Tokyo Crusaders vs. Shinjuku Jack RFC (16-5, W)
by Frank Saffery After a little problem with kick off times, meaning we all had to drag our tired carcasses out of bed much earlier than expected, the troops turned up in numbers. We remembered the stadium we played at well, in fact the last time we were there we had a great win over All France RC. After a standard warm-up session run by Yorkie, we had some time to get our set pieces together and really warm up the top two inches in preparation for the game. This match we could not lose; we had no option but to win and play to the best of our abilities. We stepped up to that mark so much so that choosing 3,2,1s at the end of game was nigh on impossible. Every player who wore a Cru jersey left everything they had on that pitch and with such efforts comes victory and the spoils of war. The points were led by myself and my “octopus arms” after a quick feed by Even “the mouth” Hitchman, who after missing the conversion came back with a stunning penalty kick (something that the Cru have not utilised in several seasons). The forward pack continued on after this with smashing runs and quality clearing out allowing for smooth ball to be passed out to the backs (when I say smashing, Mr Skurr managed to run clean over at least 3 opponents before being taken to ground). The scrums were a similar story, at one point we managed to get an opposition prop clean off the floor and at that moment we knew that even with the opposition having the feed, the outcome was ours. This brutal punishment allowed the backs to really show some flair with a tremendous weave allowing for Hiro to grab his first try for the Cru in the corner. The backs started to really put themselves around the field with the centres cutting lines and making yards before shipping it out wide. Nothing more could highlight the rash the backs made on the field by none other than our resident hater of antiquities Trav Dixon and his sliding-scoop mark call. After the match there were bumps and knocks to several players, we had jolted necks, bruised ribs and mostly to note would have been Mr Manila himself Sean Gibson’s flattened nose, which would nearly have let the ladies of Tokyo have some respite. Heads held high but totally knackered we proceeded to wander to the car park to have a couple of beers and review our game. This is a little unheard of for the Cru but as it was 11:30am, no Izakaya would open for our normal after match debauchery. Players Men-of-the-Match: 1. Evan Kerr 2. Paul Skurr 3. Travis Dixon [flickr_highslide set=”vs_Shinjuku_Jack”]

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