Lessons learnt….....

......and I think Harrodians Vets are just about starting to do the same!

During the week emails and texts arrive in droves from willing players and equally from committed Guys who might not be able to ‘run-out’ due to a bout of ‘prampushitus’! So the week rolled into Friday afternoon with a squad of just 17 to take on a much unknown opponent!
With no rain in sight and just a blustery wind, the conditions looked good for a competitive game.

The Changing rooms were soon graced with the awesome presence of the mighty Hoff and his mini ‘Hoffet’ who at the age of two had entered his first ever changing room!! What mini Hoffett didn’t know is that it’s highly likely it will be the very same changing room, with its uniquely scolding showers, which he will walk into in 33 years time for his debut Vets game; on the premise UK plc austerity will most likely prevail for that length of time!

We were also graced with the equally unique Osborne brothers who had had enough of reading riveting match reports, but with no battle scars to show and so wanted to have a slice of the action!

London Japanese (LJ) were short of a front row, so we were happy to help them out with the loan of Ben Mann who had only consumed two pre-match shakes so was in prime form and big thanks to him for doing so. LJ flew out of the blocks on the kick off and boasted a mix of Japanese nationals and some slightly blonder looking guys with distinctly familiar accents that reminded me of our Cape Town tour! They were good and they were much better than good in the tackle, putting in some really committed hits, driving us back and forcing us to spill a lot of ball.

Actually, I am being too polite! We were absolutely rattled and so disorganised with no proper patterns being put together, far too much ball being spilled in the loose, guys isolated and off loading without support play coming through and pretty lack lustre in the rucks!!
In the set piece we did perform well with great options in the lineout having Hoff up at 2 and Nicky B up at 4 and likewise in the scrum we had parity, though their miniature version of Oz du Randt (Tight head) made life awkward for Marty and targeted Mozza at Hooker.

For the first twenty minutes we just seemed to have little composure and LJ capitalised on this with a ruthless determination leading to an early try!

More of the same ensued and whilst we had plenty of phases when we were camped out in their 22 we just didn’t seem to be able to bring any form or structure to our game, though after some persistence we managed to get over for try, but it had taken us 22 minutes! No sooner had we done so LJ came straight back at us and scored again after we had managed to put only one pattern together……………mistake after mistake after mistake!
Half time couldn’t have come sooner and we had sadly gone uncontested having lost a valiant Mozza who was in some discomfort.

For me half time talks can include a whole manner of different components, but on this day there was only one clear message…………’stop playing as 15 individuals and start playing as a team!’

Now it would be too easy to suggest that Skips words sunk in that quickly, and certainly we were still up against a vivacious JL, but something did change and it changed with an unheard immediacy where we started to interlink seamlessly, ruck with some aggression and dominate the lineout effectively.

As usual I don’t recall all the detail, but I have a hunch that Jose must have mumbled ‘Tora Tora Tora’ and we just became a different side. We used the lineout’s really well to create a couple of good driving mauls and Nicky B and Hoff excelled in doing so. This had LJ on the back foot and allowed us to open up the backs. When you see the likes of Morgs, Merek and others interlink, you really get an idea of what we are capable of and if used properly we can punish other sides, which we did scoring a few tries this way.

So tries started to flow and JL spent a fair bit of time trotting back to contemplate the game from under their posts.
Some great tries from Morgs, Jose and Cris who all got over for one each; in fact Chris could have had another but for a butter finger moment! Likewise, our versatile 9 in true St Bernard style showed us his best impersonation from Swan Lake as he diiiiiived innnnn suuuucccch sloooooowwwww moooooooooootion on to a loose ball from our own lineout that even the ball stood up in disbelief that it hadn’t been caught! Yet, we weren’t to know that this was a rehearsal for a well deserved try he scored later on!

Gundog had an outstanding game with excellent play in the loose and so too did Hoff who cantered down the touch line from the restart to score in true style in the far corner – we will be seeing more of him I know! All the guys played really well and, yes, we played and won as a team, but it’s the character of guys like Alex and Jonny who epitomise how special a Harrodians Vets team this is.

In the closing stages of the game Jonny went up for a high ball from the restart and clashed with the opposition catching his head and being knocked out for a short while, he fortunately came round quickly and couldn’t have been in safer hands than Dr Alex who held him steady and gave us all clear instructions before the Paramedics arrived. Within half an hour or a little more, Jonny was safely on his way to Kingston for a full check out and was later discharged with a clip around the ear from Mrs Spears for wasting everyone’s time!

Jonny is my Man of the Match for playing with a level of commitment to the end that never wavers and Alex is by far my Team Player of the day for reminding us all that playing and looking out for each other are the characters required to make a true team.

Lastly, a big thanks to Sabro Takahashi and all his side for a spirited and well contested game, but most of all for forcing us to discover our team playing style, which we really will need for next week against Old Cranleighans league fixture.

The side that played was:
1 Marty Sutherland
2 Mozza
3 Finch
4 Jonny
5 Hoff
6 Dr Rolls
7 Gundog
8 Nicky B
9 Gus
10 Marek
11 Stu Osborne
12 Steve Osborne
13 Nick Morgans
14 Cris Pinni
15 Jose
16 Brucie

Tries:
Morgs, Jose, Cris, Hoff, Gus x 1 and Gundog x 2
Cons:
Marek x 2

And just to close………..!!
New competition starts next week called ‘Who’s this’ and its open up to all who read these reports!!!

Its simple…………..all I will do is post via Friday email an unedited version of a player, (current or former) corporate profile as obtained from their mug of an employer’s web site and you guys guess who it is!
We start with this one which you can smell already!!!!!!!!............

“When not focussing on business, he enjoys being an active member of his local rugby team and had a distinguished career playing for Otago (NZ) and London Irish rugby teams - it is this determination and competiveness that makes him a real asset to……”

If you read my reports, but don’t receive my emails drop me a line with ‘Oh yes please Skips’ in the subject bar to finche@me.com and I will be sure to include you!!!!