June 2008

You want to play rugby in Italy . Is it possible? You bet it is and it is fun. Maybe you want your children to play rugby. Is it possible? You bet it is and it is fun. What about girls playing rugby. We do that as well and it is fun.

Cernusco Rugby, or more correctly Rugby Cernusco, falls into the category of “work hard, play hard” and if you add to that Italian passion for the game, you may understand where we are coming from. We have teams from U7 to U17 and a senior squad. Boys and girls play together up to U13. From the age of 13 boys and girls play in separate squads.

The approach taken for the U13 squad and younger is that education is all and winning, though very enjoyable, is not the priority. Everyone gets a game. At the U15 level the competitive nature of rugby is more pronounced as teams are entered into formal leagues and cup competitions. (Note: for the juniors the squad you enter depends on the age of the child between 1 st Jan to 31 st Dec, not 1 st Sept to 30 th Aug as in the UK ). There is regular training (see below for details) and we send our teams to compete all over north Italy and occasionally to France .

If you used to play, but for many reasons you do not play at the moment, there are irregular olds /veteran games. It is amazing to see aged slightly rotund, non-functioning bodies run around a rugby pitch for 40 minutes. In some cases it is amazing that they get on the pitch, let alone play.

What about if you do not speak Italian? Non-Italian speakers are welcome. It is the passion for the game which is more important. The club already has an international constituency but it is an Italian club run by Italians for Italians. Whilst there are many club members who are able and willing to speak English and some other languages, including French and German, all the training and games are in Italian so you will be expected to master some standard words and phrases such as touch, ruck, maul, scrum, role away, pass the ball, do you want more to eat?, another drink?, it is your round, etc.

What about insurance, training for coaches etc? Well we are fully affiliated to the Federation of Italian Rugby and once you are a member of Rugby Cernusco you are part of the family.

What if you want to try coaching or just help? All the above goes for anyone who wants to try their hand at coaching or just helping.

What if I want to play Rugby etc but Cernusco is not my type of club? There are several clubs in Milan and the surrounding suburbs and we would be happy to advise and provide contact details for other clubs.

Oh yes and finally if you are a potential sponsor, then you are also welcome. If you want more information contact Cristina or any of the contacts listed on the website.

Cristina - ASSOCIAZIONE RUGBY CERNUSCO 1979 - 333 7975410.

Training sessions for season 2007/2008
( Orari allenamenti presso il Centro Sportivo di Via Buonarroti)

Squadra senjores: lunedì, mercoledì e venerdì dalle 20:00 alle 22:00.Categorie Under 15 e 17: mercoledì e venerdì dalle 18:00 alle 19:15.
Under 7, 9, 11 e 13: mercoledì dalle 18:00 alle 19:00 e sabato dalle 15:00 alle 16:30.

17th June 2008

Here I am sitting in my office in Paris (ok it is not Italy) reviewing the rugby season (2007-2008) which has only just finished with a girls U15 tournament at Monza last weekend where my daughter was playing. The season started late in August 2007 with a week's rugby training camp run by the club in a place called Bolbeno. It is a small village located 20-30 km south of Madonna di Campiglio where the local Cernusco parish owns a residence. It is a tad Spartan, neither TV nor radio, just the place to take 50 or 60 Italian kids to finish off their holidays and start the rugby season. Italian schools shutdown early June until early September and being on holiday for nearly 3 months can be such hard work.

Most mornings consisted of rugby practice followed by lunch and then an activity or outing. The kids were taught to keep themselves and their rooms clean, serve at the table and generally have fun. Maybe we were not totally successful at the cleaning and serving part but it was fun.

And guess what…. an email has just arrived reminding me that in a little over 10 weeks we will be back at Bolbeno preparing for the next season.

So if you are interested in launching yourself into the Italian junior rugby world just call Cristina "ASSOCIAZIONE RUGBY CERNUSCO 1979" 333 7975410.

Some information:

The whole week is in Italian (including the joining instructions below) although there are English speakers about.

Andata e ritorno in pullman. Partenza domenica 31/08 alle ore 14.00 dal parcheggio del Campo Sportivo in via Fontanile. Rientro previsto sabato 6/09 tardo pomeriggio.

