Eric Van Thiel and Courtney Bishop – two members of the Concordia Stingers men’s rugby team – were named to the 2008 Quebec university conference all-star team announced yesterday.
This is the second consecutive all-star honor for Van Thiel, a hard-nosed, determined player who leads by example both on and off the field.
“His quiet style of leadership and strong tactical knowledge of the game brought calm to what was in large part a very rocky season,” said Concordia head coach Clive Gibson. “Eric has an exceptional set of hands and very strong ball retention skills which allowed us to play the open style of rugby we were trying to develop.”
Bishop, a multi-dimensional fullback, was in his first season with the Stingers after making the switch from football.
“With his strong running game and strong ability to see the field, Courtney provided the team with the opportunity to put the opposition on their back heels using a game plan that relied more on speed than grinding it out in contact,” explained Gibson.
