Winners and loosers

1st game of the year. (JAPAN) Tokyo Gaijin VS The Crusaders. (WIN) I woke up in the morning and I just didn't feel right. I felt weak and constipated and just generally not in good health for a day of rugby. I did some last minute finishing touches to the fliers and then woke up Eric so he could watch some cartoons while I got our gear ready. After calling and waking the team manager Joffa up we aranged a time to meet and Eric and I were off to print some more fliers. We went back to Gera Gera where Eric refused to sit down and refused to be quite but I got the rest of them printed and we headed out to meet Joffa. After hooking up with Joffa his wife and Dave we got on the road, or the train so to speak and made our way to the meeting point. When we arrived at the station within a few minutes almost the whole team was there. It was awesome there was 15 guys at the station and when we got to the field there were another 5 at least. I started to feel a little better knowing I would not have to play a full game. We warmed up and practiced a bit and to quote Muz I felt a bit more "switched on" then normal. Still far from what I needed to be but playing defense against my own team in line outs and scrums helped me realize what my job was gonna be when I was in. If I got in. Practice finished up and I the starting line up was called out. I was not on it. I was a little bummed out not to be starting, because over the break I put a lot of work in for the team getting myself in shape, I ran about 10 times and I can feel my legs getting stronger. In addition to trying to improve my fitness, I have also been studying the game of rugby. Finally I have been working on the team site allot and been the pain in the ass that has gotten it up to date. I should have been carried around the rugby pitch by two of my team mates instead of having to run and get all sweaty. I digress thats not what a team is about. It's about doing what you can to support your team members on and off the field. Teams are also about winning. Putting me in the full game because "worked on the website" would be like saying, well Joe is better than most forwards so we will make him play in a wheel chair to make it fair to the other side. In a team everyone plays to win it is not always perfect and not always fair but we all came here with one goal in mind WINNING! As the first half closed we were up by a try and every one seemed pretty fired up but the also seemed tired. I tried to kick start everyones attitude with a little cheer[1] that didn't quite go as planed. I yelled out "Did any one here come to loose?" at the same time Al the team captain said Gaijin on 3. 1,2,3 Gaijin. So I am sure from any where outside our huddle it sounded like "blah blah blah LOOSE GAIJIN!" Ya I go goated for that. As the second half picked up its pace we scored another try and were on our way to victory. There was so much exciting stuff happening and that I couldn't even think to recount it all. With about 10 minutes left Jesse our Co-captain, came up to me and said are you ready to go on? HELL YA! I was stoked and threw on a jersey and was waiting to play. The whistle blew and I went in for Dave, he looked awesome as he came off the field. His face covered in dirt, his hands and arms had mud caked all over them and eyes were still staring straight ahead like he could play another 2 hours. I jumped in and Romsey and I hooked up for a scrum and were ready to go. I usually play on the opposite side of the back tight 5 and had trouble getting my head in the right place between the 2 guys in front of me thighs. The ref shouted the commands crouch, touch, pause, engage and my head slipped out as we engaged and I slammed head first into Huffers thigh. In a split second I had my head back were it belonged but the knock had me reeling and I saw starts for a brief second. Either way the Cru did not stand a chance against our scrum at this point and we rolled right over them like they were on rollerblades. As always when I am on the field, my time is a blur and I cant even remember what happened when or where but here is a quick highlight of what I remember. As the Cru was advancing twords us I remember being on line with everyone else and then charging someone who was comeing tword me. He straight-armed me but I didnt let him by. As he was mashing my face to the ground I grabbed his jersey and was slowly dragging him down from behind when BLAM he went flying over me and landed a meter back I got up and kept chasing the ball as him and Huffer argued Huffs tackling techice or lack there of. Not shortly after that there was a penalty but I was late hearing the call and was supposed to back up 10 meters but didn't. This small toothless guy from the Cru stood in front of me with the ball wanting to run but seeing I was not back my 10 meters just stood kinda half in this "I am about to run" stance with the ball. Finally after half the team yelled my name and the reff threatened to give them another 10 meters I realized I had to get back and did. Another goat for me. There was a line out and HUGE MAULING PUSH towards the Cru goal line. I could not get my head down low enough to really get in the maul all the way but instead took a step back and slammed into the group to give us a extra push. Which resulted in us falling out of bounds. The following line out proved that I was not as turned on as previously thought. Since I was taking Dave's place I was supposed to jump on 2. The calls came quick and suddenly Tucker turned grabbed my shorts and I took a step back and jumped as high as I could. The jump must have been pretty good cause I almost got the ball even though it was thrown directly to the other player. Having never jumped before though I was not steady when I got into the air and subsequently fell down on the guy with the ball. I immediately got backup and ..... heck I don't remember but I hit someone fell down or something of the likes. The Wistle blew for the last time and we were victorious. It was a good feeling. We had not beaten the Cru in 3 years. We had been training, and it showed. Tuesday morning when I got up to run. I thought about how if I was faster and could tackle better it would help me and the team. I thought how if I payed better attention on and off the field that I would be a better player and could get more game time, not only when there no other option but to let me play cause we didn't have enough guys. Tuesday I ran hard I did a quick daily 7 and 10 wind sprints, each one harder and faster than the last and each one with less rest time. Thursday I will do more of the same. SO WATCH OUT! E./ [1] If you have known me for any period of time I am sure you are rolling around on the ground laughing. Erin 6foot tall 200lbs red hair and green eyes and all the fire and intensity of a 24 year old, spending time thinking of half time cheers for his rugby team? How gay. I couldn't agree more. But history will show both times I did one of these gay little cheers....... WE WON[2]. Enough said. [2]Urayasu 10s 2nd Match & Sudagaria 7's Second match.