The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's rugby team broke a five-year losing streak Saturday night (Sept. 16) after defeating the visiting Trent Excalibur 22-20 at Varsity Stadium.

The historic win marks the first for the men's rugby program since 2011 and the first over Trent since the Excalibur joined the OUA last season.
 

WATCH the final seconds of tonight's men's rugby win...the first for the Varsity Blues since 2011! #BLEEDBLUE #WeAreTO @OUAsport @UofT pic.twitter.com/8FvAjUkrZA

— U of T Varsity Blues (@Varsity_Blues) September 17, 2017

Varsity Blues head coach Jim Delaney, who is in his fourth season as bench boss with the men's team, was quick to point out the U of T support in the crowd on the momentous night.

"What was kind of special for me was about half a dozen players from previous years on hand who had helped to bring the program to where it is tonight. We've been so anxious about winning a game, we've had numerous opportunities to do it, but today we put enough together and I think this is truly going to change the program." 

Spurred on by the alumni on-hand in the crowd the Varsity Blues rose to the occasion opening the match at a breakneck speed.

Toronto quickly jumped ahead in the 14th minute with a try from third-year co-captain Aaron Sommerhalder who plowed through the Trent defence to score.

U of T then added another try in the 29th minute from bruising fourth-year flanker John Stewart, followed by a breakaway effort from third-year fly half Bryson Discombe just before the half, putting the Varsity Blues ahead 22-5 at the break.

Second-year full back Faiyaz Lokhandwala successfully kicked two conversions for Toronto, adding one penalty goal as well.

The Excalibur would pressure throughout the second half with Emerson Prior scoring within the first five minutes and Will Hoffman finding paydirt in the final five to make it a two point game. However, Trent missed the conversion on the Hoffman try which would have tied the game allowing the Blues defence to then create a wall that the Excalibur could not break through.

"This year I made the decision to really structure our play and I think the players believe in it," said Delaney. "We've executed a lot of what we've talked about in practice. The quicker we can play, the more pressure we can put the defence under and I think we did that quiet well tonight."

The Blue and White are back in action next week when they will travel to Kingston, Ont., challenging the RMC Paladins on Saturday, September 23. Kick off is set for 3 p.m.

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