The University of British Columbia Rugby Club

Past  players from the 1981 Thunderbird Rugby Tour of  Ireland started their 30th anniversary by watching the 2011 Thunderbirds defeat the Meralomas this past Saturday at Wolfson Fields. No less than twenty former players met prior to the 2:30pm KO at Wolfson field. Most asked..where's the clubhouse?  It was a bit difficult to inform them that their old clubhouse had been replaced with a newer tempoary clubhouse which, heaven forbid, was their old dressing room. Lots of laughter and stories along with refeshments until 7:00pm and then they were gone! Brian Sully-Daniel hosted the boys and suplied the  food while Cedar Creek's main man, Gord Fitzpatrick, supplied the wine.

The past weekend wasa a good one for UBC as all three teams wound up on the right side of the score sheet and the Birds, Braves and Totems all recorded victories.

The Totems were away at the Surrey RFC and came back with a 27-3 victory. Tries by Gavin Stephens, Cully Quirke, Cam Graham and Ed Robinson combined with Liam Murphy-Burkes' two conversions and a penalty kick accounted for all our points. The Totems presently are tied for second place in Div 111. At home, the Braves got things rolling with a 34-0 win over the Meralomas. Try scorers were Tristan Waller with two, Blair Knowles, Daniel Barends and Carson White. Barends chipped in three conversions and a penalty to finish with 14 points for the day. The Braves are now 3 and 4 for the season.

Dear  Alumni and friends of UBC Rugby. 

On Saturday November 19th we will be having our annual banquet at the UBC Golf Club, doors open at 6:30pm. This year we will pay tribute to Barry Legh and his 37 year affair at UBC as a student, player, coach and lecturer. We only have fifteen tables available so get your group organized early. Great food, entertainment and an auction with great prizes will be in order along with plenty of time for rubbing elbows with players and mangers of the past and present. Tickets are $250 with a $200 tax receipt available. Please send your cheque in early as we do not want to have you to wait in a line to process your payment on the night of the banquet. That being said you can pay by cheque or cash at the door.

 UBC won two of their three games this past weekend. The Totems continue with their winning ways with a comfortable 45 to 6 win over Ridge Meadows. Liam Murphy-Burke accounted for 25 of those 45 points with three tries and five conversitions. Alex Mascott, Cully Quirke, Kye Leeners and Cam Graham each chipped in with a try. The Ridge Meadows team did a fine job of hosting but unfortunately none of the UBC players could get into the pub  as they were underage, which left coaches Rod Holloway and Heather Millar carrying the torch.

      The UBC Rugby Club will have it's first official practices this first week of school with sessions on Tuesday and Thursday, September 6th and 8th. We are open to all students so dust off your cleats and come on out. Practices are at 6:30 pm on the Wolfson Fields situated on the south campus.

A combination team of Braves and Totems took on Simon Fraser University at SFU this past Saturday on top of the mountain campus. Eight different player shared 10 tries as UBC put up a 62-10 score. Paddy watson was good on six of ten conversions while Blair Knowles and Geoff Coleman scored a brace of tries on the day. SFU put up a good fight and manged two good tries during the match. UBC turned many balls over  to the opposition on the day, especially in the tackle. More work  protecting the ball in contact will be definitely be required.

The Clansmen did an excellent job of hosting us after the game as players were served pizza and refeshment at a brand new Italian eatery just off campus. Thank you kindly for your hospitality.

 The UBC Thunderbirds took on the Cal Bears this past Thursday afternoon at T-Bird Stadium to play game two of the home and away series. The Birds held the lead up until the 39 minute mark of the first half but ,once again, let Cal score on the last play of the half and went into the locker room at halftime down 14-13. The Birds had opened the score with a try from Jeff McKinnon and a conversion from David Hilborn to go up 7-0. Call responded with try of their own off a UBC miscue to even the score 7-7. David Hilborn was good on two more penalty kicks and UBC held a 13-7 lead right up to halftime. A poorly placed kick let the Bears counter and score at the hooter.

The Birds and Braves were idle this past weekend but the Totems hosted Willamette University from Salem Oregon on Sunday March 20th. The sun shone brightly on the first official day of spring and the Totems put up a 63-19 against the touring opposition. Willamette was a big, physical team and at times it certainly looked like Davis vs Goliath on the day. The "play of the game" was David Turner's 95 metre try which had more side steps to it than a group of line dancers doing the "hokey pokey".