By Joshua Lui-Yee

For the first time in program history, the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold men’s rugby team is heading to the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) division. 

Though the official announcement was made on social media on July 10, the team learned the news several months earlier. 

Head coach Christopher Thomas said there was substantial work involved in applying for the promotion, with the entire process taking several years to complete.

Thomas believes the promotion will open up rugby to the broader TMU community and encourage attendance at games, boosting interaction with the team. He said he hopes this season will, “teach people about the sport of rugby and hopefully put on a good show in the meantime.”

Calum Roberts joined men’s rugby in 2022—the same year as Thomas—and is now a veteran on the team, going into his third year with the Bold’s main team after two years with the reserve team. 

Roberts said the team was very hopeful about the promotion throughout the summer and it was a big moment when they got the news.

“Everybody’s been getting out there in the summer playing more rugby,” said Roberts. “It’s a big build-up as we head into the season, so we’re all looking forward to it.”

Thomas said in the past, the team has only played on an exhibition schedule against teams in the OUA. This promotion has TMU as a regular-season competitor.

“It also means that we get to compete at a level which is going to challenge us,” Thomas said, knowing the jump to the OUA comes with a higher level of skill and intensity.

Starting this fall, both Thomas and Roberts are looking to continue their strong training regimens and focus on the team’s performance.

“The process to get us here has been one that we started probably three years ago,” Thomas said. 

“So every practice is going to be like the best practice of the year. We have to get better and incrementally improve from practice to practice.”

“We’re aware that there’s gonna be a skill jump for sure, but I think we’re ready for it,” Roberts said. “We’re fired up for it, and we certainly aren’t gonna be trying to pull any punches, per se.”

For the team, this promotion is the culmination of years of hard work, both on and off the field. 

After describing some of the administrative work and financial allocation needed, such as budgeting and creating a multi-year plan, Thomas also thanked leadership, alumni and coaches. 

“The leadership and coaching group is very stable, and we have a very, very good group of recruits and young players coming through our program,” Thomas said. 

“One of the big beliefs that I always have is that you can’t have a high-performing team without a community around it.”

“TMU fans, we love you. The support throughout the years when we haven’t really had a concrete schedule or stability, but we still have people coming out to our games, means the world to our players and to our coaches,” Thomas said. “We hope that we can continue performing and building into something that gets really, really fun to be a part of.”

The Bold already kicked off their season against McMaster at Brampton RFC on Sept. 13, where they recorded a 47 to 7 loss to the Mauraders. 

Fans can catch TMU’s first home opener against Trent at Lamport Stadium at 2 p.m. on Sept. 26.