Three rugby clubs have been set up on the island. Our armchair reporter pulls on his ageing boots and rucks in
ENGLAND World Cup winner Johnny Wilkinson once said “I play with a fear of letting people down. That’s what motivates me”. Letting the Nicosia Barbarians down as I jogged onto the pitch to join them on a Wednesday evening training session was not the only thing I feared.
At school I considered myself to be not bad at rugby; I could run around and avoid the scrummaging without the coach noticing. However when Nicosia Barbarians chairman, Loukis Pattichis invited me to take part in a training session with the rest of the team, it seemed that my old tactic would not go unnoticed. I had no choice. I would have to pluck up the courage and get stuck in.
Pattichis patted me on the back, asked me how I felt and then introduced me to the coach who in turn very politely asked me if I had ever played rugby before. “Er, yes,” I replied hesitantly as I noticed several bruised giants behind him smiling at me… or were they grinding their teeth?
After a few days of rain, the pitch, within the UNPA of Nicosia Airport, had the lightening illuminating Kyrenia Mountains as a backdrop. The sound of thunder thankfully dampened the sound of my knocking knees. No time to reflect. The burly coach shouted “OK chaps, today we are going to do a bit of ‘ruck’ and a bit of ‘maul(!)’”. I had no idea what he was on about, but that last word made my hair stand on end.
A cut lip and a few minutes later, I found out after two Fijian heavyweights and an Argentinean monster plunged into my frail, but deceivingly muscular body. To ruck is to charge at an opponent and fall just in front of him, releasing the ball in the process to a team-mate behind you who picks up and charges at somebody else. Maul is the same procedure except you don’t fall, you basically hurl into the opponent while a team-mate jumps onto your back. If that sounds painful it is because it is. Alas, the impact of my maul onto the ten-foot Fijian was about as effective as a baked bean thrown onto a charging rhino.
“OK chaps, now lets have a game against each other,” the coach yelled out. So I scraped myself off the muddy ground and staggered to the center of the pitch with the other players.
Barbarians player Homer Goshome put his arm around me and said, “Don’t worry mate, you can play with us”. What struck me was the comforting and gentlemanly conduct of all the players – especially those you pray you won’t run into in a dark alley – when play was not in motion. But when play resumed, the animal that rages in all of us – mouse in my case – roared out; which is basically what rugby is all about.
As play continued, I realised that I too would have to do a tackle or run; something to make my time on the pitch worthwhile. So, when I saw an Australian attacker run towards me, I closed my eyes, swung my arm around him and just about managed to stop him. Did he even stop? Anyway, let’s not take away my moment of glory. The mouse inside me stirred, I jumped off the ground and strolled around without a care in the world and a little grin surfaced beneath the mud and grass. I could take on the whole world, bring fourth the next lamb for me to slaughter.
Those were the last words I said to myself before limping off. I ran into a tackle and pulled a muscle. A self-inflicted injury but no one at the office would have to know.
Still, I forced a smile, cracking my bleeding lip in the attempt, knowing my ambition far exceeded my talent and as I hobbled towards my car, I looked back at the Nicosia Barbarians charging and clambering into each other and wondered ‘what is the attraction?’. I immediately realised that the answer was right in front of me and I loved it.
Although still at a preliminary stage, important and historic steps are being taken to enhance the interest of rugby on the island. Already three clubs have been established: the Nicosia Barbarians RFC, Paphos Tigers RFC and the Limassol Crusaders RFC.
“Rugby is still at an early stage because of all the legal practicalities that are involved in launching this association. When the association is set up, however, we will then be aiming to join the International Rugby Board (IRB) because then we could invite big nations to come here and play,” Pattichis said.
Bob Maxwell of the Limassol Crusader is confident that rugby will someday become a household sport on the island, as familiar as football, basketball and speeding on the Limassol-Nicosia highway, “Once the locals see this game being played they will like it. People are already aware of the sport here and the word is going around. I believe that in the next five years, rugby in Cyprus will be even more publicised.”
Great thought and I will definitely be an avid fan, but chances are you will see me on the terraces enjoying a nice cup of tea rather than getting stuck again.
l Nicosia Barbarians Tel: 22 878224, Fax: 22 878227, www.nicosia-barbarians.com. email: [email protected]. Limassol Crusaders Tel: 25 846415, www.freewebs.com/limassol-crusaders. email: [email protected]. Paphos Tigers Tel: 26 812123, www.paphos-tigers.com. email: [email protected]
