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.
