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As I sit here now my neck and shoulders are sore and stiff. My knees are scrapped and swollen, my right calf still has a knot in it that I can not stretch or massage out and my left elbow is black and blue but still operational. Yesterday I played my first full game for theTokyo Gaijin Rugby Football Team. I feel great! It has been a long time since I felt that much a part of something and worked myself that hard. I knew rugby as that other game like football when I was a kid but I never played. I have been going to practice for the past few months and learning the drills and trying not to get in the way to much which is possibly the hardest part for me. Going into the match there was a bit of a downer mood. The team we were up against was Ryutzu Keizai Daigaku. A college team full of young studs who were very well drilled and practiced together 4 times a week. The feeling was that we were gonna get killed. That was till Shaunne scored a try on the first kick to us. Instantly the doom and gloom was gone and we were ready to bring the pain to these young bucks. The first half went well and for myself I tried to stay in the game and in the right position. It is tough on a constantly shifting pitch just as I think I am in the right place things shift and I need to adjust... but I am catching on. Within minutes I was involved more than I am usually in practice. It seems like a mistake every time the ball lands in my hands but I tried to make the most of it. I do not think I directly caused any turnovers, which was a personal goal of mine. I had a great pitch to Shaunee that I threw a moment too late and took a pretty hard shot for it, causing me to move a little slow for a few minutes, not that I ever move that fast. A few minutes later Al took the ball up field and got hit HARD by 2 guys and went down. I was the only one there to pick up the ball and pass it away.....My mind was in a panic I had no Fing idea what to do but I saw Al do it. So I did like he did picked up the ball and stepped back and pitched the ball to Sato-san another new guy like myself, who charged ahead another 5 to 10 meters and went down but by now the rest of the team was there and I did what I was supposed to and charged right over top of Sato-san and with some help from Mike and Dave drove the opposition back off the ball and gave our guys time to set up. In the first half there were so many brilliant plays by the rest of the team. Joe and Mauro's brute force, never give up, charging forward tries. There was so much happening I could not take it all in. I didn't cause a turnover but right towards the end the first 1/2 someone pointed out #9 on the opposite side and the likely hood of him getting the ball. From my angle as blind side flanker I could see him perfectly and knew if I saw him with the ball in the next 10-15 seconds that I was going to level him. Almost. Everything went exactly as planned the scrum the kick back of the ball their players and the pitch to #9. He was mine I zeroed in RUNNING AT FULL SPEED. ARMS OUT READY FOR CONTACT.... I closed my eyes for a split second in anticipation of the contact. BLAM! In that split second he switched direction JUST enough that I could not get a solid hit/grab on him. He bounced right off me like he was rubber and made it another foot before Al who is 1/2 my size completely dropped him. --Pissed I realized my mistake and promised not to make it again. Although I am rarely in a position to make a hit that cleanly. In the first 1/2 the team saw allot of success and played well as a team but we were getting worn down. But so was the opposition. We had them out sized and out played and there frustration was starting to show in the mistakes intentional or not they were making. At times it seemed they were blatantly cheating other times they just seemed to be dumb to the rules. To compound the problems the referee was new and a member of our opposition team. This caused us all to get a BIT hostile. Embarrassingly so as it was pointed out afterworlds. Lawrence had an outstanding hit on in which he hit the guy so hard or at the correct angle that caused the ball to pop out and stopped what was a sure try. Gas another guy who came out for his first time. In the 2nd 1/2 and ran down a guy going for a try that I could not have dreamed of catching. My final debacle of the game came when the ball was kicked high down the pitch near where I was. I charged for the ball as Jo another player came up for it. Sensing Jo was going to get it I simply obstructed the player from the other team by slowing down in front of him and placing my legs where he was tring to run. That move earned me the GOAT of the game. My hope was to trip the guy coming down the field. It was also my hope that the reff would see the blatant trip and realize he had been letting too much shit slide. Alas that is not my job, that is the Capitan and Coaches jobs. I will try to address my grievances through them in the future. We were up by 2 tries at the half. When it was all said and done we lost by 2 tries (I believe). But all was not lost we kept our heads, about the game and continued to play AS A TEAM! Something we had been struggling with the past few games. At a huddle after the game Mike said something that made me feel the best about playing. "We did well as a team because of the people who have been showing up to practice every week, learning the moves and plays and practicing the basics of the game." I am one of those people. We went upstairs and drank some beer and talked about the match. I was a little bummed out that some of our real core players did not opt to hang out and join us. A team on and off the field. I also understand we all have other commitments to other people besides the team. This was evident when Eric and I turned up at home at 7 pm to a VERY understandably angry wife. I did tell her we would be home at 4 pm....... whoops. I am still working on being perfect.