MRFC French Tour
28th March - April 1st 2002

A bleary-eyed bunch of thirty eight people left Melrose rugby club at 3.30am on Thursday 28th March bound for the Correze region of France for the Ecole de rugby six nations tournament. 25 local boys, 16 years and under, accompanied by 5 coaches and 8 travelling parents, had accepted an invitation to represent Scotland competing against the host nation and teams from Italy, England, Ireland and Wales.Our first port of call, after two short flights, was La Rochelle on the west coast. After the squad of players cooled off in the hotel pool, a relaxed walk around the scenic town was next on the agenda. Our hosts for the tournament had travelled north with our team bus and joined us for our evening meal.Individual groups meandered off to sample the bright lights before calling a halt to a long but enjoyable day.

Friday 29th involved a 5 hour coach trip to our destination. All the boys were to be home hosted, and it was here the boys met their " families". Us adults were based in small hotels.A drinks reception was laid on for the adults in the evening, followed by a meal; the players integrated and socialised with their families.

The first morning of the tournament, Saturday 30th, at Seilhac, was bathed in sunshine.Our first game was against Italy which we won quite convincingly 42-7. England were next to submit to the aggressive rucking of the Melrose forwards and the pace of the backs; we won 24-3. Lagraulier was the venue for the afternoon, where we had a tougher game against the Welsh, eventually winning 12-0. Individual brilliance combined with sheer determination allowed Melrose to overcome France 26-5, to finish the first day of play.The final day of thr tournament took place at Naves and again the sun shone. A party atmosphere prevailed with music playing, BBQ`s sizzling and families in their droves arriving to enjoy the rugby and festive atmosphere. For our final game of the tournament, against Ireland, we were piped on, as in every game, by our scrum half, Danny McKerchar. The bag pipes were very much appreciated by our players and absolutely adored by the French. Due to tactical changes by our coaches, the first half of the game did not go quite as expected and thoughts of a first defeat crept in. However, the shrewdness of the coaches came to the fore and positional substitutions allowed to cruise home with a 10-0 victory and a clean sweep of the tournament.

Monday 1st April saw a weary but happy "team" ( in every sense of the word) head home via bus, planes and bus again to be met by families, friends and club officials at a surprise reception in the clubrooms.

My abiding memories, and I am sure they are shared, are of a fine group of players, hard working supportive coaches and travelling parents, complemented by French hospitality of the highest order.