Day 19 - USA vs. Australia, The Replacements, Drop-goal
Late breakfast, followed by some reading and checking email. Tina and I talked a bit and before we knew it, we had to pack our bags and meet in the lobby at 12:15. I ran downstairs a few minutes early to get a half-decaf vanilla latte for the van ride over (a little game-day gift to myself with just enough caffeine to give me some added perk, but not enough to make me jittery).
We jump in the vans (which are somewhat crowded when you add all the staff), and I'm listening to my WC pump-up song, Callin' Baton Rouge (by New Grass Revival), on repeat. I know it's not really a pump-up song, but it makes me happy and loving life which is the frame of mind I like to be in when I arrive at the pitch.
Warm-ups have a quiet intensity, which is good. Game starts and we score an early try and put some more points on the board in the first half. Second half, we blew it open to a 29-0 lead with Ellie scoring at least 2 of the tries (I think?) and and amazing support play that went through the hands of fwds and backs and was just pretty to watch and took us down the field 60 meters. Hedwig was the first back replacement to go in and she made a huge impact and had some great plays the second she came in. Originally, she wasn't going to dress for this game but Patty was still feeling sick and pulled herself from the roster and Hedwig took her place. It was great that the coaches began using the bench and eventually we were all put in. Cox, Baja and I went in together with 15 minutes left and it was great to play.
Being a replacement is tough because you do this continuous warm-up/cool off thing that your body hates to do. If you know you're a planned sub, it's a bit easier because you have an idea of when you'll go in but being "on the ready" is tough physically and mentally. When you hear your name called by the coach a little bug jumps up inside you and you think, "oh boy, here's my chance to play, am I ready?, I hope I don't screw up." That stoppage in play happens and all of a sudden you're in the middle of a rugby game thinking "whoa, these people are really hitting hard" and before you can have another thought, you're tackling and playing rugby. I was glad I got to go in, even though that was about the time we let our guard down a bit and they scored on us. Even the 15 minutes reminded me how much I like playing and how natural it feels to be out there, I was just sad when the whistle blew because I wanted to play more!
After the game, we showered (some people ice-bathed) and had our post match mini-social where the captains exchange gifts and the players exchange pins. For these games, it's more to uphold the custom and to give us some food after the match. These have been relatively short (30min) because both teams are anxious to watch the next match or go home. We stayed to watch a great match between Ireland and Scotland, which got to be pretty close at the end of the second half. I like watching Ireland because they never give up and play with so much heart. They had scored one try near the end of the match, then Scotland's #9 did a drop-goal (drop-kicked for points off of a ruck) and put her team up 11-5. Ireland scored again and missed the kick, with the final score of 11-10. Heartbreaker.
After the game, I met my Mom, Dad, Eric, and Rob in the lobby and we walked across the street to have dinner at Earl's (their burgers are pretty good). Mom, Dad, and Eric are leaving tomorrow morning and I'm glad we had some time to hang out tonight.
We came back to the hotel as it was raining and I went to the hot tub for 10 minutes (and convinced my dad to do the elliptical machine for a bit), then gathered some stuff for my parents to take back home to lighten my load for when Rob and I go camping. After some discussion with Rob about which type of mini-van to reserve for our post WC week in Banff, I came back to my room and should have iced my quad, taken an epsom salt bath and done my blog. Blogging is done, it's almost 1am and I don't think I'll do the other 2 things. I think most of our team is doing karaoke in the bar next door and although I'm sad that I'm missing some team bonding (and some stories!), I'm tired and we have breakfast at 8am and are leaving to help with some phys-ed classes at 9am. The rest of them still aren't back yet, so I think everyone definitely need a nap tomorrow afternoon!
We jump in the vans (which are somewhat crowded when you add all the staff), and I'm listening to my WC pump-up song, Callin' Baton Rouge (by New Grass Revival), on repeat. I know it's not really a pump-up song, but it makes me happy and loving life which is the frame of mind I like to be in when I arrive at the pitch.
Warm-ups have a quiet intensity, which is good. Game starts and we score an early try and put some more points on the board in the first half. Second half, we blew it open to a 29-0 lead with Ellie scoring at least 2 of the tries (I think?) and and amazing support play that went through the hands of fwds and backs and was just pretty to watch and took us down the field 60 meters. Hedwig was the first back replacement to go in and she made a huge impact and had some great plays the second she came in. Originally, she wasn't going to dress for this game but Patty was still feeling sick and pulled herself from the roster and Hedwig took her place. It was great that the coaches began using the bench and eventually we were all put in. Cox, Baja and I went in together with 15 minutes left and it was great to play.
Being a replacement is tough because you do this continuous warm-up/cool off thing that your body hates to do. If you know you're a planned sub, it's a bit easier because you have an idea of when you'll go in but being "on the ready" is tough physically and mentally. When you hear your name called by the coach a little bug jumps up inside you and you think, "oh boy, here's my chance to play, am I ready?, I hope I don't screw up." That stoppage in play happens and all of a sudden you're in the middle of a rugby game thinking "whoa, these people are really hitting hard" and before you can have another thought, you're tackling and playing rugby. I was glad I got to go in, even though that was about the time we let our guard down a bit and they scored on us. Even the 15 minutes reminded me how much I like playing and how natural it feels to be out there, I was just sad when the whistle blew because I wanted to play more!
After the game, we showered (some people ice-bathed) and had our post match mini-social where the captains exchange gifts and the players exchange pins. For these games, it's more to uphold the custom and to give us some food after the match. These have been relatively short (30min) because both teams are anxious to watch the next match or go home. We stayed to watch a great match between Ireland and Scotland, which got to be pretty close at the end of the second half. I like watching Ireland because they never give up and play with so much heart. They had scored one try near the end of the match, then Scotland's #9 did a drop-goal (drop-kicked for points off of a ruck) and put her team up 11-5. Ireland scored again and missed the kick, with the final score of 11-10. Heartbreaker.
After the game, I met my Mom, Dad, Eric, and Rob in the lobby and we walked across the street to have dinner at Earl's (their burgers are pretty good). Mom, Dad, and Eric are leaving tomorrow morning and I'm glad we had some time to hang out tonight.
We came back to the hotel as it was raining and I went to the hot tub for 10 minutes (and convinced my dad to do the elliptical machine for a bit), then gathered some stuff for my parents to take back home to lighten my load for when Rob and I go camping. After some discussion with Rob about which type of mini-van to reserve for our post WC week in Banff, I came back to my room and should have iced my quad, taken an epsom salt bath and done my blog. Blogging is done, it's almost 1am and I don't think I'll do the other 2 things. I think most of our team is doing karaoke in the bar next door and although I'm sad that I'm missing some team bonding (and some stories!), I'm tired and we have breakfast at 8am and are leaving to help with some phys-ed classes at 9am. The rest of them still aren't back yet, so I think everyone definitely need a nap tomorrow afternoon!
posted by Lee Knight at 11:59 PM
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