Path for Queen's women rugby team to national title looks to run through familiar foes

The Queen's University women's rugby team has been on a dominant run in head coach Dan Valley's six-year tenure with the squad.

Since taking the reins in the 2017 season, the Gaels are 24-3 in Ontario University Athletics (OUA) regular-season play and 8-3 in the OUA Playoffs. It's lead to two OUA titles in 2019 and 2022, and the 2021 U Sports championship at home in Kingston, Ont., over the Ottawa Gee-Gees.

WATCH | Queen's wins 2021 national title:

And yet with all the success, an OUA title is far from a given due to the presence of rival Guelph, as the Gryphons have held a 3-2 edge in OUA Championship games between the two clubs the last five seasons, despite Queen's taking the last four regular-season meetings, including a 25-20 win on Sept. 23.

While Queen's last regular-season loss to an opponent other than the Gryphons was six years ago, Guelph has not suffered a regular-season defeat at the hands of a team other than its Kingston rival since 2007 — the first year of Gryphons head coach Colette McAuley's current 17-year tenure.

The pull of the Gryphons' program was felt for years by second-year Gaels player Madison Donnelly, but she ultimately decided to leave home.

"I grew up wanting to go to Guelph," the OUA Rookie of the Year told CBC Sports. "Guelph always had a reputation of being a super strong women's rugby team… I never really thought of Queen's as a possibility [until Valley reached out to the Little Britain, Ont., native in 11th grade].

"I watched the [2021 OUA Finals] where Queen's actually lost to Guelph, but even so, just being in the environment, seeing and meeting the team, and seeing how they interact, it was a completely different feeling. I left my visit knowing that's where I wanted to go."

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