Tag: Craig Beemer

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Stingers rugby head back to nationals with different mindset

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After winning the RSEQ championship, the men’s rugby team prepare for nationals in Victoria, B.C. Photo by Hannah Ewen.

Men’s team looks to impress after two straight undefeated seasons

The men Concordia Stingers rugby team successfully defended their Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) title against the Bishop’s University Gaiters on Nov. 10 at the Concordia Stadium.

When a team goes undefeated for two-straight years, it might seem like things couldn’t be better, but don’t be fooled—the Stingers’s face a demanding schedule.

“The main challenge of playing loaded rugby seasons is that there is no room for error,” said fifth-year player Jonathan Banks. “Rugby is such a competitive sport with heavy amounts of contact. Injuries occur and it’s important that we have the appropriate players to fill in these gaps in the lineup, which we did.”

Third-year player Lucas Hotton said time management and good nutrition are musts in extended seasons.

“Really keeping the body in good condition would be the most important challenge,” Hotton said. “Diet, training, and rest are all factors that have to be considered in such a long year. It’s so imperative to [take care of] your body if you want to make it through.”

Coming off the 2017 championship season, the Stingers knew they were going to be the ones to beat.

“Our confidence was high, yet we knew that every other team had their game against us circled on their schedule and would give us everything they got,” Banks said. “We had to keep pushing ourselves to get better and give our all every game.”

The Stingers will play the opening game of nationals against the UBC Thunderbirds. Photo by Hannah Ewen.

Head coach Craig Beemer described the Stingers’s second-straight undefeated season as a long process requiring the involvement of many people. He said he had a good coaching staff supporting him, as well as 50 hard-working players on and off the field.

“Players were really committed to the team,” Beemer said. “It also takes a lot of video sessions and practices to get there, and I think everybody did a fantastic job on that point.”

Hotton, who was with the Stingers during the 2016 season when they went 1-6, said the team’s current success is due to their mental strength. He was part of a core group of players, including Moritz Wittmann and Charles Debove that turned the team around to go undefeated in RSEQ play.

“Having come from the depths of a season where we finished last, and still having a lot of those players around, really propelled the guys last season, which really showed in our record,” Hotton said. “Then, to go to nationals and to have that same feeling we had when we finished last really pushed the guys once again to go back into that grind mode.”

The Stingers are headed to the 2018 Canadian University Men’s Rugby Championship, in Victoria, B.C. from Nov. 21 to 25. Beemer said each individual on the team will have to play a key role if they want to win the tournament.

“We’ll need the best from all of our guys there,” Beemer said. “It’s not just about one or two individuals. We need everyone to step up and bring their A-game. The defence will need to be strong, and I think that was one of our assets this season.”

Third-year prop Stephen Martinez said having success at nationals has been the team’s goal since the start of the season.

“We all knew what was up for grabs with nationals, and that right away was our goal,” Martinez said. “Getting a RSEQ championship is a great accomplishment, but we wanted to try to take it to the next level and get a national championship.”

Hotton said the team’s participation at nationals last year in Guelph helped the players better prepare this season. The Stingers lost their two games in last year’s tournament against the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds, 46-0, and the McMaster Marauders, 38-11.

“That left a bit of a sour taste in our mouths coming back from Guelph,” Hotton said. “We really understood what work needed to be put in to get to a level were we could compete at the national stage. We sort of switched to a one-game-at-a-time mentality and progressed our defensive systems much more than before. To have so many returners really helped that new mentality, as they all understood what our goal was, and the work needed to get there.”

Banks credits the trust level between the coaches and players as a reason for their successful season. It allows the coaches to come up with the best game plans in order to win.

“When we stepped on the field game after game this season, we knew exactly what to do play after play,” Banks said. “Our coaches trusted in us because we trusted in them, and that’s what I believe makes this team so special.”

Main photo by Hannah Ewen.

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Stingers win back-to-back RSEQ championships

Photo by Hannah Ewen.

Men’s rugby goes undefeated two years running

The Concordia Stingers men’s rugby team won their second-consecutive Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) title Saturday, beating the Bishop’s University Gaiters 22-20 at Concordia Stadium.

