One of the first things we looked for when we arrived in Sweden was rugby. I had been playing since 1993 and the boys had played since they were toddlers, so it has been a big part of our lives. Last time we had lived in Sweden there hadn't been much of a kids competition, but I played some games for Malmö Rugby Club (MRC).
So, after we'd settled in, we headed out to a training. I managed to get a position in the MRC Allsvenskan men's team and Tom joined the MRC under 16s team. There wasn't a Malmö only under 18s team, but Cameron got a position on the Skåne team.
A week later, we were all playing out first games. I was asked on the Tuesday training if I was free to play on the weekend and I was keen. After I agreed, they told me where the game was - Karlstad (about 7 hours drive away). I had a few work things that needed to be sorted out, so at first I wasn't sure if I'd be able to do it, but it is rugby so of course we found a way. The boys also were invited to a tournament, but theirs was in Copenhagen.
So our first rugby Saturday started with me getting up at 4am to get ready and board the team bus to Karlstad:
The boys arrived ready to play 15s rugby, but instead the competition was changes to 7-a-side, which was fine for the Danish teams with 7 or 8 players but a bit difficult for Malmö who brought over 23 players. They ended up splitting into two teams and swapping reserves regularly. They played five games total with the intention to play a 15s game of Sweden vs Denmark afterward. However after the 5 games the organisers realised that the kids had exceeded the 80minutes a day they were allowed to play.
The boys played well and Tomas scored his first try in the last game by running over two of the opposition.
Meanwhile, I was travelling north on the team bus, fortunately I had the Onkas game to keep me occupied:
I was a little nervous for my first game, particularly because my boots had broken in the last game in Australia and I had yet to receive my new ones. So I was playing in soccer boots, not the best bet for a front rower.
When we arrived it was wet and slippery with lots of cut grass across the field, to the point that we had to clear out our boot studs every scrum. But the soccer boots held up and we won the scrums, while our backs ran some great lines around them. In the end we had a solid 55-17 win.
After the game there was time for a quick beer and hamburger then back on the bus to head home. In Australia I joke that rugby takes up the whole Saturday, but after leaving home at 4:30am and getting back at 1am, the Karlstad trip took the cake for that one. But it was great to get back on the field and have a run again.
The next weekend I missed the game against Gothenberg as we had visitors down. The next week there was no seniors game because we had the USM (Swedish Youth Championships).
This was another long drive:
I'd been asked to help the U16s team with forwards work, so I spent most of my time watching and helping Tomas' team, but I did manage to catch some of Cameron's games.
The structure of the competition was five teams playing 3 games on Saturday and then one on Sunday morning. At the end of this 'pool' stage the top two teams would play off for gold and Silver and the third and fourth would play off for bronze. The games were only 2x 12minute halves which made it hard to build momentum and also made it that a minor mistake could determine the entire game. This was done to ensure the boys did not exceed their allowed 80 minutes game time a day.
The first day went well with both Tom and Cameron's teams winning all of their games:
P16s:
MRC vs West Boys (Win 31-5)
MRC vs Enköping/Uppsala (Win 7-0)
MRC vs Erikslund (Win 3-0)
P18s:
Skåne vs Stockholm Exiles (Win 17-3)
Skåne vs Vänersborg RK (Win 12-7)
Skåne vs Enköping (Win 19-12)
Both boys played well and the event ran well. The next day started with an early game for both teams who played conservatively to avoid injures but unfortunately ended with two losses:
MRC vs Stockholm Exiles (7-15)
Skåne vs Uppsala (Loss 5-17)
This ended with both teams finishing second and playing off for the gold medal:
Tomas played first, against the Stockholm Exiles. The team played well, but unfortunately lost the game 3-10, giving them the silver medal.
Cameron's team played Uppsala and won 17-3, giving them the gold medal.
Overall it was a fun weekend and the boys came back with a gold and silver in the Swedish Championships.
The next weekend we had another away game and another long drive, this time up to Norrköping to play the top team in the men's competition:
For this one we drove up on Saturday morning and then booked a cabin for the night so we could visit Kolmården Zoo the next day and make a weekend of it.
Unfortunately the team struggled for numbers, having only twelve players on Friday night. We managed to get some additional players to help out but the close game ultimately blew out in the end and we lost our chance to take top place on the ladder (we lost 38-27).
On the 30th September Karlstad/Vänerborg came down to Malmö for our home game and we won 92-10.
The last game of the season was Gothenburg at home, while the boys took part in the Danish Masters in Hundested.
We won 52-7 against Gothenburg, locking in 2nd position on the ladder.
The boys played four games of rugby 10s:
MRC vs Frydensberg (Win 41-0)
MRC vs Gentofte & FRK (Win 19-10)
MRC vs SHO (Win 28-10)
MRC vs Erritsø (Win 19-5)
Even though they were undefeated, the tournament trophy was awarded to a Danish team as it was the Danish Masters.
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