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Prior to the Saxons, rugby had found its way into Cobourg via local area high schools. The town had even experimented with club side rugby in the past: Bob Richards, Chris Holly and Don Thompson attempted to form a junior boys team in the early 1990's called the Cobourg Ghosts, named after Cobourg's successful 1950's football team the Galloping Ghosts. Unfortunately, this team did not last much longer than their first season. The Ghosts however, would provide the inspiration for the conception of the Cobourg Saxons Rugby Football Club.

It was through the Ghosts that Bob Richards was first introduced to two young rugby enthusiasts: Mike McMahon (nee: Watson)and Scott Jenkins. Bob was the coach of the CDCI East Comets, at that time the most successful rugby program in Cobourg.  After graduating from high school, Scott and Mike had gone on to play rugby at their respective universities. Without a local rugby club for which to play, Scott and Mike were travelling to Oshawa to play rugby for the Oshawa Vikings. Being passionate about rugby in general and local rugby in particular they had decided to check out this junior team and see if they could help out in anyway.

Jenkins and McMahon still had strong ties to CDCI West and were recruited by Don Thompson to assist him in coaching the West Vikings boys rugby team. The two were also offering rides up to Oshawa so that area highschool players could experience higher levels of rugby than could be offered in Cobourg at the time. One such player was a tall, lanky, athletic kid named Aaron Allen. Aaron was young, athletic and impressionable. He took to rugby with the same strong desire that McMahon and Jenkins did. All three lived and breathed the beautiful sport, and all three loved the social side of rugby culture as well. You could find them in the middle of things every Saturday afternoon on the pitch and, again in the evening, at the piss-up afterwards. It didn't take long before these three close friends were exploring other rugby options including forming their own club in Cobourg.

In 1996 Steve Barlow and Dina Davis decided to form a girls rugby team in Cobourg. They would call this team the Cobourg Crash, a reference not only to the crashing waves of nearby Lake Ontario, but also for a style of rugby play known as crash ball or crashing rugby.

The creation of the Crash really started Jenkins, McMahon, Richards and Allen thinking. Richards was playing rugby for the Ajax Wanderers and still coaching at the East. Jenkins, McMahon and Allen were still playing for Oshawa and recruiting more and more players every year. It just didn't make sense to drag all these players up to Oshawa three times a week when senior rugby could be played right here in Cobourg. Mike began calling the TRU trying to determine how to establish a rugby CLUB. In his opinion, the Cobourg teams previous to this were just that--teams.To McMahon a club had a vision for the future, had a direction, was about more than just rugby -- and was run by an executive not just one or two people. Wary of the Ghost's early exit from club side these four men wanted to be sure that this thing could survive.

The following account first appeared on the Toronto Rugby Union website during late winter of 1998. It was at this time the newly formed Cobourg Saxons RFC were preparing for their inaugural season:

The Founding of a New Club in Cobourg

Founded in December 1997, this will be Cobourg's first year with a men's rugby club. Conceived and developed by an executive which has played with the Oshawa Vikings and the Ajax Wanderers and drawing upon an established highschool rugby program, and its alumni, the Cobourg Saxons will be fielding two men's sides for the 1998 summer season.

The Cobourg club takes the name of the great Saxon Warriors who were known for their barbaric and highly effective combative techniques. This is appropriate in that the town of Cobourg was named for Coburg, Germany after the marriage of a very popular prince and princess. The wedding took place in the district of Saxony.

The idea of club rugby in Cobourg was always something much talked about after a few pints and during travels home from various clubs with which the Cobourg players had previously associated. One of the aspects making Cobourg's highschool rugby program so strong was the occurrence of annual alumni games where returning players would teach the current highschool players a few lessons between the stripes, as well as at the much talked about piss-up afterwards.

Eventually, in June 1997, a cross-town Battle of the Alumni resulted pitting C.D.C.I. East Alumni against C.D.C.I. West Alumni. (The mighty West Vikings were victorious, hence the majority of the executive hail from this school!). The resulting beer-up challenged Cobourg's legal and moral standards. Rumour has it that a new record was set that day at the local watering hole Kelly's Homelike Inn. Apparently this group of respectable men managed to polish off over 75 jugs of golden nectar. (this disappointed some of the future Saxons who thought that, had they been privileged to this information at the time, could have faired much better.

If you would like to become part of this wonderful club please feel free to contact any executive member or turn up at one of our practices held Tuesdays and Thursdays from May to September at CDCI East high school.

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