Your match

First topic message reminder :

I've been following the progress of Sam on his thread about starting his rugby career with his first game this weekend and I was just wondering how many of us actually lace up the boots at the weekend?

I'd like to hear about other posters weekly experiences on the pitch. You don't have to give too much personal info but maybe:

did you start/sub
how did you play
result
did you score
did you smash anyone
did you get on the sauce afterwards
did you score (ahem)

Persoanally I have a game tonight hopefully playing 12 but at my stage (over 20 years playing) I could end up anywhere bar prop. I'll update tonight, probably quite late as I am definitely going on the sauce afterward.

Just stumbled across this thread and read the whole season from start to finish.

Got to say it's a great read and really sums up what club rugby's all about! If parts of it could somehow get into the V2 Journal I think they'd be enlightening for non rugby people to read.

Anyways I'm just getting ready for a weekends worth of 7's in June, will be the first time i've played in over a year and while I gym a lot I'm a little worried about the old ball skills. Reading this has made me feel a whole heap better!

Cheers gents it's been a ride.

yappysnap wrote:Cheers gents it's been a ride.

And we are not quite done yet. Just a wee bit more to go.

Thanks for the kind words Yapster.
I don't think this thread should die at the end of the season. I'm sure the carnage that is the annual dinnerdance will give us plenty of food for thought. Also the Golgotha of pre-season gets harder every year.
When I first started browsing on the old 606 I loved the threads that started; prop A is better than B, and ended with earnest debates about machine gun toting badgers versus mind controlling pigeons. Similarly, on this thread I love the glimpses of lives being lived alongside and not just through rugby. I couldn't believe that Mildly Frantic went to Edinburgh on tour and didn't arrange to meet RDW or FES, but then again maybe meeting each other would ruin the relationships. My take on that after meeting Asbo and Schiz to attend Glasgow matches is go for it .
Wouldn't it be great if at the end of next season we could enter a side in an end of season jolly(fairly low standard obviously)?

jimbopip wrote:Wouldn't it be great if at the end of next season we could enter a side in an end of season jolly(fairly low standard obviously)?  

Unquestionably yes. I would find a way to sneak back across for an event like that.

[quote="yappysnap"]Just stumbled across this thread and read the whole season from start to finish.

Got to say it's a great read and really sums up what club rugby's all about! If parts of it could somehow get into the V2 Journal I think they'd be enlightening for non rugby people to read.

quote]

If I remember rightly there was a book, and movie called 84 Charing Cross Road all about an extended exchange of letters between an American woman and the buyer in an antiquarian bookshop in London. With sympathetic editing we could have a bestseller here. Obviously Brad Pitt would be playing Doc Gray in the movie. Sadly Bob Hoskins is no longer around to try my beautifully modulated Scots brogue.
However, I am serious about the possibility of getting a side together for an end of season run out. I'm tempted to say as a renegade side at a Vets tourney. Or as an overseas side somewhere. The possibilities are endless. Start thinking lads.

I'd be interested.

My club are planning a pre season XV's tournament,both at first and second XV level and I'm sure touring sides will be welcome!

10 minute halfs with 4 games played over the day.

Bit short notice for this season RDW. I was thinking of next: but hey if we can get bodies out , why not? Actually upon reading PRE-SEASON could give us enough time. Just hope it doesn't clash with too many people's hodilays.  

It will be August pip.

Just throwing it out there - I am nothing to do with the organising of it so nearer the time can see what the chat is and if they need some more teams.

It is the first year doing it so I suspect they might do!

RDW, sounds good but if we are going to throw it open to the posters here we need some slightly more specific details. Remember we are all on very scientifically calibrated training regimes and the wrong type of pie at the wrong time of day could prove catastrophic.

 

It's a while off yet and just thought I'd mention it - will bring it up on here again in a few months if it looks like it is a goer.

Sounds like a deal.  No idea where I will be come August, but I am sure some team or other wouldn't mind someone coming up and slummin a few matches. Do you think the match will be scheduled for the day the sun shines in Scotland?

Probably not - we had that last week!

I'd be up for that as well.

EDIT: Would it be in Scotland??????

