A Family Outing

Paul, Michael, Andrew and I headed off to Twickenham on Saturday, with hope in our hearts, to watch England play Australia. The rugby match itself was OK with quite a few thrilling passages of play and much singing of ‘Swing Low, Sweet Chariot’; and we were exceptionally excited when England scored a try and converted it in the 79th minute.

But, you know…. rugby being rugby, the game isn’t over at 80 minutes. It’s only over when the ball goes out of play and…. darn it! England couldn’t get hold of the ball for love nor money at the end, and Australia snatched a victory in the 83rd minute. What agony.

There was a feeling of general disgruntlement among our little group, as there seemed to be among many of the spectators. The boys had already drowned their sorrows mind you, having drunk multiple pints of Guinness throughout the afternoon, so I was surprised they had any emotions left to feel. I thought they’d have been numbed to the result, but no. There was still lots to talk about.

I had the answer, of course. Too much warm-up time. The poor boys in the England team were worn out by the time they started to play and had certainly had enough come the 79th minute….. I kept telling the coaches to take the players back to the dressing room a good half an hour before the match started, but d’you know what? They didn’t listen to me!! Pah! Can’t think why…..

It was a long day out, but it was good in many ways. We all raised a glass to John of course, in whose memory we had made the trip. We had a very good journey both there and back, courtesy of Paul, who was chauffeur. In the back of the car, Michael and Andrew were like they were when they were kids – chuffed to bits with a ‘tuck box’ full of edible and drinkable goodies, which amused Paul and me. We had an easy walk to the rugby ground too, as we parked very near Twickenham, in the Twickenham Masonic Centre. We raised another glass to John there, as well.

But, honestly!? Bunny ears!? I don’t think any of my kids’ll ever grow up!! Hehe!!

We all took some kind of memento with us, too. I wore John’s 2007 World Cup rugby shirt; Paul wore the scarf that he had bought when he took John to the rugby last year; Michael carried John’s little crucifix; and Andrew took John’s scarf with him and wore that.

Naturally, we had to have a photo of us all in front of the sculpture of the line-out as well….

I love my boys. Lucky me.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Danielle was holding the fort looking after the Junior Sleaths…… and they weren’t glued to the rugby, I can tell you!

Wallace and Gromit offered some sanity to the day, much to Danielle’s relief. And butter wouldn’t melt……

A memorable day, which is what we were after – even if it wasn’t quite the result we wanted.

Take care everyone. God bless.