Ste. Anne’s men’s premier side lays claim to coveted Quebec Cup

BY MICHAEL PIASETZKI

The Quebec Cup, the most coveted trophy in men’s provincial rugby, will remain in the West Island for another year, but with a new keeper.

The Ste. Anne’s men’s premier side, a club with a proud tradition that had been rebuilding its ship over the past several years while rival Dollard des Ormeaux-based Montreal Barbarians ruled the roost, defeated a Cinderella Montreal Wanderers squad 18-6 in the final on Saturday afternoon at the Irish field at Ste. Julie.

It was Ste. Anne’s first provincial championship since 1994, and its third straight visit to the final, with the last two resulting in losses to those same Barbs. This time however, there would be no denying head coach Andy Leroux’s troops, who on a damp, miserably cold afternoon, repeated the same script they had written all season long, delivering an average first half, only to rally and prevail. They trailed 6-5 at the break. However, they used their depth to get the job done in the final 45 minutes, finally pulling the proverbial monkey off their collective backs in the process.

“Somehow, our guys had it in them to get it done after the break,” said Leroux. “We wanted to keep the ball tight with our forwards, running at their fly half, Colin Robertson, who is a national-level player, and take him out of the game. We did that. We brought him down a step.”

John Lavery scored a try for Ste. Anne’s in the first half while Deon Varvarikos and Aaron Graham, who captured Man of the Match honours, scored in the second half.

Meanwhile, in two earlier games at Ste. Julie, the Beaconsfield Rugby Club, which will move up to the premier division next season, won its second consecutive men’s first-division Des O’Neill Cup with a 5-3 victory over Parc Olympique while the Barbs’ second-division men’s side lost 23-14 to St. Jean.

“They had a great defence and we committed a few too many penalties in the first half, but we prevailed in the second half, ” said Beaconsfield head coach Guillermo Gulli, who guided his team to an undefeated regular and post season. “We used the wind to our advantage in the second half and kicked a lot. That kept them within the 35-metre line most of the time. We then played most of the rest of the game with our forwards.”

Tim Quinn scored the winning try for Beaconsfield, which trailed 3-0 at the half, off a maul close to the goal-line with about 10 minutes gone in the second half.