Well I can't see my rugby club organising a tournament somewhere else in the UK....   

Thing is chaps, wherever we decide to play will mean a journey for most , if not all, of us. If anyone knows of a decent jolly for the end of next season perhaps we can start planning now. RDW, if you post details of a pre-season beano "in a couple of months" that would be mid-July which would not leave us much time to organise travel, money, digs and losing three stone.

We need a bigger boat brain.

http://www.rugbytournaments.eu/typefat.php


Some interesting options. I assume a quick google search next year will produce similar results.

Now you're talking, Sub. I've looked and seen few interesting ones; Crawley used to run a Fatboys and Vets tournament in which teams got points for each year a player was over 35 and each stone over 16st. In theory a team of obese septuagenarians would then triumph over the Fijian sevens team. There is one in Holland, Octopus tournament, which has a big marquee for visiting teams: just bring your sleeping bag, they say!
I like RDW's idea but I'm not sure if we have enough time to get a squad together. But I do think this could be a great idea if we can get the ball rolling, as it were.

doctor_grey wrote:Sounds like a deal.  No idea where I will be come August, but I am sure some team or other wouldn't mind someone coming up and slummin a few matches. Do you think the match will be scheduled for the day the sun shines in Scotland?

Your gonna have to come under an assumed name doc. Looking back over this thread and the amount of injuries can you imagine how wrecked your head would be with freeloaders looking for advice. Fair enough, 50% of the injury stories are yours but stil....

Sub, I think we'll all be under assumed names. Do you ever want to own up to your performances? That would be like Scott Johnson putting Scotland Coach on his CV.

I'll come as GE, assuming the duties of Head coach. Video analyst. Reviler of referees and Historical revisionist.

Submachine wrote:

doctor_grey wrote:Sounds like a deal.  No idea where I will be come August, but I am sure some team or other wouldn't mind someone coming up and slummin a few matches. Do you think the match will be scheduled for the day the sun shines in Scotland?

Your gonna have to come under an assumed name doc. Looking back over this thread and the amount of injuries can you imagine how wrecked your head would be with freeloaders looking for advice. Fair enough, 50% of the injury stories are yours but stil....

No worries. My advice, "Bend over - Now cough" is usually enough to scare 'em all off.

Just a quick update from the weekend. I took a pass on playing because my 17 year old son was playing in the NJ state U18 championship match on Saturday afternoon. He was on the bench because he suffered a superficial eye area injury a couple of weeks ago and didn't practice much the last 2 weeks. The team was pretty well buried and lost 30-10.

Our standoff had an uber-mare of a match and his jitters affected the team. In the second half my son came on and replaced our 10 who was continuing to struggle. My boy did pretty well, and the team actually settled down and they started to play Rugby. Got the first try and we could have scored two more tries but the kids got a little white line fever and tried a bit too hard when the line was right there to be had. A bad loss but at least the way it ended made the kids feel a bit better about how they can play.

Their last matches are Sunday at the infamous Jersey Cup Tournament. I am back on the road playing in Connecticut on Saturday. Will let you know how we get on. For some reason i am sure my son will do a wee bit better than I.

Good to hear from you Doc. "an uber-mare of a match" almost Shakespearean. Love it.

One more match in my never-ending season to go. Played in a charity match on Monday which was also a bank holiday here. There were a few older blokes, but mostly two decent sides. I had banged my knee again a couple of weeks ago and had a cortisone shot on Friday morn to make sure I could play. The bonus was my 17 year old son at 12 and my decrepit body at 13. He was terrific and I, well, was a wee bit less than that. Couldn't really run much but my son played some inspiring back and forth off our fullback and the two of them kept things going foreward. When all was said an done I must have tackled and rucked all day long and could barely walk (good thing the beer was close). He went out with friends in the evening. Simply great.

Good on you Doc. Playing alongside your son is , in my experience, as good as it gets. I was in the gym with Bigson t'other day and he was building me up, telling how I'm easily fit enough for another season. He's lying in his teeth but we both pretend to believe him because (a) it keeps me training and that's time for just us, (b) we will share Saturday afternoons in the clubhouse and (c) we will get one or two games together and the warm glow I get being with him just about makes up for the battering I take in the rest of the season.

