LONDON, Ont. – Tom Bridger (Victoria, B.C.) contributed six points off of three conversions as the Western Mustangs men’s rugby team defeated the Brock Badgers 21-6 in the OUA semi-final game on Nov. 6 at the UWO Rugby Fields.

Early in the first half, Mustangs Mike Talbot (Lucan, Ont.) broke past the Brock defense running in Western’s first try of the game. Bridger then contributed his first convert of the game, extending the Mustang lead to 7-0.

Soon after, Brock responded with a penalty goal by Samual Rimmer, making the score 7-3. Brock continued offensive pressure, by adding another 3 points from Rimmer's second penalty goal, the result of a defensive penalty on the Mustangs.

The Western defense stayed strong holding back the Badgers; Brock would not score again.

Offensive running by Western’s Mike Penczak (Brantford, Ont.) put the Mustangs in scoring position on the field. Rory Tomlinson (Allison, Ont.) was able to capitalize on the field position by battling through Brock defense for a try, extending the Mustang’s lead to 12-6. Bridger kicked his second conversion to end the half with a Mustang lead of 14-6.

The second half saw a battle of the defenses as both Western and Brock held strong.

Brock's Rimmer, missed a penalty goal early in the second half keeping the score 14-6.

Halfway through the second half, Western was finally able to break past Badgers defense, as Conor Trainor (Vancouver, B.C.) added another 5 points off his try. For the third consecutive time, Bridger kicked a complete conversion for a final score of 21-6.

“We all came together. Our forwards played strong and with skill and so did our backs. We played with our size and our skill today,” says Bridger.

Two players left the games with injuries. Talbot, suffered a fractured leg in the first and Badger Eric Inward left the game after a serious knee injury.

With this win the Mustangs will look to avenge last year’s OUA Championship loss, as play for the title next weekend.

“We’ve got be ready; the weather will be cold and probably rainy. The field will not be ideal, but we’ve been building up to this all season. We lost [OUA Championship] last year and we can’t let that happen again,” says Bridger.

The Mustangs will play in the OUA Championships next weekend on Sunday Nov. 14 at 2 p.m. against McMaster at Fletcher's Fields in Markham, Ont.