First of all, check out this photo, it’s bloody hilarious. Scrum cap still on as he is being wheeled into hospital!  I can joke about this as there was absolutely nothing wrong with Robin.  He did come off second best in a clash of heads and the tackle didn’t involve arms so the culprit was lucky that he only went to the bin.

it’s bloody hilarious – according to the BM

Robin stayed down and got taken away in the ambulance so we were all genuinely concerned but once he was discharged from the hospital he joined us out on the piss.  Robin, you are a drama queen so please bring a case to training on Thursday.

This second picture is of Donal, the theatrics that went on after he was kicked on the leg were worthy of a footballer. It was actually quite embarrassing to watch so you need to bring a case to training too. You did succeed in getting a Mariner in the bin but the BM does not approve of that sort of carry on.

Let’s get to the game.  We started sensationally.  Playing into a strong wind we ran it from all angles and after about 9 phases Patrick Richardson galloped in, cutting a great line to the posts for a try.  After that the weather got worse and we got stuck into an arm wrestle with Mariners that we were always destined to lose.

I’ll summarize.

• We gave away a ton of penalties, some of which they kicked for points, some of which they kicked for territory
• This is Donal – according to the … you know who
• They rumbled over for two tries and led 23-6 at half time
• Puppy came on and dropped the first ball he received, he had been put into a hole and though he had half the length of the field to run it’s the sort of thing he is capable of but taking a 3 month break in the middle of a season has an affect and he was clearly a little rusty.
• Less rusty players also dropped the ball.  A lot!
• Conditions got worse to the point it was almost impossible to pass, this suited the 10 man rugby style of Mariners but negated our speed out wide
  

  this is Donal according to .. you know who

• Robin went for an unnecessary ride in the ambulance.
• Aldo scored from the penalty.
• Donal rolled around on the floor after being kicked.
• The final whistle went and Mariners had played the awful conditions better than us.
• Jerry officially became the Worst Coach Ever
• Harry Andrews retired from rugby……we’ll see about that one.

Though disappointed, after the game finished the boys gathered in the changing room and ended up having an impromptu court session followed by a ‘Back to Dessie’s’ session. It was a quality evening!

This week there is no training on Tuesday but our 2^nd Team are playing Yale University on Wednesday and then there will be a big game of Touch on Thursday followed by Donal and Robin’s beers.  Finally on Saturday we are having our bus trip to the East.  Places are filling up fast so you need to pay your money and sign up.

See you up at NSC at 6.30pm on Wednesday to cheer on the 2^nd Team.

BM

2nd in the league! After the ups and downs of this season that is something to be celebrated. Despite Harry’s best efforts to completely ruin our chances we managed to hold on and avoid the 3 rd spot, a position that TRFC has never had in living memory.

Once again our preparation was not exactly ideal. 2 minutes before kick-off we still didn’t know what our starting XV would be but with a lot of phone calls and arm twisting done on game day we actually fielded a strong team. Andre persuaded Lubin to show up, T managed to get out of his brother’s wedding and Paddy Calow also strapped on the boots. So despite no Tank, Miles, Antonio or Stephan and despite only 3 players being present 15 minutes before the start of the game we did start with a good XV. Actually it was 14, Patrick Richardson was doing a PJ and jogged across the field as Police were kicking off, needless to say they kicked deep into our right hand corner, exactly where Patrick should have been. Result, our lineout on our 5 meter line, LT having to take over throwing duties, we lose the first of many lineouts, Police lay siege to our line. Thank you Patrick, you complete Fckwit!

With a strong wind behind them Police dominated the first half but as opposed to last week when we rolled over and didn’t put up a fight this time we showed some balls and stuck to the task of defending.

Leading the charge was Robin. He played like a very angry man, perhaps he is SoP, Son of Porter. He fronted up to almost everyone on the pitch, sometimes needlessly but he brought a bite to the team and it was in such contrast to last week that his attitude made him Man of the Match in my books. Robin of course brought some strange little animal into the changing room last week and hasn’t got his case in yet so we’ll enjoy his beer this week. Well played though, it was just what we needed.

