Rugby Club Zug Xmas Dinner 2011

This report of our Christmas dinner will be slightly shorter than originally planned. This is mainly due to the fact that there is no-one who can remember exactly what happened…..

Arriving at the restaurant it was clear a great night was ahead of us. Downstairs from the main restaurant was the newly refurbished bar which was lit perfectly with candles and really set the vibe for the evening. After an hour of mulled wine and beers we made the move up to the main restaurant.

The night kicked off with a welcome speech from Elio & Denis. As there were many awards to get through, the proceedings kicked off with a few trophies. First award of the night was for Best Alternative Player which went to a very deserving Damian for his services as prop. The second award was for Best Tackle which went to one of our new players Jason. The third award was The Bulldozer Award which went to Roman.

The last award before the meal and main speeches was a special one “The Boobie Beer Award”. This is for drinking services and could only go to one person……Big Antoine, but before he could take his trophy he was handed a pint of beer and had to down it in one. We did not have to ask him twice……under four seconds it was gone!

Dinner commenced and the wine began to flow. After the starters had been demolished a surprise soup course was brought out. Both were really good and set things up nicely for the main course.  The detail that had gone into the preparation of the chicken (stuffed with sundried tomatoes & cheese) and also the homemade meatloaf, showed why Restaurant Schiff is one of the best places in Zug to eat. Once the main course was finished and the tables cleared, the main speeches got underway.

First up was the clubs President, Sebastien Le Page. After a few kind words about the club he presented Alois with the Best Player trophy. A very emotional (or drunk depending who you ask) Alois graciously accepted the award and said that it was only thanks to the team that he was able to win. The next award was for a very special person. The Life-Time Achievement award went to Beat ‘Fanti’. It had been difficult keeping this award secret in the weeks building up to the event but it was all worth it to see the look of surprise on his face. He was genuinely moved by the award and received a five minute standing ovation. There was not a dry eye in the house as he collected the trophy and in true ‘Fanti’ style said that it was for the club and not him.

Next up was our beloved coach ‘Fanti’. He began with the training awards (1^st place was Denis, joint second was Little Antoine & Tommy and 3^rd place was Damian). Then he moved onto the trophy for Most Kicks (Little Antoine) and Most Trys (Seb Varey, who unfortunately could not be there on the night). The last part of his speech was for the news players, who were each called up one by one to receive a RC Zug polo shirt. Finally he unveiled a new design training shirt for some of the teams main players.

Then came by far, the best speech of the night, from our trainer Mark Newman. He presented the award for Best New Player (which went to a very humble Bogdan) and also Best Tackler which went to Simon ‘the beast’. Then after various humorous anecdotes he called up a few core team players to join him in downing a beer.

 Then a drunk Claudio stepped up for the Captains Speech. He honoured a dedicated member of the club with the Most Committed Player trophy. Claudio told a few funny stories about the time Denis has spent in the club…….none of which can be repeated here. 

 The final speech of the night was from Ian on behalf of the Minis. He gave a summary of what a great season they are having and talked about the growth of the minis team. They are now the second largest minis team in the whole of Switzerland and with our growing juniors team and also the clubs work with the canton of Zug at grass routes level (our Rugby4Schools programme) the future of Rugby in Zug and within the club looks very promising.

 As the speeches came to an end, the desserts were brought round. Without even asking beforehand the restaurant had organized a giant cake which was made to look like a huge rugby field and even had our logo on it. Also they had done hundreds of home made Lebkuchen.

 The last thing left to do was give out the raffle prizes (of which there were loads). By this point, the evening was running about one hour behind. To save some time and mainly because he was drunk, Denis was just asking people what ticket numbers they had and then search for the corresponding number in the tombola. As per usual RC Zug tradition the prizes varied from candles to champagne to cat food to potatoes and even some hand engraved crystal glasses. Thank-you to those people who brought gifts for the raffle.

 Once the raffle was over everyone returned downstairs once again to continue the drunkard fun. The 80’s playlist had everyone dancing till about 4am. A few of the hardcore drinkers moved onto another bar and had a ‘lock-in’ till well past seven in the morning. This is the last thing anyone can remember.

