Sunday, February 20th: The first game of the second half of the season. When we received the schedule, we noticed that we had to play against the same opponents as last week (you know, when we won 80-5). However, this time, it was not a ‘home game.’ Happy to be able to pay back the effort the Greate Tryn Ladies did for us, we went on our journey. So this time, we packed our backpacks, packed a lot of snacks, took all our belongings, said goodbye to our family and friends, and drove to (freaking) Leeuwarden. And what a ride it was. As it was still stormy season, we opted not to go via the Afsluitdijk and took the domestic route via the lovely polder.

The two hours were long enough to take a nap, get to know your teammate, eat a lot of snacks, spread some COVID, or have a karaoke-carpool party. We opted for the latter, and some brilliant playlist treated us with Toybox before 11 AM (and almost nobody was delighted with that). Luckily Celine Dion saved the day, and after playing “It’s all coming back to me” only three times, we had already arrived in Friesland (Wolkom!). 

It had rained for the entire time that we drove, so we were a bit scared about the pitch conditions. The opponent, however, promised us that the field had an excellent drainage system. I guess “excellent” might have a different meaning in Leeuwarden than in Leiden. In addition, their lines were missing (apparently, chalk is very scarce in Friesland). However, there was a playable field! And, we were there; they were there, and, most importantly, we were there, so we were ready to play some rugby. After a short warm-up (where Ashley and Charlotte showed that their stretching/presenting game was really on point), the line-up was re-decided. We, for now, said goodbye to Isabelle and Daphne as they were going to play the first half for the opponents' side and we were ready for kick-off.

The game felt like a repetition from last week. We scored—a lot. After only a few minutes, captain Myrthe scored the first try. However, due to the windy weather, Zoë did not score the first conversion. A try of Zoë quickly followed the try from Myrthe. After these two tries, we realized that we were actually playing 13 against 15 (and not 13-14 as we promised; oops, #sorrynotsupersorry), so we took one girl out of the pitch and played 13-14 for the remaining of the game. The “excellent” drainage led to some nice muddy belly slides along the sidelines, and throughout the game, we became (again) a muddy mess. Two more tries of Myrthe and one try of Zoë finished the first half. Although we were winning by numbers, we were not really happy with the quality of our game. There was a lot of “messy” play in the middle of the field, and it felt as if we were not playing the game we used to practice for. Some stern words of our coach put us back in our game focus, and we continued the second half.

Wendy and Fred left us to play on the other side of the field, which didn’t go unnoticed. Elfie made a supernice break; however, Fred didn’t allow that to happen, which did not result in a try. And this process, unfortunate, repeated itself. A lot of our breaks were stopped by Fred (girl, didn’t we say, don’t play TOO WELL!). Halfway through the second half, Femke almost took Fred out by a hands-off gone wrong (some kind of choking move?; anyway, I guess that's what happens when you support the opponent too well). At one time, Zoë’s kicks literally went ‘for the wind’, where she was able to kick the ball three times in a row and scored a try by diving on the ball herself when crossing the lines. Helena took a turn trying to score a conversion, and although she did not score, it was a really nice attempt! Finally, due to some really great team actions (nice passes, great support), we ended up scoring another eight tries (and four conversions). Three of these tries were actually scored by our forward players, which (most of the time) shows the team effort in our attacks. We ended up winning the game 0-81. Myrthe has been crowned woman of the match for scoring no less than four tries. She came in at the right speed and was able to cross the field as an elegant and graceful Antilope, leaving our opponents breathless. The opponents picked Zoë (who, BTW, also scored four tries and no less than 8!!!! conversions). Well done, girls!!! Femke ended up being the Vajayjay; however, it is fair to mention that she was actually tricked into this.

Some special attention to Isabelle, who only trained for three weeks with us, but already played her first match! Congratulations, and nice to have you on the team! We are looking forward to your growth!

