Irish Canadians ran riot with nine tries into the wind in the first half to pulverize Barbarians by 86-0 in the final Pool C game in the McCormick Cup.

Playing running rugby and taking ball at pace, the greens scored on nearly every possession of the ball to take a 53-0 halftime lead.  The onslaught continued in the second half, with referee Steve Scott drawing a merciful end to the proceedings after 64 minutes.

The game between two old rivals was expected to be a good one, as Barbs had finished second in the Keenan Division with a 10-3-1 record, the same as the Irish had in the Marshall.  JD Wheelers' try just three minutes into the game proved the winner, however, as the game turned into a track meet early.

"An unusual day, obviously," said Irish coach Mark Winokur afterwards. "Everything we did seemed to work, and the opposition seemed to realize that after a while-it could not have been fun for them."

Centers Kyler Petrie and Jadon Schmidt scored three tries each, with JD Wheeler scoring two, Istvan Mozes, Rob Forbrigger, Ryan Carr, Jon Ashley, Chris Gallimore and George Azar one apiece.

"No injuries and some fitness work were the best news," noted Winokur, "but lots of tough sledding ahead to be successful-the fact is, we cannot carry a single one of those tries forward; we start next week at zero again."

The Irish will apparently now travel to Ottawa to face the much improved Scottish on Saturday.  The Irish last played the Scottish in the 2000 McCormick Cup, winning 57-5.  Click here for that game report!

The development side shut down Markham 17-6 in their first Pool match, and now face Beach at Fletchers on Saturday.