Believe the lie, mate. Eventually it will be come reality.
Nothing better than lying to myself.

Monday was one of those hot days with the pitch good and hard. Made for perfect running Rugby. Unfortunately that no longer plays to my strengths. Good thins we had a very pedantic ref who called everything. Gave me time to catch my breath.

Was going to play my last match on Saturday, but my knee flared and I couldn't go.  So my 17 year old son steps in and plays for me.  At first he was put out on the wing becauase he is appears somewhat slight (but has only 7% body fat measured as a NJ requirement because he is a high school wrestler also) and has some pretty serious speed.  He was bored to tears out there and I almost thought he was on his phone texting friends, listening to music, and playing plants v. zombies.  Occasionally he went looking for work and did well.   In the second half he went to 12 and starting tackling everything that moved, made some dynamic runs, and set up a couple of scores.  Overjoyed for him, but wanted to be at 12 with him at 13.  

So my too-often injured season ended with a whimper and with proper summer of rehab coming.  But happy and proud to see my son's game and maturity evolve to a very good place.

Doc, always great to hear about you and your sons. Like you I am promising myself a fit body in time for one more season.
HOWEVER.
Rugby club dinner and dance, which I did not attend, and The Most Improved Player is.... BIGSON.
          
It means more to me than anything I've ever achieved on a rugby field and I can barely see the keyboard for the tears.
Better stop now as I'll only embarrass us all.   

        

jimbopip wrote:Doc, always great to hear about you and your sons. Like you I am promising myself a fit body in time for one more season.
HOWEVER.
Rugby club dinner and dance, which I did not attend, and The Most Improved Player is.... BIGSON.
          
It means more to me than anything I've ever achieved on a rugby field and I can barely see the keyboard for the tears.
Better stop now as I'll only embarrass us all.   

        

That's great, mate. Just great. No real words, eh?

Typical Doc, you post about boxing matches with psychotic squaddies leading to lifelong friendships and I get all emotional over Bigson.

jimbopip wrote: I get all emotional over Bigson.

But this life, and the best damnned part of it.  Everything else is - well - everything else.  

When I played with my 17 year old 11.5 stone lad a couple of weeks ago against good sized men in their 20s and 30s and saw him play with style and power and skill and confidence, I stood there a few times like an arse just taking it all in.  I suppose that's our genes kicking in.  No choice in the matter.  It's what we are supposed to do.  I couldn't be happier for both of us.

Now the hard part:  let's kick ourselves into shape so we can do this all again next season.

This is for you and Bigson:            Don't know what else I can put there. Have a great summer. And if that pre-season comp of somehitng come around, please let us know.

RDW, Yappy, Doc. and sundry others. Tinkywinky up your ears, please.
30th August. This year.
Glasgow Warriors are playing London Scottish.
I believe a number of Scottish posters will be there and should be good for a jolly boys day out.
However, If we could get a team organised for it, my club chairman said this morning (between the tears and insults thrown at anyone in a black jersey) that he could organise an invitation XV to play us and would look into the possibility of a pitch in or near Richmond for the morning of the match   
So, game in the morning, watch the Glasgow match then a few shandies. What could go wrong?

NB If RDW is making progress with the pre season match at his club I'm happy to go to Edinburgh, but I thought London might be easier for more people. Let me know.

Tinkywinky? I used the word Tinkywinky in its proper context. The censors are a right bunch of pricks.

Ahh, boys, boys.
With one or two noble exceptions my inbox has been flooded with sicknotes and letters from anxious mothers pleading that their son be excused from playing with "those rough boys". So, with a heavy heart (but not as heavy as George Carlin's wallet) we will cancel the proposed fixture.  
Let's try again after next season: which is all very well for you young bucks but I don't have too many more "next seasons" in my legs.

Half way through a 7s tournament at the moment, hating 7s!

That is no more than I would expect from a "noble exception" good man Yappy.

 

I'd forgotten just how sickeningly exhausting 7's was. And we weren't even very good! I feel doubley sorry for the poor sods thrashing us who had to keep running them in from the half way line...

