RUGBY4SCHOOL 20. Juni 2012

unsere Jungs freuen sich schon darauf....

RCZ Minis: Impressionen aus Yverdon

20th Anniversary of Rugby Club Zug

In the lead up to this special occasion there was a worry that the weather might hamper the festivities. Luckily, this was not the case, and Aegeri lived up to its reputation as ‘Sunny Aegeri’.

The plan for the day was to have a friendly game of rugby followed by a formal dinner with speeches. Emails were sent out to all the clubs in Switzerland inviting our favourite players to come and play as the Zug Barbarians. The requirement to play as a Barbarian was only extended to those players who understand the true morals and philosophy of Rugby (which we hold dear to our hearts here in Zug) and who are gentleman on and off the pitch. Invitations were also extended to old players who used to play for Zug.

Just before the match started both teams where given special playing shirts. As you can see from the pictures these were fantastic!!

Our referee for the match was Roger P. Zubler (Ex-President) and for this friendly match we decided to do 4 x 20min half’s with rolling substitutes.

Once the game started it became clear that the Barbarians were taking it a bit more serious and deservedly so they opened up the score line with a great try. It was not long before Zug responded and from the sideline it was clear we had an epic game on our hands.

At half time several bottles of Champagne were opened and of course sprayed over all the players. With spirits high the second half continued with more good rugby.

The game ended with a win for Zug (61-41).

After the game everyone headed to the club pub for a BBQ and a few beers. After the BBQ and with a quick change into suits and ties, everyone headed down to the Casino in Zug.

Due to the great weather we delayed the dinner by an hour while everyone was on the terrace watching the sunset over the lake of Zug.

At about 8pm the dinner started in the main room of the Theatre Casino. The table settings looked great and with the lights dimmed and candles burning, everyone sat back and enjoyed the collection of photos from the last 20 years that were being projected onto the main stage.

With the wine orders made, Denis kicked off the speeches by thanking all the Barbarians for coming to play in the match and then read out a short email message from an old player (David Bevis) who was not able to make the event. Then Denis read out a message from our trainer Mark Newman (who was in England on a coaching course with the All Blacks legend Graham Henry). Denis finished his speech by presenting a framed rugby picture to Beat ‘Fanti’ Iten for all his hard work and dedication that he has put into the club over the years.

Then the current President (Sebastian Le Page) took the stage and presented both Ex-Presidents with more framed rugby themed pictures as a thank-you for starting the club and keeping it going for so many years. Seb then invited two old Zug players (Rob & Benji) who had travelled literally half way round the world to play in the anniversary match. Both Rob and Benji talked about their time in the club and then performed the ‘Haka’. This was the highlight of the evening, especially for the new younger players in the team, it was a very special honour to witness.

Following this, Ex-Presidents Roger C. Zubler & Roger P. Zubler began their speech. They talked about the humble beginnings of the club (established in Pickwicks in Zug) and went onto explain some of the highs and lows over the last 20 years.

A minutes silence was made in honour of a fallen team mate, Adrian Hathaway, who sadly passed away. This was an emotional moment.

Next up was Tommy Styger. He talked about his many years in the club and announced his retirement, but somehow we know deep down that he will be back playing soon enough. He ended his speech in English by adding: ‘My drinking club has a rugby problem’.

Afterwards, to finish off the speeches, Denis presented the man of the match award. For the Barbarians Petra was called onto the stage, but as she was driving, Rob (captain of the Barbarians) was asked to take her place. From Zug, Elio was called up. Then Elio and Rob linked arms and downed a pint of beer.

With the speeches done and the dessert buffet set, the party began. (Thank-you to Mario for organising the huge speakers and bass boxes).

Drunk of the night award was given to Danni about 9pm but as the night progressed it was clear that there were other contenders for this prize, namely Damian and Denis.

Thank-you to everyone who travelled near and far to come for this special event and also to the staff at the casino for hosting a wonderful evening.

Lastly, a very big thank-you from the club to Elio and Denis, for organizing an unforgettable Anniversary. Planning has already begun for our Christmas dinner which is set to be even bigger than last year.

RC Zug

RC Nyon vs RC Zug

Final Score: RC Nyon 58 – RC Zug 5

Our last encounter with Nyon was very close (15-12) and to quote their trainer ‘Zug gave us a scare’. We knew the second time round that they would be more prepared for the match today, so that they could maintain their unbeaten record this season. The weather was good for the actual game, but it did rain briefly while we were warming up.

With moral high the game started with Nyon pushing hard from the gecko and before long they had scored two trys. We were not broken yet though. Nyon did keep the pressure on and continued to rack up the points. Then just before half time a great try from Raphael (Bourda) gave us a glimmer of hope.

Even though Nyon had a lot more weight in the scrums, we kept our binding tight which resulted in winning a lot of balls. The lineouts were harder, but Alois held his own and made lots of interceptions.

The second half saw more trys from Nyon but far less than the first half. There were a couple of very close opportunities for us to get some more points. Including two long periods spent within a few of meters of the Nyon try line, but credit where credit is due, Nyon held up their defence.

In summary a disappointing result but we will learn from our mistakes and plan to concentrate this week in training on our last match against Ticino.

Notable performances from: Alois, Raphael (Bourda), Roman, Simon (The Beast), Raphael (Meier),  Seb (Varey) and Dani.

Man of the match: Goran (who needs to practice his beer drinking skills)

After the match (as it was their last game of the season) Nyon put on a special BBQ and plied us with copious amounts of beer and wine.

One of players from Nyon was retiring from the club, so we all gathered around for ten minutes of the strangest (but amusing) singing from the Nyon squad.

We would like to thank Nyon for hosting the match and very much look forward to seeing them at the Neuchâtel tournament in the summer.

RC Zug