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VANCOUVER, BC – Ontario and British Columbia dominated the Cup Finals in every division on Sunday, meeting in four of the five Cup Finals. The eastern giants would secure Titles in both men’s and women’s U18, while BC’s U16 squads were named National Champs.

U-18 Men

The second of four Cup matchups between Ontario and BC took place in the U18 men’s Cup Final Sunday afternoon. Ontario entered the half down a single point, but would rally in the second to take the win 29-21.

“I think we played fantastic. Throughout the entire summer and year, we’ve been working really hard for this game and it definitely showed out there,” said Ontario’s Andrew Coe, following the win.

“We knew we were playing well and doing everything right, we just needed to cut down our penalties. BC has a good kicker on their team so reducing our penalties was a game changer.”

U-18 Women

East met west in the Cup final for the U18 women on Sunday, as Ontario and BC squared off for the National Title. The women in blue would emerge victorious after a 25-5 defeat of BC.

“It feels great to win, we definitely worked pretty hard for it, so it’s nice to get the payoff. I think we played great and everything we’ve been practicing just kind of fell into place perfectly,” said Ontario’s number 8, Ingrid Krausbar, after her team hoisted the cup on the sideline.

U-16 Men

Early in the day, BC1 was put in contention for Gold after blowing Ontario1 out of the water 50-0, but would have to wait for the remainder of the round robin games to be played before finding out their final seed. The Cup Round wrapped up with Alberta besting BC2 35-12 and being named Silver Medalists for the tournament.

With all score sheets in, BC1 were named U16 National Champions and received their Cup and Gold Medals following Alberta’s win.

U-16 Women

Ontario and BC would meet once again in the Cup final, but with a different result in the U16 women’s division. Ontario would hold BC scoreless until early in the second half, when BC turned up the heat and scored three tries to take the Championship 19-0.

“I think that overall the quality of rugby for this age group was outstanding. We knew we were going to come up against a tough Alberta team and a tough Ontario team in this tournament, and we responded phenomenally,” said BC’s head coach, Jen Ross.

“Looking at the bigger picture here, we see high caliber players coming up from 13 to 16 years old - it’s a great reflection of what all the provinces are trying to do and hopefully it will continue to build from here.”

For full statistics, written reports and photographs, and to watch the live stream, please visit www.nationalfestivalrugby.com

National Championship Festival Broadcast Schedule

Wednesday August 7th

U18 Women – Ontario 97 – 7 Nova Scotia
U16 Men – BC2 22 – 5 New Brunswick
U18 Men – Manitoba 29 – 31 Saskatchewan
U18 Women – BC 53 – 5 Manitoba
U16 Men – Ontario1 25 – 5 New Brunswick
U18 Men – BC1 54 – 10 Alberta

Thursday August 8th

U18 Men – New Brunswick 7 – 40 BC2
U16 Women – BC1 23 – 10 Ontario
U16 Men – Ontario1 14 – 7 BC2
U18 Women – Ontario 71 – 0 Manitoba
U18 Men – Saskatchewan 6 – 46 Ontario3

Friday August 9th

U18 Women - Alberta 81 – 5 Newfoundland
U18 Men - Ontario2 17 – 29 Alberta
U18 Women - Saskatchewan 15 – 20 Quebec
U18 Men - Quebec 8 – 57 Ontario1
U18 Men - BC1 36 – 10 Newfoundland

Saturday August 10th

U16 Men – Plate Round – Quebec 54 – 5 New Brunswick
U16 Men – Plate Round – Ontario2 42 – 8 Newfoundland
U16 Men – Cup Round – Ontario1 22 – 29 BC2
U16 Men – Cup Round – BC1 25 – 3 Alberta
U14 Boys – BC2 v BC1
CRC - BC Bears 21 – 30 Wolf Pack

Sunday August 11th

U18 Men - Bowl Final – Nova Scotia 12 – 15 Saskatchewan
U18 Men - Plate Final – Ontario3 26 – 7 BC2
U18 Women Cup Final – Ontario 25 – 5 BC
U18 Men - Cup Final – BC1 21 – 29 Ontario1
U16 Men - Cup Round – Alberta 35 – 12 BC2

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For further information please contact:
Bryan Kelly
Coordinator, National Program Communications
Rugby Canada
Cell. 250.216.5272
bkelly@rugbycanada.ca