Thursday 30th, day 3 in NZ

Picking up from my last post. We got on the bus ready for the game. We picked up a couple from Swansea who were with Gullibles. Their trip had been given 'own lesiure time' which might have looked good on the itinerary but Carterton is a very small town so they decided to join us for the day. On match days I guess most people like me tend to spend the morning just hanging around and thinking about the game. I was nervous enough as it was then, what with having to worry not only about my own and the teams performance but also how would the opposition take to it all. My nerves were not helped when we stopped at a tourist shop/factory were they made souveniers from Paua shells. It was a good call though as we sorted a lot of pressies out (so we can go next time again). You could watch them making the stuff as well. We then stopped for a bite to eat in the town. Like most towns out here it looks like something out of the wild west: all 1 or 2 storey buildings made of wood and quiet. we found a cafe and bought a slab of carrot cake almost the size of a beeze block for $3 (£1) before finally heading onto the game.
The club looked fairly typical with a couple of decent pitches next to the changing rooms. We had a quick warm up and there was a press reporter taking photos. As it was Jumpin' John Horwoods 100th game Captain Dai Ed led us out and we formed a tunnel and claped him out.
The game went well. Very similar to matches against bewts in that they played a fair bit but weren't worried about wether they won or not. A full match report should appear on the warriors web site. i managed to 'boosh' someone which doesn't hapen very often and got a big cheer from the crowd. The crowd was pretty large including a police car and camper van. Megan the mascot sheep was used as a ball in a late line out and generally the game was a lot of fun. Rhys Bersley our kiwi LD player kicks very very well but tackling is as yet and untried art form for him. marshy reminded me very much of a moving Andrew Scannell in the back row with his constant 'show and go' Big Al played well and Colin Talcon was every where. The Warriors led near the end but in the last move of the game the carterton side scored a try in front of the posts to come back to within 2 points. the conversion was successful but Louie the linesman said it hadn't gone over despite the fact he was still on the half way line. The ref ordered a retake and again Louie waved it away. The 1st time he has cheated for us in 10 blydi years!
It was good to run the beer out and a fun game to play in. The club house reminded me of Cwmaman 1st Cub Scouts hall. One big room, tin roof, No dirty gum boots allowed. They took us to a local hotel for food and presentations.

we had to sing but thankfully our choir practise had helped a bit. we had a very large stoodgy meal with lots of potatoes and meat. Big Al's mates from Pontiates had turned up and booked into the hotel for the night. We went back over the club house wher Marchy and Gappa helped the 1sts and seconds train. (we played the Presidents or 3rds) The players were all very friendly and we made the 1st swops of tour. the local captain gave a great haka on the stage and we had a good sing song with vocals now aided by a couple of pints and our supporters. They were very taken with 'as long as we beat the e**lish' and we had to do the national anthem twice. The 'e' word has now become a swear word with fines applicable.
We went back to the 'Cob and co' where we had had a meal the previous night and joined in the kareoke. Rob Sheep was the main performer for the Warriors with 'sex bomb' and a full Monty, Gappa also took a couple of numbers. We had a couple of free drinkls from the bar man and everyone was very interested in our game and so on. the trouble with hotels is that they have bars open late and we couldn't help stopping off there (again) on the way to bed. the Gullibles who had shown an interest the night before asked how we got on and althought there were a few heated discussions about the e**lish-Wales relationship it was a nice mellow end to the day. (if you think this is a long entery, very day as like this, honest)