MONTREAL – The Bishop’s Gaiters’ men’s rugby team fell 31-13 to the McGill Redmen in the Quebec university men’s rugby championship this afternoon in Montreal. The Redmen broke the game open with three tries in the first 12 minutes of the second half.

A raucous crowd of approximately 400, including at least 100 fans from Bishop’s, saw McGill open the scoring 14 minutes into the game as Adam Sommer fell on the ball in the end zone, culminating a long Redmen scoring push. Alastair Crowe’s conversion put the Redmen up 7-0.

Late in the first half, the Gaiters found their form, playing “the best half we’ve played all year”, according to Gaiters’ Head Coach Bill Robson. A Sam Campbell penalty goal from 30 yards out cut the margin to 7-3 halfway through the frame. Bishop’s took the lead at the 35-minute mark on Matt Pereira’s (Erin, Ont.) first try of the game. Sam Kolada pounced on a loose ball after McGill mishandled a kick, and he flipped the ball outside to Pereira, who ran the remaining 15 yards diving just inside the corner flag to put the Gaiters ahead 8-7.

The second half, however, was a different story. After Bishop’s misplayed the opening kickoff, McGill drove straight down the field and Alexander Hart pushed the ball into the end zone only 45 seconds into the half. Alastair Crow’s second conversion of the day made the score 14-8 for McGill. The Redmen kept the pressure up, and moved the ball effectively with a combination of passing and rolling mauls. Dave Tontini scored the first of his two tries at the eight-minute mark of the half when a Redmen maul pushed the ball into the end zone. Four minutes later, another rolling maul by McGill led to another Tontini try, and the Redmen were up 24-8.

The teams traded tries late in the game, with Adrian Thorogood scoring for McGill, while Matt Pereira pushed the ball over for his second try of the day with three minutes left in the match.

Despite the result, Robson was pleased with his team’s performance this year. “This has been an incredibly successful season, given what we were up against”, he said.