Saturday 13th April, 7.25pm Scottish Time
The first important piece of news is that nearly all the bags have turned up.
The team knew they were in Scotland yesterday after a relaxing morning walking around North Berwick and visiting the Sea Bird Centre it was time for the boys to take to the field and play three thirty minute games as part of a rugby carnival.
The carnival started with all four teams walking on to the ground with the bag pipes playing. It was a unique occasion one the boys will remember for a long time to come.
As can happen the weather changed quickly and after a clear morning the temperature plummeted and the rain kicked in just as the games were due to start. The team played North Berwick A in their first fixture. It was a close encounter in the first half, with the boys displaying determination all around the paddock. The second half was a different story with a couple of ‘knocks’ the backline was reshuffled on a number of occasions. Even with the changes the boys continued to play well in the conditions. Jordan Peters scored our first try of the tour running 80 metres after swooping on a loose ball. The end score was 15 – 5 to North Berwick A.
The second game saw the boys take on North Berwick B. With a revamped backline the boys found it hard to adjust to the wet and cold conditions. North Berwick got away to a quick lead and we were never able to get ourselves back into the game. They ended up going away to win 21-0.
Chuckanut Bay were our third game of the carnival. By this stage the boys were feeling the effects of the travelling and the cold, wet conditions. Chuckanut Bay scored an impressive opening try and from that point were able to control the game showing very good skills around the ruck. Our boys played with real grit and determination in the trying conditions but could not counter the Americans who recorded their third win of the Carnival.
Whilst our first encounter of Rugby on tour was a difficult one, the boys were able to run-off their jet lag and show real courage in the cold, wet and windy conditions. They will be better for this experience as the tour continues.
After the match we were hosted in the North Berwick Clubhouse to a meal and awesome Scottish hospitality. The boys (80 in total), all dined on delicious shepherds pie with vegetables followed by apple pie and ice cream. This was all made by one of the North Berwick’s player’s Mums and her team of helpers – what a great effort! This was then followed by speeches and presentations, where gifts and prizes were exchanged. Pat Hare and Mitch Curran deservedly won players of the afternoon, presented by our opposition. The team has definitely been looked after by the families at North Berwick and some friendships have been established that will last a lifetime.
Today, we visited Melrose to watch the 125th playing of the Melrose 7s. It was a fantastic day, although the weather was a little wet and cold to begin with. We were able to watch the Breakers warm up and formed a tunnel to clap them on for their first game. They won this game, playing an extremely entertaining brand of Rugby. Their second game was not so good, and they were knocked out at that stage. It was lovely to be able to make contact with the Breakers players on the other side of the world and they seemed to appreciate our support.
We left Melrose at 7pm after the final and travelled to Edinburgh to our new home for the next two nights – the central Youth Hostel. It’s very nice, clean and warm and the boys had a choice of two hearty meals on our arrival .... we won’t go hungry!
Tomorrow, we’ll visit Edinburgh Castle in the morning and go to Murrayfield in the afternoon to be inspired before a late afternoon training session.
We’ll try to update our blog tomorrow evening.