SEMI-FINAL TMR 2 vs St-Lambert

The TMR seconds found their momentum leading out of warm-up severed when the ref proved to be a no-show. Thirty minutes later the townies stepped onto the blistering field ready to face an experienced Locks side in semi-final action. The theme for the game was heart and the girls ran the ball hard up the field on the kick-off. The locks found their jets early bringing their fullback into the backline for the man-advantage forcing gaps and 2-on1 situations. The backs held them off, with Robin Hunter pressuring their Flyhalf and forcing errors and knock-ons, There must have been fifteen scrums in the early minutes of the game which began in favor of the locks. But TMR would not be dominated and wheeled them off their own ball with our hard-hitting front row leading the way. Early on the Town Seconds established themselves as a determined pack despite the size and experience of their adversaries.

Rudko and Laura Frigeau proved themselves a dangerous second-row duo crashing the rucks and mauls and punishing the opposition in contact. Erica and Patty were beasts tackling any and all before them with ferocious tenacity. Heads were up as the Locks put points on the board after spending most on the first half in Townie territory, desperate to break the defense. Erica capitalized on her stronger linouts to give clean ball to Kyla and to pressure the Locks into errors and win possession. Kyla played a great game, targeted early-on, enduring late-hits she moved the ball quickly. The backs found a solid defense before them and moved the ball out wide but were unable to find the gaps and retain the ball. The first half flew by and the Town pulled together at half-time to show their commitment and pull together as a team.

Going into the second half Larissa and Rudko took on the Flyhalf and inside gap so the backs could shift out and prevent more odd-man rushes by the Locks. They found themselves benefiting by penalties in their favor as they were hit with elbows, late tackles and swing tackles which dumped Kyla on her head (the crack was heard all around) and resulted in Amy moving to scrum-half. In an awesome demonstration of team versatility with the lack of subs, positions shifted and dynamic remained the same. The locks put a few more tries over the line depending heavily on kicks and turnover ball, a demanding day for Annaballe and Rachel who were on their toes the whole game. Robin continued to run hard into them with Skye joining in and crashing with her unbelievable moves showcasing her undeniable talent for the game. The forwards worked hard to produce quick ball with rip-and-go moves and rolling mauls which worked well.

The last ten minutes of the game were exemplary of why we play rugby. The Town stayed close to the try line forcing the Locks to defend on their heels. A penalty deep in Lock territory for the longest line-out call I’ve ever heard let the momentum shift more in favor of the town, who were prepared to finish with a strong effort. The final play was a scrum on the five meter line which the Town won and ran hard into the opposition looking to breach them, but time ran out before the ball would make it over the line. All-in-all a proud game to play in, and certainly demonstrative of why so many Townies are representing Quebec at nationals. The seconds pulled together despite a season full of obstacles to show staggering team spirit and commitment. Our future is bright.

Some after notes: Props go out to the Locks Club President (Sheets) who reffed a great game, second only to Jocelyn’s game in the history of reffing. The firsts and seconds joined up at the Mad Hatter for some post-game brews to be treated by Moe the owner, to a bunch of free pitchers and a bottle of Jack Daniels. A random patron, curious by the presence of so many lovely and athletic women made the embarrassing mistake of challenging the girls to an arm-wrestling match with a drink at stake. Aviva took him up on it and promptly disposed of this sadly mistaken chump pressing his arm painfully back against the table. Another patron, impressed by her display, sent over a few pitchers and the townies continued the celebrations. We’ll see you all after Nationals ready to commemorate the fiftieth.

TMR 19 - St. Jean 0
Tries: Jill Quenneville, Skye Mosley, Marnie Augello
It was a glorious night for rugby on tuesday night as TMR faced off against a much larger St. Jean side at the Rec Centre.  The TMR pack fought as if they were twice their size, barrelling into the opposing pack and pumping their legs in contact to force their towering opponents behing the gain line.  Each player selflessly put their body on the line as they absorbed the bone crunching hits and pile-on mauls with a stoic determination to maintain possession.  This collective drive reached its climax with a series of driving mauls and rucks that were used to punch the ball up the fields as players consisently offloaded from contact until they wore down the defense and Jill pulled out her jets to put the ball over the line.

