Shetland Islands

The club asked if Peter and I wanted to go up with our 2nd team to the Shetland Islands, so we took the opportunity. Haylee was also able to come due to a couple of the boys pulling out. We left on the ferry at 7pm Friday night, and arrived up in Lerwick 12 hours later after a pretty rough ride (just ask Haylee - she was close to spewing a couple of times). 

Shetland is the most northern part of the UK and is actually in the Arctic Circle. The place is pretty barren and has no trees due to the cold, windy conditions but is still very interesting. Before the game we checked out the Clickimin Broch which is an old Viking house over 2000 years old. It was amazing how well preserved the place was, just shows how good the Vikings must have been at constructing the Broch’s way back then. We also saw a group of wild seals catching the sun on some rocks before we headed back for the game.

Clickimin Broch on Shetland

The usual kickoff time was moved forward to 12pm for our game on Shetland due to it getting dark quite early in the winter. It was freezing before the game, and the wind made it even colder. Haylee's feet were going numb standing on the sideline watching. I played a full game for the 2nd’s due to the lack of numbers, and we were beaten convincingly by a decent Shetland team. At the end of the game I was shattered, after a lot of running and tackling. The skill and fitness levels of our seconds team was very poor, and I told the boys that if they want to improve they will need to get to training. It didn't help either that a couple of the boys had an all night drinking session on the ferry on the way over. From this I gathered that these boys weren't too serious about their rugby.

We had quite a rough trip back on the ferry which Haylee didn’t really enjoy (again). After getting back early on Sunday morning, it took us a while to lose the rocking feeling of being on the boat.

After doing the schools rugby coaching work for 3 months, I have now managed to get myself a good full time job. I start on Tuesday as an Accounts Assistant for Canadian Natural Resources (an oil company) in Aberdeen. The job will suit me well as they are based right next to the train station and pay a decent wage also.

Lochaber Trip, All Blacks & Edinburgh

It has been an interesting and enjoyable three weeks since my last update.

On the first weekend of November we travelled down to Fort William to play the Lochaber team. The game was played in front of some great scenery - with the UK’s highest mountain, Ben Nevis, in the background. We were also told this area was also used in the filming of the Braveheart movie. We played very well and won 42-0 in a good 80 minute performance. I also managed to get my UKCC Level 1 in Rugby done this weekend, even though I missed one of the three days due to rugby. The club put both Peter and I through the course, and I think I will be a better coach after completing my Level 1.

Lochaber Rugby Club with Ben Nevis (UK's highest mountain) in the background.

The next weekend was a busy one. We had a cup game on Saturday against the Kinloss Eagles, followed by a trip down to Edinburgh to watch the All Blacks play Scotland on Sunday. The cup game on Saturday was a chance to give a few of the fringe players some game time for the 1st team. There were a few boys injured and we gave some of the regulars a rest as the cup is not our main focus for the season. We were up against a tough army team who realistically should be in the Caledonia 1 League, and lost 35-10. It would have been a different story if we had our strongest team playing.

We got up early on Sunday and headed down to Edinburgh, arriving at 12pm. We stayed in the Murrayfield Hotel which was the perfect place to stay for the night of the rugby. After arriving, we had a few drinks at the Murrayfield before heading to the game (a 5 minute walk). It was good to see a few NZ mates and randomly ran into one of my old Wellsford teammates (Jockey) with a group in their All Black kilts. Walking into a full Murrayfield Stadium was an awesome experience, we have seen nothing like it. The Scots are very passionate supporters and this showed in the national anthem. After a slow start it was good to see the All Blacks carve it up in the second half.

At Murrayfield watching the All Blacks carve up Scotland.

Haylee and I stayed an extra couple of days in Edinburgh to do a bit of sightseeing around the city. We managed to catch the All Blacks leaving their hotel on Monday morning and it was good to see all the kiwis waiting outside to support them.

Edinburgh is quite a cool city, split into the old town (which is built up high along the Royal Mile) and the new town. The castle is built up on the highest point and can be seen from most parts of the city. The old buildings and layout of the city make it very unique, and it was interesting to find out that the old town itself was built on top of a bridge. We had a good look around the impressive castle and learned a lot about the citys history from this. At night we did an underground tour which went down into the vaults of the bridge & apparently these vaults have a few ghosts hanging about that luckily we didn't run into. On the Tuesday we checked out Carlton Hill and the National Museum which were well also well worth the visit.

