Seedings and bracket announced for 2024 U SPORTS Rugby Championship

RICHMOND HILL, Ont.—U SPORTS announced the seedings and bracket for the 2024 U SPORTS rugby championship, to be hosted by the UPEI in Charlottetown. The tournament gets underway on Wednesday, Oct. 30 and concludes the following Sunday, Nov. 3.

The eight participating teams, listed in seeding order, are as follows:

· #1, Laval Rouge et Or, RSEQ champions (5-1 regular season, 2-0 playoffs)

· #2, UBC Thunderbirds, Canada West champions (4-1, 2-0)

· #3, Guelph Gryphons, OUA champions (5-1, 2-0)

· #4, Acadia Axewomen, AUS champions (5-1, 2-0)

· #5, Queen's Gaels, OUA finalists (6-0, 1-1)

· #6, Ottawa Gee-Gees, RSEQ finalists (6-0, 1-1)

· #7, UPEI Panthers, Hosts (2-4, 0-1)

· #8, Victoria Vikes, CW finalists (4-1, 1-1)

The four conference champions are seeded in positions one through four, based on their conference's relative finish at last year's championship. The four remaining teams are then slotted to avoid intra-conference matchups until the final round.

Seven of the eight teams are return participants from the 2023 event in Quebec City. The only new entrant is the Acadia, who return after a one-year absence.

All four quarterfinals will be played on Wednesday, October 30. The afternoon session, to be held at the Canada Games Alumni Field, will be start at 1 p.m. (all times Atlantic) with Guelph taking on Ottawa. The second quarterfinal will follow at 3 p.m. and feature the host UPEI Panthers taking on Canada West champions UBC.

Wednesday's evening session, set for the UPEI Turf Field, will see top seeded Laval take on Victoria at 5 p.m. in a rematch of last year's gold medal game. The day will close with AUS champions Acadia taking on Queen's at 7 p.m.

Game Day 2 is set for Friday, November 1, and will see semifinals at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. on the Canada Games Alumni Field with consolation games to follow at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. on the UPEI Turf Field.

The final day will be Sunday, November 3 and will start with the fifth-place game at 11 a.m. on the UPEI Turf Field, followed by the bronze-medal game a 1 p.m. and the championship at 3 p.m., both on the Canada Games Alumni Field.

All 11 games of the championship will be streamed on CBC digital platforms in English, and RadioCanada.ca/Sports and usports.ca in French.

*Purchase your championship pass: https://upei.universitytickets.com/w/packages/PackageDetail.aspx?PackageNewID=114