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Italia! We made it. An absolutely stunning road trip through impressive feats of engineering and awe inspiring natural landscapes, France, our bus driver, delivered us safely to Torino, our first stop in Italy. We then said goodbye to him as he handed us off to Emanuel, our new driver and our sweet double decker bus!
A quick lunch in a shopping mall food court was our introduction to Italian food which left a few feeling a bit disappointed not to be having authentic pasta or pizza, but everyone got fed and that was what mattered.
Then it was on to the local club for our first game against CUS Torino. Below are the match reports by Mr. Kim (for the boys) and Mr. Farish (for the girls). Not a bad view from the sidelines!
From Mr. Farish:
March 24th was a busy day for boys and girls on tour, having said goodbye to France and travelling 300 kilometres from Lyon to Turin. As we arrived at club Turino the Italian girls rugby team were warming up. We were to play a rep team from 6 neighbouring clubs from the province. Each wore the same jersey, but their socks of a variety of colours belied the county of origin. We started with our usual pre-game warm-up with half an hour to kick off, and the boys made a tunnel to get the game started. (Video of tunnel) It was a rocky start, kicking into the wind with the sun in our eyes. The kick blew back and into touch, and the game began at half with Turin opting for a scrum. The next few phases favoured SMUS who were running strong with good ball retention from the start. We made it to the 22 on a line break from Ruki M, only to knock the ball forward and lose possession. Turin rallied with a kick and chase and SMUS found themselves under pressure in our end. An initial drive over the line was held up, and our goal line drop-out was followed by a French line-out and Turin’s first try of the day. (5-0)
Taylor M took the restart, sending it long, and once again there was some back and forth. The French pinned us in our own end after a somewhat bizarre sequence of play (and suspect reffing) leading to another score by the French, 10-0. Fifteen minutes in, the girls finally found their stride, and like game 2, it was a line break by Chioma D that finally put us on the scoreboard with a successful convert by Captain Harper M. 10-7. The SMUS girls would not look back for the rest of the game. Moe O. was the essential link for our forward pack with leadership by Sammi R. and Ava G. Next score came with an outside run down the line by Ruki M, 10- 12 at the first break. For reasons unknown to us, the hosts had decided on a 3 period game, perhaps to make the hockey-loving Canadians more at home on European soil. The second period was successful from the start, with the added bonus of a strong wind at our backs. Alex M. collected Harper’s kickoff and broke the French line. Strong rucking and physical play kept us in their end, and a successful counter-ruck by Harper M resulted in continued possession. Ava G. and Taylor M. fought hard along the right side with an offload to Harper M for the next try, 17-10 for SMUS. The restart saw Kai R. with a great catch, some back and forth play between SMUS and the Piedmont provincial side. Successful rucking meant full protection of the ball as the ref was not calling hands in the ruck, and Moe H. did a great job digging the ball out as rucks imploded with hands and bodies.
SMUS played the ref and found success under less-than-ideal conditions. SMUS scored next, Taylor M, and it was 22 - 10. The girls were settling into a rhythm, Sammy .R often leading the charge among the forwards, and ball retention through solid rucking by a majority of the team. Possession and repossession in spite of difficult conditions tipped the scales leading to a succession of trys in our favour. Molly G. was the next to break through on the far wing and with the wind. 27-10. Alex M, 32 - 10, and a team effort following Sierra with a fantastic run with ball in hand to Chioma D, back on the field feeding bestie Katie M. and several fantastic drives. Th the next try, 37-10. Turino had one more try in the end, so 37-15. Videos of the girl's game with amazing running commentary by Mr. Farish! (start at the bottom to watch the game in order) Special thank you to Ewan's mom, Tina, for the great game photos! Another fantastic win for the girls who are establishing themselves as a real powerhouse of XV rugby. Tough decisions to make when we get back about which season of play to participate in but either way, all of the players are making incredible gains in their understanding and skills of the game of rugby. Congratulations on another great performance by all 18 players.