 Drunk Of The Night award goes to Ronnie………closely followed by our President.

 

Summary of Awards

**** Drunk of the Night = Ronnie Staub ****

Best Player = Alois Dober

Captains Trophy/Most Committed = Denis Kaya

Life Time Achievement = Beat Iten

Training 1^st = Denis Kaya

Training 2^nd = Thomas Styger

Training 2^nd = Antoine Koeltgen

 Training 3^rd = Damian Henggeler

Best New Player = Bogdan Dinu

Most Trys = Sebastien Varey

Most Kicks = Antoine Koeltgen

Alternative Player = Damian Henggeler

Bull Dozer Award = Roman Merz

Best Tackler = Simon Merz

Best Tackle = Jason Hammond

Boobie Beer Prize = Antoine Carassus

Overall the night had an air of magic about it, and it was great to have old and new players together. The attendance was phenomenal (almost 100), and as we had planned for about 60, the restaurant dealt with it very well. The club would like to thank the Restaurant Schiff & their staff for the amazing food and also making the night really feel like we were in our own club house.

A special thanks to Elio and Denis for organizing such a wonderful evening…..they definitely deserve a few beers.

RC Zug

wichtige Infos Spielerversammlung/Players meeting

Liebe Freunde/dear friends

1. Xmas Dinner findet dieses Jahr am 10. Dezember im Restaurant Schiff in Zug statt.
Anmeldung bis 1. Dezember.
Xmas Dinner will be held this year on 10 December in the restaurant "Schiff" in Zug.Sign up to 1. December.

2. Fitnesstraining startet am Freitag 18. November 19.00-21.00 (Mountain Training, Grienbachstrasse 15 in Zug)
Gym training starts on Friday 18th November 19:00 to 21:00 (Mountain Training, Grienbachstrasse 15 in Zug)

3.  Six Nations Tour findet dieses Jahr vom 24.2.-27.2. 2012 in Edinburgh (SCO) statt. Infos folgen.
Six Nations tour will take place from 24.2.-27.2. 2012 in Edinburgh (SCO). Informations to follow.

4. Weihnachstsaktion für bedürftige Kinder in Rumänien. Paket bitte an Elio bis 2. Dezember abgeben. Xmas action for children in Romania. Please give package until 2. December to Elio.

RCZ wirbt für guten Zweck

Die Rumänien-Hilfe Wegenstetten ist eine kleine Non-Profit Organisation im Kanton Aargau, welche jedes Jahr «Weihnachtspäckli» für arme und Waisen-Kinder im Nordosten von Rumänien sammelt und diese auch persönlich dort vorbei bringt. Jeder weiss, wie sehr Kinder auf die Grösse und Inhalt von Paketen achten – dies ist in Rumänien nicht anders. Deshalb wünscht sich die RHW, dass das Päckli eine Post-Pac-Nr. 1 Schachtel ist, welche mit Geschenkpapier verpackt ist und folgende Dinge enthält: 2 Tafeln Schoggi, 1 Pack Farbstifte, 1 Seife, 1 Plüschtier und irgend etwas das von Herzen kommt, um das Päckli zu füllen.


Der Rugby Club Zug hält diese Aktion für eine gute Sache und möchte sie unterstützen. Wir werden mithelfen Päckli zu sammeln und um sie dann am 3. Dezember nach Wegenstetten zu bringen, von wo aus sie noch am selben Tag ihre Reise nach Rumänien antreten werden.

Wir würden uns sehr freuen, wenn es uns unsere Fans und Freunde gleich tun würden und ein Päckli für ein Kind in Rumänien «packen» würden.

Infos zur Rumänien-Hilfe Wegenstetten findet ihr hier: http://www.rumaenienhilfe.ch

RC Würenlos vs RC Zug

Final Score: RC Würenlos 19  – RC Zug 9

We arrived in Würenlos with a large squad knowing that this was going to be a hard game. Earlier on in the season we lost against them in the last few moments of the match 16-10. The game started with Würenlos on the offensive and with the weather looking good we were set for a decent match.

