Winning isn't everything... IT'S THE ONLY THING!

It was a warm, Summers evening and there, sitting at the foothills of the Dublin Mountains, The Annalivia Lions gathered in the prairie and lay in wait. Julie, a lion with a thorn in her paw, was sick and bruised but sitting side by side with Michelle, an Annalivia Lion with a heart (A heart for ripping tags off anyone that gets in her way). Skulking in the background were Aitor and David, 2 huge beasts from Spain. It is said of them that they once chased their lunch with such speed that they accidentally caught breakfast! Then there was the stylish Elena lion, sitting with her head perked with enthusiasm waiting anxiously for her next victim to claw to death. Ryo, a cunning, stocky, Japanese feline who plays rugby with an atomic switch in his pocket. Once he flicks the switch, an explosion of speed an passion fires him up the pitch like a rocket. Jordan, a French Lion was composed and calm. She knew the battle that was around the corner and was visualising her right kicking paw striking the ball with pin-point pressure, cleverly placing it just behind the weakest victim of the other team. Jennifer, our Teacher Lion, has been coordinating and motivating from the outset. She sat overlooking her lion cubs with authority and mastery whilst quietly focused on getting the ball across the line. Laurine, who is not actually a lion, but a gazelle, sat by the battlefield, with a grin that said "Something special is going to happen". Kevin, the head lion, sat behind the pride with confidence that the training and preparation was about to pay off. The Annalivia Lions could smell blood.

At 18H55, the "PayZone Panthers" trundled like an army of black warriors onto the rugby pitch and glared at the Lions, who were basking in the sun, with a sense of what was to come... A carnage.

19H00 eventually came and as the referee blew his whistle. Things moved fast then, Jordan received the ball and passed with precision accuracy, then another pass, and another. The Panthers defended well but the Annalivia Lions came alive and burst up the field. 1 tag, then another tag, then the ball came left wing and a beautiful pass to Kevin resulted in the first try of the tournament. The Panthers were hurt but the Lions were only warming up.

The next try came from The Panthers as they scored a clever little try as a result of the Lions over-zealousness (or being offside). The Panthers celebrated and the lions snarled. David decided to show his teeth and used his massive height to steal the ball out of the air and with lightening speed ripped up the field. The Panthers trotted up behind him but were never going to catch him. Julie, as if on train tracks and roller blades followed David up the line. David passed to Julie at the last minute to score a girl try (worth 3 points) but, just as she as about to put the ball down, 2 male Panthers closed in and sandwiched Julie sending her tumbling into the next pitch. Elena, who was on the sidelines, was up to Julies defence in 3 seconds. Julie brushed herself down glared at the Panthers and went back into her position on the wing. The referee awarded a penalty try to the Lions and a Panther was sent off for 10 minutes.

The Panthers knew it was finished at that point. For the remaining of the first half, David and Aitor fed balls to the team and the team feds balls to each other resulting in a total of 7 trys. After half time, the Panthers limped back onto the pitch as the Lions stretched and flexed. More Trys for the Lions: our Spanish Lions twirled and skipped around the Panthers. Ryo charged at them with such ferocity that they were only making half efforts to stop him. Jordan got through with another girl try. A beautiful pass to Jennifer in the last minute got her to the line but an overly aggressive tag and trip sent her 3 feet into the air and a penalty was awarded where the team got the ball from the right side of the pitch all the way left found it’s way to the Kevin who got a sly try just on the line.

Elena’s motivation, Michelle’s tagging, Jordan’s runs and kicks, David and Aitor’s Matador style and salsa like movements, Jens’ ownership of the right wing, Ryo’s aggression, Julie’s sporting intelligence and Laurine’s sideline support resulted in the final score of16 - 8 to the Lions... It was only the first match and there is still alot of training to do. But what a start…

Click here to see the league table.