Mustangs earn shut out against Golden Hawks to complete regular season home schedule

The Western Mustangs men's rugby team took on the Laurier Golden Hawks for their last regular season home game and put on an exciting show, winning 54-0. The scoreboard reflected how hard the team practices and displayed the depth and talent of Western rugby.

Western made key interceptions that made this game a success. Laurier’s fierce competitive nature was evident, however, the Golden Hawks have faced some bad luck on the defensive side this season and the Mustangs' offence took charge.

The game started relatively slow, largely because of the rainy weather conditions. Just before half time the Mustangs were at 14 points and Laurier was pushing hard to score a try. Laurier was at the try line and their scoring chance looked promising until the Mustangs' inside center Rory Tomlinson made an interception and pushed hard on a breakaway to capture a try of his own.

The Mustangs had an array of strong offensive strategies, lead by Mike Turnbull with seven conversion kicks. Turnbull was an asset throughout and showcased his skills against the Laurier defense.

Mustang Ryan Tomlinson scored 3 tries during the game, the most of any player. Close behind Tomlinson was James Ogo with 2 tries, also also a key player in the game. But Western gained a shut out with a joint team effort overall.

"The level of commitment and strategy was expressed by the scoreboard at the end of the game,” said head coach Steve Thomas, who was pleased with the team's performance.

There was positive talk about Jack North - a third-year Australian exchange student in his first year of eligibility - and Aaron Kennedy who scored one try during the game.

The Mustangs have substantial team chemistry this season between the 22 team players and only have one loss against Guelph. The playoffs look promising.

Thomas agrees, and said "in a nutshell, (the team) got the bonus points and four tries, which allowed us to win. Now we just look forward to next week. We are in a good position now but need to stay focused."

Next up for the Mustangs are the McMaster Maruaders next Saturday in Hamilton. Game time is set for 2:00 p.m.

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