by The Escalator Puncher
As the lads approached the Omiya Kempo ground for their match against the touring expats London Japanese RFC, a certain feeling was in the air. It was nothing like expectations, anticipation, or motivation. It was more along the lines of “We’re pretty sure someone barfed on the train”. The starting lineup was as follows:
Starters:
1 Duncan, James
2 Adachi, Yuuki
3 Charlie
4 Sean
5 Yamawaki, Hiromi
6 Robson, Seth
7 Hayakawa, Isao
8 Cocks, Tom
9 Riley, Jacob
10 O`Sullivan, Chris
11 Hasumi, Taro
12 Kunde, Benjamin
13 Hoshi
14 Hazeras, Lucas
15 Maeda, Susumu
Finishers:
16 Josh 2019
17 Matsumoto, Suguru
18 Saffery, Frank
19 Shin
20 Taku
As the ball sailed on high from the opening whistle, it quickly became apparent the match was going to be a slug fest. Situational or not, the Cru crossed over for their first try via Jacob Riley in the first ten minutes. With the scoreboard now 5-0 in favor of the home side, London Japanese turned up the heat. This proved rather inconvinient for the hungover Cru, who decided to lash out in another try. After Susumu Maeda crossed the white wash, resident (now heartbroken) Irishman Chris O`Sullivan put the kick over to bring the score line up to 12-0. The retaliation by London Japanese was swift, and terrible. A pair or tries by Jacob and Susumu saw the Crusaders headed into the half neck and neck with London Japanese at 22-28. The second half that followed was all Cru however. Hoshi, through some running and gunning, crossed the try line to put the lads up, and then Chris (in true Irish fashion) found a meat pie try and sealed the deal for the Crusaders. Final score read Tokyo Crusaders 34 – 28 London Japanese. Chris went 1/3 on kicks at goal, while his counterpart Susumu went 1/3 as well. Crusaders MVP was Susumu Maeda.
Thank you to London Japanese for a spirited match and drink up weekend! Cheers!
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