The Rugby Player...

 It's been so long since I last posted any photos - probably because I have been robbed of my picture editor, since my PC did a dying act on me.  It was a tough call as to how far back I should go with my pictures now, since I have missed sharing Jake's first rugby practice, Easter and our Royal Wedding celebrations (to mention a few) with you.  Anyway, I'm skipping all that out now, none of it is relevant much now and I'm jumping forward to last week.

Jake has decided that he wants to play rugby as his winter sport this year.  I'm much happier about him playing a school sport, rather than club - his old soccer team practises twice a week from 5:30 - 6:15pm and then they have matches on Saturday mornings.  This way, practise is almost straight after school on Mondays and matches are played on Wednesdays.  Last Wednesday, Jake was chosen to play in his very first match at Jan van Riebeek (it's an Afrikaans school, so it's a given that the boys play rugby and they are competitive!).  Our kids were told to go out and have fun, with very little pressure put on them to win the game.  The opposition's coaches and parents were very competitive, which surprised me.  They're so little and it really isn't about sticking to ALL the rules, just about having some fun and getting familiar with structured sport.  Anyway, Jake's team won with 4 tries to 3, so we were were all very proud of our boys.  Pictures below...

 The school sports fields are not on the school premises, since the school is in the heart of Cape Town.  Instead, they have grounds on the outskirts of town, overlooking Table Bay - it's very pretty...

Jake was asked to be the Captain and had to go pick a hand to see which way they were playing first...

 They lined up (that's Mrs Thomas, their coach) and prepared to run onto the field.  They look so little...

 And they got straight into it.  Jake is a little nervous and held back a little.  I'm sure he'll settle in fairly soon...

 Half time team talks...

 OK, it's a little blurred, but he did get a chance to run with the ball...

 After the game, a team photo - they look so smart, despite their HUGE jerseys...

 Jake is a very private kid.  I guess it comes from living with a woman.  He doesn't generally like walking around without his top on, so wasn't too impressed when he had to hand the jersey back to his coach and then had to walk back to  the car half naked.  It's also barefoot rugby, so he's having to learn to overcome his bad habit of never wanting to take his shoes off.  It's all about doing what your friends are doing at this stage.  Note the tiny rugby posts...

He's got another match scheduled for this afternoon at 13:45.  It's against Milnerton and it's at home, which means we'll have lots of spectators.  Jake is very excited, which is all that counts at this stage, in my opinion.

Sue XXX