Police slotted an early penalty and then missed a couple, with a strong wind in our face and a non-existent lineout we were forced to run from deep. We nearly broke out a couple of times but mainly we just defended. A key moment came with about 10 minutes left in the half. Police had a scrum 5 metres
out after we had held up their big No.8 just short of the line. The No.8 came again and again our back row chopped him down, Police piled in but somehow Harry who had dived in from Full Back managed to smuggle the ball out and we cleared our lines. From that moment on Police did not really threaten our
line.

Halftime, not much possession but only 3-0 down. We’d take that. The wind was now behind us, Robin was vomiting everywhere for some reason, Aldo was rallying the troops in his first game as Captain and Harry was planning the most spectacular display of kicking ever to be witnessed on a rugby field. We
were good to go.

10 minutes in, Paddy Calow dummies and goes before feeding Andre who scores and converts his own try 7-3. Another penalty and we go 10-3 up but that is cancelled out by one for Police 10-6. Now the fun begins!

And finally Harry saved the best for last. With about 3 minutes on the clock and still only leading by 4 points Harry scampered back into our own 22 to retrieve a kick. He had absolutely ages to use the  strong wind on his back and welly it down field. Instead, and I still don’t understand why, he decided
to run it out. Ok still not the end of the world, a bit high risk but Harry has the skills to get past the one solitary chaser……uh oh, no he hasn’t……its ok though, he is bigger than the guy who has scragged his shirt, he just needs to stay strong and wait for the support who are rushing back to help him…..hang
on a minute….he’s about to pass the ball……but the nearest man to him is still 10 feet IN FRONT of him…..no Harry!!!….you’re 42 years old, you’ve been playing the game for years, you know the rules, you have to pass backwards……no Harry no!!……Fvck me he is going to pass it…….fvck me, no! He
did……I don’t believe it….this might cost us the game, 2nd place……Harry you fvcking bellend!

Luckily the club likes beer and you Harry are getting your second case of the report. Also luckily for you we won our first scrum against the head for the entire game and Morrison snaffled the ball and we held out for the win but it was a shocking bit of rugby which rather summed up our league campaign.

Sod it though, we won, the fridge will be full and I’ll see you at training.

There were a few mitigating circumstances but the crappy weather and the small Police field was the same for both teams but once again our preparation for the game had a lot to be desired. Stafford just about made it to the game for kick off having rushed off a plane that had just landed, Ken on debut turned up after kick off, Nails came straight off another plane and risking divorce made it for half time and Andre was even later than him, arriving 10 minutes into the second half. All this resulted in three of our senior players who are carrying substantial injuries having to play, well done Harry, Boydie and Greg and a rookie, Jeff who only touched a rugby ball for the first time last week.

Staff, you are excused but though it wasn’t exactly Nails’ fault you are not excused. Bring a case for being late. Andre, you too please for the same offence. And Ken one from you too, you are in fact lucky you are not buying a couple of cases after your inability to catch or hold onto a ball. That’s three cases in the fridge right there and I haven’t even got to the game!

The first half was pretty uneventful, we got on the board first with a try by Boydie but it was cancelled out late in the half and we went in tied at 7-7 with  Antonio having to leave the field on the stroke of half-time. Nails came on and immediately triggered a sequence of shite play. That probably isn’t fair as in the first 7 minutes he touched the ball only once and that was when he knocked on the obligatory Morrison pass to his ankles but in that time Teachers conceded two tries form our own poor play. The first came when young Josh dropped the kickoff to the 2nd half, from the following scrum they rumbled
over to go 14-7 up. Miles’ restart went askew and they then pinned us in our corner until the pressure built and one of their young players wriggled over in a lot of traffic. 19-7. For good measure Aldo, in a jealous fit of rage at seeing someone younger than him score a try, stamped on the kids head. This provoked a brutal response from Police with Aldo emerging with a split lip for his troubles. Fair enough I suppose.

The game did get a bit niggly and while we no doubt contributed we had nothing on their new Fly Half. I don’t know how the Police do it but they have unearthed yet another South African who brings whinging to a new level and that makes The Disco Twins, Hendo, Poms or our own Porter or Greg, sound
like the voices of calm and reason on a rugby field! This guy is emotional. I think he needs a hug from Tank just to calm down a bit. Of course he was helped on his way by the wise-cracking Boydie who suggested he goes and shoots his girlfriend, just like Oscar. That jibe is in poor taste Boydie, the BM does not approve, Oscar was clearly very drunk when he shot his girlfriend……he was legless!!