Alloggeremo presso la Casa Vacanze Cernuschese di via 3 Novembre 14 a Bolbeno TN tel/fax 0465/321286. Le camere sono da 2/3/4 persone ed occorre portare il sacco a pelo + federa o lenzuola singole + federa e gli asciugamani. Eventuali coperte sono a disposizione. Durante la settimana sono previste alcune escursioni, 1 di una giornata e altre di mezza giornata, e attività varie quali rugby, tiro con l'arco, passeggiate ecc.

1st July 2008

Last week (Sunday 22 nd June) a friend and I took our sons to Tabiano Terme not far from Salsamaggiore, a place famous for its thermal baths, about 1 ½ hours from Milan. Both sons were attending the U14 rugby camp run by the Federazione Italiana Rugby. As our sons were from the same rugby club they were put in different rooms with the aim being that they had to share with boys from other clubs. Socialisation is always high on the Italian agenda in whatever activity you undertake. Tabiano Terme looked lovely and I would have been happy to stay in the 3 star hotel for the week but alas I had to return to Milan . At 1600hrs all the parents who had accompanied their children were asked to attend a short adults-only briefing. The only bad news was that lights out would be at 2300hrs, which I think is a tad late but we are in Italy . The week before it had been the turn of the U16s. The feedback from the Rugby Cernusco attendees was that it was fun and tough. Lots of hard training and discipline.

Well a week later (27 th June) I returned home to find my son relaxing in front of the TV having returned home himself at midday. Well you can imagine the conversation. How did the week go? Response: ok. Was the food edible? Response: Yeah. Well after deep interrogation lasting 24 hours I found out that they had two training sessions a day, there were regular light hearted competitions for bottles of coca cola that involved lots of leaping and physical effort. Some washing did take place. They had to get up at 0800hrs (terribly early). There was no activity in the afternoon as it was generally too hot and he was a bit tired from all that running about.

That seems ok then!!!!!!!!!!!

Bolbeno, September 2008

It is 10 weeks or so since I wrote the last blog. The holidays are over. The rugby season is beginning. I appreciate that events should begin on a certain date but the rugby season in Cernusco tends to begin and end over a period of time. To initiate the start of the season on Saturday 31st August there was the customary “olds” vs “youngs” match. Any player over 29 played in the “olds” and amazingly the “olds” took the game by two points (12-10). Then there was the customary barbecue and a few beers. I left relatively early because the next day we were scheduled to depart for Bolbeno (located 20-30kms south of Madonna di Campiglio) with around 40 keen youngsters for the preseason rugby training camp.

The main church in Cernusco has a large property/hostel in Bolbeno, which can be used by sporting groups and others. It is clean and well laid out but with only basic facilities. Even with our group of nearly 60 people we rattled around inside it.

So on Sunday, we arrived, settled in and prepared for the first training session on the Monday morning. New playing rules have been introduced this season. A combination of enlightenment for the U13s et al and the application of the Experimental Law Variations for the U15s. For the U13s and younger it is to be “al la francaise”; no scrums, no line outs, tackling no higher than the waist and no hand-off. We expect and hope that these proposed changes will produce fitter, faster and smarter players. For the U15 squad it is a matter of applying the relevant new Experimental Law Variations. The kids picked up the intent very quickly and asked some difficult questions for which we did not have all the answers.

The first morning started with a good training session. The U15 squad were taken for a short and slow run, before their main training session The rest of us walked a kilometre to the local football field to commence our training. The main area of concern re the new rules is tackling. In addition the lament of the Federation of Italian Rugby is the lack of Italian players who can tackle. So training focussed on tackling and more tackling. It went well.

Then before we knew it training was over and we were heading back to the hostel for a shower and lunch. The afternoon was taken up with a pleasant stroll to a local religious site. It was the adults who complained the most about the walk !!. The evening was free time except for those wishing to participate in table football and Playstation Rugby 2008 tournaments.

Tuesday started the same as Monday with a run for the U15 squad and the rest of us walking to the football field. Again the focus was on tackling. The afternoon passed playing bocce, volleyball and table tennis tournaments. The evening was spent finishing off the table tennis tournament and the semi final in the Playstation Rugby 2008 tournament.

Wednesday was different. We took a coach to Spormaggiore about one hour and 15 minutes away. It is located in a national park and specialises in introducing brown bears back into the local environment. There is a reserve with 3 female brown bears. In the morning there were presentations by local park guides and a walk to the place where bears are attracted (by laying out frozen meat), weighed (on hidden scales) and observed (with CCTV and infra red cameras). The afternoon was spent walking around and seeing the bears in the bear reserve.

