Wow what a clever title!  Not!  Oohhhh!!  On with it…

Well it’s only a quarter of the way through our short season, but already training camp feels like it was ages ago.  We’ve come a long way in just four weeks.  This year’s starting line-up looks very different than last year’s, as a lot of key players finally finished their four or five years here and graduated.  Geez guys couldn’t you have stuck around for a year or two longer?  Fortunately we’ve got heaps of depth from our killer B-side and a good crop of tenacious rookies to draw from.

Training camp tested everyone’s fitness levels to the max and ended with the annual exhibition with Norwich Academy in Vermont.  Norwich played with class and showed us a tough game, getting us ready for the intense competition that lay ahead.

A week of grinding ensued.

Our opening game against cross-town rivals Sherbrooke proved one thing: it’s going to be a tight competitive pool this year.  Sadly we weren’t firing on all cylinders, and failed to rack a single point despite some show of guts, ending in a 14-0 loss.  Losing to them was terribly bitter, but it was a necessary wake-up call about the strength of the teams top to bottom in our league now.  We needed that shot in the arm.  We plan on going deep in November, and we’re gonna have to constantly pick up the intensity to do so.  Work harder, play harder.  There’s a lot of late classes across our roster interfering with the practice schedule this year, leaving just one solution: practice longer every day so everyone can make it.  Practice harder.  Make the most of while we’re there with guys all the way down the line stepping up to fill roles.  Another week of grinding ensued.

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS.  There’s a reason why that term has become such a hot chiché… it feels damn good to play in the heart of the BU ghetto once again.  Last Friday was a beauty night and Optimist Field was yet to be reduced to its autumn mud-pit status, but most importantly: what a crowd.  The biggest I’ve seen at a rugby game since I’ve come here, big thanks to everyone who enjoyed themselves at our opponent ETS’s rattled expense.  Coming out as flat as we did, however, did not feel so good, especially in front of such an awesome rowdy crowd.  After three weeks of hard work and sharpening our game, we began with a totally dusty performance.  Putting forth anemic effort and showing dreadful team solidarity, we allowed ETS to score the opening try and maintain most possession.  This was not what we had come here to do.  Finally about 25 minutes in we got our heads out of our asses and mounted a strong attack, as the pack executed a brilliant driving maul off a lineout and marched in a try from nearly 20 metres out.  Now we were starting to show everyone what we could do when we got in the right gear.  As the game progressed, so did the number of moments of great rugby from all 22 deep on the BU side, as we got nuts in the second half and punched in four more trys from all over the field, finally controlling our game.  BU 27 ETS 12 final score.