Tour Journal: The Rowers Tour To Remember Takes on The Foxes in Bedlinog

Once upon a time God made a rugby pitch. He put it in a lush green valley among rolling hills and quaint stone houses along a winding road. There were green trees on each sideline and the practice pitch was made of the same soft ground and green grass as the playing pitch. The sheds were big enough for both teams, and there was a set of monkey bars for the kids. The posts and the lines were straight. He called it “Bedlinog” and he put it in Wales.

The on-field part of the Tour to Remember wrapped up against the Bedlinog Foxes. The Rowers kicked off in the first half, running downhill on a sloped pitch. The Welsh team was well organized, preferring to work up the middle and make use of a strong pack. They picked from the base and controlled the game well, communicating in a unique and unintelligible chatter that I was later told was in-fact English. The Foxes got on the board first, scoring a well-earned try and slotting the conversion. Germany-based Rowing Club tour fixture Mark Lovell was then able to put one in for the Rowing club, the conversion chance went begging, leaving the score at 7-5 Bedlinog.

The hosts answered quickly, playing a level of rugby yet unseen on the VRC tour. Bedlinog kicked for position, won lineouts and generally took the approach that one would expect out of craftsmen who took their trade seriously. The home crowd cheered as the conversion capping another forward try split the sticks, making it 14-5 Bedlinog.

The Rowers responded after a few inside phases by getting the ball wide to a seemingly unstoppable Maverick Seed streaking along the wing to create a 2 on 1 with Nik Samija. Maverick, having his third stormer of a game, worked a textbook give and go with Samija, committing the defender and making a feed into space for Nik to finish all alone.

Touring rugby sides don’t do much kicking. The Rowers Euro side did not carry anyone professing to be a kicker, and I’ll spare those who filled in when necessary the embarrassment of naming them. The Rowers didn’t kick for position, the Rowers didn’t kick for points and when it came time to kick conversions, we were nearly hopeless. However, on this lone occasion, Nik having put it in directly under the posts, somebody split the sticks. 14-12 for Bedlinog at half time.

Disco Stu Doesn't Advertise

In the halftime huddle, coach Mergui pointed out that the only thing working was getting it outside, and that we ought to do more of that. So we did. The Rowers received the 2^nd half kick and immediately played it out to our talented backs, who made good yards. “Disco” Stu Holland carried an excellent first half into a dazzling second half, as he worked his trademark dance move / show and go successfully to create chances and breaks for the visitors. Playing with a nasty goose egg under his right eye left over from the Ironsides game, Stu put together a memorable run up the middle through space that must have left three or four defenders reaching at nothing or nursing broken ankles.

The customary pregame talk with the referee had been the standard discussion, delivered by a kindly old Welsh man who had volunteered to help out for this friendly. The captains had implored us to take it easy on this nice man and limit the backchat. The grumbling was kept to a minimum as Bedlinog’s slowing of production went un penalized. But when South African standout winger Dave Andersen burned two men on sheer speed, then fought through a tackle and put the ball down in the corner only to have it called a knock-on, all pretense of civility left the Rowers’ sideline in an eruption. Samija couldn’t speak clearly for the rest of the tour after that.

Andersen fights off a tackle

An off center penalty to Bedlinog in the visiting 22 gave them a chance to showcase their flawless kicking game, slotting a beauty that was solidly booed from the Rowers sidelines, making it 17-14 for the hosts. Undaunted, the Rowers battled for a good 15 minutes, holding on to the ball and building simple phases until a marauding Brett Illing picked and went from the base to punch one in and give the Rowers a 19-17 lead.

But on that night in the Welsh valleys, under stadium lighting and in front of the dogs and children of a town of 2,000 who care about rugby in the same way as the Rowing Club faithful who gather at Brockton in February downpours do, fortune was not on the Rowers side. Bedlinog put in a final try to go up 24-19 after kicking a flawless conversion.

A Dapper Markus SK Observes With the Rowers Bench

Up the hill at the clubhouse, we watched the Fiji-England world cup game together and ate sausages with chips and gravy. After losing the standard man-of-the-match boat race by only a few ounces, we were given another chance with our choice of contenders and still lost. We learned new drinking games and spotted a shirt on the wall from a BC club who had visited long ago. We lingered as long as we could, and traded shirts and stories. The clubhouse party was still hopping when we left.

As we ate our sausages, I eavesdropped on Rowers scrumhalf Gerard Lynch discussing on field strategy with a teammate who had come along as a supporter. Asked why, when given a penalty inside the 22 with a three point deficit, he elected to go with a crash ball to the pack instead of kicking for points that would have tied it up.
“Honestly," Lynch answered, "it never even occurred to me.”