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I thought i'd ask our members out there what old rugby memories, or any other stories for that matter, that they have in which the recollections have begun to be exaggerated and you have always got to tell the tale a bit better the next time...
For example , i will never forget the first try i scored in Rugby union, it was for the Riverina army rugby club and we were playing the local university team at their home ground at the uni, it was a 3rd grade match and i had only played three games prior to this one, so i was still pretty new to the game having come over from league...Anyhow, i was still learning about rucks and mauls, cleanouts and pick and drives, etc, and after halftime we were slightly behind on the scoreboard, but nothing a try wouldn't fix...
So we run back out and play good hard rugby for the next 15 minutes or so with no change in the scores, and the game was slowly winding down...( now as an aside, i happened to have a lot of mates who played for the uni team which is kinda relevant as you will see...)
Any how, after a particularily hard ruck of which i was on the bottom getting sliced and diced by opposition and my own teamates i was the last person to emerge and slowly got to my feet checking out where i had to go next, and of course the next ruck is out over the other side of the pitch, and it looked like the ball had made it to the back of the ruck, so being the ingenious prop forward i decided i would wait in the centres for the ball to return so i could be first in to clean out when the ball eventually came back...( I believe the official rugby term is seagulling)
Sure enough the ball was coming my way so i took stock of the situation, 40metres from the tryline, our fastest player outside, and another speed demon inside me, and in front of me a weazley little fellow half my size and an equally weazley winger, no fullback....Next thing you know the ball is in the inside centres hands and i am running as fast as i have ever run, just to keep up but failing badly....The weazel makes the tackle and as he goes down he pops the ball up for me to run onto, approx 35metres out from the line with one player to beat, a winger outside me, and no fullback...
Now if we freeze play there we can analyze the situation...I had played 90% of the game, been in countless rucks and mauls, not to mention scrums as well, still relatively inexperienced in rugby and seagulling out in the centres, and i had a perfect chance to pass the ball to our winger for the try....
But, i knew i could beat the weazel on the wing, so i threw a dummy to my winger...Well at this point the coach looked like he was gonna come on the pitch and drag me away as somewhere in his frontrowers manual their is a no kicking, no passing, and especially no dummy pass...clause...Of which i had just thrown out the window...
But, the rugby gods were smiling on me that day as the weazel fell for the dummy, and all that was left in front of me was daylight, and a fullback coming across at full tilt to try to stop me making the line...Let me tell you i was making calculations on wether i would make it or not the whole way there...but i also had my winger who had caught up to me again by this time, but now he was on my inside calling for the ball, no screaming for the ball, and the coach and reserve bench were also screaming at me to pass the bloody thing (edited language) but i must admit i had white line fever, and it felt good too...So, ten metres to go and the fullback has almost mown me down so what do you think i did....You guessed it, i threw the second dummy in 30 seconds, i think the coach fainted, but surprisingly it was at this stage that i realised that the supporters of both teams were running along the sidelines cheering for me, thats right, both teams were cheering for me to score, and seeing this huge man running in the cetres and throwing dummy passes was gold entertainment in their eyes...Well as you probably guessed by now, the fullback was caught, hook line and sinker by my second dummy to the inside and changed his tack to tackle the winger who had come inside me( who was absolutely screaming his lungs out for the ball) but realised too late that he had been sold the best dummy of his life and that now the big fella was gonna make it after all...5metres out i started my dive so even if someone could tackle me, they weren't gonna halt 120kgs worth of momentum from crossing the line, and as i slid along all i could hear from the sidelines was a huge cheer from just about everyone on the sidelines (except the coach who had passed out by this stage) and as i crossed the line i was swamped by the supporters who had run down the touchline egging me on....It was pandemonium, and my most memorable rugby memory ever, as i also won Man of the match and even the other team made a special mention of the experience in the speeches after the game...
So, whats your favourite yarn, or embellished tale you would like to share with your fellow twf mates...Let us know...