Thursday and Friday were back to training with the U15 squad going for a run at 0700hrs and then breakfast. Friday evening was something special; a visit to the ice rink at Pinzolo. I did a couple of circuits and retired, thankfully, without falling over.

Saturday was rather a heavy day. The lie in until 0830hrs was appreciated although the U15 squad still had to go for a run. Then there was training and then the real downer - cleaning up the hostel. By 1500hrs all the rooms had been inspected and cleared, prizes given for the cleanest rooms and punishments in the form of additional cleaning duties given for the not so clean rooms. And then we were off home.

It had been fun and a pleasure to see the youngsters develop so much in only a week. But it was hard work and I certainly needed Sunday to recover.

The next few weeks look busy as we settle into the new regulations, prepare training programmes, attend meetings and make the final preparations for the season. I cannot wait!!!!!!

Cernusco, September 2008

The training started with a bit of a whimper on the 13 th September. Rain and final preparation for the start of school kept numbers low. But by the second week numbers were back up and an influx of new starters had arrived. The U15 female squad is up and running with joint training sessions at Monza and Cernusco which is working better than expected. The U15 male squad is taking its time to get together. As a result we declined to join the initial competitive matches (the “barrage”) to see which of the three leagues we would enter and we accepted that we would not be in the top flight. I have yet to see the U15 squads train but I am informed (by my children) that the training is fun and competitive. We are working hard with the U13 and U11 squads to adapt to the new rules.

Work has also started getting the back room support in place. Some valiant old hands cleared up the storage area. Old kit was thrown out and kit bags for each squad put together. Some very enthusiastic gents stripped out the changing rooms assigned to Cernusco Rugby at the Sport Centre and gave them a well needed clean and sprucing up with a lick of paint. The commune (local administration) has been promising to pull down these changing rooms and refurbish the whole sports centre since I have been here (some 4 years now) but there has been always a lack of funds. However we have come to an agreement with the local baseball club to use their play area to train and play. Alas the Federazione Italiana Rugby turned us down for a significant tranche of funds for its development because we had not obtained sole use. Access to a second area to play will allow us to upgrade the rating for own tournaments, the first being the 16 th November, and expand our senior Sevens tournament held at the end of the season. Our target for the Sevens tournament is to sell 12000 litres of beer. Last year we hit 8500 litres which was an increase over the previous record of 6000 litres.

For the weekend 27 th /28 th September it was sunny and the training went well. We headed off early on the Sunday for our first tournament of the year. We took U9/U11/U13/male U15 squads. The tournament, the 1 3th Memorial Ferraretto, was held by Rugby Club Valpolicella but due to the sponsor and the size of the tournament we went to Verona to play. The U9/U11/U13 played at the GlaxoSmithKline (the Sponsor) sports ground and the U15 went to the Centro Sportivo di San Pietro. I went to help with the U15 squad. As we had the national U15 champions one could say the relative standard was high. Suffice to say we struggled but learnt a lot. The other teams suffered similar fates but overall the trainers were happy about the level attained so early in the season. Certainly the 0600hrs start did not go down well. It was a long day and we got back to Cernusco at 1700hrs. Apparently my wife had spent a glorious day out with my daughter on the Isle of Iseo supping tea and eating cakes.

Cernusco, October 2008

The training of the trainers is starting to get serious. Saturday 4 th October there was a post-training debrief by our Tecnico (head coach). We are all doing wonderfully but…. The following week we were all put on video and our training methods discussed. Apparently we are even doing better than the week before but…

Accompanying this development is that the club bar is now officially open from the start of training and fully manned by experienced personnel - so said Mauro our security expert and Dario the electrical expert as they poured me a beer (after training but before the debrief by the Tecnico).

On the back of this (Sunday 12 th October) we went to our second tournament of the season at Calvisano which necessitated a relatively late start (0800hrs) compared to the previous tournament 2 week ago (0600hrs). Head west along the A4 to Venice and turn right before Brescia . Past the international airport of Montechiari (a place which makes Prestwick look sophisticated) and straight on to the small (and I mean small) village of Calvisano home to the Top 10 and European Cup challengers Rugby team of the same name. So not only were we in the heart of Italian Rugby but their Tecnico is Prof Bonomo one of the top Rugby instructors in Italy who was an instructor when I was taking my Level 1 Rugby coaching qualification last year at Tirrenia and he was the instructor at the introductory course held on Saturday (11 th October) attended by my wife – small world.

