UK Eagles 7: Game day again!

Well, another game day is upon us.  This time it's Ireland.  I have been struck with the plague (i.e. a cold) so I am in quarantine and can't go to core or the arousal session so that I can make sure I get rest and hydrate before the match this afternoon.  I feel like I just woke up (and in fact I did), so I'm going to write my post before heading back to sleep.

The last thing I wrote after our first match, which while only three days ago, seems likes forever.  On Saturday morning, I decided to sleep through breakfast again.   We knew we had an IRB anti-doping training/quiz later in the morning, so we spent some time over coffee studying the guide they gave us.  We went over to the anti-doping quiz/meeting and learned a few things about the role of drug testing in sports and our rights as athletes before taking a 10 question quiz.  

After the quiz, we went over to the pool and had a short recovery session to try and get some of the soreness out.  I didn't get to capture it on film, but Cheeks, Sha, and Amy came up with a lovely synchronized swimming routine that I'll try and video next time.  Then we just stuck around the Sports Complex waiting for it to be lunch time.

I was definitely feeling the effects of the game, so just wanted a mellow afternoon, which I got in the form of movie time with Beckett and Sha.  We started watching X-Men 2 with popcorn - sorry about the crumbs in your bed, Beckett!  We didn't quite get all the way through the movie before we had to go over for a team meeting in which we discussed our Ireland game-plan and got selections... Now is when things start to get hard as a player in terms of selections.  Everyone is aware that the first game there are going to have to be folks who don't get selected.  But once you get into the 2nd and subsequent games and people aren't getting selected it can be challenging to stay present.  It takes a big person to be a good teammate in those circumstances.

We went form the meeting right to dinner and then back to the dorms.  I thought it was going to be a mellow evening, watching Mari and Beckett since the Beatles.  Next thing you know though, Amy and Sha are in a wrestling match involving markers and me and Beckett are trying to stay out of the cross-fire.  Some nice stripes of varying colors later, and we finally got to finish watching X-men 2.

Note to self... I should not watch those types of movies before bed because I had crazy dreams.  There were dams breaking at the World Cup and scrumhalves with laser-eyes.  I diffused some of it by eating breakfast in the flat and discussing Thich Nhat Hanh and Buddhism with Kim over coffee. Before heading out to practice.  Practice was short, sweet and intense.  We had a core session and then worked with the group that would be playing today on our game-plan.  After practice we had ice-baths, where it seemed like the goal was to figure out how many people you could fit in one go.  I think the record was eight.

After ice-bathing it was time for lunch and laundry.  During that time, I finally was able to talk to my dad and come up with some semblance of a plan for when he was arriving.  I also spent a considerable amount of time figuring out the bus schedules to get to town so I could meet a friend for dinner.  I got my laundry done just in time because we had a players meeting followed by sub-unit meetings that afternoon.

I caught the bus to town (with Vix, Kmimi, and Ham) to meet up with my friend Stina from back home.  She's on of my PhD classmates from UNH who has been studying in Cambridge for 8 weeks.  We went out to dinner at the Three Pigeons pub, which is supposedly haunted - though I think everything in England is haunted.  Then we went to Jamie's Italian (as in Jamie Oliver) for dessert.  I had the brownie with raspberries and vanilla-bourbon ice-cream.  It was divine! We ended the evening by heading over to the Star Brewer, which is a small quaint pub with big comfy chairs and couches and sat and read over a cup of tea for a while.  It was great to be out in the world and novel to not really talk about rugby for 3.5 hours.  Instead, we talked about social justice, our respective PhD work, literature, etc.

I somehow misread the bus map, and wound up taking the "scenic" route home, but I got there, so no harm.  Then I sat and downloaded all the awesome pictures that Ashley's dad took of the KZN game from his site before hitting the hay.

The day before a game is always pretty mellow, which I needed as I am starting to feel a little under the weather.  I slept in forever.  I think I finally woke up at 10am.  I was going to watch the latest episode of TrueBlood, which came out in the States on Sunday, but then got talked into going into town by Vix, Bridges, Lara, Kitt, and I.  I don't think I would have gone if it weren't the fact that I knew that Stina was in town doing work

So she and I met up and she introduced me to the Caffe Nero Caramelatte... it was deadly (in a good way).  Picture melted caramel ice-cream with a shot of espresso.  We then took part in some rertail therapy.  I managed to escape with only one new shirt, which is impressive given how much I like to shop and how many things Stina convinced me I looked fabulous in.  After the shopping, I came back to Surrey Sports Park and had a quick lunch before a fitting session with the folks from Canterbury.  It was quite the tease to try on all this schwank gear and know that it's not for us right now :(

After the fitting, there was a little bit of time before the Captain's run.  We took some official team photos and then got the session underway.   The Captain's run was quite windy, which was good because it gave us some practice in conditions similar to what we are supposed to face tomorrow.  After the run it was time for a shower and dinner.  I decided to just wear the clothes we had to have on for the jersey ceremony to dinner, so I wouldn't have to walk back down to the dorms.  Instead, I sat in the Starbucks and ate dessert and read some of my book while waiting for Stina to arrive.

Kathy gave another rousing jersey ceremony speech, which left all of us ready to play right then and there. It was really interesting to have Stina there for it because she does not come from a sports background.  So she was a bit dazzled by the whole environment, setting, athletes, etc.  It caused me to take a little step back and remember how special this all is and see it anew through a different set of eyes.  We then sat and chatted for a bit more before I went off to the dorms and to bed.

And then it was game day again.  I went over to breakfast... I figure I ate the official breakfast when we beat KZN, so I ought to continue the tradition.  After breakfast, I came back to the dorms and was banished to my room.  So that is where I am, writing and getting ready to play again.  I am excited that my friends and family will be here to see the game and I'm just excited to play.  Alright, at this point, I should put my self down for a nap. Nighty night!