The 2023 OWL Cup Day is upon us! The event, held at Fletcher’s Fields in Markham on Saturday, August 12th, will feature three Senior Women’s league cup matches, including the Ontario Women’s League 1XV Cup Championship match. 

OWL 1XV Cup

This year's battle is a deja vu as the Guelph Redcoats and the Toronto Nomads will compete once again in the 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 2022. This will be the fourth consecutive OWL Cup Final the club has been a part of, making them the team to beat. They finished the 2023 OWL regular season with a perfect 9-0-0 record with a point differential of +281. The Redcoats won their regular season meeting over the Nomads, on May 13th when they defeated Toronto 43-12. 

“It's an absolute pleasure to be competing in our 4th consecutive OWL Cup Final!” said Redcoats Head Coach Jessie-Anne Gibson. “This season there has been a tremendous amount of growth for Guelph Rugby with a record number of registrations for our senior women's program, giving us the ability to run two successful teams. Guelph Rugby looks forward to showcasing some of our provinces best club athletes on Saturday! We are excited for our match against the Toronto Nomads who we haven't competed against since week 1 of the season. Both programs will have experienced a ton of growth leading into what we expect to be an exciting final”

The Nomads finished second in the OWL 1XV regular season, posting a record of 8-0-1 with a point differential of +56. Despite losing their game to Guelph in the regular season, the Nomads put up a good fight against the Redcoats. The Nomads will be looking to capture the club’s first ever OWL Cup Championship. 

“Celebrating 30 years of Nomads Women's Rugby in 2023, it’s a great pleasure to be able to honour that by achieving another place and heading back to the OWL Cup Finals for a second year in a row. This not only represents our whole squad but for every player who has ever worn the Nomads Jersey,” said Nomads Head Coach John Peel (JP). "It's been a great season; it was awesome to be able to play everyone and see the growth in the women's game throughout all the clubs and the commitment to field two teams each week.  We had some tight score lines because of that, but I have been proud of the resilience and care our whole squad has shown each other throughout the season on and off the field to do what it takes to get this opportunity to play rugby for another week. Congratulations to JA and her team at Guelph, they have a successful program there, and I know we have an excited team looking forward to the challenge ahead come Saturday so it’s going to be a great final."

OWL 2XV Cup

The OWL 2nds Cup will also feature the top two teams from regular season play. The top seeded Aurora Guardian Angels will take on the third seeded Peterborough Pagans in the championship game. The match will be played at Fletcher’s Fields at 2:00pm. The Guardian Angels finished the regular season with a record of 8-0-1 with a +227 point differential. The Guardian Angels won the head-to-head battle in the regular season, beating the Pagans 20 - 5  in their round 1 matchup. The Pagans finished third in the league regular season, finishing 6-0-3 with a point differential of +127. 

Women’s Intermediate Cup

The Women’s Intermediate Cup features the OWL 8 seed, London St. George vs the TRU Champion Toronto Scottish. The Scottish earned their way into the Int. Cup by winning the TRU Women's League and then knocking of the Burlington Centaurs in the NRU 1 vs TRU 1 playoff. The winner of the match will win promotion/retain their spot in the OWL for the 2024 season. The match will kick off at 12:30PM on Saturday.

OWL Cup Day will be hosted alongside U14 Wrap Up Day. The U14 event marks the final weekend of the U14 rugby season in Ontario. 33 teams from 22 clubs across Ontario will play matches at Fletcher’s Field from 8:40AM - 3:50PM.