A brilliant early try from Bogdan (still no-one can tackle him) gave the team the moral boost we needed, but it was not long till Würenlos responded with a try of their own.

In the second half we made some substitutions and kept pushing hard.

Greg (our fastest player) made a wonderful run along the wing and was home clean for a try, but unluckily the ball slipped out of his grasp.

Then things started getting interesting as we received two yellow cards. You might think that this was for a high tackle or perhaps another unsporting action, but no it was for being offside. Even the coach from Würenlos shouted at the referee for these decisions! So we were down to 13 players which did not make things easy. Then the referee starting giving yellow cards to Würenlos (probably to even things up). This just brought both teams closer together and various comments could be heard from the crowd such as “Hey Referee, he passed the ball, give him a yellow card”.

Towards the end of the match, a forward from Würenlos broke our back line and was clear for a try, then out of nowhere he got taken out. The sound of the hit echoed throughout the spectators followed by a large ‘oooh’. People in the crowd were wondering “was it a bird, was it a plane or was it superman”……..no it was Jason with the tackle of the game!!

 I think it is fair to say that Würenlos where the stronger team on the day, but Zug felt that we deserved a bonus point. Unfortunately we were 3 points away from the ‘7 point window’. The score could have been much higher, but Zug kept up the defence till the bitter end.

A few players deserve a special mention Greg, Jason, Roman, Ian, Victor, Goran, Alois, Little Antoine and Eugene for their great skills in the match.

A special thanks to Andreas and Raffi for coming but did not get a chance to play.

Anyone can have a bad day at the office and we would also like to thank the referee for apologizing to us after the match for his mistakes.

Thank-you to Würenlos for hosting the match and we wish them luck with their games for the rest of the season. We look forward to seeing them again at the summer tournaments in 2012.

RC Zug

RC Zug vs RC Basel

Final Score: RC Zug 31 – RC Basel 15

Saturday morning in Zug looked like a scene out of a Vietnam war film, lots of mist with an eerie silence. It was not until about lunch time that the fog cleared and the warm sunshine filled the air.

 The match started with Basel really pushing very hard, they managed to break through very early on, but a great tackle from Denis stopped them in their tracks. It was not long after that we got back in their half of the pitch with some super kicking from Little Antoine. After that it was just a matter of time before we started racking up the points.

The scrums were not easy as Basel had about 50-60kg over us, but we contested as best as we could and won a reasonable amount of balls considering the advantage Basel had.

The second half was more of a bloody affair (hence the earlier Vietnam reference) with a lot of players on both sides covered in more ketchup than a Quentin Tarantino movie. Bogdan cut inside his mouth wide open and was dripping with blood, the referee had to send him off for five minutes to get treatment, but we all know he was more upset he would not be able to do any kissing in the showers afterwards. Alois (who was suffering with illness before the game) was substituted, not only for his benefit, but also for Basel’s, as he was ready to kill someone.

Cracks started to show in the Basel team, mentally they were beaten, but to be fair to them, they really did not give up and Zug had to defend right down to the last moments of the game.

In summary a great performance from the team, a lot of good communication between the backs and also great play from Bogdan (the un-tacklable), Jason, Simon (the beast), Roman, Daine (fresh in from Afghanistan), Emanuel and great precision kicking from our newest player Ian.

A special thanks to Laurent who has never played rugby before and came on as a replacement prop………he said he quite enjoyed it!!

Having read this on RC Basel’s website: “A bit surprisingly we lost 15-31 away to RC Zug” makes me think they came to Zug expecting an easy win……clearly they were mistaken. To rub salt into their wounds we also beat them in our club pub afterwards. No-one in the whole of the Swiss Rugby League can beat Big Antoine when it comes to downing a pint of beer!!

We would like to thank Basel for coming and we look forward to playing them again later on in the season.

With this win, it takes us to fourth place in the league, but there is no rest for the wicked. Next weekend we take on the mighty RC Nyon who are currently unbeaten. We hope to change that.

RC Zug

RC ARYA vs. RC Zug

Final Score: ARYA 19 - RC Zug 8

The night before the match we were struggling to get a team together. A lot of our squad are either injured or away. Finally after a lot of phone calls we managed to get sixteen players.