Statistics:

Tries:

• Myrthe 4x
• Zoe 4x (and 8 conversions)
• Charlotte 
• Yv
• Sanne
• Femke
• Loes

WOTM: Myrthe

WOTM opponent: Zoë

Vajayjay: Femke

All in all, we were happy with the result, but I guess we were actually more than happy that we don’t have to travel this far anymore during the rest of the season. And, for now, we can proudly say that we are currently the nr #1 team in our competition after the first round. Stay tuned to see us not giving up that position for the rest of the season. Our ladies will be on the road again in two weeks, playing in Rotterdam. See you there!

- Koos

The 1XV didn’t have a lot of time to recover from the hail, rain and thunderstorm during the mud wrestling match against Thor. This week the Ascrum AA was the opponent, known for their dark arts and strong maul. Another week another week corona did housekeeping in our team. After at least 7 backs being at home with either corona or injury, we started with two hookers in the wing and a strong team against a team with an average age above 50.  

The game went as expected. The ref was quite new and familiar with some rules and also not with some rules. From moment one Ascrum played to this. They saw their opportunities, played the lovely old man rule and secretly started punching among other things part of the dark arts. In the first 20 minutes we only defended and got at least 15 penalties against us. Nonetheless, we were ferocious in the defence. We were prepared for their maul strategy and effectively took down every maul they had. After this is was just waiting for the opportunity to finally turn the game around. A maul on our own 22 as the kickstart we needed. They tried to maul, we sacked it and afterwards they finally threw a ball in the backline were Henry obliterated one of the younger players in their team. From this we won the ball and started playing some ball. From these two phases later, henry again bumped some old guy, basketball passed it over the top to Ockers who scored the first try of the game (5-0). Still luck wasn’t on our side. We kept getting penalties against us, but we were starting to get a bit more time on playing the ball. After a kick of them that did not go out, steven decided to go for the Crossfield kick. Nobody expected it except Rens who caught it, stepped back inside and ran half of the field to score a try underneath the post. This finally gave us some breathing space.  We went into half time with a 12-0 lead.  

In the second half, the old men started to get tired and we also made a change to bring on more people with speed and a nuisance in the ruck. This was the recipe for success. Bob did a scrumhalf pick and go to go underneath the post and Rens kept on doing what he was doing in the first half: Running around people. He scored two more tries from good hands after phase play from the forwards. Nonetheless, we got again influenced by the dark arts. After one of the Ascrum players kicked Koen after a good tackle, Diederik retaliated and punched the old guy in the head. Finally, someone again with some loose hand, exactly what we needed.  Sadly only this was seen by the ref and we played for 10 minutes with 14 man. In combination with this, reinforcements from Ascrum 2 were brought on the field. They were playing a game at diok and were looking for some more game time. This was not really effective only in combination with being one man short and the ref not being on our side let them score twice. End results 31-12 for the LSRG.  

Wilnus already said it during the week but three years ago we would’ve lost this match. We weren’t mature enough back then but now we kept our cool and just grinded out the nuisance Ascrum. These mofos play rugby longer than most of us live and they live for these moments. Nonetheless, we send them home without a point and with a sad story to tell too their children. The whole team deserves props for this victory but Diederik really stood out for us. Not only giving back on some of the old guys but also carrying like a mad men while only having played a few minutes in the 1XV.  

Always drifting,  

Maurits 

Super Sunday. The last game of the first half of the competition. It was not really a “make or break” situation: As only the top 2 of our competition would move to the promotion-pool (to the first division), and it was already a settled matter which teams those were (not us), it would just be a friendly game. Although we of course still wanted to win, want to get the highest ranking possible, and prove that we belong in the 2nd division.

However, as it was Super Sunday, and as we are also very eager to play (we of course needed the practice and experience for the 2nd half of the season), we decided to still continue our game. So 7 girls from Greate Tryn came all the way from Leeuwarden, to play together with and against our girls. In addition, the team was completed with some random spare players, currently known as OG Soof, I(nsta)-Carly, and the Gay'derij.

It was a perfect example of women's rugby. Positive vibes, just a friendly game together. We did our warm-up together, we decided which girls were going to play on which side, it was decided on 3x20 min (and apparently we didn’t need any linesmen today). 

