Malmö Rugby Club vs Kalmar (6-May)

Saturday 6th of May was my first time donning the gear for MRC (Malmö Rugby Club).  The game was against Kalmar who has won their last game 67-0 so it was always going to be a close game.  We played at Lund Idrottsplatsen (Sports Place).

It was an important game for MRC and the boys were keen to bring home the win.

It was a beautiful day for rugby, if not a little warm (20 degrees C)

The game started well for MRC, with two quick tries, however missed conversions and a missed penalty meant that the score didn't blow out by as much as it could have.  Some strong work in the scums and some nice teamwork from the backs punched through Kalmar's defensive lines.

Ruck

Making a break (note the numbers don't match playing position)

Try!

So the score was 10-0 to Malmö only a few minutes into the game and the psychological edge was definitely on our side, however Kalmar didn't give up and put some points on the board. A converted try brought the game to 10-7.

The game sea-sawed from there, with MRC just holding their lead with another try both ways. 17-14.

Scrum

Incoming try!

 Malmö received a penalty in front of the goals and went with the safe option, taking the three points and bringing the score to 20-14, a six point margin.

Another penalty to Malmö and then a try to Kalmar brought quite a bit of tension to the end of the game, with the score at 23-19.

Me in the Malmö RC gear

As the time drew to a close, Kalmar received a line-out just out from their try line and Malmö held them back, but an interception broke Malmö's counter attack and gave Kalmar the ball at last play.

Kalmar's Lineout

It looked like Kalmar might score the winning try in the dying seconds of the game, but an awesome chase down tackle saved the try and Malmö came away winners 23-19.  It was a physical and close fought game, but the Malmö boys held on.

Due to the close score-line, excellent performance of the players on the field and (fortunate) lack of injuries I didn't get a run, but it was great to watch the boys grind out a hard-fought win.  I did managed to get a nice sunburn though, which was something I wasn't expecting..

Ett Två Tre MRC!

MRC

Hovdala Slott Medieval Festival (6-May)

Today we attended a medieval festival at Hovdala Slott (Hovdala Castle).

It was pretty awesome to see a medieval festival held at a castle that dated back to the 16th century.

Hovdala was first mentioned in 1130, but the current castle was built in the 16th century (some facades say 1511).  This was prior to the Roskilde Treaty, so Hovdala Castle was a Danish stronghold.

The Medieval festival consisted of many medieval markets as well as archery, axe throwing and a knight tournament.

Heading into the castle

Hovdala Slott

Hovdala Slott and the first few tents

Weapons Training

 The weapons training section cost extra, but it allowed people to fire crossbows, longbows, a mini ballista (all with blunted arrows) and throwing axes.  There was also a pole with a target on a rope that could be hit with swords, axes or polearms.

Throwing axe training

The markets

 The markets sold replica weapons, armour and bows and arrows.  There was also furs, skins and crafts, such as metal work, glasswork and weavings.

Markets

Next came the knight tournament.  There were several knights who competed in several events.  Due to the risks involved with actual jousting, there were some modifications.

Knights lined up ready to ride

Knight ready to run the sword challenge

Competing in the sword challenge

The first challenge we saw involved knights with swords striking items from posts - apples and carrots.

Receiving the sword

Striking the carrot

Next came the jousting:

Receiving the lance

The joust involved three posts with rings hanging from them.  The knights had to spear all three rings in order to succeed.

Preparing the rings

Charge!

Going for the last ring

Victory!

 After the jousting, the knights did a ride by and took up position in the middle of the arena.

Ride by

Ride by

Formation

Riding in

Final Formation

 When the knights left the arena, the next event was a mock battle between knights.

Battle!

The battle

Tomas was pretty excited that the winner was Captain Tomas.

After we finished at the tournament, we found a way to keep the kids quiet:

Prisoner Cameron

Prisoner Tomas (he's looking down as he wasnt tall enough to comfortably raise his head)

Prisoner Alana

 On the way out, we bought the kids a bow and arrows and we found a quiet spot where I could show them how to shoot:

Learning to shoot

Alana takes a shot

Showing Tom how to do it

Cameron's Turn

Even Kris had a shot

And I got the last shot...

Warpurgis Night (30-April)

Warpurgis Night was originally a festival to celebrate Saint Walpurga, but in Sweden the celebration (Valborg) is all about the welcoming of Spring.  Its held on the last day of April and is traditionally a bonfire night, where the Swedes take part in bonfires and choral singing.

After our day at the park, we headed out to Sibbarp near the Oresund Bridge to watch the bonfire ceremony.  It was a fairly overcast night, but not too cold:

Looking out over Sibbarp towards the bridge

The crowd

The wood-stack for the fire and the Oresund Bridge

The men walk out to cover the stack in fuel and light the fire

The fire starts

Warpurgis fire

Panoramic Shot of the crowd and fire

The fire burnt down quite quickly, and it was getting late so we didn't stay too long.

Visit to the Park - Riding and Soccer - (30-April)

Spring has finally come to Malmö!  We've finally had some sun and some nice weather, a weekend ago it was snowing in the areas around Malmö, this week has been 18-20 degrees C and sunny.  So we took the kids for a ride on their new bikes down to the park.

Tomas wasn't confident on the bike at first, but he soon got the hang of it.  If we can stop him from leaping from the bike every time he wants to stop, he'll be doing much better.

Tomas on the bike

Going down!

And the roll

Call a Doctor!

Meanwhile, while Kris and Tomas got some riding practice, I took on Cameron in a game of soccer - it was a one-on-one game of Messi-Bedroom vs Dadaldo.

Goalie

It was touch and go for a while, but eventually Messi-Bedroom came out the winner 7-6.  I'm still waiting for the officials to review the game footage as I'm sure there were some dodgy calls by the referee.