It was just good coarse rugby on a wet, Fall day.

 

 

          

From every aspect it was old time Rugby. First there was the weather ... .cold, wet and raining. This might have impacted the second "old time Rugby" factor .. .only 10 players ( and just 4 from Mac ) at the meeting block at departure time. With Lester and Patrick both no-shows, a quick sweep through town rousted two more men torn from warm beds. Of course, this is not unlike the opening chapter of the book Sweep (sorry Maryse), and then even as we left, the bus jerked to a stop for one more lone figure seen sprinting across the lower campus and embarking onto the bus to great cheers.

 

 

We were now 14 on the bus, 10 of whom might be called players, and Old School and Stone who don't count, plus Emily whom we seriously thought of suiting up. And of course, there was the most important person on any Fall series game: The photographer Guv. Now if you count the bus driver as well, we had a total of 16 ... hey we even had a sub!!!!

 

 

We were lucky in that on arrival at the high school in St Jovite at 1:00 pm, we learned that Stone had screwed up the kick off times (that's why Hayden is in charge of fixtures) and we were supposed to have been there for a 12:00 noon start. However, things worked out well in our favour as we were able to jump off the bus and run right on the field to play the Barbs. Also it gave enough time for talented scrumhalf, Scotty A. to arrive. It was a terrific game ending 7-0 in the black and white's favour, but with many missed scoring chances by Mac/Ste-Anne. The side was filled out with a few Mont Tremblant RFC players.

 

 

         

 

The second game started immediately after, and sadly we lost our extra players and had to play a couple of men short. Once more, it was a fantastic game. The Mont Tremblant club is a wonderful mixture of foreigners and young locals:  Taffy, Kiwis, Pommy, French, jock and Irish accents could be heard from all parts of the field, but mostly in the forwards. Strangely, despite these players from Rugby-rich countries, it was a Jewish player who stole so many balls in the mauls.

 

 

 

         

 

The game was wide open with the ball making it to the wing on several occasions. And,  despite being short, the green and gold team was able to put pressure on the new northern Quebec club, thanks to the presence of some strong second and first division players (Nick Bboehler, Delledonne and Frank). 

 

 

On this occasion, Mont Tremblant walked off as the victors on this muddy, bloody day. This was their first win ever as a club and it was well deserved. The win, the game and the spirit of Rugby was celebrated at the Mont Tremblant Hotel in the old village on Lac Mercier. There was time for a beer and a fine scotch, and the bar soon ran dry of Oban single malt whisky and then it almost ran out of Dalwhinnie.

 

A few copies of Sweep were sold (Herb we will come looking for the $ 15.00 on Lac Superieur this Winter!) Many Barbs players took advantage of the reduced rates on room rentals to stay over while Ste-Annes/Mac headed back on the bus. It seemed a short ride probably because of the fine sing song which took place.

 

The Fall Series continues, with word there may even be a women's Fll series game! Just watch the discussion pages for future games and developments. Keep Wednesday nights open for the gym (basketball and soccer) as we will be starting up again in mid November for the 2010 season.