Mens players Jeramy Shore. Photo taken by Susanna Shore.

The game that had been 8 months in the making was finally here. Uppsala kicked off their campaign against the ever growing and improving side from Erikslund.

As the team got into their brand-new strip, you could hear a pin drop, such was the level of focus within the 23 who got the task of representing URFC in the first game. As warm ups took their way, not a word was spoken, not a ball dropped, or an assignment missed. There were no nerves nor tension, just focus and will. A will to win.

When the brilliant referee Nils, a 16-year-old, blew the whistle, Uppsala received and immediately began driving into Erikslund. Thus far it looked promising but we all knew the real test would come in the scrum. The chance came within 3 minutes and as both packs got down, the long-awaited crouch… bind… set(!) was echoed and Uppsala´s pack drove Erikslund into a penalty. Uppsala have been focusing a lot on the mechanics of the scrum and techniques of the individual components, so it felt like those many hours in the tundra were vindicated there and then.

If waiting was the gunpowder to the cannon that is a rugby match, Justin proved to be the ignition that fired a barrage of tries after 15 minutes to make the score 21-0. What followed was a period of aerial ping pong and some experimental playing from the home team. It was refreshing to see the backs and the forwards beginning to gel with each and play an interlinking, free flowing form of attack. Jorge, our newly returned hooker, said ´the best player on the team is your teammate´ and whilst this might sound like a strange saying, the guys played a trustful and selfless brand of rugby that hasn’t been seen of a Plebs team for many years. The aforementioned Mexican even managed to sneak in a try with 5 minutes to go, albeit with Erikslund dealing with a man in the naughty boy chair.

If little has been mentioned about our defence is because the scrum consistently turned over the opposition scrum and Hampus and Vilhelm wouldn’t stop stealing their lineouts. This was in large part thanks to our mighty King´s solo lifting on the front pod that gave him more air than Jordan. The bittersweet moment came during a particularly heavy tackle from Albin H, who suffered a game ending ankle sprain that will see him miss action for a few weeks. Jeremy Shore came on and the blue machine kept trucking. 

The second half saw the tireless Sela make way for Brian, who rudely stole the show with consistent carries, all breaking the gain line and gaining metres as well as grabbing a brace of tries. To correct the record, it was two Irishmen who stole the show, as Gerald pulled back the years and controlled the midfield with an eloquence usually reserved for the highest standards of rugby. His 3 carries went from more than 40 yards apiece and that seemed to deflate the opposition as a further 5 tries were scored. None was cheered more loudly than when Per´s scored his first every try for plebs, dotting down after a 20-metre run with at least 3 players clinging onto his jersey.

The team was superbly led by Stewart Devine, accurately kicked by Lukas and MOTM´d by Wilhelm. We are still trying to determine where Wilhelm played due to him scrumming, jumping, tackling, linking and generally being the crucial linkman in the forwards or backs. A superb reading of the game by our man from France, who always seems to grow with the occasion.

Seeing the guys not selected for the match day squad turn up to support, shows the team bond that we have and it really helped motivated those on the field.

An extra thank you goes to Susanna Shore-Reid for taking photos of the game, To Chris Greenland for taping the game and most importantly to you, the reader, the fan who turns up to the games to support us.

Gammal bild från google. Uppsala RFC vs Pingvin.

Finally, after almost 10yrs of waiting, Uppsala men’s team are going on TOUR!!

On Friday the 12th April, a squad of 27 battle ready Plebs head across to Dublin on a pre-season tour. During the weekend they will play a team from St Marys college (https://stmaryscollegerfc.com/), which just happens to be the home club of a certain world player of the year Johnny Sexton. However, we hope he won’t be putting on his boots to play us. The weekend will also involve a training session together with some of the St Marys players as well as lots of socialising and team bonding.

After a fantastic season last year, it is hoped that this tour will be the springboard to even greater success as we move up a league for the upcoming season.

Please follow the tour via our instagram account: Uppsalarugbygents

As they say in Ireland when they drink Guinness, Sláinte!