Winter Rugby In Scotland

Winter is here tomorrow and the weather is definitely starting to get worse. We received our first snowfall last Friday which was quite an experience. Everything including the rooftops, back yard and road was covered. Temperature rarely gets above 5 degrees during the day but we are told it will get quite a bit worse. Clocks also went back an hour on the weekend so are back to being 11 hours behind New Zealand again. Because of this it is now getting dark at 4.30pm.

First snow in Inverurie in October.

I played my first game of rugby in the snow on Saturday at Kelland’s Park (our home ground). I had to wear two layers of thermals to keep warm and it wasn’t too bad after a decent warmup. Being a halfback (and having to pass off the ground a lot) the only part of my body that was cold was my hands. We had another good win which puts us 15 points clear at the top of the table with 9 wins from 9. Our next game is a tough one away against Lochaber who have only lost one game. The 4 hour bus trip down is supposed to be a good one, going through some scenic parts of Scotland.

Chris (Development Officer), Peter (Forwards coach) and myself went down to Edinburgh on Monday night to see Wayne Smith present a coaching seminar. He was good to listen do and left us with a lot of good ideas about coaching that we can hopefully bring to the team. I introduced myself after the session and had a bit of a chat. I think he was quite surprised to see another kiwi.

We have 3 more games before the Christmas break, and the season will start back up around mid-January after that. We are heading to Edinburgh for the All Blacks v Scotland game on 11 November with our flatmates which will be cool. Haylee and I are staying down for a long weekend to do some sightseeing around the capital. We have also booked flights to go to London for a couple of weeks over Christmas/New Years which we are both looking forward too also.

Rugby & Life In Scotland

We have been in Scotland for 2 months now so have settled in nicely. We are living in a town called Inverurie which would be around twice the size of Wellsford. The area around us has a heap of tourist attractions which is a bonus.

Our new house in Inverurie, North East Scotland

The River Don which runs through Inverurie

The people here are very friendly. We were taken out for a very nice dinner her with the club president and his partner on our arrival - highly recommend the local Aberdeen Angus steak! Was a nice surprise for sure. We are staying in a house with another coach from Australia and a Scottish couple who are also involved with the rugby club.

Out for dinner at Fraser Castle with the Garioch club president & his partner on our first week in Scotland.

We have visited a few attractions in the two months we have been here (in between rugby which takes up a fair amount of time). Our first trip took us to the Stornoway Islands on the west coast, was a cool trip through the highlands and the relaxed coastal town of Ullapool. One of the best has been Dunnottar Castle (about 30mins southeast of Inverurie) which lies right on the coast up on a cliff. Bennachie is a mountain nearby with some decent walks and views once you get to the top, they once mined granite from here and there is some interesting history worth reading up about. We have visited the Battle of Harlaw monument (5mins drive from our place) where there was once a brutal skirmish (apparently the river ran red with blood after the battle). Fraser Castle is very nice and only a 10 minute drive from Inverurie.

Passing through the west coast fishing town of Ullapool on our way to Stornoway. 24 hour away trip for rugby on our first week in Scotland.

Crathes Castle - one of the many castles in Aberdeenshire.

Dunnotar Castle ruins - pretty spectacular place.

Have had a taste of some pretty decent whiskey also. The best so far is called Glendronach, a local distillery about 20 mins away. Is quite a sweet, easy drinking whiskey because it is aged in sherry barrels. They say it is available in NZ so go for the 12 of 15 years aged, is a good drop!

Visit to Glenfiddich Distillery on 22/10/12. Learnt all about the whiskey making process and finished off with a taste of 3 whiskeys, the 12, 15 & 18 year old brews.

The Glenfiddich Story

Rugby is going very well. The team has won 8 from 8 and everyone at Garioch (pronounced Gea-ry) is in pretty high spirits being on top of the table. Teams played so far include; Stornoway, Aberdeen Wanderers, Aberdeen Uni, Moray, Banff, Ross Sutherland, RAF Lossiemouth and Aberdeenshire - if you look on a map you will see they are all quite spread out. Have had a few tough games but our fitness seems to be our strength, must be doing something right as a coach. The standard of rugby is poor compared to back home, but I am still enjoying it. The club is happy with my performance as a coach and player, so hopefully we can carry on the good work!