The Stingers haven’t lost a game since Oct. 2016. Photo by Hannah Ewen.

A successful three-point penalty kick by the Stingers with six minutes left to play made the difference in what was a really tight game from start to finish. The Gaiters controlled most of the first half, scoring first on a try from Robert McGovern. They led 14-12 at halftime.

“We weren’t really happy with our ball skills,” said Stingers head coach Craig Beemer after the game. “We were playing a little too loose and made extra passes. We really focused on our body height [in the second half]. We made sure in contacts that we were holding on to the ball.”

The game was played in windy conditions, which led to dropped balls and even missed penalty kicks on both sides.

“We knew there would be a lot of wind today,” said Stingers’s back row Zachary Pelletier. “The kicks have been so important today for our teams. We had to work hard until the end.”

That win against the Gaiters also confirmed back-to-back undefeated RSEQ seasons for the Stingers. They haven’t lost a game since October 2016, when the Gaiters beat them in overtime of the quarter-final.

“There’s a lot of work that goes into this,” Beemer said. “It’s really a long process. I have a lot of coaches who did an amazing job and, more importantly, I had 50 players, on a weekly basis, working hard to get better.”
Beemer said his team’s depth has grown in his three years with the Stingers, and has played a big role in the back-to-back titles.

“We’re also not really looking at what other people are doing, but looking internally [at] how can we get better every day,” Beemer said. “Winning is a result, but that’s all it is for us. It’s what we do on week-to-week, how we build to become better individuals and then, by becoming better individuals, putting in the team concept.”

The Stingers needed a strong second half after trailing at halftime. Photo by Hannah Ewen.

The Stingers are now heading to the 2018 Canadian University Men’s Rugby Championship, held in Victoria, BC from Nov. 21-25.

“This is something that was on our minds at the beginning of the season,” Beemer said. “However, we haven’t talked about it in the last weeks. The [players] knew it was something they could have the opportunity [to play] for at the end of the year.”

The Stingers lost their two games played in last year’s tournament. Beemer added that the team knows what to expect and is looking forward to the challenge ahead.

“We’re looking to build on momentum from last year,” Beemer said. “We know there’s gonna be a lot of great teams out there.”

Pelletier said his team will use the next days to make sure they are ready for their opponents.

“We have two other weeks to work [before the Championship],” Pelletier said. “There will be really good teams there. We have to be ready. We just need to keep working hard.”

Main photos by Hannah Ewen.

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Stingers men’s rugby finish second consecutive undefeated regular season

The Stingers men’s rugby team hasn’t lost a game since 2016. Photo by Hannah Ewen.

Hosts beat Gee-Gees 52-3 in snowy game at Concordia

The Concordian Stingers men’s rugby team beat the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees 52-3 at Concordia Stadium, Saturday night. This is the second consecutive year the Stingers finish the regular season with an undefeated record.

Heavy snowfall and a temperature of just two degrees made conditions tough for the Stingers, but third-year fly half Moritz Wittmann knew the weather would be more of a mental battle than a physical one.

“You’ve got to keep it tight,” Wittmann said. “You don’t try and make any big passes or fancy plays. You have to keep moving, bounce up and down, run everywhere,” he added. “It’s an incentive to work harder.”

The Stingers will now play the Vert et Or in the semi-final. Photo by Hannah Ewen.

The Stingers started off strong, as they forced the Gee-Gee’s into a turnover off the beginning kick, and began to show Ottawa why they haven’t lost in conference play since 2016.

After the Gee-Gees stopped them from scoring for a few minutes, the Stingers eventually broke through for a try in the 11th minute, and quickly followed it up in the 15th, to make it 14-0. The Gee-Gees made a push towards the Stingers’s goal, but after a lengthy stand on the goal line, Concordia held Ottawa to a kick conversion, their only points of the night.

The Stingers’s physical play was on display, just as head coach Craig Beemer hoped. “It’s part of the game plan; we needed to make a physical statement,” Beemer said. As the weather conditions became a factor, Beemer knew that his players would be able to control it. “When it comes to rising to challenges, there’s good on-field leadership that really steps up.”

