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Triumphant home-opener for women’s rugby

Concordian file photo
Photos by Brianna Thicke

After the less than stellar result of their last pre-season game, the Stingers women’s rugby team came back in full force this Friday, beating Université de Sherbrooke 80-0.

Concordia warmed up with tackling and ball-handling drills while Sherbrooke worked 20 yards down the field on their offensive strategy. Concordia kicked off and scored the first try within the first three minutes of the game. Their speed was remarkable, both forwards and backs running circles around Sherbrooke, resulting in another try just two minutes after centre Jackie Tittley kicked the conversion goal for Concordia.

The next three tries were scored by Bianca Farella, who is new to the Stinger family but definitely knows her way around a pitch. She finished up her final season with Dawson last fall and has played at both provincial and national levels. It was announced recently that she would be one of 12 women to play in the NACRA Sevens Championship for team Canada this year in Ottawa, the winner of which will qualify for the Rugby 7s World Cup. Many Stingers rookies played Friday night’s game, but one would never have guessed; when any 15 women were on the field, it was as if they had been playing together for years.

Photos by Brianna Thicke

The women have nothing to worry about when it comes to force. The majority of their scrums were undefeated and every ruck was hit in exactly the right place. They showed dominance when it came to mauls and scored their fourth try by driving the scrum over the try line from the five yard mark. Despite their line outs being a bit shaky, the forwards played with the right amount of tenacity and fearlessness it takes to make a great rugby team.
The forwards weren’t the only impressive ones at the Sherbrooke game. The backs were in exactly the right form from the first to last minutes of the game. They utilized their excellent knowledge of switch passes, blindsiding the Sherbrooke players and scoring tries left and right. The Stingers’ 11’ try was scored by fullback Jenna Giuliani after an impressive breakthrough.

After their last try was scored with two minutes remaining, it was clear the Stingers left their mark on Sherbrooke and everyone watching in the stands.

 

The Stingers will play their next game against McGill in the Kelly-Anne Drummond Cup on Sept. 12 at Concordia Stadium. The game will start at 9 p.m.

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Third time’s a charm?

Being always the bridesmaid in back-to-back finals, the men’s rugby squad kicked off camp with one goal in mind: win the championship.

Each year the roster shuffles. Despite a promising rookie class, this year’s group will need to dig deep in order to fill the gap left from the losses of last year’s split captains Jimmy Bang and Jonathan Dextras-Romagnino

“Losing the leadership of two captains is huge,” said head coach Clive Gibson. Luckily for them, new team captain Dario Pellizzari has been “stepping up in a big way,” said Gibson. “He’s done many positive things that will make team unity very strong this year.”

“Championships are made through overcoming failure and adversity,” said Pellizzari. “The guys know what it feels like to lose two years in a row and now we know what to expect.”

For the majority of the student body, the last weeks of August are the last grasp at summer freedom. But for the Stingers rugby team, it’s the beginning of training camp and this means the fall season is just around the corner.

“Everyone’s looking at you for inspiration,” Pellizzari explained. “I was able to instill my values in the team this winter: work ethic, accountability and respect. If we stick to these values throughout the year, we’ll see great results.”

Along with this common set of values, a ‘no excuses’ attitude has been adopted by the veterans down to the rookies of this year’s team.

While Gibson was adamant about keeping his coaching strategies off the record, he did mention that he, along with his coaching staff, are not practitioners of the traditional rugby game. This is one of the many reasons for their success as of late.

“As a coaching staff, we are extremely committed to what we’d like to consider innovation,” said Gibson. “We are not traditional rugby minds. We’re always looking for that new angle or new approach. I think we may have found it.”

This year marked a very progressive time for the Stingers for the team has hired someone to recruit players on CÉGEP teams. This will allow the coach, who used to take on this role, to focus more on his team.

“I think it might be our year,” admitted Gibson. “There are still some key elements that need to be sorted out, but we’ve got time.”

The Stingers open their season at home on Friday, Sept. 7 at 9 p.m. against Sherbrooke.

 

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Concordia loses in a tale of two halves

Concordia just couldn't climb to McGill's level in RSEQ finals. Photo by Anthony Isabella

After hanging tough in the first half, the talent of McGill was just too much for the Concordia Stingers to handle.

