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Another Letter from Baku
An Anselmian Abroad
ANOTHER LETTER FROM BAKU
After last week’s missive it was very pleasing to have such positive feedback from club members, especially those who suddenly remembered that there was Azerbaijan blood in the family and they or their offspring might be eligible for an international call – up.
Following my first coaching session with the Azerbaijan cohorts I was looking forward to our next bout of training. I was disappointed when a severe cold snap put paid to any rugby over the course of the weekend.
It looked like I was at loose end when I took a call from a local journalist. He wanted to meet and interview this much vaunted English coach. As the meeting was to take place at a local hostelry I readily accepted his invitation.
The interview was fairly uninspiring stuff. What did I know about Azerbaijan rugby? About as much as I know about any rugby – not much! Who was my favourite player – surprisingly he’d never heard of Martin “Albie” Hall and similar queries. However towards the end of the questioning he dropped the bombshell, “How was I preparing the squad for the forthcoming Test Match (yes he did say Test Match) against Iran? Well of all the places I’ve imagined going on tour to Tehran comes pretty close to the bottom of the list. I didn’t have a prepared answer.
If there are any Anselmians out there who’ve any experience of Iranian rugby please get in touch.
On a personal note I decided that due to the high caliber of player I was about to coach I’d better work a little on my personal fitness. I did this by playing “Baku Chicken” – this is very similar to the game of chicken played by youngsters from the Woodchurch Estate on the nearby M53. In Baku, however, this is a game everyone plays. There are options for crossing the road: use the well lit, clean, dry and very safe underpasses (not a popular choice), don’t cross the roads (not really viable), use the pedestrian crossing (more popular than underpasses) at which no self respecting driver would ever stop or pick the number 1 method, amble out into the on rushing traffic and try and avoid the non – stop vehicles – the real pros do this whilst on a mobile phone. Well I can say “Baku Chicken” has worked wonders for my side step, swerve and pace over 5 metres. I may yet have a career as a fly – half.
After last week’s missive it was very pleasing to have such positive feedback from club members, especially those who suddenly remembered that there was Azerbaijan blood in the family and they or their offspring might be eligible for an international call – up.
Following my first coaching session with the Azerbaijan cohorts I was looking forward to our next bout of training. I was disappointed when a severe cold snap put paid to any rugby over the course of the weekend.
It looked like I was at loose end when I took a call from a local journalist. He wanted to meet and interview this much vaunted English coach. As the meeting was to take place at a local hostelry I readily accepted his invitation.
The interview was fairly uninspiring stuff. What did I know about Azerbaijan rugby? About as much as I know about any rugby – not much! Who was my favourite player – surprisingly he’d never heard of Martin “Albie” Hall and similar queries. However towards the end of the questioning he dropped the bombshell, “How was I preparing the squad for the forthcoming Test Match (yes he did say Test Match) against Iran? Well of all the places I’ve imagined going on tour to Tehran comes pretty close to the bottom of the list. I didn’t have a prepared answer.
If there are any Anselmians out there who’ve any experience of Iranian rugby please get in touch.
On a personal note I decided that due to the high caliber of player I was about to coach I’d better work a little on my personal fitness. I did this by playing “Baku Chicken” – this is very similar to the game of chicken played by youngsters from the Woodchurch Estate on the nearby M53. In Baku, however, this is a game everyone plays. There are options for crossing the road: use the well lit, clean, dry and very safe underpasses (not a popular choice), don’t cross the roads (not really viable), use the pedestrian crossing (more popular than underpasses) at which no self respecting driver would ever stop or pick the number 1 method, amble out into the on rushing traffic and try and avoid the non – stop vehicles – the real pros do this whilst on a mobile phone. Well I can say “Baku Chicken” has worked wonders for my side step, swerve and pace over 5 metres. I may yet have a career as a fly – half.
Have you seen these?
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Sean good to hear you are training up the future stars of Azerbijan and that you are perfecting your side step ..... But I must admit you have a natural sidestep and swerve when it comes to your round..............
Keep up the good work pal the u12s are missing you ....
Not as much as I'm missing the U12s
Rachel had us in stitches today, filling us in about your new post .I'm sure the Azerbijan rugby team will soon pick up some Sean Nolan English!! As for playing chicken, Azerbijan style, I'm happy to put Tony forward!! Keep the updates coming, !
Given you now have international coaching experience do you suppose it's too late for you to throw your hat into the ring for the England job?
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