BU holds off MRU surge to reach final

The Brandon University women’s rugby team can consider itself lucky for two things.

One: the fact that rugby is only an 80-minute game.

Two: Brooklyn Zemliak.

Even though Mount Royal University appeared in too deep a hole, it pushed BU to the final whistle of a 37-24 decision in the Prairie University Women’s Rugby Conference semifinals at John Reilly Field on Friday.

MRU scored three tries in the last 10 minutes and was on its way to a fourth when Zemliak shot through the line and picked off a pass, scoring from midfield to put the game away.

“Throughout the game, I found I tried a couple of times but this time was especially slow and I knew that gap was coming. She wasn’t looking at me flying through, so I just happened to grab the ball and go through,” Zemliak said, adding she had one thought once she secured the ball.

“Try to run as fast as I can to that try line.

“It was very exciting. We knew it was the last play, so adrenalin’s up and I was very excited.”

Brandon earned a trip to Sunday’s final against the defending champion Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, which beat the University of Saskatchewan 41-29 in the first semifinal.

The game kicks off at 1 p.m., following the bronze-medal match at 10:30 a.m.

It was all Brandon early. Following a 4-0 regular season full of blowout wins, the hosts appeared destined for another as they quickly pushed the ball deep into MRU territory. While Megan Thompson missed a penalty kick eight minutes in, BU got the ball back and swung it to its MVP nominee Raegan Ricard, who beat her defender and touched the ball down.

Midway through the half, Brandon’s offence started rolling with long strings of passes to create space for wing Calle Peters to break the plane in the corner of the try zone and lead 10-0.

A minute later, Thompson kicked the ball over the try line, and after MRU marked it for a free kick, Brooke Miner caught it like a punt returner and was over the line mere seconds later.

BU continued controlling possession and strung another picture-perfect passing sequence to find Shaina Beswitherick for a 20-0 lead.

Mount Royal finally got the ball in Brandon territory and wasted little time driving as straight forward as possible after each ruck before Cassidy Laboret got her team on the board. Katie Watts made the first convert of the game to cut the lead to 20-7.

Brandon’s Kypling Black took a yellow card late in the half, leaving her side down a player for five minutes on each side of the break.

Overall, BU liked its start.

“We wanted to catch them on their heels and really start out rough because we knew they would lose it if we came out strong,” said Thompson.

“Getting it out and not being selfish with the ball, … because they would bunch up, worked pretty well.”

BU killed off the man advantage, then after MRU controlled possession for eight minutes, Thompson broke through for a long run up the middle, adding her first and only convert of the afternoon.

Ricard added another try to seemingly punch BU’s ticket to the final.

But with 10 minutes left, the wake-up call rang.

BU slowed down on defence and MRU took advantage as Gabby Gregoire ran one player after another over to score, then Mount Royal added another try with a convert three minutes later.

Suddenly, the lead was just 32-19, less than two converted tries.

The visitors kept pressing, though this time BU at least made them work a few more minutes for a try in the corner that they couldn’t convert, keeping it a two-score game with two minutes left.

One more long run could have really put the pressure on, but Brandon did just enough.

“I try not to think about the score, I just play as it is minute by minute, tackle by tackle, ruck by ruck,” Zemliak said. “We don’t panic, we just slow the game down when we can.

“We had to play our defence and luckily I got the pass.”

BU coach Brian Yon wasn’t pleased with the game overall, but found one positive takeaway from the ugly final 10 minutes.

“As a coaching staff … we said this is probably good for us. We needed this,” Yon said. “Listen, they’re not just going to gift wrap it to you, you have to go out and you have to earn it, play a complete 80.

“The biggest takeaway for us is we have to realize this is playoff rugby. Teams are going to challenge you throughout this entire process. I didn’t like the way we got away from the game plan, especially in the second half. When we did get the ball, we turned it over by making individual decisions and not sticking to the game plan.”

Yon added that effort simply won’t be enough against SAIT on Sunday.

“They play well when they’re on the front foot and they’re on the attack. They have a good 9 that has a really nice delivery from the deck, so they move the ball, they like to play fast, they like to move it wide,” Yon said.

“On our side on defence, we have to put them under pressure.

“If we sit back and we absorb the attack, it’s going to be a long day.”

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com

» Instagram: @thomasfriesen5