Anyway, Calvisano being a Top 10 team, the rugby fields for the tournament were excellent – grass and flat and spacious. We had brought the U11 and U13 squads to what is, despite the location, a very relaxed tournament. With the sun shining, the U11 played well and came second. The U13 squad came across only one team that was a real challenge, Brescia , who were physically bigger and faster than our squad. The training over the last few weeks came together and we ran out winners by 5 to 3 tries. Then we headed back to Cernusco after partaking of a few…. excellent salamela panini (sausage baps) to catch the last few hours of the Festa del'Oca (Feast of the Goose) in Via Monza which had lots of stalls and music bands and finished off with a Goose race.

The weekend 18 th /19 th October was full of drama. Training as normal although our Tecnico went down with “Congestione” –eating or drinking something cold. This was shortly followed by the first U15 game of the season against Bergamo . The Bergamaschi are big and strong and the game followed the likely outcome. Just before half time we were 3 tries down and out but… Cernusco suddenly found a try from nowhere and heads and hearts lifted. Cernusco changed the game from a physical confrontation in the forward area to more of a running game. And although the game finished 4 tries each, two conversions gave us the match.

Sunday was Monza , a national tournament for our U11 and U13 squads. Saturday had been a bit cool but Sunday was a glorious day. The first game was against Brescia and this time the U13 team came out winners 4 -1 tries winners, even better than the week before. From then on the team lost its way a bit, but still managed to come out winners of their Girone (League). They then entered the Girone for positions 1, 2 and 3 rd position. Against Monza 96 Cernusco played well and came out winners 4 to 1 tries. The next team to play was Cus Torino who were, to say the least, physically bigger than our trainers let alone the team. Cernusco tackled for 12 mins non-stop but were unable to overcome the physical disadvantage and lost 3 tries to 1. Despite losing, that was their best game of the day and parents and trainers went home suitably proud re the commitment shown. We were fortunate and happy to have a Scottish referee who has been brought in by Monza to assist in training and also plays for their first team.

If this was not enough we returned to Cernusco to watch the seniors take on Parabiago, recently relegated from Serie B. Again Cernusco faced a physically bigger and stronger side. This time there was to be no fairy tale ending and we lost …..heavily 46-0.

And then to the last weekend in October. The U15 played CUS Milano and lost to a better organised team, the U17 team of CUS Milano/Cernusco played Bergamo and lost to a better organised team and the seniors played Lainate and lost to a better organised team. At least Liverpool won this weekend…..

Cernusco, November 2008

And then it was November 1st. From training on Saturday it was a quick sprint to see the U15 play against Rozzano – 30 mins around the tangenziale (south west Milan ). This is the old university rugby ground and looks it - it is a nice ground with easy access etc. The first half was terrific with Cernusco running in 6 tries. The second half was more chaotic ending in 1 try a piece. The game was spoilt by the referee who was clearly not competent – this was the considered opinion of both clubs. One of the problems expanding the game in Italy will be to find new referees. It is a problem that will most probably never go away especially as refereeing is more time consuming than being a trainer. Anyway a fair victory for the Cernusco 43-5.

Sunday mornining I departed for Asti (as in Asti Spumante) – south of Turin , West of Milan with the U9, U11 and U13 squads. Alas it rained nearly all day long, a nice slow drizzle. This was a Torneo Nazionale with some strong clubs attending. In the U13 competition we faced Parma and Cus Torino – two strong clubs. We lost to Parma 5 -0 tries, the eventual U13 winners. We beat Alessandria 4-2 tries. Not a good result as we should have done better. And then we met Cus Torino to whom we had lost at the Monza Torneo by 3-1 tries. Again the team fought and fought but we lost 2-1 tries. As third in this girone we met the 3 rd team in girone 4 (There were 4 gironi each with 4 teams). We played well against Lecco Levante but despite a strong start it ended a draw - 4 tries each. We agreed a golden try as the means to split the teams and 3 minutes into extra time Lecco did the damage. We played our last game against Amatori Milano 2 and won 4-1 tries. We finished 11 th , the U11 finished 12 th and the U9 finished 15 th – considering the level of the opposition it was a satisfying performance.

Twelve hours after our departure we arrived home. Large tournaments such as Asti tend to stop at lunch time for everyone to eat which means there is always a two hour break to allow the kids to digest their food. It makes for a long day.

And once home I was not allowed to forget the victorious girls U15 who went to Lecco and came 1 st and 2 nd as we had two squads in the competition.