After another try late in the first half, the Stingers ended the half with a 19-3 lead. As the night went on, the weather began to worsen, and that’s when the hosts began to take advantage of a very cold environment. Several large carries by Concordia began to break down Ottawa’s defensive effort, and broke through for five tries in the second half.

Despite the undefeated regular season, Beemer still maintained there is work to be done in order to win another championship. “We’ve got a lot of returning guys from last year’s squad,” Beemer said. “They know the size of the challenge that is coming, and that the quality of the league has improved significantly from last year. [There will be] no complacency from these guys,” he added. “They were asked to take a step forward and dominate some collisions, and make a statement going into the playoffs.”

Wittman mentioned that, in order to see that same success in the upcoming playoffs, they need to take it one step at a time. Last season, the Stingers lost both games at nationals, which aren’t part of U Sports. Wittman said they use their loss as motivation: “We’re definitely more hungry. Other teams are coming for us.”
The Stingers will try to defend their championship title when they play the Université de Sherbrooke Vert et Or on Nov. 3 at 2 p.m, in the semi-final.

Main photo by Hannah Ewen. 

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Charles Debove credits teammates for his success

Charles Debove (centre, holding ball) won the team’s and league’s MVP title last season. Photo by Hannah Ewen.

Rugby centre enjoys winning with the Stingers

The centre position in any sport is crucial. The player occupying this role must be as involved offensively as defensively. Charles Debove is that centre on the Concordia Stingers men’s rugby team.

“He’s like the father of the group,” said Stingers head coach Craig Beemer about Debove. “I don’t even think we’ve remotely come close to seeing the best of what Charles has to offer this year, which is obviously a compliment to him.”

Debove, originally from Nice, France, is in his fourth year with the Stingers and fully enjoys his experience.

“This picture says everything,” Debove said, pointing at his team leaving the field after their third win of the 2018-19 Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) season on Sept. 28.

Debove missed most of the 2016 season with an ACL injury in his left knee. Photo by Hannah Ewen.

Debove’s first two years with the Stingers were challenging due to injuries and coaching changes. A torn Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) in his left knee forced the centre to miss most of the 2016-17 season. According to RSEQ statistics, Debove was limited to two games that year, finishing his season without a point. The Stingers went 1-6 that year and allowed 243 points, the most in the league.

“I went back to training for six months before getting back for my first game,” Debove said. “It was super stressful. The contact was hard in my first game back because I wasn’t used to contact anymore. That’s rugby. If you didn’t play for six months, you’ll feel it a lot.”

The 2017-18 Stingers season was nothing like their previous one. They won all their regular-season and playoff games before winning the RSEQ title. They lost to the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds and the McMaster Marauders in the national championship. According to Debove, last season served as a learning experience for what’s ahead this year.

“That’s where it all started,” Debove said. “For sure, we faced two major forces in Canadian rugby. It was hard for us because we were not ready, but now we are and that’s our goal. We try to see further while remaining humble and as competitive as we were last year.”

Debove was a big part of last year’s success. Finishing the RSEQ season with nine tries and 45 points, he was named game MVP three times. He was also recognized for his performances, earning the RSEQ MVP in men’s rugby and being named in the RSEQ’s first all-star team. For the France native, his teammates have a lot to do with his success on the field.

“I can’t talk for myself,” Debove said. “I must talk for my team because they are the ones who make me shine. We help out each other and that’s how we win games. The three times I got the MVP last season, I was just playing my game. However, it’s still a team game.”

“They’ve really put me in easy situations,” he added. “We also have a system that is really expanded, so it gives us a lot of spaces and options.”

Debove still admits he was honoured to received the awards last season.

“I just think I gave my best last year,” Debove said. “It was cool to receive this RSEQ’s league MVP. It was a great honour.”

Debove makes a tackle during the Stingers game against the Carabins on Sept. 28. Photo by Hannah Ewen.

Debove spends a lot of time with his teammates, and he cherishes those moments. He explained that, even off the field, he is always with at least one other teammate.

“We’re here together like five times a week,” Debove said. “This is something we can’t find with another team, or with our provincial teams.”