English below

Solen stod högt på den klarblå himmeln när Plebs sparkade igång sin säsong, stärkta av en seger i träningsmatchen mot Katrineholm två veckor tidigare. Med den segern med sig i bagaget och bra träningar därefter var det nu dags att mäta krafterna med Exiles. Som väntat blev motståndet ett strå vassare än Katrineholm, men det hindrade inte Uppsala att hålla sig till sin game plan och det fungerade utmärkt. Exiles hade mycket boll till en början men Uppsalas försvar stod upp bra med bra tacklingar och disciplinerat spel. På grund av värmen spelades matchen 4x20 minuter och vid den första vattenpausen stod det fortfarande 0-0.

Sakta men säkert spelade sig Uppsala in i matchen, och när Exiles fick en straff och sparkade på mål så var det ett positivt tecken för herrarna. Stärkta av sitt spel tog man över mer och mer under den andra kvarten, mycket tack vare starkt bollbärande av bland andra Johannes och Albin. Exiles började dra på sig många straffar, och precis innan halvtid kunde Stewart forcera in matchens första försök efter ett par snabba spel på just straffar. Resultat i halvtid 5-3 plus ett gult kort för Exiles fullback.

Uppsala fortsatte spela bra i början av andra, och med lite mer yta fick man också mer chanser ute på kanterna. Uppsalas och dagens andra försök kom efter ett genombrott av Stewart som slutade med att han knäade bollen över sista man och in i försöksområdet där Carlo lyckades vara först på bollen. Nu hade Stewart också siktat in sig och satte målsparken, ställningen 12-3.

Väl tillbaka i full styrka började Exiles komma tillbaka in i matchen. Efter hård press och ett odisciplinerat försvarsspel från Uppsalas sida där man drog på sig alldeles för många straffar på kort tid, kunde Exiles göra två försök på 7 minuter. Därefter stod matchen och vägde lite men när Exiles gjorde sitt tredje försök och Uppsala tvingades till oplanerade byten så var till slut gästerna för starka för hemmalaget. Slutställningen skrevs till 12-29.

Såklart inte det resultat man önskat sig, men spelmässigt såg det riktigt lovande ut för resten av säsongen som nu fortsätter med hemmamatch mot Berserkers den 19e maj.

Matchens lirare: Anton, som gjorde en strålande insats som klunghalv.

English

The sun stood high on the clear blue sky when Plebs kicked off their season, strengthen by a preseason friendly victory against Katrineholm two weeks ago. With that victory and some solid sessions since it was time to measure up against Exiles. As expected the opposition was a tad bit stronger than Katrineholm, however that didn’t stop Uppsala from sticking to their game plan. Exiles had a lot of possession to start of the game but Uppsala’s defence stood up strong with solid tackles and very disciplined. Due to the heat the game was played in 4x20minutes, at the end of the first 20 minutes the score was still 0-0.

Uppsala played themselves in slowly but surely, and when Exiles got a penalty deep in our territory they decided to kick for goal. Strengthen by their play Uppsala started to dictate more and more in the second quarter. Much due to the strong ball carrying by Johannes and Albin. Exiles started to get penalized more and more, and just before halftime Stewart could convert the pressure from quick penalties into a try. The result in half time was 5-3 plus a yellow card for Exiles fullback.

Uppsala kept up the solid play at the start of the second half, with the larger space created due to being one player down Uppsala got more space out on the wings. Uppsala’s and the day’s second try came after a breakthrough by Stewart, where he managed to kick it over the last defender. Carlo was the fastest chaser and managed to get on the ball first. Now Stewart also got his kicking worked out and he put the conversion over easily, the score is now 12-3.

Well back to full force Exiles started to work themselves back into the game. After heavy pressure and undisciplined defence from Uppsala where we drew way too many penalties in a short amount of time. This lead to Exiles scoring two tries in 7 minutes. After this the game was on a knifes edge but after Exiles scored their third try and Uppsala was forced to make some unplanned substitutes the game finally tipped over and the guests proved too strong for Uppsala. The final score was 12-29.

Of course it wasn’t the score we wished for, but the play in the first 60minutes is something we can take and continue to build this season on. Up next we play Berserkers at home the 19^th of May.

Man of the match: Anton, with a brilliant performance in his first game as scrum half.