After the previous tiring weekend I looked forward to a relaxing weekend. So for the weekend 9 th /10 th it was training, a meeting for the trainers, shower and then some beers whilst we watched a few internationals in front of the TV. All excellent games except for France-Argentina which was one for the purists. Sunday was very relaxed as we took our time to get to Crema for the U15 game. Except that Crema had put the start time forward a couple of hours without telling anyone and….. it was the same referee as last week. The start time was reset and the game went ahead. Our forwards were outclassed, mainly as they played to the rules as the opposition was all over the place, that is offside and playing on the ground, etc. The opposition's relentless offside play did eventually lead to one of the Crema team being sin-binned - mainly after prompting from the referee's official adviser. He was a bit more in evidence this week. Trainee referees have an adviser on hand to guide and prompt. Despite all the lack of discipline our three quarters were faster and smarter and ran in 4 tries. Final result 24-5. And then it was back to Cernusco to see the Seniors play CUS Torino – first in classification. Alas it was a hard lesson in taking the ball at speed, tackling, kicking and support. Despite not giving up we still lost 38-0.

The weekend 15 th /16 th November was the Torneo del Naviglio – the first tournament at Cernusco this season. But first of all we had to watch the U15 take on Amatori Milano on the Saturday evening. The rule in Rugby is that generally sheer physical power usually wins and this case it was no exception. Amatori had 3 players who were physically large, very quick and knew the game of rugby. After two quick tries by the Amatori, Cernusco rallied with some ferocious tackling and commitment but despite some outstanding play, Cernusco succumbed to the inevitable losing heavily .

Rugby tournaments at Cernusco tend to combine with severe weather conditions especially snow but this time the gods were in our favour and although it was cold, it was sunny. We all met at 0800hrs to put the final touches to the organisation and at 1000hrs we were ready. The U13 started with a slightly weaker formation against the eventual tournament winners and lost 4-1. Against Sondrio we played better and won 8-2. This put us second in our girone and we came up against Monza for the final game which we won 4-2. If we had played to win we might have ended up in the final but that is not the philosophy. All the Cernusco squads ended up 3 rd (U9, U11 and U13) except for the U7 which won and all the coaches were happy with the standard of rugby played. There remained only the 2 hours hard slog to clear up the playing areas and put everything away.

The weekend 22 nd /23 rd November was little different from the others. After training it was a short trip down the road to Cologno Iride Rugby Club for the weekly U15 game. Again the referee which I have discussed already above turned up. Cernusco adapted well and started with 2 quick tries. Cologno came back and took the lead with 4 tries to 3. But Cernusco kept the pressure on and came out winners 39-22 despite losing nearly all the lineouts and scrums.

Sunday was regional tournament at Rho – 30 mins away north west of Milan . Another cold but sunny day resulted in the U13 coming 3 rd but losing to Monza . We could not even complain about the ref – I had that honour. The seniors were due to kick-off at 1430hrs at Rho but enough was enough and I went home to watch some recorded games of rugby on the TV! The U15 girls squad were in action at Asti . My daughter's squad won their first game and they lost the second. They did not play the third game as it would have been Monza / Cernusco A vs Monza / Cernusco B. I have escorted my daughter to a few of these tournaments before and they tend to mix junior (U 15) tournaments and senior tournaments and plan the tournament around the seniors. This leaves the U15 teams standing around doing not a lot much longer than normally. The FIR will have to get its act together over this or it will be difficult to retain the players we have.

The final weekend in November was free and I took advantage to visit old blighty, actually to attend a weekend course given by one Dr S Peters who is famously responsible for ensuring our five gold Olympic Cyclist squad were properly prepared mentally. There were two key lessons – sport is (or should be) fun - even for the elite and get to know your “chimp” !!!!

Cernusco, December 2008

The year is about to end and we (the juniors) have only attended No. 7 tournaments but it seems like more. The November internationals have ended and, from an English point of view, the less said about that the better. Our senior team is also in depression having lost all their games. The rest of the club has had a mixed season thus far except for the girls who are running out of competitive sides to meet. And it is cold. I forgot to mention that the end of November saw a heavy snowfall in Milan . But it ain't over till the fat lady sings and there remained one tournee to attend before the end of the year.