“We also watch videos because we’re doing this seven days a week since we’re in the season,” he added. “After, we learn from it and adjust because everybody knows our plays. We always need to adapt and change things.”

According to Debove, these efforts are essential if the Stingers want to achieve more success than last year.

“We need to be prepared for what’s coming,” he said. “We first need to win the RSEQ title, and then we go to the nationals. It’s in the way, but we need to complete all the steps.”

So far this season, Debove has three tries in four games. The Stingers are currently ranked first in the league with a 4-0 record.

Main photo by Hannah Ewen.

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Stingers beat Carabins for third win this season

Head coach Craig Beemer was happy with the Stingers defence. Photo by Hannah Ewen.

Defence holds strong to remain undefeated in ten straight

The Concordia Stingers men’s rugby team remain undefeated this season with a 36-3 victory over the Université de Montréal Carabins Friday night at Concordia Stadium. This is their third win of the season, as they remain on top of the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ).

Despite what the final score suggests, it was the Stingers’s defence that got the best of the Carabins. The Carabins had numerous scoring opportunities in the game, but were simply unable to pass the Stingers’s goalline.

Michael Laplaine-Pereira scored two tries in the game. Photo by Hannah Ewen.

“We have a certain structure [on defence] that we try to play with and I think we mapped that out very well,” said head coach Craig Beemer after the game. “It was very aggressive off the line and we didn’t miss too many tackles.”

Beemer added that he was happy with the way his offence played compared to the first two games. “We are not simply relying on individuals and overall, I am really happy with our performance,” he said.

Hooker Michael Laplaine-Pereira, who finished the game with two tries, was named MVP of the game for the Stingers.

Stingers Dylan MacDonald and Stephen Martinez received yellow cards, while Malcolm Baird received a red card.

“I thought the referee was very critical of us,” Beemer said. “But at the same time, if you take that many penalties, you will get cards.”

According to Beemer, the team responded to adversity the right way, despite receiving many penalties.

“Sometimes you’re really getting frustrated,” Beemer added. “I think our guys did a really good job with keeping calm, just playing defence and trying to create turnovers to get the ball.”

With that win, the Stingers won all of their last 10 regular season games, dating back to last year’s undefeated season.

“You always want to win the last game,” said Beemer, referring to the championship game. “That record is more about the players and their willingness to get better every day.”

The Stingers will now face the Bishop’s University Gaiters on Oct. 5 at 7 p.m. in Sherbrooke.

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Stingers men’s rugby team opens season with convincing 66-7 win

The Stingers scored the first 45 points of the game, before the Vert et Or scored their only try late in the first half. Photo by Hannah Ewen.

After an undefeated 2017 season, the Concordia Stingers men’s rugby team started the 2018 campaign with a win. They beat the Université de Sherbrooke Vert et Or 66-7 Friday night at the Concordia Stadium.

“I think we had a really good two-week [training camp] leading up to this,” head coach Craig Beemer said after the game. “We had a lot of returning starters and we had a lot of leaders from last year coming back.”

The Stingers got off to a hot start, with a try in the opening two minutes, and a second coming five minutes later. The Stingers had a 19-0 lead by the time the Vert et Or first had control of the ball inside the Stingers’s half, 15 minutes into the game.

“We really didn’t have to start from scratch,” Beemer added. “We just sort of built on the momentum we had from last year.”

Physical play between the Stingers and Vert et Or picked up in the second half. Photo by Hannah Ewen.

The Stingers were forcing the Vert et Or into making multiple mistakes, and had many interceptions in Sherbrooke’s half of the field. The Stingers took control of the game with four tries in ten minutes midway through the first half.  

The game started to get physical when Concordia’s lead grew to over 40 points late in the first half. A Vert et Or player didn’t like the way a Stinger tackled him, and a few jabs were thrown each way. The Vert et Or managed to scored in the first half, but the Stingers were up 45-7 at halftime.

“Believe it or not we didn’t actually do what we really wanted to do in the first half,” Beemer said. “We just had an emotional, testosterone-filled first half where we saw that we have a lot of talented players.”“I still think we could play better with the ball, and when we have overlaps, to use them and not just try to run over the opposition. It worked tonight, but doesn’t always work,” the head coach said.

