Back in Black

New Zealand may be the only rugby super-power where fans get nervous with the success of the All Blacks.

In 1998, 2002, and 2006, the All Blacks won the Tri-Nations Trophy-the Holy Grail of Southern Hemisphere Rugby...only to lose to France in an epic semi-final in the 1999 Rugby World Cup, Australia in the Semi-finals in 2003 and Franc again in the Quarterfinals of the 2007 Rugby World Cup. Kiwi fans expect only the best from their men in black...yet, there seems to be lingering doubts of bad mojo in this pre-World Cup Year of 2010, with the Rugby World Cup to be played in the All Blacks back yard next year.

The All Blacks have looked really good in their previous matches. They really needed to avoid getting blown out this past Saturday in Soweto against the Springboks.

The Springboks played their best match of this year's Tri-Nations campaign...and yet that still was not enough to keep the All Blacks from scoring two tries in the last 3 minutes from Richie McCaw and Isreal Dagg to eek out a thrilling win to regain the Tri-Nations trophy 29-22-spoiling Springbok captain John Smit's 100th cap for South Africa.

The only bad news for New Zealand is that fly-half Dan Carter is going to miss at least 8 weeks of play with ankle surgery after the gritty win in Soweto.(Did anybody in South Africa ever imagine a rugby match being played in Soweto 20 years ago?)


13 months out from the beginning of Rugby World Cup 2011, the All Blacks once again look like the team to beat. The Springboks played their best match of this Tri-Nations season, and that was not enough to keep Tony Woodcock (who did us props proud by poaching a nice try) and his mates from lifting the Tri-Nations trophy on South African soil.

The only bad news for New Zealand is that their fly-half and heart-throb of my daughter, Daniel Carter is going to need ankle surgery. But with the Tri Nations well in hand and the Super 15 season months away, it's a perfect time for the Kiwi #10 to get his ankle fixed.

You have to give the Kiwis credit. From their June International matches to the Tri-Nations matches, Graham Henry's men have looked formidable, to say the least. All Black Full back Mils Muliaina has found the fountain of youth and has been an MVP candidate for the All Blacks. Even wing Joe Rokocoko-who looked out of it last year for New Zealand, has found new life with inspired play this season for the All Blacks.

So, if you are an All Black fan, enjoy the Tri Nations triumph...but a part of you has to be waiting for the other shoe to drop next year in New Zealand. Time will tell.

Knocking the Rust Off...

Rodrigo, our former exchange student from Portugal got in on Wednesday night. He wanted to go for a run with Metropolis on Thursday night. While he was working out with the younger guys, I spent the better part of practice playing touch with 7 other Old Boys who are going to be going to Ruggerfest in Aspen, Colorado next month.

So I ran, and ran some more. I'm sure that my legs are going to be sore as hell on Friday, but after playing very, very little rugby in the past 14-15 months, it felt really, really good to be out there and seeing the guys.

I have to say that it was a simply perfect summer evening to get a run in and get some touches with the rugby ball. The worst of the humid weather had blown through, and it was just a very pleasant night to play.

One of the old boys playing tonight was Mike Clements. He has a hobby farm west of Minneapolis, where he has horses-and the most perfect rugby pitch you have ever seen. It's kind of a rugby version of " Field of Dreams." http://www.fieldofdreamsmoviesite.com/ I decided to use one of the pictures I took last year at his farm for my blog heading.

This was a first step in getting back into some semblance of rugby-playing shape. I gotta say, I was really impressed with the level of conditioning that my fellow 40-something players had out there tonight. I can see I am going to need to really step up my interval training to go along with my weightlifting. (The above cartoon version of me was done by my son's friend Adam)

Aside from my leg stiffness, I feel pretty good. The proof of the pudding is going to be when I get out there and actually am hitting and being hit by people. Still...it was a fun evening, and a good start as I start on this journey to play at Ruggerfest.

Green Light to Play...

Making the decision to play with the Metropolis Old Boys at the Aspen Ruggerfest next month was a case of putting the cart before the horse. I probably should have gotten the green light from my cardiologist before purchasing my plane ticket to Colorado.

Today I got the confirmation that I needed from my Cardiologist. A couple months out from my ablation, I still have a normal sinus rhythm.  The doctor said that with that in mind, I do not need to be on the blood thinner, Coumadin(also known as Warfarin).

That was a pretty important step, because lets face it, rugby is a contact sport, and being on the blood thinner has kept from playing(minus a couple of chances to get a run in) for most of the past 15 months.

