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Fine line-in . . . not!: Bills captain B.J. Smith takes evasive action to grab this one! |
Police Old Bill skipper B.J. Smith reports on the team's hammering by the Mitsubishi Corporation side in a warm-up friendly opening the new rugby season on September 16
They say middle age is when your broad mind and narrow waist change places.
Well, the generation gap was certainly never more pronounced than during the recent friendly between the Old Bill and Mitsubishi sides at the Police Sports and Recreation Club.
The qualifying age to play Old Bill rugby is 35 or over - the average age of our Japanese guests was 25!
However, with a wealth of experience and a bigger, stronger pack you would have thought the sturdy police lads would manipulate the game to their own strengths - you would have thought wrong.
From the first whistle the youngsters showed they hadn't travelled all the way from Japan to lose. They played hard, committed rugby with considerable flair and very soon were putting points on the board.
The Old Bill pack tried to take it on up front, hoping to intimidate them with our physical presence.
However, they were obviously unimpressed with physiques normally seen on seasoned darts players and proved strong even in the scrums.
Referee Rod Colon kept the game flowing by not actually ever penalising the opposition, which made for entertaining rugby particularly if you were a Japanese supporter.
Despite the sound drubbing, the game was played in the best of spirits and both teams thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon.
Of course, the real test of mettle came in the bar afterwards, but that's another story . . .