 18, and finish in fifth for their best ever placing in a national tournament. The Okanagan side went 2-1 on each day, with both losses coming against teams from the University of Victoria.
The Heat men started off the tournament with their first Friday game against a tough opponent in the Victoria Vikes. The Vikes, who would go on to finish 2nd in the tournament, beat the Heat 22-0 in that opening game.
The loss in the opening match was answered soundly in the Heat’s final two Friday games, as they took down a University of Regina side 24-14 in their second match of the tournament, and beat Mount Royal 12-10 in the third.
The Heat’s first game after the group stage was a quarter-final matchup against another University of Victoria team, the Norsemen, on Saturday morning. The Norsemen got the scoring underway quickly, with a converted try just 12 seconds into the game. A second Victoria try made it 12-0 a minute and a half in. The Heat would get on the board with the clock showing 5:33 played, making it 19-7 after the conversion. At half-time it was 26-7, and the Norsemen were able to keep UBCO off the board in the second to take it 40-7 and knock the Heat out of contention for the cup.
In their 5th-place semi-final the Heat took on the Trent Excalibur. Trent would score first, with the first of two unanswered trys coming just under the one-minute-played mark and the second with 2:40 spent. UBC Okanagan would score with just over 30 seconds to play in the first half, converting the try to make it 10-7 at the midway point. The Heat took the lead around the three-minute mark in the second, when a converted try put them up 14-10. They would score again late in the 5th minute of the second half to go up 19-10. Trent would score again at 7:27 to make it 19-15, which would go on to be the final score. With the win the Okanagan side earned a spot in the 5th/6th place game.
In that game for a top-five finish, the Heat faced the same Regina side they beat 24-14 in group play earlier in the tournament. This time the Heat were on the board first, when Jamie Jenson scored a try with just over 40 seconds played. Dmitri Hoffer tied it up for Regina with about 2:20 played. One of the Haynes brothers put the Heat back ahead in the 4th minute and the ensuing conversion made it 12-5, which would be the score at the half. Sam Overton got the scoring started in the second half, with a Heat try with 1:15 played. Dom Haynes would score his second try of the match in the 4th minute to put the Heat up 22-5. Regina would score the final try of the match with 1:20 left to play, but it would not be enough. Once again the Heat would be victorious, taking it by a final score of 22-10 to cement their best national finish to date.
Dom Haynes also had an impressive weekend individually for the Heat, finishing 10th in the tournament in scoring. His 17 points for the tournament came on three tries and a conversion.
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