Intrigue, that would do the cold war proud, enveloped the team as the bus headed deep into the Central Otago hills, scene of the last chapter of “Lord of the Rings”, and the final battlefield of the tour with the warriors of Dunstan High. Would the team face more Mountain men, or would the flurry of diplomatic e-mails and phone calls to NZ Rugby HQ ensure a body mass detente?
The journey to Otago
Tele-tubby breakfast
Captain Tom focusses before the game
Dom warms up
Missing reigning tele-tubby Paddy (thanks to an attempt at the “Iron Lotus” on the ice rink), and somewhat diluted by 2 hours in the hydra-slide at the Queenstown Aquatic Centre, the team Dog-paddled into the first 15 minutes of the game with Dunstan High and quickly found themselves down 12-0. However, with a newfound spirit forged on the anvil of Mt Aspiring High, the Covies found their form with two quick tries, one to Jack S in his final Lane Cove game before transferring to the Gold Coast, and one to Simon on the end of a breathtaking backline play.
Alex on the move
Simon says......... "score"
Inspiring words
Its not about the hair-do!
Half time saw Lane Cove down by 17-10, but in an inspired move, backs coach Vaughan called on the Tele-tubby artillery to move the focus of the backs from their hair to the task at hand. At the same time, coach Flannery explained to the forwards that they would never make it into the game photos and they might as well get their heads down and get on with it – fulfilling their role in life to work hard to make the backs look good.
Inspiring words as the second half opened with a quick try to Tom M and a narrowly missed conversion from the sideline. The ensuing arm wrestle provided an exciting conclusion to the rugby side of the tour, with a final score of 17-15. Touring rugby was the winner on the day.
The bookends
Tim on the burst
The leap
Sue and her team of helpers put on a sensational spread for the after-match function, continuing the wonderful hospitality we have all enjoyed from all our hosts on tour! Captain Tom F spoke on behalf of the team thanking the Dunstan High team and supporter groups.
What a background!!
Have a great day skiing, bad luck on your loss!!! Sounds like your all having a great time………………
Lou and I were laughing hard at Paddy in the teletubby outfit, but nothing could have prepared us for the picture of coach Vaughan……thanks heaps!!! Such a narrow lose well done boys it sounds like you did us all proud.
Enjoy the skiing tomorrow.
Well done boys. Sounds like a great game – so close to a win. Congratulations coach Vaughan on rising to the challenge! Red is definitely your colour. Have a fantastic day tomorrow and we look forward to welcoming you home on Sunday.
Well done Lane Cove U14B’s, you did a great job allowing the Dunstan High Team to win in a close match ! We know you deliberately threw the match bearing in mind the upcoming Tr-Nations matches with the All Blacks!!! You knew that a revengeful All Black Team wanting to salvage National Pride is a fearsome proposition for our Wallabies to face ! All family members of the Wallabies thank you for your consideration!
Enjoy a great day on the Ski fields today. Its been a great pleasure receiving the daily reports from the talented pen of your scribe ( its Peter Fitzsimons accompanying the tour incognito and writing anonymously, isn’t it ?) ,the terrific photos,and of course the acknowledgement of all of us of the terrific work of Team Management,Team Coaches and accompanying Parents for their organisation. Judge Rob Olvers being Head of the Discipline Committee was probably the most underworked person on Tour ( no suspensions or send homes etc that we are aware of ) !!!If there have been any hiccups on the Tour, we certainly couldn’t tell from the daily updates. Everything appears to have gone like clockwork. Well done all.
Well done boys and coaches.
Its 25 degrees on the Gold Coast and we all have sunburn.
See you all ack in OZ and thanks for the great time the Scotts have had with Lane Cove. We will greatly miss you.