The Concordia Stingers men’s rugby team notched tonight their 21st consecutive Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) win, defeating the École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS) Piranhas 38-7 at Concordia Stadium.
The Stingers haven’t lost a game in the league since their RSEQ quarter-final game of 2016 against the Bishop’s University Gaiters. Stingers head coach Craig Beemer said there isn’t really a secret or method that can explain such success.
“We’re not really worrying about the wins or losses,” Beemer said. “It’s not about me [or or any particular player]. It’s about doing things the right way, and having an attitude where there’s no reason to accept anything less than your best.”
Beemer added a lot of it has to do with the team’s culture. He said the team is surrounded by great people who leave things better than they found them.
“I have an amazing coaching staff that offers things I can’t offer,” Beemer said. “We have players, consistently pushing other players to their best. When you’re just worrying about the process on your day-to-day, you end up getting asked why you’re having [such a streak].”
The Piranhas gave the Stingers a rough first half, scoring first and limiting the Stingers to one try at halftime. Beemer said his team knew this would be a tough match, as they didn’t know their opponent that much.
“They played the other teams really hard, and they’re really physical,” Beemer said. “We knew what was coming, but I don’t think our guys were necessarily quite ready for it. We didn’t have that excitement that [we] kind of saw in the last in the last 20 minutes of the game.”
Momentum changed in the second half. Beemer said the conversation at halftime was about getting the right attitude, and make sure things were done the right way.
“There were a lot of physical mistakes [in the first half],” Beemer said. “I think that had more to do with our mental preparation going into the game. There was a lot of negative talk going on the field in the first half.”
Michael Laplaine-Pereira was named MVP of the game with a try and five points. All six tries scored by the Stingers were from different players, and seven players registering points.
The Stingers now have a 4-0 record with two games left to their regular season. They’ll play the Université de Montréal Carabins on Oct. 20 at 4 p.m. at the terrain Vincent-d’Indy.
Feature photo by Laurence B.D.
