The morning passed swiftly – we didn’t have a lot to pack and the customers who came in were not demanding. It was a half day for me today and I left just after 1.00 to go home. Julia and Number 1 son had filled their morning with shopping and we all had pizza and coleslaw for lunch. If this seems familiar, yes, it was the leftovers from the night before.
We watched Wakefield Trinity play Warrington. Number Two son used to play in the youth team at Wakefield before his knee injury, so we were happy to see them take control in the second half and gradually pull ahead to take an unexpected win.
Next up was Wales v Italy in the Six Nations. I like Italy, but you can’t deny that they have been fairly lacklustre over the last few years and have had a run of 36 consecutive losses. People have been talking about replacing them in the competition.
They took an early lead with two penalties and got in the faces of the Welsh, They held the lead into half time then Wales gradually came back at them. Wales scored with just over ten minutes to go and the man of the match award went to the scorer of that try. It looked like it was all over, until Italy came back with a magnificent try. That left them one point down and time ran out, leaving the final kick to decide who won. Miss it and Wales won, slot it home and Italy would win for the first time in 37 games.
To be honest, it doesn’t get better than this.
Italy scored the conversion to win by a point. The man of the match walked across and gave his award to the Italian player who had done all the hard work for the final try. That sort of sporting gesture is something you don’t see every day.
The picture is one I’ve used before, but it’s one of the only rugby shots I have ready. It reflects the other end of rugby – a hard, muddy day in winter in the Yorkshire Youth League with Number Two Son, The other shows the Midlands RL team at the European Youth Festival a few years ago – representing England in matches against the Lebanon and Serbia. Number One son scored in both matches.
I could go on to tell you what a great sport rugby is, in both codes, and how much the kids got from it, but I won’t, as I’ve written enough for one day.
Number Two son definitely looks like he played hard in that photo.
Certainly did. 🙂
I share your pleasure at the Italian win. As far as the game in general is concerned, I think that it has become seriously damaging to the health of the participants and my view is that teams should be given a weight limit and substitutes should be limited.
It’s tricky, trying to limit the damage without taking away the spectacle and the contest.
Both of mine retired from playing due to injuries (one with a screw in his hand, a pin in his leg and a scar above the hairline where they reset his cheekbone). Apart from
a couple of broken fingers and a broken thumb the other one survived until he wrecked his knee. I would set them playing hockey if we had to do it all again. The injuries may be less severe but the constant physical battering would be less.
New Zealand juniors play in weight classes rather than age groups, but we feel this may cause other problems.
I played hockey as a schoolboy and student. I chose to play in goal as it was the only position where the opposition were deliberately trying not to hit you.
Good point. However, the deliberately not hitting thing was somewhat negated by the need to deliberately stand in front of the ball. Or did I do that wrong?
I played in goal with kit left over from the 1950s, though my natural slow and vindictive character really made me more suitable for fullback.
Some years later I saw a University hockey goalkeeper with kit that looked like it had come out of Star Wars. I was both surprised and envious.
I might have been a better goalie with today’s kit. I tended to wave the vicious head high ones in.
That seems perfectly logical to me. Better to lose a match than wake up in hospital. 🙂 On the rugby field I’m as hard as the man hitting me, but I’m a lot softer than a hockey ball.
Your first two comments from people who watched the same match. Pretty cool. There’s a joke here that rugby is (American) football for the criminally insane. No pads, no helmets, no passing.
Two out of three – there is plenty of passing in rugby, but all the team does it, not just one specialist. The American Marines adopted rugby as their sport of choice in France in 1918 and seem to like it.
tinyurl.com/w53ezw5
Ah, but it’s not that long throw, is it? It’s a kind of tossing (obviously more expertise than that) or more like a quick basketball pass–but I haven’t seen a rugby game for years, so could be really, really wrong…
Different skills, different approaches. However, it’s a little more than “tossing”.
That try had Ian and me screaming our heads off – it has to be the best Six Nations one ever
A great try at any time, but to set up a one point win after 36 successive losses – well you wouldn’t dare write it as a screenplay – too far-fetched.
Reminded me of this clip.
That bit about the man of the match handing off his award should be made compulsory viewing on all news channels everywhere.
Yes, and certainly every junior coaching video.