Anyway, Andre arrived and despite Miles’ best effort to not pass him the ball he managed to score a nice individual try when he collected his own little chip over the defense and then outsprinted the cover to score. 14-19 down. Time was against us but we bought on Lazarus (Hooks Jr.) and the Ginger Ninja
that is Dessie who had arrived in TRFC’s hour of need. Our fresh legs started to hit some rucks and all of a sudden we were getting some good ball and we were stretching the Police. We also brought on Ken Ya for a little cameo who proceeded to entertain the sideline with a little juggling performance that he
had learned at Clown school.

With only a couple of minutes on the clock Miles mistakenly passed to Dessie who was steaming along out wide. Dessie, who if you listen to him will tell you that he taught Brian O’Driscoll how to play Centre, drew the last defender before popping the perfect pass to Andre who scored the winner under the posts. 21 – 19 Teachers. Final whistle. Yes Desmondo!!!!!

Dessie bring a case as this is the only time I will get to fine you all season.

Fellas, we still have to beat Gades and Police just to finish 2nd this year. Let’s finish strong.

See you at training.

BM

Part of our successful 7’s team. Captain Aldo is looking serious; Antonio is looking jealously at Robin’s ear ring while Miles is just trying to squeeze out a poo!
Yes TRFC’s youth policy is paying off as our youthful 7s team ripped through the competition on Friday night. Harry and Nails were not needed as the lads made it 3 wins out of three.
We actually struggled the most against Mariners in our first game but we had fielded our youngest
team, 5 of the 7 were under 21!
The Police game was a bit better, we were comfortably winning but we let a couple of silly tries in but the Renegades game was fantastic.
Against a strong Gades team our boys ran riot beating them 33-5, there was some individual excellence but most pleasing was how we played as a team. It was a really good game of 7s and though the BM is a bit of an old traditionalist even I had to smile as Antonio celebrated his try with a backflip. Well done
youngsters!

This week is Hurdle week, we expect a great turnout at training for the 1 st and 2nd XV, the Club is going
to stock the fridge so come on down and ‘prepare’ for the Club’s biggest fixture of the year.

BM

Unfortunately that opening few minutes was about as good as it got as we gradually got pulled into an arm wrestle which suited Mariners more than us. Our scrums were better than last week but once again we were playing with a much changed XV that was only finalized minutes before kick-off. Kwame with
his sore ribs that he is nursing for Fight Night had to be pulled from the bleachers to play which left Jerry as our only Backs sub until Ian Morrison appeared for the first time this season. 17 year Josh was our only forwards sub as we played 3 Props in the tight five. Not an ideal situation.

Not surprisingly there were plenty of mistakes. There was little fluidity in the Backs, wild passes were being thrown from the inside channels and poor passing and catching stalled any flow to the wings in the outside channels. We don’t train together. It showed!

We did defend well though, we managed to repel a sustained Mariners attack on our line which in the past we would probably have conceded points so that was encouraging but other than that it wasn’t particularly exciting rugby. 7-0 at half time.

Our scrum continued to be successful and from a position close to their line Henry burst from the Number 8 and scored on the blindside to give us some breathing space. It was a good reward for the front five and well deserved for Henry who along with LT had outstanding games in defense.

Mariners doggedly hung in, assisted by some loose tackling in midfield which saw them break out a couple of times and their scrum half/flanker squeezed over in the corner to close the gap. 12-5. Things became a little tense but towards the end Greg broke free and scored his second of the game. We went chasing the crucial bonus point to stay close to Police in our race for the 2 nd leagues spot but time was against us, as was LT apparently.

LT is getting the only case in this week. He preached to his Captain, his Coach and the impressionable young Aldo on Thursday morning about the importance of commitment only to let us down at training later that day. To compound this he also got sin-binned in the game with only a few minutes on the clock. He kicked out at the “Cheap Shot King” that is Mariners prop Dusty, so probably deserved a yellow but the Ref missed the reaction as Mariners remained at full strength. In fairness to Dusty he admitted after the game that he deserved a red for the flurry of punches he directed at LT. I don’t care about confessions from other teams, I care about LT’s beer. Bring a case.