As it is such a long journey we travelled by coach. Not just any coach, a super pimped out one. To be honest it looked more like a strip-club than a coach with its neon blue lights inside.

 We arrived in ARYA to drizzling rain, and with their pitch surrounded by vineyards as far as the eye could see, it took some time to actually find a route that the huge coach could fit through.

 The first ten minutes of the game ARYA were on the back foot. Zug pressed very hard and we got within a few meters of the try line several times. It was not long though until ARYA starting racking up the points with penalty kicks.

 As the rain increased the ball handling on both teams decreased. The term ‘butter fingers’ did come up many times. Denis did miss out on a try with a great pass from Tommy, but made up for it by catching a bottle of wine which fell off the table on the coach on the way back.

 The second half was mainly played in the middle of the pitch with both teams defending hard. Our line-outs were much better with Alois winning 95% of the balls. A few more penalty kicks from ARYA sealed our fate, even though Zug pushed hard at the end, we just ran out of time.

 So one try for each of the teams meant the game was quite even, but it was the penalty kicks from ARYA which gained them the win.

 Unfortunately Justin managed to dislocate his shoulder. We wish him a speedy recovery and look forward to when he can play for us again. It seems like we are losing players to serious injuries every week now. If this continues we will have no players left by the end of the season.

 Roman was the man of the match, but there was very good play by Jason, Simon, Big Antoine and Little Antoine.

 After the match we joined ARYA in their quaint club-house (which had a very smelly toilet) for a couple of beers. They kindly packed the chicken & chips into takeaway bags as we could not stay to eat. We had a long journey back and also we needed to pick up Justin from the hospital.

 We would like to congratulate ARYA for their first win of the season and also thank them for their hospitality. We look forward to playing them again later on in the season.

 A special thanks to: 

Dani for coming to support even with his injury

Morgan & Andreas for coming to support
Claudio for bringing oranges

RC Zug

RC Zug vs RC Winterthur

Final Score: RC Zug 24 – RC Winterthur 35

*Please first read the review of the St Gallen tournament from july for some background information regarding our newly formed friendship with Winterthur.

A few days before the match we received an email from Winterthur asking for the match to be made one hour earlier as they had a friendly game afterwards with RC Lichtenstein. They also invited us to bring a bigger squad with the idea that some Zug players could play in their friendly.

What I got from the email was “We have a huge squad now enough to play two games”…………I was not wrong.

We arrived at Winterthur with only 16 players, three of which were already injured. On the plus side, the weather was good and the pitch looked great.

The game started well with Zug starting to rack up the points with great kicks from Little Antoine and Bogdan. Winterthur came back hard, but we finished the first half with a reasonably good lead. Even though we were having problems in the scrum, we were in a good position to win the match.

 

The second half though was a different matter. Cracks started to show in our team in all areas. As Winterthur started to gain more points we began arguing amongst ourselves. Negativity is contagious and before we knew it Winterthur were ahead. Then disaster struck, Dani ruptured his collateral ligament in his knee (he will not be able to play rugby for the rest of the year).

At this point Winterthur started making substitutions. Five players with fresh legs just ran rings round us. We finished the last few moments of the game with only 14 players.

When we came back to the changing rooms after the match there was a crate of beer waiting for us. I would like to point out that these were large bottles…..brilliant. After showering, we were taken to a BBQ area were we received some tasty chicken and a potato salad.

I must commend Winterthur for their line-outs. Very well organised and clearly they practice this a lot in training.

We would like to thank Winterthur for their hospitality and look forward to playing them again later on in the season.

RC Zug

RC Zug vs RC St Gallen

Final Score: RC Zug 35 – RC St Gallen 0

Arriving at our home pitch on Saturday was like walking into a war zone. The circus had been in town all week and had left our field looking like Beirut in the early 80’s.

On a positive note the weather was really good and even though we were missing a couple of key players (Claudio, Nico & Bogdan), we welcomed back Big Antoine, who has played for Zug for many years and is already in our ‘Legends - Hall of Fame’ while still being active player.

