Boys on tour

Ryan MacDonald- Contributor

OnMarch 31, the Bishop’s men’s rugby program traveled south of the border to Fishkill, New York, for their annual spring tour. The team went down to take on the prestigious United States Military Academy, West Point, bringing both their Varsity roster as well as their Espoir’s team made up of upcoming rugby players within the school. The bus ride down was filled with team bonding exercises and a lot of introductions, with the program inviting their nine recruits for next season to join them on the trip. The long day ended with some more team bonding in the hotel pool before an early lights out curfew.

Saturday morning came with an early wake up to get a good breakfast before morning activation. After the team’s activation session, it was time for the thirty-minute bus ride to West Point’s campus. The school is located right off the water, so it has beautiful views and old buildings full of history. The boys got off the bus and started their warmup under the sun an hour before kickoff. The weather was calling for rain that day, but luckily the boys got a beautiful sunny afternoon just before kickoff. With 3 p.m. rolling around, the whistles sounded and both the first and second teams’ games went to kickoff.

The Bishop’s Espoirs played a hard-fought battle against West Point but unfortunately came away with a loss. The Espoirs’ side was filled with players that wanted to prove themselves to the coaching staff, which saw a lot of great performances. Connor Von Teichman and Jake Stevens led the boys on defense, both making numerous hits and doing the dirty work. The young recruits stepped up and showed the coaches what they are bringing to the program next year with each of them seeing some minutes in the game as well.

The Bishop’s Gaiters main roster came away with a well-earned win over West Point in the first game. The boys faced a team that was quite strong and physical, however, the skill and decision making of Bishop’s out-performed West Point, and the boys came away with

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a big win. Axel “Belly” Montgomery and Ben “Doesn’t miss a tackle” Rea delivered some huge performances. In addition, the “man of the match” award went to Zack Gauthier who put in a great 80 minutes of work.

Both games ended with an amazing cookout hosted by West Point. This cookout allowed for the Bishop’s boys to talk with the opposing team players and form connections following the hard-fought battle in a great demonstration of sportsmanship from both sides. Rugby is a sport known for its post-match hospitality, and West Point did a phenomenal job at hosting the Bishop’s men’s rugby program. The tour came to an end with a long Sunday drive back to Lennoxville. The coaching staff and players were quite happy with how this year’s tour went. These games against West Point were the last time the team will play together before everyone heads off to play summer rugby with their club. This year’s recruitment class and returning players will make for a strong team ready to chase the RSEQ championship come the fall.