Not What I Promised

These two photo's aren't the ones I promised, but tough cookies, because they're the ones you're getting (at least for now).

I played my first game for a new rugby team.  They pay for my travel and give me free bananas, so it's a good deal for all involved.  (I don't like bananas, but don't tell them that.)

There are two incredibly frustrating things about this team though.  Firstly, they like to kick.  They like to kick a lot.  I was told beforehand that their kickers would regularly gain sixty metres, that the standard of kicking was superb.  The standard of place-kicking is sublime, there's no doubting that.  This is one of the few teams I've played in where scoring on the wing doesn't preclude the extra points.

Kicking from hand however; that's a different matter.  It's okay.  It's not spectacular.  In fact, of the four tries scored against us, two came from poor kicks gifting the opposition lots of space.  Space they decided to use by running the ball.  They scored because they didn't kick.  There is a lesson here somewhere.

I am not a great kicker - certainly not the 60m kind.  However none of these players are the 60m kind either (certainly not from what I saw yesterday) so I am equal to the back three in that regard (at least in my humble).  They've pigeon-holed me as some kind of ape who can only run. The truth is, I'm an ape who realises that kicking gains you thirty metres, loses you the ball and subsequently puts your team under pressure.  A truly exceptional kick will alleviate pressure, but the word 'exceptional,' is indicative of how often those kicks happen.

The second frustrating point is that the team is already set.  I'm the fourth player in a backline of three, one of whom is the captain.  The odds of me breaking into this team seem slim.  Combine the inherent cronyism evident in any established team with my lack of Japanese rugby culture (kicking = good, running+tackling = bad) means it's going to be bloody hard to get a first team position.

This, however, won't stop me from trying.  Even if I only get twenty-five minutes in this team (like at the weekend) it might be in front of someone important in another team, who just happen to lack a winger or full-back.

Just to make my point, if J.P. Pieterson were Japanese, he would have kicked it and this try wouldn't have happened:

Obviously J.P.  Pieterson is a massive dickhead, who was hitting players and giving crap all game (sledging goes so far, this cock takes into criminal territory, I'm surprised he wasn't arrested after the match) but his running gained at least 150m in this game, and those are metres with possession.  They're invaluable.

The third thing, now that I think about it, is defence.  Pieterson smashed a couple of England players, Ashton did the same for us.  The score in the game I played in was nine tries to four.  Defence really isn't a priority in Japanese games.  They didn't score down my wing when I was on, which would otherwise be a massive boon for any winger, but I don't think they care enough to even notice a statistic like that.  At one point I'd tracked back to the opposite wingers line in order to help out.  They chipped it over me and scored anyway, but I was in foreign territory for sure.

In all, a bad day.  The realisation that playing for this team is inevitably going to involve keeping the bench warmed up is a bummer.  Then again, maybe it will spur me on to play harder.  Or maybe I'll just give up.  It'll be an interesting test of character for sure.

And at last, the pictures.  Only two I'm afraid.