Boston Irish Wolfhounds B 20, Portland 17

Sporting more grey hair than an episode of the Golden Girls, a creaky Portland side took the field last Saturday looking to shake off some cobwebs against a spritely, young collection of Irish contenders. After previous false starts to the season, a glorious day beckoned along with the opportunity to feel grass underfoot for the first time this year.

I've never been particularly good at remembering much of a game, let alone keeping score, and this was no exception. I could've sworn the game was all tied when the final whistle blew, but the ref. told me otherwise. Were it not for letting them have a do-over on one of their penalties, this may still have been the case.

No matter. There was much to take heart from in this outing. Line-out dominance continued, and there were many additional yards gained through effective mauling. On the whole the back line looked exceptionally crisp, and our two tries came from set peices that were executed at pace. It's funny. It looks like they're always just standing around at practice, but it looks as though they must have worked on a few moves. Lastly, given the pace of the Irish side there was also some very effective defence being played, shutting down a few try scoring opportunities.

On the negative side, scrums were more than a little squirrelly, and didn't always provide a solid base from which to attack. "Connectivity" between backs and forwards is still an area for work, and just generally stringing together a few more passes in open play. All things that can be fixed though, so onward and upward.

Props to Joey Team and Matt Winch for their respective tries and to Andy Nelson for his perfect kicking (two cons., one pen.) As far as I could tell on Saturday evening, everyone emerged from this opening encounter unscathed, other than Scotty T-H's usual 30 second cameo in the B game.

Practice is scheduled for this Tuesday at 6pm on Fox Street, although rain is forecast so the City might have other ideas. Watch this space.

Gents, rain stopped play on the weekend, so nothing to report on that front.

The scheduled practice at Fox Street tonight is cancelled due to residual dampness, but those of you looking to work of your excess energy, can still meet there @ 6pm at run hills with J-Wil before retiring to the bar to watch some rugby.

Other than that, it's Joker's at the usual time. 9:30pm on Thursday. See you there.

And so it comes down to this....all that hard work on the couch will now be put to the test. Meet at the Park & Ride at 9am Saturday morning, and/or follow these directions. I could type them all out for you, but really, if you made it this far you oughta be able to click that link.

As the season kicks of, I'll leave you with the immortal words of Rudyard Kipling;
"If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"...

...If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixy seconds of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everthing that is in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!"

Of course, there's eighty unforgiving minutes...

I promised myself I wasn't going to post anything today. I mean, nothing much happens in a day with no practice. Even the usual exec. e-mail chatter has been quiet today. This blogging thing is getting out of hand.

Anyway, the opinions expressed in the following link are not those of the club, it's players or executive committee. Of course, those of you of a mind to keep score on these things, please write and tell me. The winner might just get a mention. Spider. There, I already saved myself the trouble.

I thought I'd let you know about attendance on Saturday as a flimsy excuse to post a new link that will just help the week fly by. Anyway, numbers were bolstered by some new talent all the way from Bridgeton Academy. This bodes well, given that some of the rest of you old geezers who live much closer to the beach didn't make it. I hope that catching up on Digimon was worth it.

So now just one practice lies between us and actual competition. I hope you're all comfortable that your couch-based calisthenics routine will have you adequately prepared. In case you're a little wobbly on this, you might want to drag yourself along to practice this Thursday, to find out what the rest of us have been up to. Just a thought.

Now, about that link. This ought to resonate with you married guys, or those of you in committed long term relationships with other members of the club.

Expect plenty of sand, sun and fun at the beach tomorrow at 9:30 am. OK.....maybe just plenty of sand.

You know...life is like a ruck (kinda). When it all goes according to plan, you've got your mates around you to support you and the ball comes out on your side. But sometimes you just want it so badly that you find yourself on the wrong side, and all you can do is cover up your soft fleshy parts and go to your happy place. If you like, I can show you life's stud marks on my back, but my guess is that you'd rather not. Nevertheless, I can tell you that each one taught me a lesson, and that beats giving up a penalty, any day.

Are you feelin' me?