On Saturday it was the Stanford Rugby Tens tournament, and the Haas team headed on down. This involved a shocking 6.15am pickup from the village, with many thanks to Evan for driving me.
Entry to the team is fairly automatic for anyone who stands up to be counted (and knocked over), and an English education is a great advantage. Who'd have thought those years standing around in the cold on the King Edwards School playing fields, with Mr Lang Jones shouting "Davies, what are you doing?" would come in useful all this time on?
Stanford was a bit cold and foggy, just like those faraway schooldays, but you warm up quickly when running around after a rugby ball. 30 players turned up, which meant that play for most people was limited to easily manageable 12-minute bursts.
I can't say I covered myself in glory. I played at outside centre, a back position that I'd never been in before. At school I'd always been a flanker - you pick up the loose ball and run with it until you get knocked over. My skills at being knocked over have definitely not left me, but knocking other people over was a bit trickier. Still, in my twelve minute windows I managed a few tackles, passes, and rucks, but did miss my one opportunity at a glory-grabbing kick. Next time.
We did pretty well, finishing fifth out of seven with two wins, two losses, and two losses that were very close (what can you do when those refereeing decisions go against you?) The top four teams who went into the semis were Stanford, Stanford, Stanford, and Stanford. Home advantage?
Our next match is against a full Stanford fifteen, for a full 80 minutes, at the start of December. I've already talked to Sagy about a weight training routine...
Uni village at 6.15am. Quiet.
Everything has to be bigger and better at Stanford.
Team talk.
First game of the day. Bleak.
Facing off against Santa Clara, who we beat.
Fellow Englishman Ben shows them how it's done.
13 - unlucky.
Dan, playing at fly half, is hoping for a nice scar from his chin wound.
Me, in motion!
Nice play from Francois, laying it back in the ruck (he's not playing it on the ground, he's protecting the ball!)
Shauli, who I split outside centre duties with, proving that he can be tackled just as well as me. A bit high from the Stanford player there, mind...
Many thanks to Francois and Fini (a big rugby player herself) for many of the pics above.
