For the first time since 1996, UBC held aloft the Wightman Boot as series victors over the University of Victoria. A 22-8 win in cold, damp conditions was UBC's greatest victory in recent memory and much deserved it was. The Thunderbirds retained the ball well in attack and made sharp, accurate incisions into the Vikes' half to score three well-taken tries. They did that while putting up a stoic display of discipline on defence to concede just eight points in the first half and none in the second.
WIGHTMAN BOOT HISTORY / SCHEDULE
UBC opened the scoring in the 13th minute as quick hands released the backs and the ball made it out wide to Francois du Toit who slid in to score his first try since September. Quinton Willms missed the resulting conversion but the 'Birds were up 5-0 early on.
Victoria regrouped immediately and after a burst into the UBC half they were awarded a penalty at the breakdown.
Fergus Hall stepped up to knock it over and the Vikes were back within two points.
The 'Birds next try started from within their own half, a mess of a scrum resulting in the ball popping out to scrum-half Spencer Miller on the blindside. He drew his man and set Erik Hunter-James away on the wing. Hunter-James broke his first tackle and neatly stepped the fullback to before dotting down under the posts, 60 yards out from where he received the ball. Willms made no mistake with the conversion this time and UBC led 12-3.
Victoria enjoyed their most dominant period of the game following that try and spent the best part of five minutes in the UBC 22. Their diligence was finally rewarded and the Thunderbirds defence was stretched for the first and only time of the game; a maul was quickly formed from a Vikes lineout and they marched the 'Birds back ten yards over their own line before
Luke Campbell dropped on the ball to score. A missed conversion left the score at 12-8.
The Thunderbirds quickly picked themselves up and marched straight back down to the Victoria 22. A scrum five yards out led to quick ball for the backs and after a scrambled finish in the far corner Willms dotted down. The referee had to confer with her assistants momentarily before awarding the try, much to the delight of the hundreds of alumni and fans watching from the new Gerald McGavin Rugby Centre. Willms converted his own try, his most difficult attempt of the night, and UBC went into the break leading 19-8.
UBC came out in the second half reinvigorated and continued to assert their dominance. They were unlucky not to score a couple of times more; Spencer Miller hacked the ball free from the base of a scrum and pounced on the loose ball over the Victoria try-line only for the referee to consult her assistant again and adjudged it to have been knocked-on. A couple of dropped passes with the try-line begging denied UBC the opportunity to extend their lead much further.
A lone penalty by Willms in the 64th minute was the only scoring act in the second half.
UBC's defence remained impressive right up until the final whistle despite Victoria retaining the ball for much of the last 10 minutes. Without a few of their key players, Victioria lacked a spark and creativity in their attack and as a result of the 'Birds' solid defensive presence spent many of their possessions running sideways rather than straight.
This afternoon's win meant the accumulated series score was 51-24 and sees the Boot remain in Vancouver for the first time in 17 years.
It was head coach Spencer McTavish's first Wightman win over Victoria as coach despite numerous wins as a player and he had this to say on the result: "I think we left a few tries out there, we definitely could have had a few more. We did some good things today though. They're a good team but we got them a little bit behind the 8 ball and knew they'd have to attack from anywhere and we did a very good job defensively and put pressure on them at the right times."