Also voluntarily bringing some beer is Pupa Hurdle who celebrated his 116 th birthday yesterday and to celebrate he is bringing a case to share with the lads. Good man!

Not much beer in the fridge this week but we have a meeting in Docksiders on Thursday after training to sort out Fight Night on Saturday. Friday sees the return of 7s so come on down and support the lads.

See you all at training.

BM

The score flatters us, with 15 minutes to go we were 26-0 down and it felt like we’d hardly touched the ball all game! Renegades were by far the better team but we simply didn’t click or get into any sort of rhythm. I hate to say it but we looked like a team who has not trained as a First XV once all season, which, despite Tank’s best efforts, is exactly what we are.

The Regiment Camp deprived us of a couple of regulars in Big T and Andre but due to injuries, work and then general apathy we were left pretty short, having to play Kwame McHugh in the Centre and young Sydney in 2nd Row. These two played manfully but were clearly out of their comfort zones but it seems a
long time ago (the start of the season) when we had 24 guys kitted up and ready to play!

There were loads of scrums in the first half but ours went backwards more often than not and we were unable to form any sort of attacking platform, as a spectator it must have been pretty bad viewing, we simply played no rugby for 40 minutes. The only plus came with the last play of the half when Boydie
broke out of our 22, got tackled on the half way and threw a pass to LT’s feet (which is pretty damn low! ) which he knocked on. For that to be the one highlight indicates how bad we were. By that time Mr.DH had scored a close range try and Hendo scored a penalty and a try that made our wide defense look
pretty poor to see us go in at the break 15-0 down.

We brought on our one sub Devrae who helped shore up the scrum but we still struggled to get out of our half. We conceded an early drop goal which bounced off the cross bar and then DH’s boyfriend scored another try in the corner off some good rugby from Renegades which stretched us from side to side. There must have been a penalty thrown in there too but I can’t remember it. What I do remember is Greg getting sin-binned for the second consecutive game. In fairness to Greg his tackle was his typical splat collision that left both him and his victim on the ground gasping for air but because the ref had just put the Gade’s fly half in the bin for a late hit with no arms I think he felt compelled to do the same. Utter bollocks I know and I think it was on the linesman’s recommendation but the result was we were down to 14. Greg, the BM sympathizes with you but we need beer in the fridge. You are a regular and
favorite target of mine, bring a case.

With 15 minutes left Vice Captain Tired came on. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that homo! We need you on from the start, not the last quarter when the game is beyond us. Hooks Jr, you have been very good at bringing a voluntary 6 pack to every training session you make but now you need to
bring a case. Within a minute of Junior’s arrival Antonio popped up on the opposite wing and darted over in the corner. New boy Miles converted from wide out. Finally there was some life in the TRFC machine, runners started to pop up in midfield and tackles started to go in. Junior ran over a couple of people, Robin and Church punched some holes as did Dev. Miles made a crucial tackle on Jahan to stop him from completing his hat-trick and then right at the death Junior and Antonio combined well which ended in Junior sprinting clear to score under the posts.

Time was up and Renegades have moved closer to winning the League. We meanwhile are in a real scrap just to get 2nd place. So far we have only beaten Mariners! We have Mariners for the final time this Saturday, followed by a round of 7s on the Friday before Fight Night and then we face a strong Select in the Denton Hurdle Memorial game. There is an obvious need to get to training. Please try to commit.

Apologies for a BM report devoid of much humour….it just wasn’t one of those games…….

See you at training.

