Baa-baas
FLYING
Baa-baas
[Fixtures/Results]
[Team Profile]
[Latest Game]
[The Players]
[Links]
The crew after our historic first win
The Flying Baa-baas are a bizarre mix of exciles inhabiting the largest city in Europe. We hail from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Canada. We like beer but generally will consume most alcohol. The captain is Jeremy who diplays his fantastic organisational skills every week getting the team together and informing them of the game time. Here's hoping he stays unemployed then.
Match 1 23/5 18:30 vs (**)
Today was the first fixture of the season and after the washout last week, London put on a fantastic day. After a slow start we managed to scrape together 7 people to take the field and immediately started in our quest to learn the rules. Unfortunately the other team already knew them, so we were at a slight initial disadvantage. This was reflected in the final 7-2 scoreline. Tries this week to Mike and Al, athough we must thank the ref for a hand in one of these. Good turnout from everyone, by the end of the game we had the full quota of subs. Special mention to Salty Mike, Paul (and less so Athene) for managing to turn up after the game had actually finished. There will be drinks to pay for this kids..
Match 2 30/5 20:30 vs Mud Eels
As we had a late start this evening, there was a fair opportunity to grab a couple of quick pints before kick-off, and this chance was not wasted.
Seemingly the enthusiasm that a combination of a late start and beer generated meant that we actually had two teams worth of players (oops!) but a rousing team talk to the starting seven ("hands up who wants to win") must have done the trick, as we sped to a 3-0 half time lead, cruising to a 4-1 final result. Tries this week went to Nat(2), Ryan and Mr Andrew Gillies. Australia now has some representation on the scoresheet.. now what about the rest of the non-kiwis then eh? This week also saw the ending of the career of Simone who has finished her association with the team. No doubt she will be sorely missed. Also, where did Jarna go?
Click here for the photo of the week..
Match 3 6/6 19:30 vs Fusion
The first day where the weather was a little cooler, but the
team put on a red hot display opening the scoring with the
second or third set of six, Jeremy with the score. Playing
into the wind in the first half, the Baa-baa's machine looked
well oiled and we turned with a handy half time lead. Bizarrly
the defense failed a little toward the end of the second half,
even with the wind at our backs but a try to Jarna was essentially
the difference - the two points in the closing minutes followed
by some gutsy defense held our one point lead. Tries this week were
scored by Jeremy, Mike(2), Al and Jarna so now the only nationality
not represented on the score sheet is South Africa. Welcome this
week to Athene for her first game and thanks also to Kerrianne for
the support. Well deserved beer after this one guys, just remember to
take the t-shirts with you next time, Ryan..
Match 4 13/6 18:30 vs Bondi Bar
Tonight was a real wake up call after the fantastic victory of the previous week, the opposition providing a well organised defense that we couldnt penetrate until the second half, and by then it was too late. The usual defensive worries occurred, but tonight we couldn't get over the try line to counter all the mistakes we made at the other end unlike last week. However after all the plays had been analysed, it was two or three pints later and we didnt really care that much - in fact it wasn't that much of a drama at all. Thanks to the Mill Hill for providing a safe haven from the cold ground at Old Actonians. Tonight playing we had a two new starters, Scott and Paul who provided both our tries. Well at least Scott did (sorry Woody!). Phil was out this week with broken hand, so here's hoping he recovers soon and then there's the matter of the Yorkshireman who hasn't started for us yet this season..
Just a quick reminder that next week's game is on Friday the 22nd. Alright? Sorted then!!
Match 5 22/6 19:00 vs Jamies
We got thrashed by all accounts.. your trusty match reporter was absent enjoying the sights of Dublin so the 15-1 scoreline (with the help of three ring-ins) didnt help the recovery process from a debaucherous weekend.. Gillies managed the score for some kind of consolation.
Match 6 25/6 19:00 vs Anadarko
Tonights game in the middle of a London heatwave was a very draining experience. The ground is getting hard and fast and we played the exact opposite, but managed some good tries amongst the usual crap defense. We opened the scoring but never regained the lead after the good start. Tries tonight went to Mike, Scott(2) and Ryan(2) in our 10-5 defeat. A bit of a harsh call for Glen to step up into his first game of the season and Nat's farewell dinner not only meant that he wasnt playing, but he wont be playing anymore for the team, we wish him well on his departure from Old Blighty. Phil's broken hand is preventing the South African section of the team from opening their scoring account - its broken Phil.. BROKEN!!
Also someone has to tell Scott how to sub off..
Matches 7 and 8 Sunday 15/7
It was a very hungover group of kids that assembled for the games today. The sub situation wasnt helped either when we realised that there was only eight people, remedied in the second half of the first match by the arrival of Hayden who gave us more of the opportunity to rest. The first game however had started well when the other team stopped, thinking that we had had a touch and pass, and Ryan strolled over for what was to be our only try of the game. The alcohol was severly restricting clear thoughts when Gillies managed to not score a try by about 1/3rd of a shoe.. and Ryan nearly killed two spectators and himself after trying to stop a breakway try towards the end of the encounter. We actually put in a pretty good performance considering all the hangovers in restricting their winning margin to 8-1. In the second game which came far too soon after the first, we were beaten by a team that had all sorts of clever tactics and their winning margin was severly inflated by the fact that they kept on getting women to score their tries. We ended up losing 11-3 with the tries going to Gilles, and Ryan(2). The participation in the days events were celebrated afterwards, and we were amongst the last few at the Old Actonians ground outlasting most of the other teams by a very large margin. The story about how Gillies was banned from the Lion-Nathan bar actually lasted longer than both our games!! Big thanks this week to Phil and Co for their continued support and to Hayden who performed well above scratch on very short notice.