The boys’ first rugby match in Italy took place in Turin against CUS Torino, a local club with sprawling fields and a rich rugby history. We were greeted by a few of the coaches, Paul and Davide, before connecting with the club director, Salvatore. From start to finish, our time at CUS Torino was filled with hospitality and generosity from the Italians, and there was some awesome rugby to boot!
Sideways video of the boys being clapped on (sorry about the angle!!)
The first half started off with our boys in white playing into a gusty wind and looking directly into a blazing sun. Despite this, we showed much better defensive organization compared to our matches in France, and a return to double-tackling was a welcome refereeing change. From the get-go, Zaki P carried the ball well and, as has been the case the whole tour, didn’t let any visitors trespass down his wing. SMUS held onto the ball well in the first 5 minutes and put together some enterprising rugby, but a slightly overcooked cross-field kick bounced into touch and relieved the pressure for CUS Torino. It was now the ragazzas’ turn to pile on the pressure, and pressure they did, with a skilled 9 directing traffic for his hefty forwards. Initially the yellow wave was held out, but a series of inopportune penalties, combined with basic handling errors on our end, gifted CUS Torino the first try of the game - a quickly tapped ball from a penalty that was played out to the left wing and scored in the corner. Gathering under the posts, it would have been easy for the SMUS boys to hang their heads low at this point, but some timely motivation from co-captains on the day, Savo M and Rohan L, led to an immediate reply, with Jack D threading a grubber through the eye of a needle on the ensuing kick-off and regathering it himself. On the front foot, SMUS put together multiple clean phases before Rohan L darted through a gap in the narrow channels and dotted down for the Blue Jags’ second try. A momentum shift was in the air, signified by the next few minutes of play that saw Nick L win an important turnover in the middle of the pitch that allowed Ewan WS, in his experimental role at inside centre, to rumble down the field and offload to Savo M for another SMUS tally. Next on the agenda was a ridiculously athletic take from the ensuing kick-off from Zaki P (see 26:03 in the 1st half footage!), which eventually led to Rohan L darting through yet another A-channel gap and offload to Wil W for the fourth SMUS tally of the half. Alas, the pressure was not to be sustained through to half-time, with a poorly fielded kick-off on the part of SMUS gifting CUS Torino advantageous field position, a kick to the corner, and a try from a well-orchestrated maul. Score at half-time: 28-10. 10 half-time changes for SMUS meant that the boys needed a few phases of play to settle in the second half, but with the wind now behind our back and the sun beaming onto CUS Torino eyes, we were able to get into our mojo and kick efficiently into the corners. A long bomb that stopped just short of the Torino goal-line was knocked on by the fullback, with Sky T (what a team try!!) eventually crossing the line to put SMUS ahead five tries to two. The theme of kicking for the corners continued, with another Jack D effort being carried back over the goal-line by CUS. A 5m-scrum saw a backline move go wide to Jordan M, who dotted down in the corner. The rest of the half saw ill-discipline on both sides play into the hands of a very active referee who wasn’t letting any misdemeanour slide at the breakdown, but after trading a few tallies each, the CUS Torino boys weren’t able to make up the gap and the game finished in favour of SMUS, 38-24.
For the Torinese, the 9 stood out throughout the game for his intelligent distribution and overall game management. For the west coast kids in white, a comprehensive performance that saw every single available player play at least a half of rugby was capped off by a few fine individual shifts - Savo M continues to assert his dominance at the tackle area with punishing tackles and key turnovers, Wil W has developed into a fine lineout option both offensively and defensively, and Peter W has utilized this tour to find another few levels in his physicality. All in all, a great day of rugby for both teams against a great host in CUS Torino. Grazie mille!
First half full video (thank you Jude for filming!) Second half full video Special shout out to Sam G and Harper M for their willingness to give the post game speech in Italian! Video (again, sorry about the camera angle!) and a huge thank you to CUS Torino for hosting and playing. Such a great experience for everyone.
Off into town we went and into our super cool Hotel/Hostel Combo Torino. The coaches were last to board as they debated throwing on their boots to join the final match of the day... Old timer rugby Italian style!
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