Concordia just couldn't climb to McGill's level in RSEQ finals. Photo by Anthony Isabella

“I’ve never been prouder to wear maroon and gold in my life,” said Stingers captain Jonathan Dextras-Romagnino, whose sentiment resonated throughout the entire Stingers roster.

The rematch of last year’s RSEQ finals was held at McGill. It was the third meeting between the two clubs this season, and it ended like the previous two: with a McGill victory.

It had been almost a year since the Stingers and Redmen faced off in the finals and since then the road has been tough for the Stingers. The team only won a sole regular season game before last week’s win over Bishop’s in the semi-finals.

The Stingers just couldn’t repeat last week’s performance, though, in a game where they needed to be perfect. “Unfortunately we played our best game last week,” said head coach Clive Gibson, who was impressed with the effort nonetheless. “The guys played with a lot of heart and a lot of determination [against McGill].”

Each side played the first half solidly. The majority of ball possession favoured Concordia for the better part of the first 20 minutes. Still, neither team could score and the teams went into half deadlocked at zero.

Three minutes into the second half, McGill got on the board with an unconverted try, after some sloppy Stingers play. Concordia mishandled a ball kicked into its try zone. McGill charged the play and came away with five points.

Concordia was called for a penalty immediately after and was forced to face the talented McGill team shorthanded.

Concordia held the fort the best it could, but eventually the walls gave in.

McGill scored first on a kick then added two tries, taking a commanding 23-point lead with just 15 minutes left in the game.

“Coming into today we had the confidence,” said Stingers flanker Gavin Drohan. “We showed it in the first 20 minutes, but I don’t think we played the full 80.”

The Stingers’ coaching staff believe it came down to an inability to execute what the team had practiced.

“Our game plan was to hit them hard behind their gain line before they got started,” said assistant coach Jamal Benouahi. “We did that pretty much the whole first half, but our set piece was not where it needed to be.”

The bright spot for Concordia came when winger Adriano D’Angelo scored the team’s lone try of the day, after the Stingers had sustained three minutes of pressure, before breaking through the McGill defence.

McGill would score one last try just moments before the final whistle to seal the victory.

After the game, D’Angelo emphasized the importance of games like this for the club’s future. “The more times we get to the finals and pressure situations the better we’ll be at sorting it out and executing under pressure,” he said. “McGill has played in six finals, we’ve played in two.”

For the second consecutive year the Stingers fall just short of the championship, but certainly gain a lot of intangibles from games like this one. Like D’Angelo, prop Jimmy Bang was also looking to the future. “We have to use this day, use this loss, as something to build on for next year,” he said.

 

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Laval gives Concordia playoff pink-slip in RSEQ finals

The Concordia Stingers were hauled down by the Laval Rouge et Or in the RSEQ finals. File photo by Anthony Isabella

With a return trip to the CIS national championship tournament on the line, the Stingers knew they needed to play the game of their lives in Quebec City to advance past a Laval Rouge et Or team they’d lost to twice in the regular season.

The Concordia Stingers were hauled down by the Laval Rouge et Or in the RSEQ finals. Photo by Anthony Isabella

In the first half of Saturday’s game, it looked as though the Stingers women’s rugby team learned from the two previous defeats and were going to atone for the regular season losses in the game that mattered most.

Just over 20 minutes into the first half, Concordia got on the board first on a try by Adara Borys. The Stingers didn’t wait long to score again either. Just over five minutes later, Traci Silva scored a try that would go unconverted, to give the Stingers a 12-0 lead.

Concordia headed into halftime with a 15-3 lead.

And then everything fell apart.

In a span of four minutes during the second half, Laval scored three tries. All were converted, and just like that Concordia’s 15-point lead turned into a nine-point deficit.

“We missed some tackles and they were just able to execute,” said Stingers coach Graeme McGravie.

A youthful Stingers team took a shock to the system, and were unable to close the flood gates against a much more experienced Laval team during the four minute onslaught.

“A lot of our players haven’t been here before, so it was tough for them to refocus and realize we have another 30 minutes to play,” said McGravie. “For the wheels to fall off like that was a shock. It was a blow to the ego.”

The Stingers were also at a disadvantage when veteran centre Latoya Blackwood left the game with a separated shoulder.

Eventually Concordia regrouped and was able to score some tries late. The damage was done, though.