Emblazoned by the mismatch in speed and fitness, TMR came out for the second half with frenetic energy.  The backs dominated the second half as Jill repeatedly opened up space for her backline by attacking the gaps with her hard penetrating runs.  Pascale was powerhouse, fending off defenders with her trademark straight arm, leaving her opponents fallen in her wake.  The forwards, refusing conceede any opportunity to St. Jean, entered the mauls with a battlefield mentality as they wrestled, drove and held on for dear life to produce clean ball.  These efforts paid off as the forwards used the ground gained by the back to drive a maul over line where Marnie touched it down for a try.

Skye pulled out her superjets to weave her way through the St. Jean backline and ultimately burn them on the outside.  She demonstrated her kicking prowess by converting two of the three tries with expert accuracy and power.  Rachel deserves a notable mention for catching everything that came her way on the wing to allow for effective counter attacks from the back three.  TMR put on a commendable show to come away with a much deserved win in the lead up to playoffs.

Barbs 29 - TMR 5
Tries: Jill Quenneville
TMR succumbed to the Barbarians last weekend after a hard fought battle.  The Barbs came out strong and dominated with their usual hard hitting style.  TMR struggled to defend against their rolling mauls and powerful scrums, but were ultimately bowled back over the try line too many times.  Our backs were essentially shut down as they came up against a disciplined backline that refused to concede any gaps or space on the outside.

TMR had a burst of brillance in the second half with a quick succession of plays as the ball travelled through all fifteen players hands, from a series of rucks to crashing forwards, as Joce keep it moving at a break neck pace out to the backs.  Jill Quenneville blazed acrossed the line to score the sole try of the day, in spite of the fact that this was her second game of the day and her body had asked her to quit a long time ago.

Spirits were lifted when the team retired to the clubhouse to witness the first annual Jello-O wrestling touranment.  Erika and Robin successfully entertained the crowds with their dump tackling raise money for Nationals.  Rumours spread about repeat perfomances for the 50th.  Face offs by positions?  Wagars on the winners?  The possiblilities are endless...  

The night culminated in a rowdy celebration of Karine's birthday as we found ourselves spouting the virtues of poutine at 3 a.m. Bonne fete Karine!

TMR (50) - Ottawa Scottish (19)
Tries: Susy (3), Karine (2), Joce (1), MJ (1), Jess (1)
Conversions: Susy (5)

Due to a myriad of family, work and rep side obligations, the TMR women were in dire straits for numbers heading into the final Ottawa/Quebec interlock game. Morale had been low due to our 0-6 record this season and players were still bailing  by Saturday morning.  We begged and pleaded for players and managed to put together a squad of fourteen and half, including last minute recruits Demey and Buckland who sacrified their social life for the greater good. Spirits were high, however, as our resident chefs Blais and Lavallee-Roberts treated us to a post practice meal on Friday night, to fuel us for the challenge ahead.

Then, something incredible happened. Twenty-eight players stepped out onto the field. The energy was electric. Each player headed into the game with a clear mission: to restore that blue and gold pride. The Scottish came out hard, wove through our defense and scored almost immediately after kick off. TMR answered back as Barrieau took a quick penalty and charged over the line, only to be called for a knock-on. However, the fire was ignited and what followed was finest display of TMR talent that we've seen this season.  

The backs ran circles around their opponents. Bienstock demonstrated her Canadian calibre as she exploded through gaps and outran her defenders to score a hat-trick. Blais shone in her newly acquired position at 12, and Lamontagne was a relevation at 14/15 as she owned the outside, despite the  abreviated back line. The connection was magic as the backs consistently sidestepped, deeked and danced their away through the Scottish defense and repeatedly crossed the line with their blinding speed and perfectly timed offloads.

The forwards worked at a frantic pace to support the backs all over their field and still managed to dominate the set play. Demey played as if she were twice her physical size and barrelled accross the gain line with hard trailing runs. With twenty minutes left in the game, Nichols stepped onto the field, newly recovered from injury, to complete the squad and performed as though she had never missed a beat.      

It was an absolute pleasure to play with such a driven core of players as we demonstrated, with playoffs just around the corner, the true TMR potential.