They beat the competition again this season, finishing third last year, but the Rouge et Or girls rugby team left Quebec on Monday to take part in the university championship, knowing full well that they will not be taken seriously at national level .
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And with the aim of getting their competitors in the rest of Canada to rethink.
“We’re loud, we’re small, but we can move the ball and play rugby,” Annabelle Parent said before boarding the bus to Montreal, where the entire team then boarded the plane to Victoria, British Columbia.
A colorful program awaits you there. By stringing together wins, players will play three games in five days.
Photo Jessica Lapinski
Annabelle Parent, second-line player for the Université Laval Rouge et Or women’s rugby team before leaving for Victoria for the Canadian Championship.
Thanks to the depth
In this tight schedule, the experience of the training and its depth will be a great asset to earn the highest award the grown-up parent, a second-row player, receives.
” [Les autres équipes] Look down on us, she commented. We’re the only French-speaking university, we’ve come a long way, they don’t know what we’re doing there. But we show every year that we can play. »
“There are several favourites, but we’re one of four or five teams that can go for the title,” said François Vachon-Marceau, who will head coach his first Canadian championship. So I think yes, we are to be taken seriously, but we are ready. »
Université Laval is second in the Canadian semifinals behind Queen’s, who beat them last year.
Photo Jessica Lapinski
François Vachon-Marceau before the start.
A perfect season
In her section, the dominance of the Rouge et Or is beyond doubt. The players scored 485 points and conceded just 36 in eight games.
En route to the RSEQ Championship, their only close encounters were against the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees, a team that will also have a presence in Victoria.
The Quebec final against Ottawa was the first game of the season in which Vachon-Marceau’s players faced real difficulties. Leading late in the game – they had never fallen behind before this year – they won in the dying minutes thanks to a conversion from Alexina Tardif-Samson.
“It is save [que ce match] prepared us, raised the carriage. The Canadian championship will bring together the country’s eight best teams. There will be close matches. In terms of leading a game, it was excellent preparation. »
Not like football!
The Rouge et Or start their tournament on Wednesday against Arcadia. At the other end of the table are the Gee-Gees, along with Queen’s and the Victoria Vikes, who they beat to bronze last year.
However, the players will arrive in British Columbia rested having benefited from a week’s rest following their victory in the RSEQ Finals.
“We’re 100%, even 120%,” Parent commented. On the other hand we will need the following week to rest because it hits a Canadian championship! Three games in five days […] We’ll never see football guys do that! »