The Irish Canadians of the ORU travelled to Montreal to play the Menace of the RCSL Saturday and used a 24-0 second half to hand their hosts a 42-14 defeat before a decent crowd on a sunny, breezy afternoon.

Following a minutes silence for the late Fraser Cattell, Menace kicked off and had a strong start to their 2002 season, scoring a try in the corner and conversion after just three minutes.

A bruising, high level first half saw the Irish counter with two Ed Gardner penalties; a Dale Burleigh try on 30 minutes put the visitors briefly ahead; Quebec's elite senior team countered with a rolling maul try with five minutes to go; but a Jadon Schmidt intercept put the greens back in front on the half time whistle.

Playing into the wind, and with three starters out with first half injuries, the Irish slowly took the game over. Peter Smith touched down 10 minutes into the second half to open a 25-14 Toronto advantage, and an edge in fitness and pace carved the game open as Jason Verstraten and Ramzi Azar touched down combined with another Gardner penalty to run the tally to 42-14.

"We think there is a high level of rugby played in the Ontario Senior League," said an obviously pleased Irish coach Mark Winokur. "Perhaps, eventually, other people in Canadian rugby will think so too. Montreal have essentially every player in the province to pick from; we have only our small playing base; yet I thought we played very well in many areas against a big, physical home side."

The Menace were excellent hosts, providing food, music and a big game atmosphere which served as a platform for the extensive research conducted on Montreal botany and biology through the evening, night and morning to follow.

The league season starts on Saturday with Irish at home to Beach all three teams. "This is where we really start," notes Winokur. "The Beach will be a much tougher test than we have had yet, and it will be essential for us to be at our best to have a chance."