Rugby is a brutal sport if you're not fit.

7s is torture.

Definitely. Takes a different type of fitness as well.

Probably sounds obvious but I enjoy rugby a lot more when I'm fit!

Problem is, getting fit is horrendous!

Jesus yes it is, the weight training's fine but all that bloody cardio is just horrific.

Been doing a lot of hill sprints recently which have worked really well, but still there's nothing like that first club training night.

Finally dragged myself along to my first pre-season session. I'll be the guy shuffling around in work tomorrow looking about 95. Ouch!

jimbopip wrote:Ahh, boys, boys.
With one or two noble exceptions my inbox has been flooded with sicknotes and letters from anxious mothers pleading that their son be excused from playing with "those rough boys". So, with a heavy heart (but not as heavy as George Carlin's wallet) we will cancel the proposed fixture.  
Let's try again after next season: which is all very well for you young bucks but I don't have too many more "next seasons" in my legs.

Gents, are we still asking mum's permission to go out and play a little friendly sport with our mates?  

I am going for my annual knee lubrication today.  My left knee is bone on bone so I go and get this injection (the guy in the advert seems a bit like a weenie), gets interesting around the 3 minute mark:  http://www.synvisconehcp.com/knee-injection-video

Not trying to make anyone sick, just sharing - When I was younger (ie. slightly less mature), I would sometimes drain the fluid off my knee in the clubhouse before a match just to make people sick..

Doc are you real or are we imagining you? Excellent posting.
I still haven't turned up for pre season yet and to compound matters Bigson is in the cream puff with me (I am as always completely blameless) so I haven't been near the gym for a week now.   

Pre-season not started yet for me but got back in the gym for the first time in a while today.

For anybody interested in weight training, David Pocock's personal site has some of his own workouts uploaded. Not the Men's Health style ones where they just take a generic workout and put a famous face to it, but the actual ones he has used in pre-season for the Force etc. I got about 3 weeks into the first hypertrophy workout at the end of last season and played some of the best Rugby I have played in ages. Unfortunately I then picked up a shoulder injury (always the way!), but am going to give it another try as I was really happy with the results. Just thought I would let you guys know. When I have finished the 4 week intermediate hypertrophy program I plan to move on and try some of his other workouts.

Cheers for that SB!

I know there are mixed views on him but James Haskell's sight has a lot of good info on training and diets as well.

I've been doing Stronglifts 5X5.  It is a fairly simple, no thrills programme but doesn't half increase the heavy weights. You just do 5 sets of 5 reps of 3 workouts, 3 times a week.  The workouts are split into two groups and you alternate each time you go to the gym.  The key thing to this one though is squat every session....which is a killer!

Workout A

Squat
Bench
Bent over row

Workout B

Squat
OH Press
Deadlift (1X5 only)

The main feature of Stronglifts is that you start light and gradually build up, adding 2.5kg a workout to each exercise.  You have to leave your ego at the door to start, as you need to start on light weights or else it gets too heavy too quickly, but I've seen massive improvements in my strength.

The squats are bloody tough though - more of a mental challenge than a physical one to be faced with squatting 75 times a week (not including warmup sets!)

5x5 or 5x3 is great for building strength, but like you say you have to be patient and prepared to start very light and possibly endure looking/feeling weak compared to some of the meatheads in the gym. I have done it previously and have got good results in terms of size, but for my current needs I think a higher rep program is better for building explosive power etc.

Yeah it's good for me because I'm fairly skinny and needed to build up some strength everywhere basically.

These heavy weight compound exercises have been very good for building all round strength, and most of them work the core hard too.

I've seen the biggest gains in bench and deadlift, but have struggled with OH press - probably because I've got weak arms! It's the one that uses the least amount of muscles so I was expecting problems with that one first.

It's quite a good programme to do during the season too when you can only realistically fit in a couple of trips to the gym a week, due to rugby training and games. I've never liked these complicated programmes where you have to do 60 different exercises a week just to try and get a full body workout!

There is a lack of explosive movements, but hopefully pre-season training will help balance things up.