The 2025 Canada West Rugby 15s Championship Play-Offs kick off on Thursday in Edmonton as defending champions UBC Thunderbirds and top-seeded UVIC Vikes aim for gold in Alberta.

Hosted by the Alberta Pandas at Foote Field, the semi-final action begins Thursday as No. 2-seeded Thunderbirds take on No. 3-seeded Lethbridge Pronghorns (1:00pm MT/12:00pm PST) before the Vikes face the hosts Pandas (3:00pm MT/2:00pm PST)

Winning semi-finalists will advance to Sunday’s gold medal match (1:00pm MT/12:00pm PST) with losing semi-finalists competing the bronze medal match at 11:00am MT/10:00am PST on October 19.

All games will be available to stream on Canada West TV – Powered by BioSteel.

Defending champions Thunderbirds go into Thursday’s action seeking a sixth-straight Canada West Banner but long-time rivals the Vikes have been in exceptional form and are the only team that finished the regular season undefeated.

Vikes defeated the Thunderbirds in both regular season matches – picking up 19-15 and 10-6 wins – in hugely competitive showings.

The BC duo have clashed in the last four Canada West gold-medal matches, with Thunderbirds emerging victorious each time. UBC is also coming off a historic 2024 campaign, where they captured their first-ever U SPORTS national title, defeating Victoria in the final.

UBC Head Coach Dean Murten told gothunderbirds.ca: “We know we would have to produce the best performance of the season to beat UVic. We have been close several times, however they’re a great team and very hard to beat…we have to take the opportunities we get.”