McGill 2-0 UP AS SHERBROOKE FALLS 50-5

The McGill Redmen hit the road for the second week in a row down to the Eastern Townships, this time to play the Sherbrooke Vert et Or. In what is always a highly physical match, sometimes resembling a battle of attrition between the two teams, both sides were energized and flying off the line from the starting whistle. But the day was McGill’s.

Much to our confusion the Sherbrooke team came out in their local club team’s jerseys - I wouldn’t want to wear them either.

After a few quick tries from superb play in the back line, Kuzi “Zimbobbles” Murwira, Quentin “Agincourt” Prader and Trevor “Rob Lowe” Clarke were all able to post early scores, allowing The Mighty Red to take a commanding 33-0 lead. One of the most telling narratives of the game was the undeniable climax of scoring in the first forty minutes and the subsequent denouement of play. Much like many of our first years are learning, we need to make it last, ohh just a little bit longer (try naming all fifty states). We were sucking some major wind.

Many of our offensive sets were being stymied by sloppy fundamentals, penalties or good ol’ fashioned defense on the part of the Sherbrooke team. It was an impressive showing all ‘round. Even our super subs could not quite keep up the torrid pace we had put up in the first half as McGill’s defense ceded one try and our offense mustered but a fraction of our previous half’s output.

Our back three was able to make successful gains despite the nonchalant play of Cam “Speed Walker” Perrin lulling the opponent to sleep with the octogenarian style of play. This dichotomy was nicely portrayed against the always vibrant Sherbrooke fan base. They’re chips and cat calls, I am sure were very clever and well thought out, but unfortunately, they fell upon the uncultured ears of the very Anglophone McGill team.

Regardless, it was a fantastic effort for our first XV, making sure our hubris was subdued we were able to play our game and stifle the offensive efforts of our opponents. Dare I say, a metaphor for a… political conspiracy? Possible cover up? I think we should let Valentine «the Kremlin Gremlin» Sargeev delve into that one.

Also noteworthy was some serious innuendo occurring at the post-game social. Now, as an outsider, this scribe was somewhat unaccustomed to the courting rituals of Southern Quebec. The aforementioned language barrier was a resounding problem for many of the gentlemen ‘peacocking’ in the bar, and boys let a lesson be learned: timeless infamy outlives two minutes of embarrassment after potentially being caught in a compromising situation.

A large congratulations to the McGill Club A and B sides who played two hard-fought games against the rival sides at Queen’s the same weekend.

McGill now stands at 2 wins in their QSSF regular season, after vanquishing Bishop's Gaiters in their season opener in Lennoxville last week.

write up by Trevor Clarke.