Match 9 6:30 Wednesday 18/7
Match 10 7:00 Wednesday 25/7
Tonight we managed to get a team together early, the Salter brothers returning for the first game after a bit of a break. We went down a couple of tries early, but managed to get our defense in order for the first time this season and after losing the first half 3-1, we came back to win the second half 1-0.. I know, I know we still didnt win the game, but its the first time we've come close to winning anything recently!! Tries tonight went to Jeremy and Ryan, and Kerrianne managed a good run up the field even though the ball had bounced and noone was chasing her. Jarna is still out after having to have her nose re-broken. The previous night's entertainment (Robyn's 30th) meant that there were quite a few people that were a little bit slower than usual today but we were unlucky to get the draw that we deserved in the end. The aftermatch celebrations were limited to more water than beer, in a never-to-be-repeated episode.. however if anyone had seen the state of some of us at 5:00am that morning they would have understood. Also, we are officially the worst defensive team in the league.. you heard it here first folks!!
Two more thing to add also, firstly a BIG congrats to Robyn and Paul who got engaged last week and secondly apologies for the lack of visual stimulation on this page.. Phil was supposed to be turning up with his camera, but well.. he didnt. No camera, no photos - so you're going to have to enjoy my ramblings without any photographic scene setting, and these sheep. Sorry.
Today we were doing pretty well to get the required seven for a team, but luckily by the last minute there were eight of us, and we managed to grab a couple of ring-ins to help us in our quest for some kind of victory. Even though one of our ring-ins managed a try, we couldnt prevent another hammering, 8-1 again, which was completed just before the (very torrential) rain came. Robyn almost managed a try after a good run up the touch line, but that was as close as any of us got. We did however once again manage to celebrate well past most other teams whilst enjoying the inside of the Old Actonians Facilities for the first time - watching all the other teams get wet. Jarna unfortnately counldnt make it as a result of a cycling accident but a few others were just a little bit too lazy!!
Match 11 8:00pm Monday 30/7
This was a make up game for the first round when rain prevented us playing.
Tonight we had a full team, the first time in some while and on a very warm London
evening we thought that this was going to be the big end of our (now slightly long) losing
streak. At half time things were looking pretty good too, only 3-1 down the try going to a
very sneaky Gillies who nipped along the sideline to get our first try. We did lose
Kerrianne to Disneyland for a while too after she suffered a bit of a knock, but fair dues,
she did save 2 points so well done to her. You can probably guess the script for the game
from here though, we didnt quite manage to hold it together for the second half and the
heat started to take its toll so despite a try from Hayden after a very well timed pass
from Mr Wishart, we ended up going down 7-2 although we did play pretty well. Once again we
managed to outlast most of our peers in the after match drinks however.
Big thanks to Phil for bringing his camera to help brighten up this page and a farewell
to the Salters who played their last game today.
Match 12 7:30 Wednesday 1/8 vs Pants
The last Wednesday game of the season. We thought we were in with a good chance from the
outset tonight, as only one person from the other team managed to show, but somehow she
managed to con the team we played on Monday to play against us and things didnt look too
good from the start when they scored almost immediately the first time they got the ball -
this after we had had about three sets of six on their camped on their line without scoring.
We did manage some resistance, and pulled a couple of tries courtesy once again from
Mr Gillies to end up losing 6-2, but it remains to be seen whether this will be shown
in the points table at the end of the competition. The after match went pretty well, but
this time there were still quite a few teams remaining when we departed.
This afternoons game was our last for the season, and we had a
good turnout, on a fantastic London day. The opposition had only
lost twice during the season to date, and we gave ourselves the
aim of conceeding no less than 12 points. At half time we were
doing pretty well, having conceded only three points, but nobody
would have guessed what was to happen in the second half...
Well, in the best performance of the season, we not only did not concede any more than
three more tries, but we got two of our own, one to Kerrianne and one to Giggles who
made it to top equal try scorer of the season with his effort. The shouts of the
opposing team member when she yelled out "Touch, oh fuck no Ive missed it!!" as
Kerrianne burst through to score will go down in history. The following party
went on through the day and then finished up at the Mill Hill later on at night.
We managed a fair few of the 50p Tins from the BP down the road however, before getting
there.
Season Stats
Won: 3 Lost: 9 Points For: 32 Points Against: 83 Competition Points: 6
We had 22 Players, excluding ring-ins over the 13 games.
Out of all the players 10 scored tries resulting in 32 points.
2 Team members left for Australia, 2 got engaged, and 2 broke bones - although neither was game related.
4 Players played 10 or more games but only 1 managed to turn out for all.
Overall there were five countries represented..
| Played | Tries | Points | |
| Al | 7 | 2 | 2 |
| Jeremy | 13 | 2 | 2 |
| Kim | 2 | ||
| Ryan | 12 | 7 | 7 |
| Jarna | 8 | 1 | 2 |
| Athene | 10 | ||
| Mike Salty | 6 | ||
| Robyn | 12 | ||
| Mike | 9 | 4 | 4 |
| Simon | 3 | ||
| Simone | 1 | ||
| Chris | 8 | ||
| Gillies | 8 | 7 | 7 |
| Paul | 8 | ||
| Phil | 3 | ||
| Nat | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Kerrianne | 8 | 1 | 2 |
| Tim | 1 | ||
| Chantelle | 1 | ||
| Scott | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| Glenn | 1 | ||
| Hayden | 7 | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown (ring-ins) | 1 | 1 | |
| TEAM | 13 | 29 | 32 |
Here are some Semi-Relevent Links...
Link to the game they play in heaven..
Just in case you were interested in the IRB World Sevens Champs..
