There's nothing like a little inter-team rivalry to get the blood pumping. And so it was on Saturday when we conducted our first Thebans vs. Thebans match of 2014. The rivalry was obviously light-hearted as this was a training match, but the effort shown and the skills displayed were brilliant.

It was a close game filled with plenty of tries (and a few conversions - my bad). Everyone played their part, put in the effort and showed off their skills. Excellent effort. The teams: Thebans Foxes (not my choice) and Thebans Orange (think it should be tangerine!). Two 20 minute halves split in two. Let's play rugby.

The the first half of the epic battle saw a massive 39 points scored with tries from Gordon Hannah, Neil Fox, Alex McGarry, Ash McCauley, John McManus, Johnny Cockayne and Chris Mcgirr. Neil and Nick Smith also added a conversion each. Unlike 15s, playing 7s is a lot faster and we saw a lot of breakaways down the field. It uses a lot more energy with more running around. Remember, each team had half the number of players than our usual union side. However, strong tackles made sure that the game wasn't all running back a forth. Still some work to be done getting low (myself in particular) but we are improving all the time. There was some excellent handling, plenty of running forward (finally!) and lots of control when taking the ball into contact.

The second half saw tries from Nathan Colom, Norman Milligan, and Michael Elliot. These were also accompanied by plenty of chasing and just as much support. Fantastic energy all round. Minutes from the end Norm was taken off with what was later discovered as a dislocated shoulder. Ouch man. To even up teams, Liam Fal joined the Oranges. Not minutes from switching sides, Liam broke away, streaming down the left wing leaving Mcgirr in his wake, to add his first score as a Thebans. Excellent play. With Johnny's conversion the final score was FOX 27 v. ORA 34.

How 'bout a round of applause!

Training

It has been great to see so many of you attending training on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We have double figures every session this year. The effort and energy you all put into this is brilliant. Thank you. Keep up the good work.

There have ben several new drills over the past few weeks designed to focus on skills in game based scenarios whilst working on match fitness. I know some of these can be complex and the training can be tiring at times. However, focus and stick at it. We are seeing improvement. Also if there is anything in particular you wish to work on either at normally training, or perhaps during a special weekend session, please let me know and I will inform the coaches. I for one think some of us (me) could do with some kicking practise.

Forthcoming Matches

Starting this Saturday, we have six matches back to back. This is going to be one of our biggest challenges this year. The individual teams will vary in ability and experience. However, playing all those matches will be tiring and will require a lot of dedication. I know it sounds daunting. However, just think how great it is going to feel come the end of February with all those games behind us, a plethora gameplay and experience under our belts, and, hopefully, a couple of wins.

I for one cannot wait to play alongside you all over the coming months. I know it can be difficult committing the time to games, but if we can build our side over the coming weeks we will be in an excellent position going forward into tournaments like the Hadrian's Cup in Newcastle, our Euro tour and next year's season.

Full info on all forthcoming matches can be found on the website.

Six Nations

Finally, one of the greatest rugby tournament's in the calendar is coming up. The Six Nations. One of the request from players has been to watch more rugby. This is a perfect opportunity to see some of the best players in the world demonstrate exactly how it is done.

Full details of all matches can be found here. If you guys are up for it, we can explore looking into tickets for the Scotland vs. France game at Murrayfield. There is also plenty of opportunity to watch all the games in the pub, or even in our own clubhouse at Wanderers. Please let me know if you are interested and I shall look to arrange something with our lovely social secretary.

For a little but of fun, I have also set up a fantasy Six Nations team. If anyone is up for joining
in to see how well they can do against me, sign up to testrugby.com (its free), build your team and we can create a little league. There may even be a prize in it!

Once again boys, thanks for the effort you are all showing at training and on the pitch.

Neil