Only five minutes into the game, Pep already scored the first try. This was the first of many. After Pep, only 2 minutes later, Fred score again a try. Following Fred, and again only 2 minutes later, it was Anso who was able to break through the defense and scored a try. Following Anso, it was our captain Myrthe who passed the lines. Forwards/stand-in captain Ashley could not ‘just’ let this happen, and scored the next try: As a full-blown “back” (or almost like a tank) she crossed half of the field, might put a small hand-off somewhere in a face, but eventually scored a beautiful try (all raise hands for Ashley on the wing next game).

Roos’ opportunity to score a try slipped (almost literally) through fingers when she had to pass the ball for a late offload to Zoë, who then did score the try. Femke almost scored when she was playing for the opponent, but the girls on ‘our side’ were able to keep the ball off the ground. Zoë did some nice sidesteps and then ran the full pitch on her own, leaving the opponent flabbergasted. Yv was able to score 2 tries and 2 conversions. Sanne had a nice break which was at first not successful, but a few minutes later, she was able to also score a try. Iris could be found again in her favorite ‘position’: hanging around the knees of the opponent with her low tackles. And let’s not forget about Renée, who (in our last match before leaving us) was able to score a try (from her favorite position: the wing).

For the last 20 minutes, Do raise the tension by letting Zoë play on the opponent's side, which actually resulted in a better focus for the girls on our side. A few minutes before the game ended, it was eventually Fred who was able to get the opponent off the unjustified 0 points by scoring a try, for which we ended the game with 82-5

In the end, we scored more tries than there had been scrums (although all our scrums were really on fire), and the from-covid-recovering zijlijngezelschap was exhausted and out of breath from changing the scoreboard throughout the game (and constantly adding 7 to the score is quite the effort when you still have puddingbrain). Sanne was eventually crowned WOMT for her effort, passes, and organizational skills during the game. Our opponents chose captain Myrthe. The vajayjay of the day was Fred, for scoring that try on the opponents’ side.

Some special attention to Mip and Peter, who almost played their full match at the side of the ‘opponent’. In a short in-depth interview, they admitted that it was actually not bad. “It felt as if both sides were of LSRG, it was a nice practice game, and we rather played than staying on the sideline”. That’s of course the spirit we are looking for!

Statistics:

Tries:

• Pep
• Fred (1 for us, and 1 on the opponent's side)
• Anso
• Myrthe 2x
• Ashley
• Zoë 2x (and 8 conversions)
• Yv 2x (and 2 conversions)
• Reneé
• Sanne

WOTM: Sanne

WOTM opponent: Myrthe

Vajayjay: Fred 

We ended our Super Sunday with a spontaneous dance party along the line of the men’s game, and eventually with the distribution of the bowties at the Duke. Flo, Hag, Koos, and Reneé received their precious bowties after playing (more than) 5 games for the lovely gezelschap. Way to go girls, well deserved. 

With a 5th place in the raking (with only 2 points difference with nr. 3) I think we showed that LSRG D1 is a team that belongs in the 2nd division. We are looking forward to the rest of the season! Next week, we’ll be on the road again! See you soon! 

We got to open the first Super Sunday of the year and after a wonderful breakfast at the Duke, we gathered in the icy winds at het Palenpadje. After the 1^st XV’s hard won victory against Thor last week it was our turn to face the men from Delft and, even though our number were thinned by quarantines and other issues, the boys were looking forward to the final match in the first phase.

The match started like many others this season, a little rusty but after the first few hits we started to wake up a bit. Forgetting perhaps the most important rule, we kept hitting them high and slowing them instead of really stopping them. Soon the ref had seen enough and after several warnings, Lucas caught a yellow card and was sent to the sidelines. Up until then the defense was holding relatively steady, a few breaks were contained on the wings but with a man down, Thor managed to get through and start scoring. After the first try, the defense started to lose some of its energy and on offense we saw multiple solid breaks but none of these ended as a try. Soon we were back to a full 15 on the field but at half time we still hadn’t managed to score.

