Tallinn 10s Squad
On an unseasonably warm Friday back in May, a fairly large group of (for the most part) tall, beefy lads met up at Gatwick airport, ready for a long weekend in Tallinn. No, this was not yet another stag party invading one of our Eastern European neighbours, this was the Dresdner Kleinwort Rugby team, preparing to compete against, among others, the Finnish national squad for the Tallinn 10s Tournament.
The tour seemed to be instantly off to a bad start when Steven Penn, the only Hooker currently on the Bank’s squad list arrived at the airport on crutches, all of the newspapers appeared to be reporting on riots in the centre of Tallinn, with political unrest surrounding the relocation of one of the coutry’s memorials and there were rumours abound about an alcohol ban in the country’s capital!! However, it was in a cheerful mood that the team boarded the plane, ready for an intense weekend of getting whipped on the pitch at the hands of the international players…
A jostled bus ride saw us arriving at The Hippodrome, home to Rugby in Tallinn, where we were introduced to the other teams, and play very quickly commenced. The first match saw Finland’s B team fighting strongly against us, with some excellent depth that we were hard pushed to overcome, but some stunning defensive work helped to keep the score-line heading in the right direction and clinched a narrow victory.
Superior strength and flowing play quite easily saw off the competition in the following three matches, with the Dresdner team coming out clear victors in each showing. A couple of highlights from these games include Stephen Whale squeezed into a St Petersburg rugby top that was quite clearly intended for a fly-half rather than a forward, as he helped the side out in their match against Dresdner, and also the stunning try by Fraser Clark as he snatched the ball mid-air and grounded it. The person he managed to steal the ball from? Shane Murtagh, who works in the same area of Ops as Fraser… But at the end of the day a try is a try and the success in these four initial matches saw us through to the final against the Finnish A team.
Having watched Finland’s A team stomp over the rest of the competition, it was with trepidation that the team took to the pitch for the final, but the fighting spirit came through for boys in green and white, and some skilful passes and fancy footwork saw the Finns out-manoeuvred and a clear victory for the Dresdner squad.
The tournament trophy was presented to capt. Dan Lewi by George Howard, 13th Earl of Carlisle, who is the Patron of the Estonian Rugby Football Union, and the team coach presented a club tie. Fraser presented the local side, the Tallinn Tigers, with a new Rugby ball.
A brief social ensued in the clubhouse bar, with each team teaching the others their local Rugby songs, and before the Dresdner boys and the Finnish guys headed out into to celebrate the end of the tournament with karaoke and arm-wrestling. Injuries ensued with Fraser pulling a muscle in an arm-wrestle against the Finnish No. 8, and Dermot Robinson was injured stage diving. (We think Fraser may have caused that as well…)
A wander around Tallinn’s old town on the Sunday provided much needed fresh-air and relaxation for the team, as well as some cultural insight, although Steve was at a disadvantage when it came to hobbling up the cobbled stairs to reach the castle.
The tour closed with a tired, but somewhat enlightened team heading back to Gatwick, happily clutching the trophy.
Our thanks, of course, go to Dan Lewi for organising everything, to the Estonian Rugby Federation for hosting the event, and to all of the teams for a friendly and fun tournament.
Tour awards were as follows:
“Man of Tour” – Shane Murtagh – he conquered many “firsts” on this tour…..let’s see if he can better himself on the next one!
“Man of the Tournament” – Llywelyn Ap Gwillam – even though he nominated himself for this one, 7 tries was a tournament record and a hatrick in any final is a good effort.
“Best effort on Tour” – Steven Penn – made it even though he was on crutches and had to walk up and down those cobbled steps on the Sunday to see the castle.
“Unsung Hero” – Michael Goodbody – helped with a lot of the organising of the tour; played like a legend (like us all) in every game; and liaised with the German RFU to get us officially down as the German representatives.
“Best Piece of Individual Skill on Tour” – Dermot Robinson – executed a perfect side step that left two Finnish international’s chasing shadows.