Still, McGravie was proud of his team’s effort not only against Laval, but throughout the whole season.

“It would be easy for me to sit here and say I’m disappointed, but I’m not,” he said. I’m really optimistic about the program moving forward.”

 

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Stingers finish season on four-game losing streak

The Concordia Stingers finished their regular season with a 23-6 loss to the McGill Redmen at home on Sunday. The game added a fourth loss to the Stingers’ losing streak, and allowed McGill to lock up first place.

Concordia just couldn’t break through when they needed to against McGill in a 23-6 loss on Sunday afternoon. Photo by Navneet Pall

Despite making the most of an undisciplined McGill team in the first half and putting six points on the board, the Stingers were unable to sustain that pressure during the second half.
“We took advantage of the kicks we could in the first half, but didn’t have as many opportunities in [the second half],” said Stingers head coach Clive Gibson. “Our defence was solid and [McGill] didn’t break the line that often.”
McGill used the halftime break to clean up their game. This change would eventually lead them to break the Concordia defence by capitalizing on each window of opportunity the stingy Concordia defence presented.
The Stingers showed off their defensive skills when the team received a disciplinary yellow card towards the second portion of the first half. Concordia fell short a man for 10 minutes; they battled constant Redmen pressure for the better part of 20 minutes. This defensive stand was highlighted with a gorgeous takedown of the Redmen scrum-half by eight-man Philippe Walkden, which eventually led to the Stingers gaining possession and clearing the ball, leaving McGill with nothing to show for it.
One of the more frustrating aspects of the Stingers’ performance was the inability to score a try against the opposition. “We had three chances missed on the wing; it’s all about finishing, especially in this league,” said scrum-half Conor O’Hara.
As a followup to Sunday’s game, the Stingers will face off with the Gaiters in a playoff matchup at Bishop’s University this Friday.
Despite Sunday’s loss, the team is hopeful. “If you look at how much we want it as a team and how aggressive we’re playing, no one is going to outwork us come playoffs” said Walkden.
Concordia lost once and tied once against the Gaiters in two meetings this year, and are hoping to rebound in the postseason. A win in Lennoxville would send Concordia to the finals for the second straight year.
“We can score against Bishop’s if we get the ball,” said outside centre Jonathan Dextras-Romagnino. “If we play how we played today, we have a good chance.”

Playoffs begin Friday Oct. 28 at 8:15 p.m. on the road against the Bishop’s Gaiters

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Stingers advance past McGill to finals

A swift Stinger charge in the second half left the McGill Martlets speechless in the RSEQ semi-finals. A passing McGill player was overheard murmuring, “I can’t believe it, I don’t know what happened.”

Ball control was crucial for Concordia in their 18-8 RSEQ semi-final victory over cross town rival McGill. Concordia faces Laval in the finals next week. Photo by Anthony Isabella

During the first half, the Stingers started off shaky by repeatedly not getting straight lineouts, and allowing McGill various free kicks. However, Concordia clearly dominated the scrums and the drives by keeping low and binding strong. As a result, the Stingers gained continuous possession and lots of yards.
Fourteen minutes into the first half, Concordia fly-half Erika Hamilton scored the first try as she pulled a clever play.
“Erika’s was a great solo effort, we had practiced shooting gaps and she shot the gap she used the other runner as a dummy that was fantastic,” said Stingers head coach Graeme McGravie.
Near the end of the first half, McGill was desperately attempting to get points on the board before halftime, since they were unable to break free from Concordia’s strong defence.
With two minutes left in the first half, Casey Thorburn, a centre for McGill, scored a try thanks to some quick passes and excellent linebreaks, evening the score, 5-5.
With 16 minutes left on the board in the second half, McGill seemed to try to play up their offence, getting dangerously close to Concordia territory when the back line was pushing through.
However, McGill was called for a penalty allowing Hamilton to quickly execute an excellent kick to the ball to clear their line.
This was followed by effective driving mauls and quick tackles every time McGill attempted a run. The pressure on McGill pushed them to make simple errors such as gaining offside penalties. This made it easier for Concordia to keep possession and charge with full force to gain territory. Concordia inevitably scored another try, winning the game 18-8.
The Stingers speedy centre, Latoya Blackwood, greatly contributed to the win. She charged fearlessly during the second half, after some great passes were made by her teammates.
“I’m proud of how we overcame challenges,” said Blackwood. A yellow card for No. 8 Hughanna Gaw was one of those moments. “We were down a player for about 10 minutes, but we stuck together and were not defeated. We did what we needed to do to win.”
Concordia played with more confidence and coordination in the second half.
“In the first half we didn’t play our game at all,” said Blackwood. “We let McGill control the pace and so second half we just wanted to go out there and accomplish the goals we planned out during practice and we succeeded at it.”
Even McGill head coach Vince deGrandpré was impressed by the Stingers. “I think that [Concordia] might be more experienced and well organized,” he said. “Those girls are committed, they’re strong, they’re fit and they deserved to win.”
DeGrandpré mentioned that star Concordia players such as Gaw, Blackwood, and Jackie Tittley are an intimidating line of players. “They’re a tough act to go up against.”
“I’m happy we won; we grabbed them down and pulled it out,” said McGravie. “They decided to stick together and play as a team rather than playing as 15 individuals.”
With a game against Laval ahead, a return to the CIS national semifinals is on the line for the Stingers. Concordia was defeated both times they played Laval this season.

