THREE SABRFC MEN'S TEAMS MAKE FINALS OF QUEBEC CUP
28th Sept 09
Third XV, Reserves and First XV squads play
in Laval next Saturday
Photographs from Guv Lehal and Amelie Legault
Three strong Ste-Anne's teams took the field on
Saturday 26th September on a beautiful Fall day at Ecole St-Georges. All
three made the Finals of the Quebec Cup.
The Ste-Anne's third XV team, a squad that made the
finals last year, but only on the strength of defaults in the quarters and
semi finals, took on a resurgent Ormstown team. The game was refereed by a
competent, fit, young team of referees ( Kuch, Matziasuk and Boray ) and
the pace was fierce. It didn't take a trained eye to see that this
Ste-Anne's team is one that has come together in the last weeks of the
season under the captaincy of Macintosh and the steady hand and foot of
veteran fly half Joey Austen. If the team is to carry the Finals though
against a strong St-Lambert team, they will need to play even better.
The Blues third XV started slowly in this Ormstown
game. They soon found themselves deep in their own zone. They refused to
clear the ball with a kick, but their attempts to run were not exploited
by the Ormstown players. They were unable to capitalize on the
several opportunities provided by dropped balls and miscued kicks.
Fortunately, the Ste-Anne's produced consistent, quality quick
ball, and the Ste-Anne's scrum half Mitchell distributed the possession
well, allowing a talented back line time and space to run.
In the Reserves (2nd XV) game, the crowd was treated to nothing less than a terrific display of open Rugby. Although
the Quebec reserves had caused this squad great difficulty earlier in the season, this match was a one-sided affair. Both teams were fortunate to
have Pierre Drolet as referee as he allowed the play to move quickly. The phases and ball recycling were text book good, but SAB had the score
well ahead by the three quarters mark. Quebec finally had to draw some satisfaction in that their first team made the Finals.
In the first team game, the Montreal Irish came out with guns blazing. However, strong scrummaging by Ste-Anne's, and good ball distribution to
their lethal backs, led to a 21-0 score by the end of the first half. Unfortunately, a Ste-Anne's yellow card gave the Irish the opening they
needed, and well into the second half they had narrowed the gap to 21-10.
Ste-Anne's soon began to regret their missed
opportunities to convert tries in the first half. At one moment it
appeared the Irish had scored again. However, the importance and value of
the assistant referee were highlighted when referee Cormier was signaled
by assistant referee Poupart that a foul had occurred close to the
sideline. The Irish try was called off.
A Ste-Anne's penalty stretched the SAB lead to
24-10, but not for long, as the Irish scored right at the end of the game
and this tight semi-final ended 24-17. The Ste-Anne's firsts will now take
on Quebec City at Parc Cormier next Saturday at 4:00 pm, for the Quebec
Cup Final. The third XV plays their Cup final game at 10:00am, while the
Reserves play at 12noon.
If these three games had not provided the Rugby pundit with enough
interest, Sunday 27th September saw plenty of Rugby action on the local
college and university scene. McGill women defeated Bishops
University. Chelsea Prive's kicking provided a good portion of McGill's
scoring while Yerbury, despite playing on the wing, found her way into the
action using her speed and savvy on numerous occasions, much to the
delight of the spectators in the cheap seats of the end zone bleachers.