And so…the first weekend of December saw the juniors in action at Rovato (first exit on the A4 to Venice before Brescia and the U15 girls at Valledora (somewhere past Turin ). Rovato has an excellent facility and ran a very relaxed tournament. The U13 lost the first game against Botticino 2-1 tries and played badly. The second game against Rovato was tougher and although we still lost 5-2 tries the standard of play was much improved. The third game was a mismatch and we ran in 9-1 tries. However, I was honoured with the offer of refereeing the final - a derby between Rovato and Brescia which finished in good humour. The expectation was that it wouldn't (finish in good humour).

My daughter enjoyed her day out, at Valledora. I am pleased to report a victory. She is enjoying her new found role as scrum half and she is hoping to keep the position for some time despite the fact that the previous occupier returns from injury shortly (and she is the coach's daughter). However turnout for training and the tournaments was low as this weekend was part of pre-christmas holidays in Milan and quite a few families took advantage of the long weekend to get away. What followed was a period of cold and wet weather for nearly two weeks. The weekend 13 th /14 th December saw most weekend games cancelled due to severe weather conditions. Our field was now a quagmire.

So it was decided to make the last weekend of the winter season purely a festival. At 1500hrs on Saturday 20 th December one of the tennis tents (tendone) at the sport's centre was opened for the party. Prizes were given, new gear was ordered, there was even a cake cooking competition. The U15 girls squad is being given a fully paid trip to Rome to watch one of home ties for Italy in the six nations. Tickets are courtesy of FIR. The bus courtesy of CE Rugby 79. After the party and the clean up there was just enough time for a shower and shave and the lift arrived for the Club Xmas party. The key highlight of the club party, besides the food, drink and company. is the end of meal raffle where the name of the game is to corrupt the officials and receive as many of the prizes as possible. I am happy to say I won nothing. Last year I won a bottle of Spumante which exploded during night and wet all the kids' homework for the next day…… The food as ever was excellent and the company noisy. Which left me Sunday to laze on the couch in front of the TV or so I thought but apparently I had some jobs left to do on my list from last year…….

Cernusco, January 2009

The cold continued with low temperatures and snow. We managed a few days of skiing over the xmas vacation. One of the many advantages of living in Milan - just check the weather forecast and get in the car, and go and ski.

Despite the bad weather we managed to start training by mid January. The first session back consisted of touch rugby on the nearby helicopter pad. Suffice to say our pitch is a quagmire. We have in the meantime managed to agree on the final details of the season’s programme. France is out and we are off to the Topolino (Mickey Mouse) Tournament which will be held at Benneton’s fantastic sport premises at Treviso. A well run and excellent event but for some reason we do not fully understand, it is very tiring on the coaches.

With the first tournament on the 18th January cancelled due to the continuing bad weather we eventually got off the mark weekending 24th / 25th January. The U13 training finished with the boys taking on the U15 girls. Not strictly to the rules but it was an enjoyable contest. The boys did a lot of tackling and girls worked on their passing. The result was an honourable draw. As usual after training on Saturday there was the U15 game. Cernusco played well but some silly mistakes led to three tries and we lost 19-0 to CUS Milano. The Sunday saw the little ones at Brescia against some stiff competition. We (U13) lost the first game 3-0 against Amatori Milano 1, but beat Brescia and Gussago to come second in our Girone. We then beat Crema to end the day a creditable 3rd. The U11 came second and the U9 came first. We headed home to watch the seniors against Bottocino. We seemed to be heading for a well earned win but during the second half of the second half we went off the boil and let Bottocino score two tries and we lost 21-17. Actually in the heat of the game I did not notice that for the last quarter we only played with 14 players because our number 14 was taken off injured and all our reserves had been committed – ouch!

The last week of January was still cold. After training there was yet another U15 game, this time against Crema. For those of you that have followed this blog, you may recall that we won the away fixture despite some terrible refereeing. This time the referee was good. Crema were sadly blown away with the scoreline a fantastic 70-0 to Cernusco. And it was a competitive match to the final whistle.

Sunday was an U15 girl’s tournament at Monza. There was no mini tournament so I was able to go and watch. It was cold and bitter but the rugby was intense. The two Rugby Monza / Cernusco squads came second and third. Which is creditable as we also included 8 girls between the two squads from Como who had never played in a tournament before.

The next four months will see an increasing amount of rugby with a massive four tournaments to attend during May including the Topolino. I look forward to improving my tan despite the heavy snow fall which we experienced in Cernusco, Milan, Paris and London on the 2nd February.

