QMS grads on collegiate rugby rosters
Queen Margaret's School graduate Jasmine Bessens has joined fellow QMS alum Maggie Mycroft on the University of Calgary Dinos women's rugby team. Both players graduated from QMS in 2024. Mycroft is in her second year with the Dinos.
QMS class of 2025 graduate Kipling Szasz has been named to the McGill University varsity rugby team as well. Szasz was part of school history this past rugby season when she and her teammates earned QMS its first provincial championship banner by winning the rugby 7s tournament. Mycroft's younger sister Zoe Mycroft was also on that team.
Collegiate seasons begin
Mill Bay's Sion Griffiths, a Brentwood College School graduate, and Duncan's Jaxson Jones (Cowichan Secondary), and Josh Ketch (Shawnigan Lake School) are busy preparing for the UVic Vikes' upcoming rugby season. The trio and their team will meet Pacific Pride on Sept. 13 in Langford before playing UBC on Sept. 20 in Victoria.
On the women's side, Duncan's Bella Anderton-Teasedale is entering her first XVs season with the UVic Vikes women's side and Duncan's Macy Wiebe is entering her third. Brentwood College graduate Gwynnie Fry will also suit up for her third season with the team.
Shawnigan Lake School graduate Jonty Nicholas will suit up for his first season with the UBC Thunderbirds. His team kicked off their season on Sept. 6 with a game against Trinity Western.
U17 B.C. Bears
The U17 boys and girls B.C. Bears XVs teams are North America 2025 O'Neills Challenge Cup winners.
Four Shawnigan Lake School athletes and one from Quw'utsun Secondary were selected for the teams from the 2025 B.C. Bears U17 XVs training camps at Shawnigan Lake School earlier in August.
The school's Brendan Grisdale (Salish Sea Warriors) played for the boys while Shawnigan's Briar Tait, Emma Narraway, and Evelyn Wilke (Salish Sea Warriors), played for the girls. Quw'utsun Secondary's Adalyn Dutchak (MacDowell Rugby Academy) also played for the girls.
Both Bears teams opened the series by defeating combined Toronto Rugby Union (TRU) and Eastern Ontario Rugby Union (EORU) sides on Aug. 26, and then beating South Western Rugby Union (SWRU) and Niagara Rugby Union (NRU) combined squads on Aug. 28.
The final matches on Aug. 30 saw the Bears fall to Rugby Ontario All-Stars (the province’s top regional athletes) but with both teams winning two of the three games, both overall series victories went to B.C.
Canada dominating at World Cup
Tyson Beukeboom and the Canadian Women have gone undefeated in pool play in the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup.
Canada beat Fiji 65-7 on Aug. 23 and then beat Wales 42-0 on Aug. 30.
Their final match of pool play was against Scotland on Sept. 6 and Canada prevailed 40-19. In that game, Beukeboom earned her 81st cap to became the most capped Canadian rugby player in history — across both men's and women's teams.
"It's pretty awesome!" she said from England following the match.
Canada moves on to play Australia in the quarter-finals on Sept.13 at 8 a.m.