The hope is to get the Old Boys going to Aspen to show up for Thursday practices before the trip on 16-20 September. As luck would have it, I am off the next couple of Thursday evenings from work, so I can get to those practices. (There are also practices on Tuesdays)

There is a saying "Be careful what you wish for-it might happen." I am about to find that out in a very big way on Thursday. Some of the guys have already warned me that coach Augie is running everybody hard, and the practices have had a high level of intensity made even more intense with the heat and humidity of a Minnesota August added in, for good measure. I'll have some company. My former rugby-playing(fly half) exchange student, Rodrigo from Portugal, is going to be here for a couple of weeks, and expressed an interest in getting a run in at the Metropolis practices while he is here.

I've been biking, lifting weights and doing doing sprints...but on Thursday, my training is going to get dragged kicking and screaming to a whole different level with the blessing of my Cardiologist.

Thanks, Doc.

Aspen or Bust...

It's been a tough last 14-15 months for me: pulmonary embolism, wife laid off from work, return of my atrial-fibrillation, death of my grandmother, my cardiac ablation, my dad's cardiac bypass surgery, preparation for my son's impending wedding...yeah, it's been chaotic.

Well, things have been looking up, a bit. The ablation took care of my a-fib, I've lost my winter weight gain, I've been lifting weights and biking so I look and feel better(bottom shot of me, my daughter and our dogs Basil and Buddha)  than how chunky I was looking when I was in Portugal back in February as you can see from this shot from a Benfica soccer game...(Our former exchange student Rodrigo is on the left, his buddy Duarte is on the right)

A couple of weeks back a couple of Metropolis Old Boys put out an e-mail looking for players over the age of 35 interested in playing at the Aspen Ruggerfest. http://www.facebook.com/aspenruggerfest
I decided that I am going to be 50 in October, I may not get another chance to play at this tournament and everybody I know who has gone to Aspen Ruggerfest has had a really, REALLY, good time. I decided to throw caution to the wind and get my plane tickets to go to Colorado in September. http://www.aspenrugby.com/ruggerfest.html


I am going to talk with my cardiologist about coming up with a plan to get off the blood thinner that I have been on for the past 15 months. I am increasing my interval training and I will start going to practices with Metropolis when my work schedule allows.(I work straight evenings)

I am really committed to doing this. I may be nuts, but I think going to this tournament serves as a great carrot on the stick to improve my fitness and play some rugby again. It won't be easy...I'll feel like a new kid at rugby practice...but it will put a smile back on my face.

Patrick Watkins-A Death too Young...

Many members of my Metropolis Rugby Club help coach local high school aged teams in the Twin Cities Metro area. As somebody who has coached and been a referee for high school wrestling, I know that coaches and players can have a very close relationship. It's kind of between that of a parent and a big brother.

In the past week, the South Metro Tigers coaching staff had to get that horrible bit of news that nobody wants to hear in the middle of the night: South Metro 8 man Patrick Watkins was killed in a car accident in North East Minneapolis on July 13thhttp://www.startribune.com/local/98472329.html?elr=KArks:DCiUnP::DE8c7PiUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU.  I have had the privilege of watching this 17 year old run hard and play hard for South Metro. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsVJUECsQ-c


The thing with teenagers is that sometimes they take risks without fully appreciating the danger with their actions.  My hope is that maybe the people who survived this crash, Patrick's family and the rugby community can talk with young people  and use this needless tragedy as cautionary tale about excess speed and having too many teen passengers in one car.

There will be a celebration of Patrick's young life this coming Saturday in Minneapolis:

Greater Friendship Church 2600 E 38th st Minneapolis, MN

Friends and family are being asked to wear rugby jersey's instead of suit and tie.

Boks Left All Black and Blue in Auckland...

This year's Tri-Nations competition kicked off on Saturday at Eden Park in Auckland, with the holders South Africa taking on the All Blacks, in what on paper looked to be a mouth-watering appetizer to kick off the new season with next year's Rugby World Cup-also to be played in Kiwi-Land now looming on the horizon.

The  All-Blacks looked the better of the two sides from the get-go, and won 32-12 in a match that was not even that close. New Zealand played with an intensity that had the Springboks on the back foot for most of the game. What really impressed me was the All  Black scrum, who had a very, very strong game from their front row. The All Black dominance even carried over to the line-outs, where the Sprinboks and their all-world second row, Victor Matfield usually reign supreme.