The Stingers didn’t score as much in the second half, but the physicality increased. The Vert et Or had more possession of the ball, but the Stingers were strong defensively, stopping them on every opportunity, which frustrated their opponents.

Charles Debove scored on eight of 10 conversions. Photo by Hannah Ewen.

For an eight-minute stretch in the second half, Sherbrooke constantly had the ball between Concordia’s five and 10-yard line, but couldn’t score. The referee stopped play multiple times for fouls.

“We had that scrum there where nobody was playing rugby,” Beemer said about the incidents.

In total, the Stingers scored 10 tries, while Stingers’s Jonathan Banks was successful on eight of 10 conversions.

The Stingers men’s rugby team’s next game is Sept. 21 away against the École de technologie supérieure (ETS) Piranhas.

Main photo by Hannah Ewen. 

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Men’s rugby team crowned RSEQ champions after beating ETS 35-7

The men’s rugby team is keeping most of their players after winning the title. Archive photo by Alex Hutchins.

Perfect season continues as Stingers head to nationals

The Concordia Stingers men’s rugby team won the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) championship on Nov. 12 at Concordia Stadium. They beat the École de technologie supérieure (ETS) Piranhas in the final, by a score of 35-7.

Centre Samuel Montminy led the Stingers with two tries in the game. Fly-half Moritz Wittmann and hooker Nicholas Smith both added a try, and fly-half Jonathan Banks scored two penalty kicks.

The Stingers entered the final undefeated, winning all seven of their regular season games as well as their semifinal match against the McGill Redmen. The Piranhas stayed just above a .500 record on the year, finishing 3-3-1 before winning their semifinal against the Bishop’s Gaiters. The Stingers beat the Piranhas 36-12 during the last matchup between the two teams on Sept. 17.

Stingers head coach Craig Beemer had nothing but praise for the Piranhas squad that continued to battle for the entire game.

“I thought that [ETS] would have trouble handling our skill and our use of the width of the field,” he said. “I knew that they would tackle really well and they did. The score was really close for 25-30 minutes, and that’s because ETS is a heck of a team, a really well-coached team by Rudy Escoffier. It was a bit surprising.”

According to Beemer, the Stingers’ 21-0 lead after the first half didn’t reflect how good of a team the Piranhas were. “That [first half] was probably our toughest 40 minutes we’ve had all year.”

Beemer added that the Stingers were motivated to cap off a perfect season with this championship after the disappointment of last season, when the Stingers finished 1-6.

The men’s rugby team will now play in the national championship in Guelph, Ont., from Nov. 16 to 19. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

“It was pretty easy to stay humble,” Beemer said. “Our theme was: good is the enemy of great. Despite our winning streak, the guys were hungry and wanted to win every week. It comes down to the fact that we had really great players this year, and I was fortunate enough to have a great coaching staff.”

“I’m one of 67 guys,” Beemer added. “Every person that’s on this team puts something forth. It’s easy to keep guys motivated when you have everyone holding each other accountable.”

Centre Charles Debove, who was named the most outstanding player in the RSEQ this season, echoed his coach’s message.

“We came into the game ready to go to war,” Debove said. “[After] all the work we did during the season, it feels amazing to finally win a championship with the boys. We’re such a tight-knit group.”

Debove added that the team’s mindset this season was completely different from last year’s. “Compared to last year, we knew we were never going to feel that way again. 1-6 was not acceptable,” he said. “We succeeded as a team.”

After this championship win, the Stingers will head to Guelph, Ont., for the men’s rugby nationals. Beemer said the team will have to improve their discipline to be successful against the other top-ranked teams in the country.

“We’ve got a lot of skill,” the coach said. “The teams are going to be really good. Not to take anything away from our league, but it’s going to be the best from every province. I don’t know if we’ve been tested well enough this season so far.”

Debove added: “We need to be more resilient. We need to get ready for better competition.”

The Canadian university men’s rugby championship will kick off on Nov. 16.

Main photo by Alex Hutchins.

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