 

Concordia will play Laval Oct. 29 at 1 p.m. in Quebec City.

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Stingers fall one point shy in loss to Vert et Or

The rain poured down as Concordia and Sherbrooke players prepared for a line-out. Sherbrooke won the game 12-11. Photo by Navneet Pall

The Concordia Stingers men’s rugby team lost to the Sherbrooke Vert et Or by one point on Friday night, after playing a tough game in the pouring rain.

The rain poured down as Concordia and Sherbrooke players prepared for a line-out. Sherbrooke won the game 12-11. Photo by Navneet Pall

An unlucky kick by Concordia at the start of the game hit the goal post, but Adriano D’Angelo gained the lead and three points for the Stingers with a kick at the 18:05 minute mark.
Sherbrooke was quick to answer back and scored the first try and two-point conversion at the 26:24 minute mark.
Another kick by D’Angelo earned Concordia three more points, but once again Concordia couldn’t keep Sherbooke off the board for long.
A second try by Sherbrooke at the end of the first half gave the Vert et Or a six-point lead over Concordia, making the game 12-6 at the break.
The rain made execution difficult for Concordia, but Stingers coach Clive Gibson said the rain shouldn’t have affected their game as much as it did.
“As far as I know it was raining on both teams, not just us,” he said.
The slippery ball made passing difficult, and proved challenging for a team of speedy, quick-handed backs.
“Our backs are the strength on our team, and when you can’t move the ball quickly and easily it takes away that aspect of the game,” said Gibson. “We couldn’t react to it, we couldn’t respond, and we couldn’t deal with the weather conditions.”
The Stingers came back in the second half with pressure in Sherbrooke’s end. Hooker William Felderbaum scored a corner try and five points for Concordia at the 69:15 minute mark, but a difficult conversion attempt from the wide angle was unsuccessful.
Despite two yellow cards for Sherbrooke – and over 20 minutes of a one-man advantage for Concordia – the Stingers couldn’t make the push for another try.
“The boys just simply didn’t do enough,” said Gibson. “When for 20 minutes you have a one-man advantage because [Sherbrooke] had two guys in the sin bins, and you don’t score, it calls into question the tactics being used.”
It’s been a rocky season for the Stingers so far. They coolly beat Sherbrooke the last time they faced each other with a final score of 17-5, but they couldn’t secure the win against them this time, despite a strong show in the second half.
“Unfortunately that’s the nature of our season,” said Gibson. “We spent the better part of every game we played pressuring in their end, and were not able to finish.”
Outside-centre Jonathan Dextras-Romagnino said he was disappointed over the loss.
“We came out thinking we were going to score four tries and we got a lucky one, so we underestimated them,” he said. “The rain killed us. Our game plan shouldn’t be screwed by the weather.”
A rare guest was also in attendance Friday night to see the game. McGill coach Craig Beemer showed up to see the Stingers in action before his Redmen face Concordia next weekend.
The Stingers lost to the Redmen three weeks ago, but eight man David Walsh is optimistic.
“He was watching us but I don’t think he saw much today,” said Walsh. “We’re saving it for next week. You’ll be surprised.”

Concordia plays host to McGill on Sunday, Oct. 23, at 3 p.m.

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