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Published: April 12th 2012
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So onto the second matchday of the trip which will lead to first outings for the Ghost, Puck (Isaac), Bomber (Francois), Tackles (Jack) and Squeaky (Sami). By the end of today all will have played and we will really start mixing it up in the next 2 games.
Before continuing we need to close down yesterday's awards held after a meat fest at Spurs. Play of the day went to the Ghost for his husbandry of Nasser ensuring he was at the forefront of every picture, he received a wooden foot as a prize.
Tackle of the day went to Sox for his enthusiasm in embracing his pinkness and ensuring enough tissue was inserted to take him from a 24 A- to a 25B. Pigz of the day, gaining the authentic elephant bullshit, went to Boots; this must come off tour! Standing on the funnicula train to the top of Cape Point one of our trolls did an SBD (Silent But Deadly) windbreak. The car had a female driver and Boots was heard to say (referring to Spaceman of course) "The lady just farted." You should have seen the look on the drivers face; Priceless, for everything else there
is Mastercard.
The sacred mankini swapped hands when Sox (the wearer) sneaked on the Red Snapper's (T) drinking ailment, apparently he missed his mouth by 4 feet resulting in unacceptable spillage. Snapper looked a bit chastened but the camouflage was good, his hair blending in with his outfit.
Onto Day 4, after breakfast we had a Captain's Run, Slodge was late and ended up wearing a nice little two piece that he filled rather better than most. The session went well, the best bit being when Lines (Aiden) ran for a high ball, slipped on the boggy ground and ended up up to his neck in a puddle. The Keymaster took the pad and boshed all comers showing off his guns before the full 8 did a scrum work out against the Banker. He didn't move!
Back to the hotel for a shower followed by some pasta loading at Marios. Forest (Rick) had just pitched up with an A345 so we realised it was time to kick the health food into high gear. The Riddler whinged about being served last which may lead to him sitting out the first half to avoid pizza reformation on the floor.
On to the bus for the game, suitably fired up. Lack of IT skills means the Choirmaster is able to post a video on Youtube for you to watch 5,000miles away but we have yet to see it on the bus. Disappointing!
We arrived at Bishops and were afforded the great honour of playing on their first team pitch with Francois Pienaar the springbok 1995 rugby captain in attendance leading a crowd in the stands of about 200 people.. We truly are now Invictus! The venue was perfect with the sun setting and a light breeze from the west.
The referee blew the whistle at 4.20pm and the match started. The initial exchanges were immense with both sides battling for supremacy at the breakdown. 7 mins in there was a scrum 15m out and Ghost slung the ball out to Rocket our captain who accelerated into a gap and 2 sidesteps later put the ball down under the posts. 7 zip Exiles. Bishops came back from the restart and 4 minutes later scored from a move to the right of the scrum 7-7. Exiles battered back to a 5m scrum and after the initial burst by Bomber
quick ball was recycled with Sleepy strolling in 15m from touch. Rocket banged over the conversion and Exiles were 7 back in front. The Bokka crowd suddenly realised they had a game on. Puck was putting in some big hits and the ghost was distributing well from the base.
Back came Bishops and after a ruck they outnumbered us down the short side to reduce the deficit to 2. They immediately attacked and after a move down the left Squeaky pulled off a great tackle to slow the move and then Ears dug in and stopped the try. The ball was recycled and Munch stopped the short range drive but 3 phases later they squeezed over again. From a punt down the field Spaceman snaffled the ball away back up the pitch and we got a penalty with the last move, Rocket struck it well but it just went under the bar and disaster, Bishops struck whilst we were asleep and ball watching to take a 22-14 lead at the break.
The next 17 minutes were cagey with Bishops on the attack and Exiles making forays upfield. Tackles made a tackle, did a jackle and managed to hold
off the first 2 clean-outs to win the ball. Eventually Bishops put a good move together to stretch their lead. Would the last play of the first half haunt us? With 7 minutes to go and Exiles playing into the setting sun, Bishops broke out and their winger side stepped into space only to be covered by try saving tackles from Slodge and Munch. The ball was recycled a couple of times and they broke down the right. Their winger put a fend on Lines and then stepped inside Riddler who had lit the burners and reached warp speed on a cut-off line. Unlucky!
The boys were dejected behind the posts but dug in for one last effort. They went on the rampage, massive cleanouts from Sox, Missile and Munch and drove us up the field. After a knock on Bishops got a scrum which would seal the match but the pack pushed them off the ball, won the reset and Yoko crunched the defence from the base. Loopy and Rocket moved the ball, Sleepy hit the line, Plumshot and Pacman piled in. Two quick pick and drives and Yoko slammed down the ball for a terrific team try.
The ref blew the whistle and the team were beaten but not bowed 32-19 with only the finest margins separating the two teams. The Management team were immensely proud of an unbelievable effort. The whole squad played and just came up short but an immense performance. After the game we took a few shots with Mr Pienaar and then went off for a feed with the victors. Play of the Day went to Rocket for his incisive run, Tackle to Ears for the covering effort and Pigz to the Banker for proving he was actually a human scrum machine. Back to the hotel for a Maccy Ds lead by Photog whilst more tactics were dissected in the Slug! A great day, a great performance, who cares about the result?
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