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Published: April 9th 2010
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It was a very subdued night of the boys after their big defeat and we let them sleep-in until 9am to try and help with their tiredness. Some were still late to bed as it took quite a while to get through the ice, rest and then strap routine for a couple of the niggling injuries. Sam Wild and Cesar had managed to both crash out and ended up with over 15 hours of sleep each. This has made a huge difference to them both and they are well and truly on the mend now. A couple of others are showing the signs of wear and tear and may not be in the best of shape by tomorrow!
The packing up is certainly getting much easier and the boys were able to get up, dressed, breakfasted and packed before 10 and we loaded everything into the bus. From there it was back into the function room for a video review of the game from the day before. The advantage of this is that the video never lies and it was plain for everyone to see just how the game went badly wrong from the outset. We asked the boys to
concentrate on their individual performances, rather than look at others, and to reflect on how they could have played a better game.
It was a very constructive session with good suggestions from the team on how we can improve our performance - right from the time we leave the hotel - to the final whistle. They seem to have bounced pretty well - still not happy - but hopefully able to put it all behind them and move on.
At 11 we boarded the bus for Fishguard - a journey of around 90 minutes - in another stunning welsh day - sunny and warm. Arriving there we managed to feed the boys before driving onto the ferry for the 3 hour journey to Ireland. For some of them it was their first time on a boat like this and they actually seemed quite excited by the trip. We have been very fortunate with the weather and the Irish Sea today was as smooth as a millpond - you could have water-skied on it for the first hour and an half. As we approached Ireland there was a little swell - hardly detectable at all - so the luck
of the Irish is with us from the start! The boys played some touch on the top deck and got some boys from another travelling team to join in as well - the international language of sport seems to break down those barriers very quickly.
There were three other rugby teams on board going to various places in Ireland - one we will be seeing tomorrow in Cork - and it interesting to talk to both their players and the adults about what it took for them to get a tour together. It’s basically a year long process of fundraising, scrimping and saving to raise the money to do a 3 day trip to Ireland. We honestly do not know how lucky we are sometimes in Dubai and they could not believe what we had put together in 10 weeks. I offered to send Kevin over to help them out next year!
We arrived in Ireland to a warm(by Irish standards) evening and were back on the bus bound for Cork and our home for the next three days. It was about a two and a half hour drive from the ferry to Cobh (Cove) and it was
not long before we started to get the "when can we eat" cries from the bus. History shows that if you ignore those cries bad things start to happen - so we ducked off the motorway into a small Irish town beside the seaside and made the local chippie's night! 32 orders of Cod and chips doesn't come along at 8 o'clock every Friday night - but they pumped them out in record tima and the boys sat on the harbourside as the sun went down and enjoyed their first meal on Irish soil - for more than half the bus it was the first time ever.
From there it was onward to Cobh arriving right on 10 O'clock - later than we'd hoped but not much we can do about that. We were met by Jum wood and Marie Travers joined up with us again - the party just keeps getting bigger! we settlerd the boys into bed quickly after the traditional Florence Nightingale rounds and the adults retired to the front room for a well deserved (just ask us) pint of Guniess.
Tomorrow we're off early - out of the hotel at 8:30 and it's show
time at the Irish Festival of Rugby. As they say - "It's nut-up or shut-up time" in the morning.
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