The Yorkist Page 05

Very many parents took the trouble to write notes and letters wishing us good luck and encouragement when they returned their tour raffle-ticket stubs; one only (and his letter did not come to me) questioned the venue. There must have been others who did not feel the venture worth supporting and, one can only assume sold nothing. They had that choice. Parents know that the fees they pay in no way cover the cost of your education here. They also know that in this day and age something like a rugby tour has to finance itself. They, like any other parents, want opportunities for their sons, and they showed by their support for the raffle that they are prepared to do their part.

My part, and the part of all those other unsung rugby masters who have taught you over the years, is to make you into good enough rugby players, and good enough people, to take your School name, and School game, outside these school gates and put it on show. Only by being offered an opportunity like the Canada Rugby Tour could Carl McConchie and Gareth Edwards become aware of their responsibilities to the game of Rugby Football, and to the school. For others it might well have been the zenith of their Rugby playing careers.

We were told that the Canadians would be big, strong and direct, would tackle ferociously and would be very unlikely to buy dummies. All this we found to be true in our first game against Jarvis Collegiate from Central Toronto.

Reputedly, Jarvis were to be our weakest opponents, having only recently started playing Rugby, but their commitment and sense of occasion were never in doubt. We were the first overseas side they had ever played and they were determined that we should work for whatever we got. They held us well in the first half, despite our dominance of possession, but in the second, as our players began to employ a more disciplined style, we ran out convincing winners by 34 points to nil.

Jarvis, regardless of the deficit, were delighted about being given the opportunity of playing against an English school, and their enthusiasm, their willingness to learn and their anxiousness about their duties as hosts were a memorable start to our rugby on Canadian soil.

Pickering High School, Pickering, Ontario, west of Toronto, had a different pedigree altogether, having, over the years, entertained such sides as Cowley G.S., Gowerton Llandaff Youth. The opening ten minutes were enough, particularly in a howling gale, to suggest to the coaches that problems lay ahead. The two Ontario U.19 props were giving us a great deal of trouble and our second combination of players were not finding each other with any sort of cohesion. Again we won possession, but this time more from ruck and maul rather than conclusively and consistently from the set. However the predictability of our delivery and the devastation of some dubiously positioned tackling meant that neither side looked likely to score. So when Captain Carl McConchie stole resourcefully away from a quick penalty to beat the cover it was enough to scrape a narrow victory.

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