BM

1. Church 40 yrs 9. Nails 39 16. James 28 Debut 2. Tank 29 10. Stephan 17 Debut (IQ 53) 17. Sydney 17 3. Stafflar 26 11. Antonio 19 (IQ – 40) 18. Josh 17 Debut 4. Big T 28 12. Harry 42 19. Kyle 19 Debut (IQ -30) 5. Goofy 28 Debut Start 13. Puppy 21 (IQ 47) 20. Lake 19 Debut 6. Yank 26 Debut Start 14.Patrick 20 (IQ –20) 21. Porn Star 27 Debut 7. Robin 29 15. Greg 36 8. Aldo 21

One nice stat for Nails is that he was on the park with 5 of his former students from 5 different year groups, his claim though that he taught them everything they know, falls a little flat when you realize their combined IQ adds up to that of a sausage!

‘Much to everyone’s amusement Robin who had just come off having played an hour of rugby unscathed jumped into the melee and came out with a black eye’ – Kase?

Let’s start with some fines. There is going to be some beer in the fridge this week, Harry and Robin will be contributing but most of it is thanks to the Yank. It was his birthday, he had his first start for the club, he scored and he got sin binned! This definitely adds up to a 3 case fine but he brought a birthday case to the field so I will reduce it to 2 cases.

Yank scored our opening try but that wasn’t before we had gone 10-0 down. Mariners piled over from close range in typical fashion for their first try then surprised everyone (but mostly our Backs who got caught ball watching) as they scored out wide for a second try. Deprived of ball we hadn’t been able to establish any fluidity into the game but Yank’s score came about from our first real bit of possession. Comically before Yank got the ball and burst over the line he was held back illegally and you could hear him shouting abuse……as if Yank actually knows any of the rules to complain about them being broken. Well done though mate, good try. Pup converted.

Annoyingly we got caught out at the restart, gave away a penalty which was kicked into the corner and from the resulting lineout Mariners drove over to extend their lead. This did though galvanize us into playing some rugby and we started to throw the ball around. Harry, the fool, dropped the ball while carrying it b’ball stylie but he did make up for it as he sizzled out a pass to Antonio who sprinted free to score on the wing. Unfortunately for Harry he was overheard congratulating himself for the pass. I don’t know what that is all about, he has clearly been hanging around with his teenage teammates, the BM expects more humility from our most senior player so bring a case please.

Tries by Patrick and Puppy followed though the BMs memory is a little fuzzy and I can’t remember the sequence. Pup’s try was a good one, set up by a good run by Patrick and we must have gone in at half time with a comfortable lead. We made a lot of changes and a lot of our youngsters got on for the first time and acquitted themselves very well, none more so that Stephan Edwards who had an excellent full game at Fly Half. So apart from all the debuts in the second half the highlights were undoubtedly a great try from Church, the Yank’s sin binning and a bench clearing brawl.

Yank was a little hard done to, he hit the scrum half when he had hands on the ball but scrum halves always have a little more protection than other players and Mariners were right on our line so a combination of factors contributed to his 10 minute rest.

The brawl started with Greg tackling their 12 year old winger high for the second time. In fairness to Greg the tackles were not outright head hunting hits but the winger was so small that he spectacularly crumpled on contact. The second hit riled the Mariners but in the meantime Tank took a quick lineout, the Ref blew to call him back but Tank used the same young winger as a brake by running into him. This incensed Mariners’ Alun Thomas who piled into Tank with a flying elbow. All hell broke loose, it happened right on the sideline which proved too much of a temptation for the TRFC support who also got stuck in. Papa Hurdle almost broke his ankle scrambling down the bleachers to get involved but luckily for Mariners the barrier at the bottom proved too much for his arthritic knees to jump over. The BM doesn’t really condone supporters getting involved though I appreciate it does add to the spectacle. Much to everyone’s amusement Robin who had just come off having played an hour of rugby unscathed jumped into the melee and came out with a black eye. Luckily Mariners didn’t take the fact that the sideline got involved any further but Robin may have struggled to prove his innocence. He is definitely guilty of something so we’ll have a case from him.

And finally there was Church. He bounced back from possibly his worst game in 3 decades the previous game to cap a stellar performance with a very nice individual try with hair pulling, dummying and sprinting all thrown into the mix.

All in all a good day for the boys in red. The youngsters all played well, the new boys all got game time, we had front rowers playing like half backs and the ball got out to our speedy wings. Still lots to work on though! See you at training.

