Queen's Men's Rugby kicked off their 2025 campaign with a hard-earned victory, edging out the Waterloo Warriors in a tightly contested season opener, 45-12. 

The Gaels set the tone early, capitalizing on a change of possession to swing momentum in their favour. A quick phase of a play led to a try from Cameron Bubyn (Computer Science), followed shortly after by a clutch conversion from Marcus D'Acare (Economics) to give Queens an early advantage and ignite the home crowd at Nixon Field. Waterloo responded, tying the game 7-7, just minutes later. 

In the second half, Queen's applied consistent pressure, controlling possession and territory with confidence. Their efforts were rewarded when Adam Doyle (Kinesiology) powered over for a try, while Marcus D'Acare (Economics) added the conversion, extending the Gaels lead to 26-7.

Despite Waterloo's push for a late comeback, the Gaels stayed composed on both sides of the ball, shutting down key attacking threats and managing the clock with control. With exciting late tries from Matthew Carroll (Faculty of Arts & Sciences), Trekker James (Psychology), and Lucas Townsend, followed by two successful conversions from Marcus D'Acre (Economics) in the closing minutes sealed a well-earned Queen's win of 45-12. 

Now 1-0 on the season, Queen's Men's Rugby returns to action on September 13, 2025, as they travel to Peterborough to face the Trent Excalibur.