Game 31 - Italy v USA - Trafalgar Park - 27th Sept 2011

Can I start this by thanking my glorious wife Megan for so diligently and incisively babysitting the blog while I was away. She is the perfect person to be having twins with.

So my Poker buddies and I been down in Mapua (about a half an hour drive from Nelson) in anticipation of Game 31 of this magnificent tournament. And what an enchanting spot! We have wined and dined, delighting in some of the finest scenery New Zealand has to offer. Everyone in the area seemed happy and excited about having so many guests around and the district was abuzz in anticipation of this match.

We played golf on what must be one of the most scenic courses in the world - Kina Cliffs Tasman Golf Club. We played poker poorly to the delight of my our tallest member Mobsta, who won 3 consecutive tournaments. We played board games! We stayed at the divine Matahua Cottages nestled perfectly in an estuary overlooking the majestic bay. 

Come game day, getting to the match posed unique challenges. Todrick (yes that is his real name and no we don't call him Todd) drives a big pimped out BMW X5 and we decided to leave my humble Skoda back at the ranch as all 6 of us crammed into his ultimate driving machine. All was grand for about 5 minutes, until a catastrophic engine noise and accompanying smoke curtailed our travels. The Beemer was buggered and we were a way from Trafalgar Park and running out of time.

We had to split up. Four of us hitched into town on the back of a ute, risking the wrath the NZ Police. Meanwhile Todrick and Proudy waited for the tow truck and Todrick pondered how costly our adventure may become for him. As Fitzy would say "full credit to Todrick". He remained relaxed and humorous throughout the tribulations, and didn't even mutter a single curse under his breath. What an outstanding human being.

We ran around Nelson organising hire cars to ensure we could head home on Wednesday. We then stumbled upon a USA pre-match function and availed ourselves of their hospitality and before we knew it we were at the game.

And sadly the game was the least memorable aspect of the day - indeed our whole trip. The first half was quite bright; with real passion, some scrambling defence, many big hits and 4 well worked and memorable tries, 3 to Italy (Sergio Parisse, Luciano Orquera, Martin Castrogiovanni)  and the best of the bunch to the US first five Chris Wyles. The crowd was loving it and totally amped for the second half.

But the second spell was the worst 40 minutes of the tournament. The Eagles began with real endeavor, but they had the life sucked out of them in the scrum. The canny Italians camped in the US twenty two for an eternity, following this pattern until it became nauseating; scrum to Italy, they pile on the pressure and the scrum collapses, penalty Italy, they opt to scrum... etc. 

The game morphed into a ten minute scrum, that barely moved. By the time this scrum was over the Eagles were down to 14 men, the Italians had a penalty try, and the game was effectively over at 27-10. The Eagles, the game and the crowd never recovered and that's how it ended.

A lot has been written about the desperate need for Rugby to improve the scrum, and I can only agree it has to change. The icing on our glorious trip was never added, and everyone left Trafalgar Park feeling like they'd only seen half a game. But would I do it again? In a heartbeat.

Final score Italy 27- USA 10

31 games 193 tries.

Tweet of the match - "The Americans & Italians are probably fighting over whose fault Jersey Shore is." - @meganmutrie