Beer Monitor

Despite Puppy pulling out at the last minute and his replacement Paddy Calow arriving literally 2 minutes before kick-off we actually started the game at a terrific pace, we got plenty of width to the ball and only scrambling Renegade defense stopped Patrick Richardson on two occasions in the first 5
minutes.

However with more or less Renegades first bit of possession we found ourselves behind. From a Gade scrum inside our 22 their scrum half looked like he had messed up when our blindside winger tackled him but he flung out a wild pass to his supporting winger, Hooks Junior looked like he had it covered but our big Number 8 missed the tackle on the 160lb teenager who dived over to score. To make matters worse Junior immediately left the game clutching his shoulder though the BM suspects his pride hurt more than what is to be fair to him, his long term injury.

They missed their conversion but soon after slotted a penalty to go 8-0 up. That penalty seemed to jolt us into action, from the restart Andre caught it clean and we were in behind them and after a couple of phases Paddy Calow burst through some weak defense and scored under the posts. A debut try, fantastic, that’ll be a case. Greg knocked over the conversion and we were back in the game. Paddy then went from hero to zero as he gave a way a penalty in front of our posts which they slotted and we went into the half 11-7 down.

It had been a bit of a strange half, our lineouts and our scrums were a complete mess, our ball handling was good and we were spreading it wide but without much penetration, we’d had the lion’s share of possession and yet we were behind.

The second half was basically more of the same, our scrums improved as Henry Paddison joined the game allowing Aldo (who is finally beginning to fulfill all that potential) back in the 2 nd row but our lineout capitulated to the point that we couldn’t kick penalties to touch (that’s Greg’s excuse anyway) as we weren’t going to win our ball. Church, the TRFC legend is going to be the BM’s scapegoat for this. It’s very rare any part of Mr. Consistent’ s game lets him down but I am assuming he had taken a knock to the head as he was away with the fairies. Church either lifted the wrong man or no one at all, Tank proved that he couldn’t hit a barn door with his throwing in but he does at least need a barn door as a target, so Church you are buying the beer.

Your front row partner Devrae is next up for a case. If you are going to get sin binned for stamping then at least leave an impression on the opponent’s chest otherwise it’s just not worth it! 24 green please.

Despite the lack of first phase ball we enjoyed most of the possession, Aldo went close, Boydie went close, Antonio made a great break from his own line and all Andre had to do was catch his pass (then sprint 50 metres) but our young star made a couple of uncharacteristic mistakes on the night and that was perhaps the most costly. Late on Tank made a run that we looked likely to score from but once again we just couldn’t quite finish off the good work. Right at the end Big T knocked on 5 metres out and you knew it wasn’t going to be our night.

So our first loss and worryingly our first phase ball really let us down as did some basic skills and an annoyingly high penalty count but on the up side we are dominating possession and are only a caught pass and a half break away from winning by large margins. We have Police next week Friday, who put
60 points on Mariners, we need to put in some work on the training ground over the next two weeks!

The drinks are on Paddy and the front row this week, Tank being a debtor, so enjoy.

Before I leave I want to tell you a brief story about our Coach. Jerry as Coach is supposed to be the brains of our operation but once again his decision making has left the BM shaking his head. Let me set the scene. Jerry and the BM along with their respective families had just had a pub lunch, Jerry had started with some popcorn and two coconut cookies, he then got tucked into an enormous plate of ribs and French fries which was washed down with two pints of beer. Stuffed to bursting point this is where our “intelligent” coach came unstuck.

As we were about to leave the Country Squire a pie eating contest was about to get underway and without a second’s hesitation Jerry entered himself, sitting himself down on a table with a 300lb man and a homeless guy! Comically BSN were there and have recorded the moment for eternity. To say it was absolutely hilarious is an understatement. Jerry actually did TRFC proud, he beat the 300lb man but lost to the homeless man next to him despite Jerry’s best attempts to sabotage his fellow contestant. As soon as BSN put up the link on their website I will be sure to share it with you. Jerry, you are a legend
and an idiot!

See you all at training.

BM

“Get up Dave you’re embarrassing yourself…..I’m off to speak to James…..Hey bye! Why are you so tired, you’ve
only been on the park 5 minute? I’m 42 years old don’t you know…..blah, blah, blah!”