Cernusco, February 2009

February started with… miserable weather. The snow had gone but it was still cold and wet. Weather more akin to Liverpool and Manchester (wet and windy) than Milan. Our training was undertaken on the softball field next to our rugby pitch (weekend 6th/7th Feb). Training areas were kept small. Not good for training the kids in the use of space but it does force them to appreciate running straight and providing support. After one hour, training was halted as we retired to the club house for the game (England vs Italy – Six Nations). The comments flew as I was explicitly and loudly supported England. At half time I was dragged off to watch the U15 play at Bergamo. It was raining, wet and cold and very very miserable and our team was severely weakened by illness to some key players. By half time I was on my way home with my son who had taken a head butt to the chest and was having difficulty breathing. It took a couple of hours to get the X-ray and the medical all clear at the local medical emergency department. Oh yes and we lost 55-0. We had won the home game against Bergamo.

Early next morning was relaxed, as the trip to Lecco had been cancelled due to waterlogged pitches. So I went down to the club to watch the U17 CUS Milano/Cernusco vs Cesano Boscone which we won 31-15. However our first team lost 6-5 away to Lainate.

For the weekend 15th / 16th Feb the weather had started to clear. It was still cold but sunny. Training took place as usual on Saturday and then we prepared for the U15 game against Calvisano 2. Due to bad weather we had yet to play them. Calvisano are a Top 14 team but their minirugby standard does not reflect that status despite them having a FIR coach on their minirugby coaching team. Our pack held its own despite the continued lack of some key players and the backs proved decisive. We ran in winners 53-7.

Sunday was busy. Up at the dawn to see off my daughter on the FIR / Cernusco Rugby sponsored trip to Rome in a coach to watch Italy vs Ireland. Then my wife left for a walking trip up some mountain somewhere. And I was off to Lainate – half an hour down the road on the way to Malpensa Airport. It was cold and sunny and the playing field was iced-mud. By the time the kids had started playing the top surface was soft but with an icy layer just below the surface making traction difficult. The U13 played Amartori Milano first and despite a good first half, they collapsed 9 – 2 (tries) in the second half. Next came Varese who were short of players due to families taking their kids on holiday (well it is Carnevale and the snow is reputedly excellent). The U13 won this game 6-4 tries. And then came the final game. Every so often I ask myself “why do I do this?” and the answer came from the pitch. The U13 faced ASR Milano. A good team. In a pulsating game where the lead changed every couple of minutes, all the team pulled together and all the training clicked. Yes we lost, 5-4 tries but it was one of those classics. The kids came off the field full of emotion having given their all.

My wife returned from the mountains at 2015hrs and my daughter returned home at 0130hrs Monday morning with a smile on her face after 12 hours in a coach. At least I managed to get a couple of hours sleep before I had to get up and go to Paris.

But the big news for the weekend was that following the dismissal of the first team coach the seniors rallied to their first victory of the season. Whilst I fervently hope for a change in the first team’s fortunes, alas all the evidence points otherwise.

The next weekend 22nd/23rd Feb promised a full weekend of rugby except that at the last minute the U15 and U17 games were postponed due to the lack of referees. On Sunday my daughter was scheduled to play at Cogoleto just north of Genoa and brightly left the house at 0600hrs. Whilst the rugby pitch at Cogoleto is generally very wet and muddy due to the outflow from nearby water tables, the surrounding area is very nice. This time it was only a mere 10 hrs later when she jumped off the bus having enjoyed a nice day out. As ever Massimo, their coach, was waxing lyrically about what a great day it was. For an ex-footballer he continually amazes me with his passion for rugby.

The seniors played Amatori Milano and I expected we would lose heavily. Officially the theory is that the stronger (physically) team always wins but based on the examples provided by the southern hemisphere and Wales it is that the quicker teams always win. Cernusco forwards outplayed the opposition but our backs made too many small errors mainly under pressure (where was the protection from the front row forwards) and we crashed in the 4th quarter despite playing against 14 men for most of the second half.

The last weekend in February I was dragged off to Trieste, a place full of history especially relating to WWI and WWII, some good restraunts, Buffet da Ruby and Vulcania, and some very bad drivers, even by Italian standards. In terms of rugby we were all depressed (Italy and England lost) although the U15 ran in winners against Chicken Rozzano 81-0 and the U13 won their tournament at Crema. February started with cold weather and finished a tad “dreich”. We are forever hopeful for some good weather in March although the forecast is not looking good……