Tokyo Crusaders vs. Setagaya RFC, 63-26 (W)
by Alex Diaz
Delayed trains interrupted the usual pre-game warm up, but that still couldn’t stop 22 Crusaders from ‘boots & shorting’ up to play the Setagaya RFC. The All Blacks vs England game the night before was considerate enough to be a midnight showing in the Japan time zone to make sure more than a few of the Cru were able to enjoy the entire night in Roppongi. They even seemed to have picked up one of the X-Men, or at least a man named Adrian who could challenge Wolverine for most body hair. It was more of a still drunk than hungover feeling for them, but it was a sunny day and great weather for rugby.
The Cru scored the first after six minutes into the game when Yorkie returned a kick for a try. Keeping the ball inside their 22 helped the forward pack secure a try as Skurry chested his way through defenders and over the try line for the second score. The next two tries for the Cru came from Travis “The Old Travis” Dixon as the phases began to help get the backs the ball. After going up 4 tries to none, Setagaya scored their first try with eight minutes left to go in the half. The Cru was able to regain possession after a good scrum and Travis put in another try just before the end of the half. Halftime score: Cru 35 – Setagaya 7.
The 2nd half started with a lot of energy as both teams substituted fresh players on eager to get some. It was 17 minutes until the first try of the 2nd half, when Yorkie made a couple of defenders miss and sprinted for a try. Not long after, was Ryuji’s yellow card. Setagaya scored the next three tries as they took advantage of some Cru defensive breakdown’s. Jackie “His name is not Winston” Wilson helped the Cru regain control of the game as he returned a high kick and showed his speed off scoring his first try for the Cru in his first game of rugby. With less than eight minutes in the half, Travis found holes in the defense and generously gave Alex Diaz a try and scored the last try of the game himself with one minute left. Full time score: 63 -26
It was truly another team effort as everyone who showed up to play did play.
Evan Hitchman converted all eight of his kicks and The Chairman Gaz Lim converted the last kick of the last try of the game.
Opposition team’s man of the match was Travis Dixon.
Players Men-of-the-Match:
1. Travis (3 points)
2. Skurry (2 points)
3. Alex (1 point)
Cheers to Gavin Smith, Brendan Gallagher, and Jackie Wilson for playing their first games for the Cru. They played great, especially for coming out in mid-season. Looking forward to more games!
Taku, Frank, and Aiko represented the Cru at the Shuto Rep Team Trials.
The aftermatch was held in the Shoryu Chinese restaurant near Edogawa Station for a couple hours where we shared gyoza, fried rice, and a lot of beer. A couple of the Setagaya boys joined in as well. After that, we all moved to the standing bar near Koiwa Station to meet Frank and Aiko who turned up after the Shuto Rep Trials.