“Get up Dave you’re embarrassing yourself…..I’m off to speak to James…..Hey bye! Why are you so tired, you’ve
only been on the park 5 minute? I’m 42 years old don’t you know…..blah, blah, blah!”

Beer Monitor Report 19th October 2012

Teachers 20 – 3 Mariners

The season has got off to a good start, we dominated the game against a spirited but much depleted Mariners team who will have to perform some miracles in the personnel department if they are to repeat last years’ successes.

That said they took the lead early on but we were soon down their end messing things up. I say we but I really mean LT. A rush of blood to the head saw our diminutive openside tap a penalty 10 metres in front of the posts with the fourteen other players screaming at him not to. His pass went straight to the toes of his surprised support player and the easy 3 points went begging. Luckily for LT we didn’t lose by 3 points but I’m fining him anyway, the BM was not impressed. Case.

Mid-way through the half our dominance out wide paid off, Pup looped the evergreen Harry and then popped the ball to the Patrick on the wing for a nicely executed move. Unusually for Patrick he didn’t run out the back of the try area but instead dotted the ball down in the corner. Conversion missed, 5-3 up.

For the remainder of the half we had nearly all the ball and we were soon back on the scoreboard until Alvin intervened. Puppy won the race to his own chip kick over the onrushing defense and looked to have scored but TRFC stalwart/legend Alvin Harvey was touch judge and deemed fit to tell the ref that
Pup had knocked it on. I’m not saying that the decision was wrong but it is going to be expensive for you, Alvin bring a case.

Moments after that a wayward Mariners clearance kick was gathered up by our fullback Greg Fraser who lined up a drop goal, his attempt hit the post but in the ensuing chaos as Mariners tried to clear the ball, Junior nailed their fly half who dropped the ball in his try area for LT of all people to pounce on it for a try. Well done LT, you have redeemed yourself and cancelled out your previous fine…..hang on……wait a minute…….it was your debut try for the club! Hoorah! Bring two cases! Hoorah! Hoorah!

10-3 at half time and Captain Tank’s message was clear, don’t give away penalties at the break down. Unfortunately Tank doesn’t practice what he preaches but I’ll get to that clown later.

LT. Case please

In typical TRFC fashion we started the second half asleep, nobody claimed the kick off and we had to endure a hard 10 minutes of pressure which was only relieved by the hilarious sight on Bongo, the Mariners hooker, making a break from the back of Mariners’ 54th phase of pick and goes and go diving over the line. The disorientated Hooker had thought he had scored a try only for his laughing teammates to point out that he had in fact dived over the sideline. Brilliant!

Shortly after we went up field and basically stayed there for the remainder of the game. We slotted a penalty but due mainly to Tank’s inability to play within the rules every time we built a platform to attack Tank would concede a penalty. Our Captain is the ultimate competitor and will always get
himself in situations that may lead to penalties but his mountain climbing effort was both hilarious and ridiculous. With one Mariner lying flat on the ground and another getting to his feet Tank saw the perfect opportunity for a launch pad. He ran along the back of the one lying down then jumped up and
ran onto the back of the other before leaping fly-squirrel style over a breakdown. Comically he almost justified his actions to the ref and avoided a yellow card but Tank’s penalty count doesn’t avoid him bringing a case to training.

We blooded a lot of new players, Sydney and James making their first team debut. The Yank got on and was repeatedly smashed backwards to the delight of the TRFC support. Each time the Yank to his credit bounced back up mumbling “it didn’t hurt” through his oversized gum shield. Aldo had a great black
eye. Junior stormed around in attack, Harry stormed around in defense. Antonio caught the ball! Then he dropped it. Big T went off saying he couldn’t see (the drama queen) and Henry Paddison’s retirement lasted one weekend.

Despite our dominance we failed to score again until the last play of the game and it was Patrick again, this time he had to do a bit more work, running it in from the half way but it was well finished and his game seems to be improving even if his fitness is not.

So Tank, Alvin, LT x2 along with Boydie and Antonio who are debtors are all bringing beer tomorrow. On Thursday we play Renegades under the lights at national Stadium, yes Thursday so only one training session this week.

See you at training.

BM