UBC Thunderbirds began their defense of the Canada West Championship in style with a battling win over provincial rivals UVic Vikes.

The Thunderbirds secured a 31-15 at Wallace Field in Victoria, with veteran Madison Gold and first-year Florence Symonds (2) both crossing over for the visitors. Savannah Bauder converted three times as the Thunderbirds move to 1-0 in the regular season.

The Vikes’ tries came from Krista Scurfield and Gabrielle Senft, with Kira Peary adding five points from the boot.

Symonds’ starring performance earned her Canada West Rugby Player of the Week, plus Athlete of the Week status from the UBC Thunderbird Athlete Council. Congratulations, Florence!

Canada West Rugby Player of the Week

Florence Symonds (@ubctbirds)
1st Year Centre

https://t.co/4Y6HMzyfbG pic.twitter.com/fuKdA93cOJ

— Canada West (@CanadaWest) September 21, 2021

The Thunderbirds return to UBC for their home opener on Thursday, September 23 as they host University of Alberta Pandas at Arthur Lord Field. Play starts at 4pm PST.

The Pandas will be looking to bounce back from an opening week defeat, after they went down 53-7 to Lethbridge.

Friday’s fixture sees Lethbridge travel to Calgary, before Alberta travels to Victoria to face 2019 bronze medalists UVic Vikes on Sunday, September 26 (11:30am PST).

For all schedules and standings, visit the Canada West website.