First game

More on the rugby front. Thursday night I found out that I'm terrible at tackling. I kept getting deked by my teammates during my first tackling drill ever. I was pretty nervous since our first game was coming up in a couple days and tackling is a flanker's bread and butter. How is it that I could suck so much at something I thought I would take to like a duck to water?

I got some outside help from veterans on the team. I was dropping my head way early when I shouldn't be doing it at all, and I was aiming too high. Essentially, I was to focus in on my opponent's pelvis and crush it. No worries.

Friday night I went out with the gals for the Friday night ride. I went home at around midnight avoiding the bars. I had woken up that morning feeling a bit sick, and I didn't want to coax an oncoming cold.

I was nervous when I hit the field Saturday morning. I was getting last minute instructions and advice yelled at me prior to the kick off, and I was feeling less than confident that I would do well. I didn't even know if I was going to play. But as it turned out I started at flank with a strong vet helping me out. She was strategically placed at weak side, in my mind, so that she would have to cross my path to get to the action. In case I was in the wrong place she would know it and usher me to the correct position. Plus she's faster than me. It worked out well.

We lined up against Depauw. The ref informed us that they were petrified and requested that our front row work with their front row prior to the game to work out any possible issues. We were also urged to give them advice throughout the game. Even with this information I was still concerned about my own performance for the test. I didn't calm down until the ball was kicked (not to me thankfully) and we charged down the pitch with authority.

As it turned out this was an uneven match up. We held possession about 90% of the match and kept Depauw out of our 22 the entire game. That wasn't so great for working on tackling, but it helped me get comfortable with the offense which I still find bewildering. We scored try after try I don't think anyone kept score. I've never played a game so team oriented before. I scored a try, but it is nothing like scoring a goal in hockey or soccer. I was pleased, but I thought, "Well yeah, anyone would have done that who was where I was." It wasn't spectacular or anything. No the spectacle comes at the next social. When someone scores their first try it's tradition to "go zulu" at the social. The social is a beer bonging bash the home team throws for both teams and running zulu means I'm getting nekid and running around the party. I hope they have a privacy fence. Hoo Rah! I had to miss this social to run off to a wedding, but I'm sure I'll be making the run at the next event.

The game itself felt only slightly physical. I got banged up a little throughout and stepped on a couple times, but I was fine until late in the second half when I took a tremendous shot to the jaw during a tackle. I think it was with some girl's head or elbow. It was something very hard and bony. I was hit with a wave of pain that was followed by nausea. I heaved enormous gulps of air for a couple minutes, and felt a lot of concern about concussions. My jaw is still a little swollen, but I don't have any bruising on my face which is nice. For the most part the headache is gone though. I think my fears were overblown.

So that was my first rugby test. I'm pretty psyched for the next one.