August 18th, 2022

(WHITBY, ON) -  OWL Cup Day is almost here! The event, held at Fletcher’s Fields on Saturday, August 20th, will feature three Senior Women’s league cup matches, including the Ontario Women’s League 1XV Cup Championship match. OWL Cup Day will be hosted alongside U14 Wrap Up Day. The U14 event marks the conclusion of the U14 rugby season in Ontario.  28 teams from 21 clubs across Ontario will play matches at Fletcher’s Field from 9:00AM - 3:00PM to conclude the U14 season. The Toronto Arrows will be on site from 11:00AM - 2:00PM and will have prize packs to giveaway! Below is a preview of the OWL Cup Final match, the OWL 2nds Cup and the Women’s Intermediate Cup. 

OWL Cup Final

The Guelph Redcoats and The Toronto Nomads will clash in the 2022 Ontario Women’s League Cup Final, kicking off at 3:30PM. The match features two of the top Senior Women’s teams in the province competing for the championship.

The Redcoats enter the match as the defending OWL Cup champions, winning the title in 2019, the last year of OWL competition due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This will be the third consecutive OWL Cup Final the club has been a part of. Even after two years off, the Redcoats are still the team to beat. They finished the 2022 OWL regular season with a perfect 10-0-0 record with a point differential of +238. The Redcoats won both their regular season meeting over the Nomads, the last meeting coming on July 9th when Guelph defeated Toronto 37-24. 

“We are excited to be a part of our third consecutive OWL cup championship!” said Redcoats Head Coach Jessie-Anne Gibson. “The athletes have demonstrated the commitment and hard work necessary to finish with an undefeated season and earn their spot in the final. I’ve seen incredible effort in practice that has provided a competitive training environment where each athlete has improved and developed individually and as a team. This is what we’ve worked toward all season, we will be leaving it all on the pitch this Saturday!”

The Nomads finished second in the OWL 1XV regular season, posting a record of 7-0-3 with a point differential of +184. Despite losing both their games to Guelph in the regular season, the Nomads played the Redcoats tough. They gave the defending champions their toughest game of the season, narrowly losing to Guelph 19-14 in Round 1 on May 14th. The Nomads will be looking to capture the club’s first ever OWL Cup championship. 

“We couldn't ask for a better group of people to be here with” said Nomads Head Coach John Peel (JP) “This season was all about who we are, who we wanted to be, and who we represent. 

To be in the OWL Cup Finals for the first time ever, and to have our 2nd XV competing for a cup on the same day, it's a massive achievement and we couldn't be prouder of this group.”

The OWL Cup Final will be streamed on the Rugby Ontario YouTube Channel! To access the link, click here.

OWL 2nds Cup

The OWL 2nds Cup will also feature the top two teams from regular season play. The top seeded Guardian Angels will take on the second seeded Toronto Nomads in the championship game. The match will be played at Fletcher’s Fields at 1:00pm. The Guardian Angles finished the regular season with a record of 7-0-1 with a +150 point differential. The Guardian Angels won the head-to-head battle in the regular season, beating the Nomads in both of their meetings. The Nomads finished second in the league regular season, finishing 5-0-3 with a point differential of +190. 

Women’s Intermediate Cup

The Women’s Intermediate Cup features representatives from the Niagara Rugby Union and the Toronto Rugby Union divisions. The winner of the match will win promotion to the OWL for the 2023 season. The match will kick off at 11:00AM on Saturday, August 20th. The NRU representative will be London St. George’s, who will take on the TRU representative, the Peterborough Pagans. London finished 2nd in the NRU Women’s A league regular season with a record of 8-0-2 and a point differential of +345, the best differential in the NRU. In the TRU East, Peterborough posted a record of 4-0-2 and a point differential of +130, finishing in second place. The first-place teams in both the TRU (Scarborough RFC) and NRU (Niagara Wasps) earned an automatic invitation to compete in the OWL in 2023.