Obviously there was a certain lack of knowledge about the quality of the opposition. But thanks to our outstanding captain Yatesy, we pulled out all the stops and went for the enjoyment factor. First day not a game was won, but I have no doubt the hearts and minds of the opposition were. An interesting "indoor" style was the order of the day, although not many of the umpires (or players) were entrely sure of the rules. This didn't stop several overly fiesty oppositions from getting far too serious and forcing Potts to display the frst red card of his Rennants umpiring career - long may it continue. Lash became the main order of the day with the expectation the second day would be similar to the first. However, as the sun dawned that morning so did our talents bloom, led by the ladies who pulled out some top draw scoring talent (on the field) and leading us to several victories and a couple of draws. The culmination was a match against the home side, 3-3 at the end but predigious in talent and rife in on field games. We fully believe we peaked there, and this may have led to our prestigious award (see later)

 

Apparently, each year the home club convenes and selects the team that represents the best overall touring side. The catagories include sporting prowess, banter, fun, love and all other good stuff. I think you've probably guessed that this year, we rocked up for our first tournament and took the award (because otherwise what would be the point of this message). The winning trophy was an engraved jar packed with Haribo Starmix, which we promptly distributed freely. I believe we won for several reasons, including the 3-3 draw with the host team, not taking the matches "too" seriously, taking over the DJ and playing our tour song, massive, massive shapes all weekend, the costumes, getting naked for the organisers and many other things. At the end of the day, well done us. 

Lucky, lucky Toe. Not only was he on tour, but he got to have a Stag Do whilst there. His chance of survival were slim. The night in question was Saturday, the theme was Hunt the Stag, the costumes were top drawer. Most of the evenings dinner ended up on Toe and Potts, whilst entertaining games of I Have Never and Me and All My Friends provided typical embarrassment for the stag. Bundles and rugby tackles from our new Fijian international Potts left several marks for the morning. Bradley kept up his teachers costume by "discovering" an ancient bike and allowing many of us to ride to Badville on it. By the time we got to the dance floor the shapes were many and formidable. Thanks to Makin and Yates for distributing them.

 

It quickly became obvious that madness was ensuing at certain points on tour (half naked naked circles, bicycle acquiring, stealing members of teams, a red card, Rush scoring a goal, rugby tackles on the dance floor) and to solve this we required the metaphorical (or not so metaphorical in some cases) sensible hat. This lead to some strange conversation.

<Yatesy puts on hat> "I believe the situation in the middle east will never truly be solved witout a stable socialist government in power in the vast majority of the superpowers"

<Removes hat> "Arrggghhhhhhhh" <Necks pint of snakey-b>