SHERBROOKE, Que. - The Bishop's University men's rugby team kicks off the 2016 playoffs on Sunday afternoon as they host the Concordia Stingers in an RSEQ quarter-final game. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Coulter Field.
 
The Gaiters (3-3-1) are coming into the game off a narrow 24-22 loss to the undefeated Montreal Carabins last Saturday. They finished second in the Quebec university rugby union "2-3-6" division, with 16 points.
 
The Gaiters offence has been let by Patrick Lawton (Halifax, England), who was scored 30 points on the year, with three tries, six conversions and a penalty goal. Long Tim Nixon (Hong Kong) is second on the club with 24 points (six conversions, two penalty goals, two drop goals). The Gaiters have scored 23 tries in seven games this year, led by the four from Mike Izzard (Oakville, Ont.)
 
Concordia, meanwhile, went 1-6 on the year, with their only win coming against the ETS Pirhanas. They have been led by Jonathan Banks, who has scored 29 points on the year (one try, three conversions, five penalty goals and a drop goal), while Julien MacKay-Cantin has 23 points, including a team-high three tries.
 
While there was a 10-point difference between the teams this year, Gaiter head coach Charles Goode is advising caution coming into the game.
 
"No team, in the 30-year history of RSEQ rugby, has snatched more quarter-final, semifinals or finals with a losing record than the Concordia Stingers, so we need to be very wary of that. They were champions just two years ago, so they have that experience," he said.
 
The Gaiters won the only matchup between the teams this year, a 36-8 romp at Coulter Field on Sept. 16. In that game, the Gaiters scored six tries, led by a pair by team captain Lee Hudson (Sutton, Que.). The Gaiters led 24-0 at halftime, after scoring twice in the first 10 minutes.
 
Goode added that the key for the Gaiters this week, will be the opening few minutes. "We've got to start hard. The reason we beat Concordia last time, down here, is that we started [well]. We were up 17-0 ten minutes in, and they didn't have an answer for that."
 
The winner of the quarter-final game will visit McGill next week in the RSEQ semi-final.
 
Follow @BishopsGaiters on Twitter for updates.