Guelph Gryphons knock off St. Francis Xavier in women’s rugby championship rematch

OTTAWA – The Guelph Gryphons exacted revenge on the reigning national champion St. Francis Xavier X-Women in the opening quarterfinal of the 2019 U Sports women’s rugby championship.

In a rematch of last year’s final, the Gryphons beat St. FX 36-12 on Wednesday.

Emmanuela Jada led the Gryphons with three tries.

“We have a fairly young squad this year, so half of them kind of have the broken heart from last year when St. FX crushed our dreams in the gold-medal game. But (for) half of them, it was fresh and new, this is a new experience,” said Gryphons head coach Colette McAuley.

The X-Women fell short in their bid to capture a record seventh national title.

Guelph will face Laval in the semifinals after the Rouge et Or beat the UBC Thunderbirds 32-12 in the second quarterfinal.

The host Ottawa Gee-Gees downed the Calgary Dinos 18-7 and the Queen’s Gaels rolled past the Acadia Axewomen 55-19.

Ottawa and Queen’s will meet in the next round of the playoffs.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 30, 2019.