Uphill both ways

This morning we ran the bergpad. It was a mountain run of about 1.5 miles. Emily and I were running the trail for the first time but the other three guys are no stranger to the run. Our goal was to finish the trail in under 20 minutes and we almost succeeded; the slowest times were 20:15 and 20:30. Sometime after the run Evan told Ryan, the best runner of the three refs here before me, that he shouldn't have let me beat him because I'll think I'm the fastest. Ryan responded, "He's not the fastest." We run the trail again on Thursday so we'll see how that goes. We'll see how that goes.

Monday evening saw the Maties (Stellies U) play their final home game of the Varsity Cup regular season. The fourth and final spot in the semi finals was on the line for both teams. The opponents were the defending champion Tuks so no pressure but either last year's champ or a perennial contender will be missing the playoffs.

This was probably the best 15s match I have ever seen in person. 11k of my closest friends and I filed into the Danie Craven Stadium with high hopes for the home team. The sun had set and the full moon was rising from behind the mountains. The temperature was in the mid 70s and there was little to no wind so it was a great night for some rugby. The Maties came out flat, losing most of their own lineouts and losing the ball within the attacking 22. Their defense was sound, however, so the Maties were only down 16-0 at halftime (try=5 conversion=3 penalty goal=2). The halftime speech by the coach and/or captain had to be Tebow-esque because a different team took the field for the second half. They came out, won their lineouts, held on to the ball (unless they were kicking it away), exploited gaps/overloads, and kept up the stout defense. The Tuks scored eight more points in the second half but not before the Maties scored 36 points of their own. On several occasions the Tuks were knocking on the door of the try line but the Maties were having none of it. The final score was 41-24, ending the reigning champions season and giving the SU students a reason to go partying on a Monday night. Next Monday we will travel to Cape Town to watch the semi final matchup against UCT. I'll bring my camera this time.

Apparently football isn't a big deal for Ivy League students because Emily asked if the atmosphere in the stadium tonight was similar to football at Florida. The answer was yes. The feeling tonight was like the feeling after that South Carolina field goal was blocked before UF went on to win the championship in 2006.