Rondebosch Lion

After insisting that Rugby is the best thing ever, we signed Quinn up for the 3 school challenge which was scheduled for Saturday morning. He was keen as anything - until he woke up on Saturday, and then decided he didn't think he wanted to do it anymore. I insisted he go as he had commited to it, and had been adamant about going for nearly 2 weeks, and had already been assigned to a team. With a bit of coaxing he finally got dressed, and we were on our way.

We arrived at the Wynberg Junior sports fields and they were abuzz with little boys ready for some rugby action. Each school; Rondebosch, Wynberg and Redham, were broken down into 3 teams. Quinn was assigned to the Rondebosch Lions team and had to wear a red jersey.

After a quick warm up, he started in the first game against Redham. I wasn't expecting much after the basic practice I had watched the day before..., but wow, I was impressed and it was SO exciting! There were 3 Rondebosch boys in particular who were really very talented and played full out. Running, dodging, passing and tackling like they have been doing it for years.

Quinn ran around following all the action, but never really getting right into it. he does seem concerned about committing completely physically - which I can relate to. But still I think it was fun for him and was exciting to be on the winning team. (I would love to be that driven and focused on a goal that you do whatever it takes to get there, but I too think to much and hold back out of fear.)

Redham really didn't stand a chance and even with the ref eventually starting play almost at the Redham try line, Rondebosch would immediately get possesion and run all the way to the other side and score. Even the Redham parents were impressed by the talent.

The second game was against Wynberg and they were bigger and tougher (one boy looked much older than the others too). So it was not as easy. One little Rondebosch boy is incredible. He is really little but runs like lightning and can duck and dive swiftly. But what impressed me most about him was how he dove into the biggest Wynberg boy when that boy had the ball and with all his strength managed to lift the Wynberg boy's feet of the ground. He is probably half the other boy's size!

The boys were also getting tired at this point. There were one or 2 accidental injuries, where just how young these boys are became evident as the boy would burst out crying and the coach would blow the whistle and call 'Mommy!?' and the mom would run to the rescue. *Shame*

Quinn was a bit more involved by the end of this game and pushed in a few scrums, and nearly got a chance to grab the ball, but just missed it.

They all shook hands in the end and got rewarded with ice-creams. There was much whooping and cheering from the Rondebosch Team, and posing for team photos.

All in all it was really fun and exciting. Pity the season is over until next term.

Here are some pictures of the event:

Quinn in full run

Quinn, Thulani and another friend
Quinn was refusing to let me take a photo and kept runing away, I asked Thulani to go tackle him so that I could get a photo. Thulani obliged, but Quinn still managed to avoid being snapped. He'd make a good celeb!

The ref blowing the whistle during the Wynberg game.

The Rondebosch Lions Team victorious.

Another shot of the Rondebosch Under 7 Lions