Pronghorns win Part 1 of the Suggitt Cup

RUGBY TEAM SHUTS OUT PANDAS 27-0 SUNDAY

The University of Lethbridge Pronghorns women’s rugby team has taken Game 1 of the Suggitt Cup with authority.

Just as importantly, they’ve gotten their Canada West season off on a winning note following a 27-0 win over the Alberta Pandas Sunday afternoon in Edmonton.

“We wanted to get off to a good start,” said Pronghorns head coach Neil Langevin. “We put ourselves behind the eight ball last season. So we just wanted to get a good start. Our performance was really good in the first half. We move the ball and kind of changed our attack. So we changed that in the first half and really dominated them physically as well. It was an all-around solid first half.”

The Pronghorns opened up a 22-0 lead at the half.

“They used a lot more line speed coming up on the defence and shut out our wide attack a little bit more,” said Langevin. “We fatigued a little bit and we didn’t bury our attack as much. But largely our defence held them. They really didn’t have that many line breaks.”

The Pronghorns have two weeks off before staging their home opener Sept. 21 when they take on the Calgary Dinos at 7 p.m. at the University of Lethbridge Stadium.

“Overall, the change in attack in our first half was really good to see and our dominance in that defence was awesome to see,” said Langevin. “I’m really happy overall with the girls’ attitude. They’ve already been talking about things they want to improve on. We just have to continue to bury our attack. Sometimes we get in the habit of just standing wider and not running onto the ball in attacks. It’s just working on that and improving every little aspect of the game. We have two weeks to work and improve and then we are in for the long-haul.”

The Pandas and Pronghorns will face each other in the second leg of the Suggitt Cup Oct. 5 at 3 p.m. at the U of L Stadium.

The Pandas won the second instalment of the Suggitt Cup last year on point differential by a single point after the two teams split the season series, but the Horns won the inaugural Suggitt Cup in 2017.

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