It would be the Springboks  other second row, Bakkies Botha, who would figure in a big way in this game-and his impact would be negative for the South Africans. The match referee, Alan Lewis missed Botha's head-butt on Jimmy Cowan, but was yellow-carded minutes later for a professional foul. Playing a man down, the Boks conceded a try by Conrad Smith-the first of four tries for the All Blacks, who earned the bonus point win with some sublime, hard-charging rugby. Center,Ma'a Nonu and Fullback Mulaina played really well with their physical runs. Dan Carter at fly-half was his usual self for the All Blacks in a great opener for Graham Henry's men.

Adding to the Springbok woes was finding out that Bakkies Botha will be suspended for 9 weeks-the rest of the Tri-Nations season for his head-butt on Cowan. The severity of the sanction is no doubt due to long rap sheet that the Blue Bulls second row has, including  this year's Super 14 play-offs, after being suspended for a month on a reckless charge, and he received a two-week ban for the same offence against the British & Irish Lions last year. Going even further back, Botha was also forced to

miss three weeks of last year's Super 14 for striking and in 2003 he was suspended for eight weeks after spitting at, biting and eye-gouging Australian hooker Brendan Cannon. 

The Springboks have a week to get their act together before taking on the All Blacks in Wellington, next Saturday. It cannot come soon enough for the South Africans to get the bad after taste out of their mouths from a very poor opening at Edcn Park.

A Bad Month for French Sport.... How Do You Say "Road-Kill" in French?

For French sports fans, June had to be a particularly rough month. For the people out there who delight in Gaellic misery, June had to be more fun than a wagon full of puppies.

Where to start? French Rugby  won the 6 Nations this spring and had very decent results in last fall's internationals. In the span of a couple of weeks,  they did not just get beat on the southern hemisphere tours, they got totally dismantled in Cape Town at the hand of the Springboks http://www.scrum.com/scrum/rugby/story/117285.html, and then suffered their worst ever loss to the Pumas in Buenos Aires last week, 41-13http://www.scrum.com/scrum/rugby/match/109179.html. It looks like French Coach Marc Lievremont is going to have to go back to the drawing board after these two dismal displays where he had decent squads on the field who simply did not play with any heart or intensity.

If it's at all possible, France's soccer teams poor play, bitching, back-biting and incompetent coaching brought French soccer to a nadir that has not been seen since they failed to win qualify for the 1994 World Cup in the United States by losing consecutive matches at the Parc de Princes to Israel and Bulgaria. (In the case of the loss to Bulgaria, they gave up a goal in the closing seconds of the match off THEIR own corner kick that Bulgarians cashed in to punch their ticket to the World Cup.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7dxno9_ixg

The French media have been rightfully lambasting the lack of effort by a team that had decent players, but were not able to play together. When striker Nicolas Anelka threw an expletive-filled tirade against befuddled coach Raymond Domenech, the coach banished the whining Chelsea forward to the next plane back to France. The players showed what a bunch of divas that they were by refusing to practice to protest Anelka's removal from the squad. Domenech also showed an utter lack of class by not even shaking hands with his South African counterpart, Carlos Parriera after France lost their last game to South Africa 2-1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-0j2vQH0Ho France lost to Mexico and South Africa for the first time ever, and had  really dull, drab, listless 0-0 against Uruguay. If there was anybody who had to be more angry than the French soccer fan, it had to be Ireland's national team and their fans who had to watch France qualify for the World Cup on Thierry Henry's hand-ball goal against Ireland that punched France's ticket to South Africa.  Italy certainly failed in a big way by not qualifying for the round of 16 out of an easy group with Slovaka, New Zealand and Paraguay, but France's lack of sportsmanship, class and hustle in South Africa was breathtakingly hideous.

Maybe the French Rugy Federation and the French Football Federation can come up with a new emblem for their sports teams...

Bingham Cup 2010 in MInneapolis

This week, the Bingham Cup starts up here in Minneapolis. http://www.binghamcup.com/

Even though I belong to the Metropolis RFC, I felt very strongly about helping out the Minneapolis Mayhem, the hosting club this week.http://www.mayhemrfc.com/ There are players coming here from all over the World.Tonight my wife and I helped out at the Registration area at the Radisson in Downtown MInneapolis. I talked with players from England, France, Denmark, Holland and Australia, to say nothing of players from different areas of the US, like Dallas, Seattle, San Francisco, New York and Chicago, to name but a few.

