"International" Sporting Tour

Sunday 23rd Apr vs. Rhyl RUFC U16s

What a great weekend of sport! Didsbury Barbarians U16 conducted their annual whistle-stop international tour to North Wales, competing in a rugby match and in the inaugural South Manchester Freestyle Surf Board Dismounting Championships.

The (rugby) team from Rhyl are exceptionally good, we knew that already because they beat us at home 24-0 only a few weeks prior. We were determined to step it up this time, and while the outcome was the same, the result was not as one-sided as our first encounter. In the first half Didsbury enjoyed good possession, but were held by a strong defence. Guilty of ball-watching not enough pressure on the home teams three quarter line gave Rhyl the opportunity to spread the ball wide and run around the sparse defence. They scored three tries before Didsbury woke up and by the time we got anywhere near their goal line it was half time already and 17-0. Uh-oh?

A few changes at half time and soon to follow a good team try in response. There was some relentless rucking by the forwards through the opponents half towards the goal line, recycling the ball from deep beneath the defenders bodies time after time. It was eventually Josh Connor who saw the gap and dived through from a couple of yards out to ground the ball. Logan McMahon converted, placing the ball dead-centre between the uprights, and we were off the mark at 17-7.

While we enjoyed more possession in the second half, I cant say we used it fully. There was a dazzling little show & go from Jamie McCreery who ran the most the length of the pitch but was unfortunately caught short. Later in that half Harry Maitland made a fabulous interception and ended up in very unfamiliar territory beyond the oppositions back line (not because he doesn’t often loiter there, only this time he had the ball with him). He did exactly as was advised by coach Gary French in that situation: tread water and wait for a fast runner to come. Obligingly, Harry drew their fullback and laid off a pass to McCreery giving him a clear run to the posts. Maitland also drop-kicked the conversion, clearly in a rush to get back home and revise for his GCSE.

Alas, Rhyl scored a couple more soft tries. I’m sure the lads will know that we need a tighter defensive line to win our next and final match of the season. Final score Rhyl 34, Didsbury 14.

And on to Adventure Parc Snowdonia for the next event. South Manchester’s first annual trip to the Costa del Daffodil inland surfing lake. What is now apparent is that any fool can surf. Everyone who surfs, however, must be able to dismount from the surfboard, at which only the most talented excel. There are many ways to dismount from a surf board. This Sunday we saw them all, not all were from a standing position and most of them were involuntary.

Paddle too slow and the wave can flip you. Paddle too fast and the wave can flip you. Get up too fast and the wave can flip you, etc. One of my favourites: stand up on the board and lean over towards your surf-buddy on the next board, if he is within reach then fall nonchalantly in his direction and help him dismount in the same fluid movement. It is also exhilarating when you surf across the bow of your neighbouring surfer, watching their dismount from the corner of your eye whilst you ride the wave all the way to the beach. The plastic lined reinforced concrete beach! Extra points for dismount style as demonstrated by Gary French: approach the beach standing upright, stick up both thumbs Fonzarelli style, jump off and do a sideways somersault, stand up and grin.

Our reporter spoke later with the management of Surf Snowdonia for their comments. They said “…I can’t think of many spectacular dismounts that you English lads didn’t show us today. Especially you older ones. That fella Steve was the funniest so we awarded him the prize. Oh, by the way we don’t call them dismounts, we call them wipeouts.”

Congratulations Steve. And best luck to the U16 squad that travel to Blackburn for the Lancashire Cup Final, next Sunday 30th April. This is my final match report of the season, so if you want to know what happens in the final you will need to be on the bus.