Stingers win Quebec title

The Concordia Stingers defeated the McGill Redmen 20-18 to win the Quebec university men’s rugby championship before more than 500 enthusiastic fans at Molson Stadium on Nov. 6.

Fly-half Scott Gill scored 15 points in the final. Gill, an Engineering student, connected on five penalty goals as the Stingers built up a 15-8 lead early in the second half. Senior fullback Etienne Bouchard-Claisse drove the final nail, scoring what proved to be the game-winning try with less than five minutes remaining to give the third-place Stingers a 20-13 lead.

“I’m proud of the way we played,” said Stingers head coach Clive Gibson. “We showed a lot of heart through both playoff wins, including last week’s semifinal upset over the second-place Bishop’s Gaiters.”

The Stingers posted a 3-4-1 record in the regular season, while the Redmen boasted a 7-1 record. McGill’s only loss was to Concordia by a score of 27-20 on Oct. 5. The teams also met on Oct. 19 when the Redmen recorded a 9-6 victory.

The last time the Stingers won the Quebec championship was in 2001 with an 11-10 victory over the Redmen. Concordia’s last appearance in the final was 2002, when the team was edged out 14-10 by McGill.