Also back on the team-sheet was Denis, who fractured his wrist two weeks ago. The Doctor said no rugby for at least five weeks, clearly he has no idea how hard Zug rugby players are!

The game started with St Gallen pushing hard. We beat them last season, so clearly they wanted some payback. A few times St Gallen made it within two meters of the try line, but every time Zug held strong. St Gallen did manage to get a penalty kick, but they missed it.

In the first half we were losing most of the line outs, but by the second half Alois must of grown a couple of centimetres as we seemed to sort this problem out. Our scrums were tighter than a ducks bottom, surely we broke some sort of record with the amount of balls won. The hooking from Denis was on fire.

Once we started scoring tries, the game was over. Two of the tries in particular deserve a mention.

The first was created by Seb, he ran the entire width of the pitch (yes I said width) and then turned around and ran all the way back again before deciding to actually run forward, he broke through several defenders only to be caught just before the try line. Then he made a simple pop pass to Alois which resulted in a try.

The other was clearly the try of the match. Simon (aka The Beast) blasted through about six St Gallen defenders and then without looking made a world class pass to Roman who dived in for the five points.

Also worth a mention was the kicking during the game from Little Antoine. We gained a lot of ground with his precision kicks.

A special thanks to Elio and Jeff who did wonders in the forwards despite both being injured.

As you have just read, it was a real team effort in this match which paid off with five more points for the league. Next week we take on Winterthur, where we will be looking for a good win also. Zug is now in a strong position in the league which looks good for the rest of the season.

We would like to thank St Gallen for coming and look forward to playing them again later on in the season.

RC Zug

The President's Speech

Bericht: Zentralschweiz am Sonntag vom 18. September 2011

RC Ticino vs RC Zug

Final Score: RC Zug 20 – RC Ticino 21
After a long journey through the Gotthard tunnel (luckily not much traffic) we arrived in Bellinzona to warm sunshine and a wonderfully prepared pitch. Also there is a beautiful castle overlooking the whole valley. Bellinzona’s castles are considered amongst the finest examples of medieval fortification architecture in Switzerland.

The game kicked off with Zug on the defensive. Ticino racked up 9 points just through kicks alone as they could not break past our defence. It was not until Zug scored the first try of the game that the match started to get interesting.

The second half started just as the weather began to change and Ticino pushed hard in the first few moments. Now the grey clouds had moved in and the heavens opened up, most of the second half was played with hard rain.

Their full back (who had crazy long hair) was one of the fastest runners I have seen in a while. He managed to slip through our defensive line a couple of times in the second half.

Overall we had the advantage throughout the match by winning majority of the scrums and line-outs. There were some minor mistakes made on our side during the game, which considering how close the score was, probably lost us the game.

At this point I would normally thank the opposite team for welcoming us to their pitch and hosting the game but this time I don’t think I will bother. In 18 years of rugby I have never come across a team with as little respect for the game as RC Ticino. Biting people in the rucks and also pushing and shoving other players trying to start a fight just because they made a good tackle is simply not what rugby is about.

You might think that this review is written with sour grapes because we lost, but I would point out that last season we had several near losses, most famous against RC Lausanne, in which we were gracious in defeat.

We look forward to our next meeting with them which we plan on teaching them a lesson on how to conduct themselves on the pitch and also in the pub afterwards.

We are always humble in the eyes of defeat no matter how close the score is.

RC Zug

RC Zug vs RC Würenlos

Final Score: RC Zug 10 – RC Würenlos 16

We knew going into this first match of the season that it would not be easy. Last season when we played Würenlos we lost in the last moments of the game just 5 – 0. Also a few weeks ago five Zug players went to help RC Solothurn with numbers in a friendly against Würenlos. It was clear that they were still a strong team and also had been expanding their squad.

The first few moments of the game both sides went in hard, and an early try from Seb gave Würenlos a wake up call they desperately needed. They returned with a try of their own which meant the game was well and truly on.

Then thirty minutes into the game disaster stuck. At the bottom of a seven man pile-up a scream was heard. After everyone managed to get up Denis remained on the floor with what seemed to be an injured hand. He was taken to hospital and diagnosed with a fractured wrist.