I work the next 3 evenings at the hospital, but during the weekend, I will be helping out at the National Sports Center in Blaine. I am hoping that for all of the rugby players here in Minnesota, that they all have a good time.

After watching some really mediocre matches from the FIFA World Cup, I am really looking forward to seeing some rugby this weekend.

The Bride Wore Yellow...

I'll talk about the Super 14 and English finals in a day or so. They were both good games, and I would like to think a bit before I blog about those finals.

As somebody who has spent most of his life in Minnesota and following our sports teams, I know I thing or two about disappointment. With my background, I can understand and empathize with rugby fans from the Auvergne region in France around Clermont-Ferrand-a town best known as the headquarters of Michelen Tires. In my previous posting, I talked about Clermont-Auvergne, and their role as bridesmaids in the world of French Rugby.

Yesterday, at the Stade de France, Clermont beat the holders, Perpignan, 19-6. http://www.scrum.com/francetop14/rugby/story/116428.html?ex_cid=share_scrum_stories

You have to Clermont credit. The had to do this the hard way by playing an extra playoff game and had to play a rested Toulon in Marseille, a neutral field that was right in Toulon's back yard.  The Michelen men beat Toulon to set up Saturday's drama at the Stade de France, where Clermont rode the kicking of Australian Brock James and some solid play to finally lift le Bouclier de Brennus.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTVEd88ifVA

I can only just imagine the partying by Clermont's long-suffering fans....http://dai.ly/bZyxg7

Bravo, Clermont, Bravo....

Ablations, Rugby and Bridesmaids...

I am feeling pretty good after my cardiac ablation this past Monday. When I last had the procedure over 5 and a half years ago, my chest felt like it had been worked over with a baseball bat for the better part of a week. At that time I did not have the strength or the wind to make it halfway up my street. This time, I have actually been able to walk the mile around the entire Cooper High School complex across the street from my house. My doctor told me that even though I was on the table for 7 hours getting my heart zapped, the technique and equipment are much, much better now-so as odd as it sounds, it was not as invasive to my body as it was 5 years ago. I still have some spectacular bruising where they had the femoral lines in my groin, but you cannot even see where they had the catheter in my neck. Really-I am feeling better.

Enough about me.

There was a lot of rugby last week. My Metropolis Rugby Club went to South Carolina, and lost a close game to Norfolk RFC, 18-12 in the Division I round of 16. They won the consolation match the next day against Media RFC. Interestingly, in the quarterfinals, Norfolk got beat by Palmer College of Chiropractic-a team Metropolis has defeated twice in the past year. In a side note, Palmer's run to the Semi-finals gave a last-minute stay of execution to a rugby program that was on the chopping block.http://www.rugbymag.com/news/clubs/mensclubs/palmer-winning-helps-rescue-program.aspx On the bright side, this means that Metropolis really does belong among the top sides in American Division I rugby. It would not be an exaggeration to say that this past year has been the most successful year ever for the Minneapolis-based club.

In Europe, Guy Noves' men in red and black beat Biarritz in an all French Heineken Cup Final at the Stade de France, Toulouse's record 4th European Crown. http://www.ercrugby.com/eng/5019_15686.php Toulouse was the better side on the day in a match that had a great ambiance at the Stade de France. After the match, it was announced that former French international scrum half Jean-Baptiste Ellisalde was going to retire as a player with Toulouse and will join the coaching staff. Guy Noves rested key players the week before in the French Top 14 Semi-finals, sacrificing a chance at a double when his second choice team fell to Perpignan. Toulouse's win in the Heineken Cup final vindicated his decision to go all out for European glory.

The Super 14 final this weekend will have a very South African flavor as the holders, the Blue Bulls will take on the Stormers this weekend, in what should be a fantastic match up with some interesting side stories, as former Blue Bull, and current Springbok winger Bryan Habana will take on his former mates wearing the colors of the team from Cape Town that will be making it's first ever Super 14 Final. The Stormers ground out a win at Newlands against the Waratahs, and the Bulls outscored the Crusaders.

This final will pit the two best fly halves in South Africa in Peter Grant for the Stormers, and Morne Steyn for the Bulls. One area to watch for, is if the Stormers 6 foot 11 second row, Andries Bekker,  can challenge the Bulls for supremacy in the air on the line outs-an area that the Bulls own against most opposition. If Schalk Burger can perform his terrier-like work at the break down, the Stormers just MIGHT have a chance at the Orlando Stadium in Soweto. I just think the Bulls are going to be too much for the team from Cape Town. I think the Bulls will win their 3rd Super 14 title, and second in a row today.

