Rugby Tomfoolery

This page contains an assortment of rugby photos I've acquired in recent years. Taking pride of place are some snaps of the England Rugby parade through Oxford Street after winning the Rugby World Cup in 2003. After that can be found some snaps of the 2004 Zurich Premiership Final/Play-off, and some fairly uninteresting photos I took of the Oxford-Cambridge Varsity Match in 2003, which ended in a draw (with stiff upper lips and handshakes all round).

There are also a large number of photos taken of me playing for the Stanford Graduate School of Business GSB Rugby Team at a Business School tournament at Duke University in North Carolina in 2002 and some charity thang against a mixed team from UCLA later the same year. Admittedly I wasn't a member of the GSB...however, this didn't seem to stop most people playing for them, so why should it stop me. The team featured a large number of South Africans, plus the odd Englishman, Irishman, German, Dane, Kiwi, Aussie, Scot and even the odd American (although most of them were rubbish). I graced the park with some electrifying skills in my only set of games as a Stand Off. Lets just say I wasn't in the traditional Rob Andrew mould...

Lower down the page are 2 pictures of me and other chimps at the Brunel Sports Fed Dinner in March 2001, and a couple of photos from my cameo appearance for Kings College Cambridge, where my brother resided (and played Fly Half), in a match against Gonville and Caius (pronounced 'Keys'). I ended up playing in the Kings match by chance, mainly cos I was heavy: probably the biggest member of the Kings pack on the day, I had a mixed outing at Number 8 and we lost 28-0. But not bad for a pick-up game, and the first time I got to play Rugby with Martin (we've played American Football together but never Rugby). These pictures come courtesy of the boys at Kings Rugby; I suppose I should also mention Stanford Rugby who I played for while I was out at Stanford in 2001-02 (although they don't deem it necessary to mention me...)

England RWC Parade
8^th December 2003

Rugby World Cup Trophy on display at Dulwich College

The Rugby World Cup Trophy.	My guess is that Stuart Abbott is taking Mark Regan by surprise...	The ball with which Jonny Wilkinson made THAT kick. Possibly.

Zurich Premiership Playoff Finals:
Wasps 10-6 Bath and Leicester 48-27 Sale, 29^th May 2004

Varsity Match: Oxford 11-11 Cambridge
9^th December 2003

Duke Rugby Tournament

Warming up before the first game against Salford. I actually managed to kick more than I missed.	Carrying the ball straight into the Salford forwards after a 'suspect' pass from the scrum-half.	And its good! I kicked 2 from 3 in the first game.
In the middle of the half-time chat in the third game against Duke. We ended up winning, much to Duke's embaressment.	The Stanford half-backs: in a curious reversal of the actual games, I'm dropping the Kiwi number 9, Andy, in it from a great height...	After the final game against Thunderbird, which we lost: Dave Socks (on the right) jovially punched me in the eye during a ruck.

Stanford Seven's vs. UCLA

Warming up i.e. working out who plays where and does what.	Against all the odds, I DIDN'T knock the ball on...	The Stanford and UCLA teams.

Brunel & Kings

Messers Jeremy Easton and Simon Jolly at the Brunel Sports Fed Dinner. The forehead scars are courtesy of the National Final a couple of days earlier. One of us shouldn't have worn dark glasses....	Another spectacular pick and drive from the base of the scrum sends Golly the Elder steaming into the Caius backs, closely followed by Golly the Younger.	Lifting in the lineout in combination with short-assisted castration.

Brunel University RFC at the Sports Fed Dinner; the drunken man behind Jerry's head is Phil "The Cat" Tufnell, Middlesex and England spin bowler (and comedian).	MJ clearing his lines (much to the surpise of his forwards).	Paying next to no interest in a Caius put-in at the scrum. I am the large ginger man on the right.