This past weekend the Memorial University Men’s Rugby Team came second in the 2025 Atlantic University Rugby Championships in Wolfville, Nova Scotia.
They had hoped to win the tournament for a fifth straight year.
Entering the championships, the Sea-Hawks were ranked 10th in the country and the highest of all the Atlantic Canadian Universities. The winner of this tournament would get the opportunity to participate at the Canadian University Men’s Rugby Championship against the top universities from around the country later in the year.
The Atlantic University Rugby Championships consisted of four teams from Atlantic Canada playing in a tournament format. Along with Memorial University, the tournament included UNB, Dalhousie and Acadia.
MUN’s first matchup came against UNB, where the winner would move on to the finals.
The Sea-Hawks opened the scoring three minutes into the game, as James Noftall got loose for a breakway and scored the first try of the match. UNB would answer back, by earning 10 points in a six minute span, taking a 10-7 lead.
Memorial did not go down easy though, as Charles Walsh scored a try for Memorial right before halftime, to give back MUN their lead.
The second half remained close, as Memorial would score 9 more points in the second half to pull off a 19-10 win and advance to their fifth straight Atlantic University Rugby Final.
Memorial would face off against Dalhousie in the finals, in a very back-and-forth game.
For the second game in a row, MUN would open the scoring, as they kicked for an early 3-0 lead. Shortly after, Dalhousie would score a very gritty try, taking a 7-3 lead.
MUN would answer back with a try of their own, however, would miss the kick for the extra two points, and would only take an 8-7 lead. Dalhousie would go on to score 10 points in a 10 minute span to take a 17-8 lead.
MUN would score another try before halftime, however, yet again, missed the kick for an extra two points, and entered the second half down 17-13.
The Sea-Hawks would open the scoring in the second half with a try, taking a 18-17 lead, and missing their third straight two point kick, which was followed by another Dalhousie try, taking back their lead, however, they would also miss their two point kick, and only go up 22-18.
After a drought of no scoring from either team, MUN would take the lead late in the half, as they scored a try to put them up 23-22, once again unable to convert on the two point kick.
That lead did not last long, as Dalhousie answered back with a try and a converted two-point kick, giving them a 29-23 lead with very little time in the match.
That would unfortunately erase Memorial’s chances of winning, as Dalhousie would score yet again and ultimately win 34-23, spoiling Memorial’s attempt to win their fifth straight Atlantic University Rugby Final.