After a verbal kick in the ass at half time woke everybody up and we started hitting their lines harder and faster. Steadily the forwards put in the work and managed to reach the opposing try line, but after stopping for a potential injury it almost looked like we lost the momentum. However, Diesel, like his namesake, kept on trucking and managed to crash through their defense and scored our first try, followed quickly by Wockers scoring the conversion neatly. For the rest of the match, we would get close a couple of times, but sadly it was not to be. Even then we still got to watch some great bits of defense, like Diesel chasing down a runaway prop and nailing him into touch right before he scored as well as some great catches and work in general from the backs. In the end, we saw a lot of effort from everyone, but for a few too many the night before had caught up to them on the field. Final score 7-47

Man of the Match: Tim for his tireless work at 15, catching multiple escaping Duften heading to our tryline and an all-round great performance.
Dick of the Day: Rik, first rowers don’t have to pass a ball, but if you’re out late drinking before a match, at least send the scrumhalf home.

- Maarten

After 2 months of Covid measurement, semi-lockdowns, no training and another week delay because of stupid civilian clubs that weren’t ready to play, last Sunday the first game of 2022 could be played! Although the weather forecast and a few last-minute cancelations gave us some hiccups, a strong team was fielded to smash the self-claimed biggest student rugby club of Delft. 

When assembling at Lebkov movies appeared of the field of the civilians of Delft. A match was played where it couldn’t be pointed of if they were either playing waterpolo or rugby. Nonetheless, we travelled to the field with high hopes. Story game up comparing the day to that of the birth of Alcatraz and we some were definitely looking forward to playing in the mud. When arriving at the club the message came along that the game before our game was canceled by the ref. Which btw travelled 1.5 hours to declare the field unplayable. So we waited for our ref to come to the field and after just a quick glance he declared the field playable.  

The game started of great. Weird enough we didn’t have a Leidsch kwartiertje. From moment one all their kicks were countered, no balls were dropped and we only played in their half. They had no answer to our kicking game and to the pressure our forwards put them under. The rain did make it hard for us to really capitulate. After many phases, messy up a lot of chances, a perfectly executed bokkie and zigzag combination gave Bob the chance to put his infamous show and go move to work. We scored underneath the post (0-7). Quickly after this, we kept pressuring them and again from quick reacting after the zigzag, Rens could dive in the corner after the pack efficiently sucked all there defenders in (0-14). It started raining harder. We had them on the ropes but we started to give thor a bit of room to play with. They also changed up their tactics and started to go wide a lot more. This in combination with their pack being quite heavy gave them the chance to get close to the line and score from a easy pick and go (5-14). As the puddles were getting bigger on the field, the half time signal was blown.  

In the second half, we started to get grip again on Thor. We started tackling a lot better again but the weather conditions were worsening and we couldn’t get a good grip on Thor. They didn’t know what to do anymore and started to throw in some Hail Mary options using crossfield kicks and whatever they could find in their arsenal. Due to the weather conditions one of these attempts wasn’t cleaned up and then came close to our line again. This time we were ready for their forward attack but they scored when going out wide as we packed everything short to the ruck (12-14). Still we were in control. We were dominating field position and were looking to score again. Then the hail started to come down. This was the final nail to the coffin. The ref stopped the game momentarily willing to go on after the hail had stopped. Three minutes later we were back on the field. This time it occurred to the ref that the puddles had turned into small swimming pools and after some conversation with a very willing Thor to declare the came finished the decision was made. After 61 minutes playing in the mud, the LSRG came out on top with a 12-14 win to SRC Thor.  

This was a game which people will remember for the rest of their life. It is a cliché but even Bob, who has been playing for his whole life had never played in these circumstances. Our Zimbabwean Kyle never even played in the rain back home. This really was a unique game and we didn’t let the circumstances get the better of us. We fought and won. SO the team and everyone that was there that day!  

Always drifting,  

Muppy, Aziz, Mo, Sugar