Thursday, May 23, 2013
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Ready to start the season
Well Tour went well and plenty to work on but the guys did exceptionally well against 3 good French teams.
Monday, May 6, 2013
Rugby Culture in France
Since the announcment of the Saracen tour to France I have held high hopes about culture and attitude of the french towards rugby. After yesterdays game and meal afterwords, I can confirm that my previously high expectations have been blown away. The defeat on the pitch was quuickly eased by the hospitatlity and generosity of the French rugby players, we were immediately greeted with gifts, smiles and food before we had a chance to take off our boots.
Over a delicious meal and free flowing wine any language barriers were shattered by traditional rugby culture. Using broken frenglish and charades the Saracens bonded well with our Fench counterparts. This is what I love most about the rugby, the traditions and customs we practice as Mighty Saracens are welcomed and echo'd in the French rugby culture.
Yesterday the Saracens learned a lot about what it means to be a Rugby Player and also that our beloved (sort of) "Buffalo" proves to be a silly thing when met with cider and wine.
Over a delicious meal and free flowing wine any language barriers were shattered by traditional rugby culture. Using broken frenglish and charades the Saracens bonded well with our Fench counterparts. This is what I love most about the rugby, the traditions and customs we practice as Mighty Saracens are welcomed and echo'd in the French rugby culture.
Yesterday the Saracens learned a lot about what it means to be a Rugby Player and also that our beloved (sort of) "Buffalo" proves to be a silly thing when met with cider and wine.
"Breakfast" - Church.
Normally in life when the sun rises and a sleepy eye is slowly opened to witness the beauty and wonder in the world, it is with a sense of joy at the prospect of sweet, sweet breakfast. The mind begins to compensate for the sense of awful detachment as we lose sight of our dreams from the night before by reminding us of the culinary delights to come, should we but make our way down the wooden hill to the kitchen. There to greet us will be our dearest friends; the faithful coffee pot, the cheery toaster, the sturdy frying pan and the all encompassing, wonderous smell of bacon! Normally.
Not so in Le France, a country of such depths of misery, the french word for orgasm translates to english as "the little death". This can, in large part, be attributed to what the french call breakfast (a complete misnomer, if what we have seen so far is par for the course). It would seem the average frenchman is content to start his day on nothing more than a hunk of bread to which he is force to apply butter that is solid enough to construct a mid size house from followed by jam/jelly of such runny consistency that is should be more correctly referred to as juice. He is then encouraged to drink long sittting coffee and to possibly ingest a piece of what is considered cheese but has slightly more in common with yoghurt than is really good for anyone concerned.
All in all, this is a great shame, as it leads french people to smile only when they have later consumed lakes of wine, when if they but looked about them they would see a stunningly beautiful country and possibly espy a weary but cheerful band of brothers gadding about the place i search of rugby and fun, occasionally giving a rousing shout of "Up the mighty Saracens!"......
Not so in Le France, a country of such depths of misery, the french word for orgasm translates to english as "the little death". This can, in large part, be attributed to what the french call breakfast (a complete misnomer, if what we have seen so far is par for the course). It would seem the average frenchman is content to start his day on nothing more than a hunk of bread to which he is force to apply butter that is solid enough to construct a mid size house from followed by jam/jelly of such runny consistency that is should be more correctly referred to as juice. He is then encouraged to drink long sittting coffee and to possibly ingest a piece of what is considered cheese but has slightly more in common with yoghurt than is really good for anyone concerned.
All in all, this is a great shame, as it leads french people to smile only when they have later consumed lakes of wine, when if they but looked about them they would see a stunningly beautiful country and possibly espy a weary but cheerful band of brothers gadding about the place i search of rugby and fun, occasionally giving a rousing shout of "Up the mighty Saracens!"......
Friday, May 3, 2013
Another full day
We train at 9.30 and yesterday was a very successful day with an excellent training session at a local French side who's hospitality was excellent.
The boys were sluggish to start with due to flight and generally a busy day but came along very well in the second half of the session.
We made some great friends with the French people who were very hospitable yesterday when we played a light game against them then they proceeded to provide an excellent BBQ and copious amounts of other delights.
After an exchange of pleasantries and a few speeches we then left for our hotel.
A blog from A few guys today will follow this one.
The boys were sluggish to start with due to flight and generally a busy day but came along very well in the second half of the session.
We made some great friends with the French people who were very hospitable yesterday when we played a light game against them then they proceeded to provide an excellent BBQ and copious amounts of other delights.
After an exchange of pleasantries and a few speeches we then left for our hotel.
A blog from A few guys today will follow this one.
Day 1 Travel Day
Day one is in the books, the intrepid Saracens are off to France. It was a long day of airports and planes, the old went looking for comfort in refreshments, the young found it in their gameboys and 'pokemon' while the wise caught a few minutes of sleep where they could.
After two flights and a long layover we made it to Toulouse, where the mood is excited to get on with touring and rugby. First session will be tonight, can't wait for game 1.
Cheers,
Ryan
After two flights and a long layover we made it to Toulouse, where the mood is excited to get on with touring and rugby. First session will be tonight, can't wait for game 1.
Cheers,
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
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