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Balloch blossoms as McGill captures Quebec rugby championship

Published: 14 November 2010

(PHOTO BY ANDREW DOBROWOLSKYJ)

MONTREAL - Gideon Balloch accounted for all of McGill's scoring as the Redmen defeated Concordia 22-10 to capture the Quebec University Rugby League championship before 450 fans at Molson Stadium, Sunday.

It was the fifth consecutive conference crown for the men's rugby team and marked McGill's third intercollegiate banner of the fall season, joining women's cross-country and men's baseball, which captured a national title.

Balloch, a 21-year-old mechanical engineering senior from Beijing, tallied three tries, converted two of them and added a penalty goal.

"It's a great feeling," said Balloch, a six-foot, 185-pound winger who was named player of the game and ended up only three points shy of matching his regular season points total of 25 in six league games. "The key to our success was that everyone played an unselfish game. I sat out there on the wing and we put a lot of tries through there but I've got to thank all my teammates for passing the ball out. To be honest, I think the whole team played incredibly. It wasn't at all an individual performance."

After Balloch and Concordia's Adriano D'Angelo exchanged penalty kicks to knot the score at 3-3, a relentless McGill defence stymied the Stingers time and time again, setting the stage for Balloch's unexpected hat-trick.

Balloch tallied his first try on a play that developed out of a ruck about two yards out from the end zone. "Josh Reznick passed out to Mathieu Sidoti who cut in and popped it out to me for a short 10-yard run," said Balloch.

The second try was almost the exact same play. Balloch struck pay-dirt on a five-yard run, which gave the Redmen a 17-3 lead at the half.

Conor O'Hara, a sophomore scrum-half from Montreal West, then replied with a try of his own and D'Angelo kicked the conversion to resuscitate the Stingers, who narrowed the gap to 17-10 with about 11 minutes remaining.

But Balloch was Johnnie-on-the-spot again, racking up his third try to give the Redmen a commanding 12-point lead with five minutes to go in the contest.

"We had the ball maybe 15 yards from the left sideline the ball went through five or six sets of hands and I was lucky to be at the end of that line and ran it in from 10 yards out," explained Balloch, whose trifecta effectively doused any hope of a Concordia comeback.

"The last couple of years, the games haven't been that close, so this championship is really up there for me," said Redmen head coach Craig Beemer, a McGill grad who played football and rugby for the Redmen and has served as part of the coaching staff for more than a decade.

"The focus on the team this year was really unbelievable. From Game 1 to today, the team improved every week and this is a tribute to them. This game is probably one of the best Quebec finals that I have witnessed, especially because I have seen the improvement over the course of the season. The guys worked hard all year but until that loss (the final regular season game to Concordia), they were taking this too lightly. They assumed that this game would be won, even while we were in our preseason. That loss really re-focused them and the intensity (in practice) went through the roof after that."

Team captain Alexander Sunell, an electrical engineering junior from West Vancouver, B.C., said that McGill's unexpected 17-10 loss to Concordia in the final regular season game, one which ended McGill's 14-game win streak, was a real wake-up call for the Redmen.

"There's nothing like going to the final when you lost the last game of the regular season and you know this was going to be one of your toughest games. Between the loss to Concordia and a tight game with Bishop's the week before, we kind of realized that we are human, whereas the four years previous we haven't felt that because we've been running over everybody. I was more psyched heading into this game than I've ever felt before any other game at McGill because we knew that there was a lot on the line this time."

Anthony Nestel, an international management senior from Bridgewater, N.S., who plays at the lock and back row positions, is the only member of the Redmen who has won five conference banners in five years.

"This was one probably the most special of all of them," he said. "The only championship game that was closer than this was in my freshman year but I didn't get to play then, so this one meant a lot more to me. Being able to win five in five years is something that very few people get to do. It was something really special.

"Having the development and leadership from a 75-member club come through the system is what makes us as strong as we are. Being able to guide the younger players up through the system is the key. A perfect example is Gideon Balloch who didn't make the varsity ("A") team his first year, didn't play much his second year and now you can see the development he's had by staying on as a club member. He lit it up tonight for us. Kudos to 'Gid' for sticking with it and working hard. He's a perfect example of what our program has to offer."

2010 QUEBEC UNIVERSITY MEN'S RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

(at Molson Stadium, McGill University)

McGill 22, Concordia 10

SCORING SUMMARY:

First Half:

1. McG: 18-yd PEN-KICK by Gideon Balloch, 18:00 (McG: 3-0)

2. CON: 19-yd PEN-KICK by Adriano D'Angelo, 23:00 (tie 3-3)

3. McG: 10-yd TRY by Gideon Balloch (convert by G. Balloch), 18:00 (McG: 10-3)

4. McG: 5-yd TRY by Gideon Balloch (convert by G. Balloch), 38:00 (McG: 17-3)

Second Half:

5. CON: 1-yd TRY by Conor O'Hara (convert by Adriano D'Angelo), 29:00 (McG: 17-10)

6. McG: 10-yd TRY by Gideon Balloch (convert missed by G. Balloch), 35:00 (McG: 22-10)