With few substitutions made and shift around of positions, the game was back on. Tiredness was setting in for both teams now, as the level of intensity in the rucks and mauls was still at the same level as the beginning of the match.

Honestly speaking, Würenlos had several chances to get more tries, but due to the strong defence from Zug the score line was kept very tight. At least we come away with one point for the league table as the difference in the score was less than seven points.

We would like to thank Würenlos for coming and look forward to playing them again later on in the season.

RC Zug

My Big Fat Rugby Wedding

On Saturday 10^th of September the President of Rugby Club Zug (Sebastian LePage) was getting married. In usual RC Zug style the team showed up with training pads, match shirts and also balls in order to play an exhibition match.

After about one hour of drinking champagne and some sort of sexual fruit rum drink, the team put our club shirts over their suit & ties and split into teams for a game of ‘touch rugby’.

This game of touch rugby lasted about twenty five seconds before it turned into ‘full contact’ much to the amusement of the other guests at the wedding. Our trainer Mark stopped the game after about fifteen minutes which was clearly a sensible choice due to the fact that already everyone’s smart shoes and suit trousers were now covered in mud as well as Elio was bleeding from his hand.

Then the team cooled off in the lake and the wedding was joined by a great live brass band. After things had quietened down, under the shade of the trees, Seb and Morgan exchanged vows. This was a magical moment and a wonderful end to a fantastic wedding.

Seb & Morgan were very lucky with the weather. Considering how bad the summer has been this year I think everyone was shocked with the clear blue skies and beautiful warm sunshine.

Everyone at Rugby Club Zug wishes Seb & Morgan a wonderful future together.

RC Zug vs RC Luzern: pre-season friendly

Final Score: RC Zug 34 - RC Luzern 5

After almost two weeks of wonderful sunshine in Zug, the night before our pre-season friendly, it decided to rain. As well as all summer our pitch being used as a car-park for people wanting to go sunbathing by the lake, it was now water-logged. So Saturday began around 12.30 with filling of random holes in the pitch, setting up the posts and also making the lines. All of which was not straight forward due to the fact that it was still raining!

By around 3pm RC Luzern had arrived and luckily the rain has stopped to make way for the sun. After some time spent catching up with Luzern, mainly re-living our drunken antics during the summer tournaments and also debating if we should all skip the game and go directly to the pub, the game began.

Going into the match RC Zug were clearly the underdogs. Newly promoted Luzern were now in the league above, and also last season had beaten Zug twice, but within the first few phases of play it was clear that Luzern had a match on their hands.

The first few moments of the game were spent laughing lots, as players from both teams kept slipping and sliding all over the place, but once everyone got used to it the game got more serious.

It was not long before Zug scored the first try, which really boosted our moral. This opened the flood gates and by half time we were leading. Second half was tougher, as Luzern were looking to get something on the scoreboard. Zug remained resilient and kept the defence tight. Luzern managed to get one try near the end of the game, but it was too little too late.

The game finished with Zug victorious: 34-5

As Luzern lost, they made one of their players strip naked and then chased him round the pitch. After the game Luzern joined us for Beer and a BBQ at our club pub.

We would like to thank RC Luzern for coming and wish them all the best in their season ahead.

RC Zug

Aegeri Seefest 2011

 Auch in diesem Jahr waren wir am Ägerer Seefest dabei! Hier ein paar Impressionen:

 

Neuchâtel Rugby 7’s Tournement 2011

The story begins on the Friday night before the tournament. The 15 players from Rugby Club Zug were out for a drinking session in Aegeri. We were due to leave for Neuchâtel at 7.30am on Saturday morning…….this plan however did not really work. On Saturday morning we left Zug with only 4 players. Not only were we short a lot of players but we were running late. Our first match was at 10.30 against Zurich GC. After some crazy (life threatening) driving from Beat, we arrived at Neuchâtel at 10.25. We drove past all the tents and camp fires and finished with a handbrake turn onto the side of the pitch. We jumped out and ran onto the pitch grabbing a couple of players from Nyon and Bern. Understandably we lost against Zurich GC, but also unfortunately Eugene twisted his ankle while making a try………..Now our team was down to 3 players.

