Men’s Rugby: Stingers Finally Capture Men’s Rugby Title

Stingers Knock Off McGill Redmen in Overtime Thriller

SportsTristan D’Amours — Published November 23, 2014 | Updated November 23, 2014 at 11:04pm

The Stingers had lost their last four championship games, all against their cross-town rival, McGill.

“It was going back and forth the whole time,” said fly-half Joey Fulginiti. “It was an emotional rollercoaster of a game.”

The Stingers were down 16-9 with under four minutes to play in the second half, before eight-man Phillippe Bibeau-Remedi scored a late try, and kick taker Joey Fulginiti kicked the two-point convert to send the game to overtime.

“I came out of the press box to shake the hands of the opposing coaches and I ended up having to turn around and go back up there for the overtime,” confessed head coach Clive Gibson.

Both teams found themselves tied at 21 in overtime, before a blocked McGill kick was returned all the way back to McGill’s end zone by centre Graeme McClintock, giving the Stingers a 28-21 lead, and ultimately, the victory.

Hard fought battles in rucks and scrums for the remaining seven minutes of play gave Concordia their first championship in five straight final appearances.

“McGill hasn’t lost a final in eight years and we finally picked it up,” said flanker Lucas Hotton. “It feels great to be part of this team.“

“It was never-ending,” said Gibson about the game. “We stuck to the game plan for the most part and were rewarded with the gold medal in the end. I’m enormously proud of them.”