Hills took two teams to Cartha on a day full of glorious liquid sunshine and a serious chill factor. In non-rugby news newsteam nearly drowned in mud after aspirating a fair amount from the puddles while struggling up a hill that could well see them crowned Queen of the mountains in a Tour de France stylee, though hills always look bigger from the bottom, and I don’t know that this one would really see me in the running for a Lance Armstrong crown. Time will tell.
In actual rugby news Hills 1st and 2nd XV went home to Hughenden winners, the 1st team winning 20-11 in a game that was almost as exciting as watching the pitter-patter of raindrops in a muddy puddle. That same muddy puddle is where I stood for 2 hours after the game was moved from the first pitch to a roadside quagmire event. Faaaaabulous.
A come-down from the excitement and trials of Meggetland the previous week was evident, but it’s heartening to see the boys sticking in for a decent victory even when not on form. Cartha were nippy and whined, a lot, not so endearing in a big manly rugby man, but it seems to be a major tactic for them. They appeared to rely pretty heavily on their speedy wingers, kicking deep into the Hills half to release them. Kicks were fielded well by the Hills back 3 however, but dealt with less well leading to a fairly mind-numbing, frustrating game of kicking tennis, neither team being able to find touch.
The game was scrappy, and it was a disappointing performance after the previous week’s outing at Boroughmuir, but they won, and that I suppose is what matters…am sure they had a fair amount of pain to look forward to in training for the next few weeks.
Chosen one of the week was withheld for Cartha on account of a lack of talent on display. Instead the inaugural Chump of the week prize will be awarded. This is awarded for an outstanding judgement error by little Smith (HJRFC WAG) who rocked up to Cartha in a fetching pair of white canvas shoes. Now, as a dedicated follower of fashion I’m sure these might have been a good footwear choice for some kind of indoor event, or on a mediterranean boulevard, or even a paved Glasgow street on a dry day…but they would not feature highly in any top 20 list of appropriate footwear for standing in a muddy field, maybe lingering somewhere around the flip-flop/stiletto mark, at the far end of the sensible scale from waders…wet suit boots…wellies…and almost any other shoe imaginable.
So, lessons learned at Cartha:
If you’re going to kick it, make touch, please, for the love of God, make touch. You have no idea the pain you are causing on the sidelines.
If you look out the window and you don’t seem to be in the south of France, or sunny Spain, and you are going to watch some kind of sporting event, remember the girl who went to rugby in white canvas shoes. Take a moment and think before you get dressed.
