On Friday 5th July, MTS departed with sixty-four senior rugby players and seven staff for an action-packed, two week tour of Canada. The first destination was Toronto and we were straight into a game on Saturday against Oakville.
Writes Mr E Conway, Director of Rugby
It was a wonderful atmosphere as we arrived, a true community club, who had the minis training whilst also having three games against us and four Senior games. MTS prevailed in all games, with the U17s winning 39-12 and 33-8 and the U18s coming good in the second half to win 34-22.
Trips to the CN Tower and Niagara Falls soon followed before Match Day 2 against Kingston. The U17s won 59-0 against Kingston and 33-0 vs Belleville, with the U18s again winning a physical encounter against Kingston. Tour is all about making memories and the sheer volume of mosquitos that descended upon the pitch on sunset will certainly stick with us all!
We then headed towards Ottawa to the Esprit Camping Adventure where the boys had fun in the lake and spent Thursday white water rafting, followed by a BBQ and games of volleyball back at the campsite. Undoubtedly this was one of the best days of an excellent tour.
In Ottawa we played Barrhaven Scottish and Eastern Ontario Reps in three more games, winning two and narrowly losing one with a huge second half comeback not quite enough for the U17B side. Following the games and some Saturday Zip Line action, we were then on to Montreal for a Safari Park, Match Day 4 and then La Ronde Theme Park.
The final match was against Quebec Representatives in two hugely physical encounters for our U18 and U17A sides, but MTS did themselves proud, showing grit, determination and no little class in two wins.
All that remained were the End of Tour Awards which were as follows:
Man of Tour – Charlie Stevens
Magic Moment – Ollie Browne
U18 Player of the Tour – Alex L (OMT)
U17 Player of the Tour – Ivan N (U6th)
U16 Player of the Tour – Jaidev R (L6th)
