Master Europeen trip to Toulouse
We had a magnificent trip to Toulouse last week to take part in the first ever Master Européen. Hosted and organised by Blagnac Rugby Co-President, Maire Roland. They welcomed Blackrock and English side North Bristol. The competition saw the three teams go head to head in matchups on the Wednesday and Saturday with the hopes to bring the first Master Européen Trophy back to the respective clubs. The tournament was about more than just playing, but a cultural exchange within the world of rugby and beyond.
Leading the charge, our Women’s head Coach Niall Neville, forwards and defence coach Dave Quinn and assistant coach coming on board this year Tabz Peterken coached the Blackrock side with our playing squad consisting of plenty of our returning interprovincial players, our current Blackrock stalworths as well as some old faces from the club like Shannon Heapes, one of our former captains. Like any trip, the sheer amount of work and organisation it takes to get 30 people on a plane and over to France is enormous and we can’t thank our wonderful Jen Moore enough who made this trip possible, and so incredibly seamless. It was a fantastic way to kickstart the season.
Day 1 saw Rock take two wins, initially over North Bristol and then a tight game against a competitive Blagnac rugby side. Our girls bought in from the first minute and through sweltering conditions put on a great display that the club can be very proud of. As with all good rugby games, Blagnac hosted a wonderful Banquet Dinner to close the first evening. At the dinner, the exchange of gifts took place between the rugby clubs and our players brought gifts for their opposite numbers consisting of anything from some Blackrock kit to some good old Irish Chocolate. A cheeseboard and some Karaoke ended what was a magnifique first day at Master Européen.
We had the great opportunity to explore Blagnac, Toulouse and the surrounding areas over the coming days. With Toulouse being the home of the Airbus Beluga, we started our day trip at the Musée Aeroscopia. Our inhouse aeronautical engineer Abby Moyles had a blast and was able to share her knowledge around the various types of aircrafts. In the afternoon we headed to an Armagnac distillery, L’Encantada, outside of Toulouse. Armagnac is a French brandy that is made from white grapes in the region. We learned about the process of making the alcohol as well as the opportunity to taste the unique brandy. The evening consisted of some of the crew heading to the Pro D2 game of the Colomiers vs Provence Rugby while the rest headed into Blagnac for some pizza and a spritz.
Friday consisted of exploring Toulouse. We had the opportunity to walk the picturesque streets, see the wonderful architecture as well as endeavour to find the best Chocolatine (Pain au chocolat to the rest of France). We had the pleasure of spending the evening in Trevor Brennan’s Bar. The proud former Leinster and Toulouse player hosted the squad for dinner and drinks. We got the opportunity to speak with Trevor, get some tips ahead of our games the following day and Jen presented one of our signed Rock jerseys to the rugby legend which we hope to see hanging on the wall when we return.
Our final day in Blagnac was the second and last day of the Master Européen. With the temperature hitting a high of 36 degrees on Saturday. Blackrock fell to defeat in both of our games, narrowly against North Bristol; and despite leading at half time to our hosts, a semi-professional side, ultimately the title of the inaugural Master Europeen title went to Blagnac. Our girls put on displays we can be extremely proud of and it puts us in a position now to springboard into the AIL and Leinster League seasons.
We cannot thank Co-Presidents Marie Roland and Bruno Delpech, partnership lead Benjamin Collet and Blagnac Sporting Rugby enough for their warm welcome, hospitality and outstanding care they showed us over the week. As a team we cannot thank Jen enough as well as our staff Niall Dave and Tabz. To the club, thank you for backing us to go on this tour and to our sponsors Pinergy, Jeep and Engage Financial Solutions thank you for the continued support always! We had an experience that we will take with us forever and craic that will last a lifetime!
Maeve Og O’Leary
Blackrock Tour Captain
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