Robert rules as Redmen ruggers rout Gaiters in semifinal
Robert Ashe, a sophomore winger from Ottawa, scored five tries as visiting McGill routed Bishop's 76-15 in a Quebec men's rugby semifinal at Bruce Coulter Field, Sunday.
The Redmen advance to next Sunday's RSEQ final in a bid to capture their seventh consecutive league championship game. They will make the short trip across town to take on the division-leading Concordia Stingers, who disposed of Sherbrooke 31-17 in the other semifinal.
"The boys finally played up to their potential today," said Craig Beemer, in his third season as head coach at McGill. "It was a full 80 minutes of fundamentally sound rugby. I am so happy for the guys that the hard work they have put in this year is finally paying off."
Cameron Perrin, a third-year history major from North Vancouver, added 16 points for the Redmen, converting eight of their 12 majors. Rounding out the scoring for McGill, with one try apiece, was Ian Carvalho-Campos of Sao Paulo, Brazil, Thomas Kirkman-Gagnon of Sherbrooke, Andrew Milne from Singapore, Matt Mercuri of Montreal, Josh Blair of Franklin Centre, Que., Devon Howard of Toronto and Rhys McRae-McKee of Pointe Claire, Que.
"This was clearly the best performance we have had all season,' said Redmen team captain Alex Sunell, a fifth-year engineering senior from West Vancouver. "We're looking forward to using this momentum going into the final."
Andrew Jamieson scored one try for the Gaiters, who were also credited with a team try. Nicolas Alexandre rounded out their scoring with a penalty goal and one conversion.
