50 – 0 Tokyo Crusaders RFC – KawagoeFighters RFC Referee: MR ADACHI


By Tim McPeak First things first, for a new player to the CRU, I have come to the undeniable conclusion that we only play on pitches with wind speeds over 100 knots. Passing was impossible, which suited the forwards just fine on this particular day. As if the wind wasn’t bad enough, it also happened to be freezing…. again! Tooley and Tom were the sideline managers, and a few WAGs joined to watch. The day got off to an unfortunate start, with Chris twisting his knee during warm-ups. 18 players came that day, and fortunately all were able to get significant playing time. Our opposition, Kawagoe Fighters, were not able to field a full 15 and pulled in additional players from the senior game that was played immediately preceding ours. Although the final score was not reflective of this fact, they were a skillful group that spent a good amount of time inside the CRU 22. The first half started with the teams feeling each other out and also trying to gain feeling in their hands. Passes wandered around the pitch, but eventually the CRU figured out a simple yet effective game plan. As is usually the case, the CRU forwards towered above the opposition, and we leveraged that size advantage with Alex scoring 7 minutes in. A short 4 minutes after, Steve punctuated a nice run with the CRU’s second try of the game. Galdric scored in the last minute of the half, but it wasn’t the try that would earn him 5 points after the match, it was his tenacious hitting. On more than one occasion, but especially on one particular tackle in the first half, everyone was left wondering how anyone could survive such a hit. On this particular day, he looked like a man amongst boys. The second half turned into the Brandon Rogers show. One can only speculate if he was just showing off for his girlfriend, or just trying to leave an indelible mark on the CRU as he nears the end of his time with the team. To start the half, though, Quadzilla and CRU newcomer Josh DeWalt dragged a few Kawagoe players in for the first try of the half. 2 minutes later, Frank punched in another and the forwards again took the game into their hands. Alas, Brandon must have finally been able to thaw out his legs and scored 3 additional tries for the CRU bringing the score to 50-0. Not to be outdone by a fellow back, Travis, with no prompting or invitation from Evan, kicked a beautiful ball from the sideline to end the game. Immediately, everyone grabbed their belongings and looked forward to getting into a taxi to get out of the cold. Of course, Tooley had other plans for the team on this day. So, we walked the 5km back the station, and were fortunate to stumble upon the Manshu Chinese Restaurant. As is typical, most patrons took one look at the group, immediately finished whatever it was they were eating or drinking, and departed hastily. We were joined by a few chaps from the opposition and proceeded to eat, drink, and actually behave. Opposition man-of-the-match was awarded to Mr. Ryutaro Oyama (#2). Their vote for CRU man-of-the-match was Brandon Rogers. 3,2,1s were: 5 points: Galdric Porta 4 points: Roy McGrath 3 points: Brandon Rogers 2 points: Alex Howard 1 point: Josh DeWalt

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