The day started with an air-conditioned coach journey to Niagara. A welcome relief from those school buses.

We arrived at Niagara which turns out to be Blackpool on steroids. Still the 'Maid of the Mist' boat trip was definitely worth it to get a close encounter with the thundering falls.

Time for a bit more sightseeing and then off to the final night dinner. Plans for a non-alcoholic dinner were spoilt by a final twist to the Coaches' Challenge when all the adults were required to down a shot of whiskey.

Following the dinner came the award ceremony compered by Steve "Gay Dracula" Jones.

A raft of presentations were made, reflecting achievements in Canada 2004. Each winner received a significant token representing the great moment of our trip – a Blue Jays pin-badge.

Tour God - Ralph Murwill. Ralph received a Blue Jays jacket from Chris Adam. Cads and Steve spoke at length about Ralph’s wonderful contribution to the tour, the long hours he worked, his astonishing feat in getting all bar one of the lads fit to play at the end, and his highly-professional treatment of the many injuries. He is also a dear friend of the team, and the Management.

Eager Beaver – Chris Richardson. Razzer was commended for his ceaseless enthusiasm and the fact that he always wanted to be on the field helping the troops. Indispensable back-three player, wore big shirts.

Cool Dude – Els Hawkes. The judges referred to his new braids, his wonderful laid-back character, superb play and ever-present hat. Elliot was not a convinced flyer, but he was loved by all his brothers.

Rising Star – Anthony Lewis. Ant had a memorable tour. Steve referred especially to his confident generalship and especially his class passing from the fly-half position. A growing force in the club and a nice guy.

Sevens Superstar – Chris Parrott. Pazter was a star of the under-16 side in the Magnificent Sevens, showing his versatility in the shortened version though he also played superbly in the longer version, and kept trying with his Welsh accent

Team-man of the tour – Alex Cannon. Perhaps it was a surprise award. But it was 100% deserved. Figuratively, Alex came in from the wing in Canada. He was led the team well at Crusaders, he improved his discipline and he was majestic in ceaselessly encouraging the lads against Ontario.

Top tour tourist – Drew Jones. Joyce was a central ringleader off the field, his "How cold is that Beer?" became the tour catchphrase, his 20-gallon hat was a tour trademark and he played with great courage in the line-out and loose, and out of age group in the U18 sevens team

Players’ player of the tour – Sam Stefan & Tom Plumer. Tom Lewis and Pat McSweeney were the adjudicators, they canvassed the votes and they presented the awards. The top two were tied and several others had nominations. Sam’s supreme and uncomplaining versatility and competitiveness gained votes; so did Big Plume’s hard-hitting, loveable character and ever-present smile.

Scavenger of the tour – Mitch Batten. The judges pointed out that every team needs someone to graft and crawl with the ball on the floor, an evil genius who stems the opposition flow. Our team has one of the great evil flankers in our Mitch.

Communicator of the tour – Andrew Hogan. For years we’ve been begging the lads to communicate on the field. They are getting better, but none are so good as Hogie, who played superbly in some many positions. An absolutely vital Maids player.

Defender of the tour – Ryan Christian. The D-man was commended for his excellence in bringing up the line in defence and especially for a superb series of tackles against the capable Brampton Juniors team, first up

Tackle of the tour - Pat McSweeney. This award was clinched after four seconds of the tour. Maids kicked off, a Brampton player caught the ball and the hard-hitting Pat arrived and hammered him. It gave the whole team an immediate lift from our strong man.

Rising Force – Tom Morgan. He bounced back after choosing the name Rat Boy, to enjoy a first-class tour. Tom is tall for a hooker but he showed his zip and versatility in the Sevens, and competed splendidly in adversity against Ontario

Most popular squad member – Ashley Hanks. The announcement of the most popular man in the squad was about to be made, only for the whole room to make it for me. "Ashley!" everyone shouted. Correct. A diamond on and off the field, has battled back superbly from his shoulder problems

Sequence of the tour – Joe Thomas. Joe, who had an outstanding match against Ontario, cleaned up this award. Three times Dayno re-started in the Sevens. Three times the same opposition forward called. Three times the kick was perfect, three times, Joe wiped out the catcher to huge cheers. Inspirational.

Tour Iron Man – Luke Knowles. The only man to start every game, everyone one in high heat. He also played throughout the Sevens. The Iron Man never took the easy option, he battled it out toe to toe, he must have lost two stone.

Failed Stud of the Tour – Charlie Hancock. He never stinted in his attempts to impress the teenage women of Toronto. He failed. But there is a consolation. Charlie, when all the property he lost had been returned, played superbly, and fitted in so well it was as if he had been in the team for years. We want him to stay.

No Backward Step award – Tim Johnson. Always desperate for action, always made an impact, refused to be beaten by injury niggles, and cut down the penalties. A back row man to please any coach.

Kick of the tour – David Hodgson. Nothing less than genius. Dave’s first kick of the tour was a conversion from out on the left touch line (don’t forget he is a left-footed kicker). The ground was a funny shape as it fell into a kind of hollow down the left. So Dave was kicking from an acute angle out of a hollow, and across a strong wind. When he nailed the kick, both the referee and the Brampton replacements all clapped. Jonny would have been happy with a 50% rate from that position.

Hit-man – Chris Adam. Cads was a little downcast after suffering a string of injury. So his award was even more praiseworthy. The judges commended his unconquerable zest for the confrontation, ability to take on big forwards to protect his backs if bad ball has been sent back to him.

Smooth operator – Olly Styles. No. Not a reward for his off-the-field action though he was at the heart of the squad. Olly Stokes impressed everyone with the clinical efficiency of his service, whipping out the passes like a well-oiled machine.

Coaches’ award – Dayne Ferrar. Dayno was a class act, except when pushing the coaches to go into Screamers. He is as fine footballer and tactician, a great team man and he has the ability to go high in the sport. Rounded off his tour with a memorable speech.

Rock of the tour – Jack Robinson. A tribute to one of the great tight-forward games I have seen. Reduced to seven forwards for some of the Ontario game, the monster Ontario pack tried to grind us into the dust. Jack anchored the scrum brilliantly, so we never went back an inch. Heroic.

Tour gaffer – Tom Lewis. T played a part at the heart of the trip as the liaison man for the players. He was assiduous, he attended every meeting. His highlight was his managership of the Under-18s seven, when he emerged from disagreements with other management figures, stuck to his guns, and guided his troops into the final.

Finally the results of the Coaches' Challenge were announced by Dave Hodgson with The Ralph Murwill trophy presented by "Sir Ralph" himself to the winner Roger Lewis.

An evening that was a worthy finale to truly a trip of a lifetime.