With the English and Magner's League titles on the line this weekend, the match that has my interest is one that I won't be able to see until the highlights are on You Tube: The battle for Le Bouclier de Brennus, the holy graal of French Rugby will be on the line as Perpignan looks to cap off a great season with a second straight French title. Standing in their path will be the Wil E Coyote of French Rugby...yes, I am talking about Clermont Auvergne. The Michelen Men will be in their 4th straight final and 11 th overall. They are THE Bridesmaid in French rugby, never lifting Le Bouclier de Brennus. At the Stade de France today, it will be an army of gold-clad fans from the Auvergne hoping that today will be the day win Clermont will finally trade in their bridesmaid dress for a bride's bouquet.

How do you say "Heineken Cup" in French?

The answer to the above question is "La Coupe d'Heineken". It's a valid question since the final on Saturday for the Holy Graal of European club rugby will be played at the Stade de France in St. Denis, outside of Paris, and the finalists are both from the Top 14: Toulouse, the 3 time champs in their 6th final will take on Biarritz, losers a couple of years ago to Munster in Cardiff. The Basques will be looking for their first ever Heineken Cup title-and only the third French club (Brive is the other) to win it.

I have to admit that I am torn as to  which French Club to support in this one. Normally I would be behind Toulouse, which is my favorite club side since  AS Beziers has now slipped to the depths of the French Federal division, after falling out the second division last year. I like the way Toulouse plays the game, and I have a great deal of respect for that former gym teacher, Guy Noves, who has been at the helm of Toulouse for the past 17 years and has provided the leadership in winning Top 14 titles as well as the 3 Heineken Cups.

That said, USA winger Taguszwa Ngwenya will seek to be the first USA Eagle to hold up the Heineken Cup since former USA Captain Dan Lyle held it aloft as an 8-man playing for Bath in the 1998 final in Bordeaux against Brive. It's tough to root against a USA Eagle if you are an American rugby fan.

Biarritz has one bit of good news in that 8 man and inspirational leader, Imanol Harinordoquyhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/club/7724432/Imanol-Harinordoquy-tests-the-pain-barrier-in-search-of-Heineken-Cup-glory.html will suiting up for the Basques as his beat-up ribs have healed. In Biarritz's win against Munster in the Semifinals, Harinordoguy looked like a wounded extra in the last real of the movie Gladiator.

Toulouse is looking to win the Heineken Cup for the first time since 2005. I can only just imagine the ambiance at the Stade de France as thousands of rugby fans will make the trek from Languedoc and the Basque country of south west France.

2010 is shaping up to be quite a vintage for French rugby. France won a grand slam in the 6 Nations, the FFR is assured of having a champ in the Heineken Cup and if Toulon can beat Cardiff in the ERC final, it will mean that French rugby will have won almost everything there is to win in Europe. This is certainly something that bodes well for the French as they look forward to next year's Rugby World Cup in New Zealand...where les Bleus will be in the same group as hosts and favorites(again) New Zealand.

I think Toulouse will beat Biarritz, and I think Toulon will shake off their loss in the  French Semi-finals to Clermont-Auvergne and beat the Welsh side, who find themselves being the standard bearers of anglephone supporters in Europe.

Metropolis: Up to #5

The 67-7 win against Miami made an impression on some peoplehttp://www.uspowerrugby.com/club/?lg=md1&pg=rankings. Metropolis will now play Norfolk, Virginia in the national round of 16. (How many Navy guys do you think are on THAT team?) The game will be in South Carolina Next week.
It's Thursday, today-5 days after the win against Miami. A lot of us are still trying to digest not just the win, or how thorough the beat-down was, or the huge crowd that came to watch the game, but we are trying to get used to seeing the Metropolis club name among the best Division one sides in American Club rugby.  Heady stuff, indeed.

Metropolis 67-Miami RFC 7-Sweet 16 bound

The Monster Day of Rugby yesterday in Minneapolis was a huge success.  A lot of people came to watch the matches. South Metro beat Edina for the first time ever in the high school match. The University of Minnesota beat University of Wisconsin-Stout, the 3rd match was supposed to have been Thunder Bay, Ontario against the Killer B's of Metropolis-but the Canucks were a no-show. This meant that Zach, the team manager and head athletic trainer threw together a motley bunch of Old Boys, Metropolis extras, and some college players. I got to play prop for about 50 minutes, and overall was happy with my play-even if I am pretty sore this morning.(Particularly my right thigh, which took more of a knock than I realized yesterday)

The headline match was Miami RFC's trip here to the Upper midwest was to decide who would make it to the final round of 16 teams in the national DI tournament.