Our next game was not until 3.30pm so we had time to set up our tents and meet and greet the other teams. Our friends from England (Rugby Club Richmond Saxons) offered to lend us 5 players, RC Luzern gave us 3 and also RC Bern gave us 2. Suddenly RC Zug had a squad of 13 players!!

Our second match was against RC La Chaux-de-Fonds. This was a closely contested game. We did think we had won, but later found out there was only one try difference.

Our third and final match on Saturday was against Botafogo. We did lose (but not by much). Botafogo ended up winning the whole tournament.

Now the first days rugby matches were over everyone could begin the evening of singing and drinking. As you can imagine things got messy.

Last people to bed was about 6.00am…..

Sunday morning the tournament recommenced at 8.00am. Our first match was at 8.45am against Zurich Union……..only 2 of us managed to crawl onto the pitch from out tents. It was then announced on the speaker system that we required 5 more players. RC Neuchâtel were kind enough to lend us some players. We won the match even though the players from Neuchâtel were playing in their underwear. One guy from RC Neuchâtel scored the try of the tournament……he still had on last nights baby hat, a giant plastic dummy, skin tight speedo’s and flip flops…….he managed to out run four Zurich Union players!!

Near the end of the first half, last nights beer and wine caught up with Denis, which resulted in him being sick on the pitch. He did however received the loudest cheer of the tournament from the crowd as he crawled off.

The rest of Sunday was a lot more fun, we played lots of games for Zug and for other teams as many people had hangovers. One guy was getting married soon and therefore his team made him play a match with a sheep tied to his leg. Very amusing. Beat hurt his knee in the morning, but that did not stop him from playing four games in a row for various teams. A true Rugby hero!!

We finished 18 out of 20 from the tournament, considering we had only 3 players that’s not bad at all!!

Overall it was a great tournament, we would like to thank the organizers from Neuchâtel for hosting the event and look forward to seeing, playing and drinking with the teams again next year!!

Denis Kaya

Bishops Cup 2011 – St. Gallen

We arrived in St Gallen on Saturday morning only to be greeted by terrible weather. Most people would say it was raining ‘cats & dogs’ but honestly it was more like ‘hippos & elephants’. At the arrival desk we inform the organizers that we only had 5 players (this was a 10’s tournament) but would still like to play and would just borrow a few players from other teams. They explained that a 3 teams had cancelled just the night before and therefore to save having problems with an odd number of teams they would take RC Zug out of the tournament but that we could act as roaming extra players for the other teams.

Due to the re-organizing of the tournament schedule the first set of morning games were cancelled. So between all the teams we organized a set of friendly games. Our first match was with Winterthur against a new Italian side (their name escapes me) which we won rather convincingly. Winterthur were very happy with our performance and wanted us to continue playing with them for the rest of the tournament. They renamed the team ‘WinterZug’ which was great.

Our next game was against Zurich Union. Again we won.

The rest of Saturday was spent playing for München, Neuchatel & Bern.

Saturday evening was great fun. St Gallen had a Canadian band playing pop/rock then followed by a DJ playing hip-hop. RC Luzern were dressed up like ladies (as per usual), Winterthur went for the Richard The Lion Heart/Crusades outfits, and I swear I saw Batman at some point during the night. I don’t remember a great deal, all I know was at some RC Zug was on the stage dancing like crazy.

Sunday morning while eating our breakfast we check the information board. WinterZug was in the quarter-finals!

Our next game was against the tournament favourites RC Varese who had won both their games on Saturday 68-0 & 38-0. We knew this was going to be a hard game if not impossible, but we just got on with it. The game ended 19-14 and Varese were clearly shocked that another team had even got some points against them. We felt a bit disappointed considering there was only one try between us. Varese went on to the finals. I am not sure if they won as we left just before the match started.

The best part of the tournament was playing with Winterthur. They are in the league below us but will be joining us in our league next season. We very much look forward to playing rugby with them next season.

In summary it was another great weekend of rugby. Thank-you to the organizers, we will see you next year!