Humber’s men’s rugby team captured its ninth gold medal — its second in a row — defeating the Durham Lords in the Ontario Colleges Athletics Association (OCAA) final on Nov. 16.
Hawks rugby head coach Fabian Rayne said he was proud of the effort the team put in throughout the season, including the final.
“They put the work in all season, and it's nice to see all that work come to fruition,” he said. “I'm really proud of the guys; they left it on the field today.”
The game at Thompson Rugby Park in Oshawa, Ont., was played in snowy and windy weather, and they had a significant role throughout the match.
Humber was ranked second in the regular season with a record of 5-1, with the single loss coming against Durham, who were ranked first and undefeated at 6-0.
Ahead of the game, Lords' head coach John Watkins said he expected this match to be a challenging one.
“I think that this game is going to be very competitive,” he said. “Our last match was a really good contest, and we're expecting kind of the same today.”
Watkins said Humber’s defensive structure was one of the biggest challenges heading into the final.
“I think Humber's defence, their tendencies are very strong,” he said. “We're going to have to work really hard, create phases to attack them.”
Rayne said he wants his team to focus on playing strong rugby from start to finish.
“Our focus today is [on] playing 80 minutes of good rugby and playing as a team,” he said. “I think if our guys go out and do their jobs and do it well, we'll be just fine.”
The OCAA announced its rugby awards on Nov. 12, with two Hawks players, James Robb-Kennedy and Jayce Kroes, earning the Defensive and Rookie Player of the Year.
Despite these individual accomplishments, Watkins said winning a championship really matters the most.
“Listen, individual awards are great, [but] winning a championship is what we're really about,” he said. “A guy doesn't win Defensive Player on his own. It takes a whole team of guys to put him in that position.”
“We're just focused on playing a championship game and trying to win and win a gold medal.”
The first half of the final saw the Hawks struggle early as Durham's momentum gave them the early lead with the opening try and a successful conversion.
Humber would bring the game tied up later in the half, with first-year back row Ashton Burton providing a try and third-year fly Michael Min slotting in a conversion.
The end of the half would see the score tied at 7-7 as both teams prepared for another 40 minutes of rugby, with the snow continuing to fall heavily.
At the beginning of the second half, the Hawks committed a foul play, leading to a penalty try awarded to the Lords to bring it back to a seven-point deficit.
Humber would immediately respond in the 48th minute with its attack pushing through Durham's defence and scoring its second try.
Min successfully slotted in his second conversion of the game, hitting the inside of the goalpost to tie up the game.
The Hawks' momentum carried throughout the entire second half, with another try in the 69th minute and a successful conversion.
Shortly after, in the 73rd minute, Humber brought in another try to extend the lead to 12 points.
The match ended with Humber defeating Durham 26-14, securing the Hawks their second OCAA gold in as many years.
For Robb-Kennedy, emotions were everywhere for him as this was his last season in the OCAA.
“I've been part of the OCAA for five years,” he said. “[I] played three years with Georgian and was lucky enough to finish my last two years with the Humber Hawks. It's just emotional.”
Robb-Kennedy said that winning in Thompson Rugby Park was a great way to finish off his season since he had never won a single game at the park in his entire career.
“I've never actually won a game here,” he said. “It's pretty sweet to cap off [my] OCAA career with a win here and be doing it with all my brothers.”
This championship victory brings Humber to nine provincial championships, the most in the OCAA men’s rugby history and Rayne’s sixth under his tenure.
Rayne said for next season, he wants to take every game one at a time as his team looks to secure a third in a row OCAA championship.
“We just go one game at a time,” he said. “Losing to Durham was probably the best thing that happened to us because these guys understood that we had to play an A game to win.”