Right out of the chute, Metropolis put the visitors from South Florida on their back heels. It rained down tries to the point where the Floridians were yelling at each other in English and Spanish.

It was 41-0 at halftime. Metropolis just dominated every aspect of the game, from the scrums, to the play at the breakdown and they had great results chasing down every cross field kick they made.

The final score was 67-7, which kept our young help busy who were looking after the scoreboard...

It's now off to South Carolina in two weeks for the DI side to play in the Palmetto state. One thing for sure, Metropolis made a big statement that they can be a force to be reckoned with on the national scale.

Heineken Cup Semi-fnal Predictions

Both Heineken Cup Matches give the rugby fanatic Irish-French club match-ups. In Saturday's match, Leinster, the holders, make the trip to Languedoc to take on Toulouse, who made total road-kill out of Stade Français in the quarterfinals. Leinster is a very loaded side, but it's tough to see them beating Toulouse on their home ground. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUAh-6wBKS4

Sunday's Semi-final pits Heineken Cup heavy-weights Munster against Biarritz, in a match to be played at the bigger stadium in San Sebastian, Spain-although still the Basque Country. If it's a dry, sunny, fast track, it should make for some compelling rugby. I know that Biarritz, like most French sides play really, really well at home, but in spite of Munster's list of injuries, I still think Munster has the play-off pedigree and savvy to beat the Basques in front of their impassioned throng of fans. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXEwzI27VPc&feature=related

That means that the final, to be played at the Stade de France in St. Denis, should the rugby equivalent of Ali-Frazier: two great heavyweights with a formidable pedigree duking it out for the Holy Grail of European club rugby.

A Monster Day of Rugby in Minneapolis

For those who are tired of political talking heads on CNN and FOX News, to say nothing of the celebrity-driven tripe that passes for news in the US, this coming Saturday in Minneapolis, the Metropolis Rugby Football club will offer a veritable orgy of the game for oval-ball fanatics-or those who may be "rugby curious". That's right. On a day when most of the labor unions in Europe will yelling slogans and waving signs, my little corner of the upper midwest will have rugby from breakfast time to supper time at Columbia Park, in North East Minneapolis: http://www.metropolisrugby.com/dayofrugby/

For Metropolis, there will be a lot riding on the games. For the high school games pitting Edina and South Metro, both teams are coached by active players with Metropolis and some "Old Boys". The University game with the University of Minnesota and University of Wisconsin-Stout is the alma mater of more than a couple of members of the club. The DIII game gives the Metropolis Killer B's a shot at trying to beat Canadian opposition again when they take on Thunder Bay, Ontario. The main dish will be the playoff game with Metropolis' A side-climbing in the national rankings, I might add http://www.uspowerrugby.com/club/?lg=md1&pg=rankingsagainst the Miami RFC http://miamirugby.com/rfc/, with the winner making it to the national "sweet sixteen" later in May down in South Carolina. This is the first time that Metropolis will have hosted a playoff game of this stature, and I also believe it's highest ever national ranking. That said, our club will have to prove it on the field this Saturday..

I know where I will be on Saturday, and will try to take pictures and have a review of the games.

South Africa, New Zealand....Lithuania??

Things are not always as they seem, and this would seem to include the world of rugby.

Guess which country in the IRB has the record for the most consecutive wins? South Africa? New Zealand Perhaps? How about England from the period around 2002-03 when they won the Rugby World Cup, or Wales when they were winning Grand Slams in the 70's? Guess again. It's Lithuania.

http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/qualifying/news/newsid=2037051.html#lithuania+rugby+world+record

Their recent 77-5 pasting of Serbia gave the Baltic country it's 18th consecutive win. They now will play home and away against Romania to get the the European spot to play off against Uruguay for the final berth in next year's Rugby World Cup to be held in New Zealand.

There is even video of Lithuanian rugby out there on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTbDslzl4A8

For the really hard-core, or curious rugby fan, here is the Lithuanian Rugby web site:http://www.litrugby.lt/

If Lithuania can beat the Romanians and then Uruguay, it would be their first ever trip to the Rugby World Cup...and maybe one of the biggest surprises.