Compiled by Messrs Lewis and McCarthy:
Gentlemen of the Komodai, lend me you ears, and prepare yourself for a real cowboy legend...
On the 28th of August 2010, just before sundown, a brave posse of Komodo elite took the uncharted field on Evans Rd to withstand the famed Singapore Wanderers. Our players, moseyed in one by one, or two by two, as they winced under daylight - fresh off a wild night of Cowboy Mayhem. Our fearful of his Missus captain and Pack-leader, struggled mightily to come up with an appropriate starting line-up, with 2 last minute drop outs at the 10 spot really throwing a wrench in our game mechanics. Chris McCarthy (From the Great Train Robbery) and Dicko organized a proper warm-up which helped the Komodo kick the dust off their boots. As the minutes passed, an entire army of Wanderers (enough to field 2 teams) had formed from afar... it looked like this field would be our Alamo.
The 1st quarter, "sure as shit" felt like it, as the Wanderers spent almost the entire 20 minutes knocking on our try-line. The defense, however, was inspired by the tackles made by Brownie from his half-back position, and stolen balls by our Dicko led forwards. We hung on, by our fingernails for 19 minutes - as the waves of Wanderer attack hit us and regrouped on and on splashing against our mighty Komodo wall. In the dying seconds, we let one sneak in. The whistle blew.
The 2nd quarter started with much of the same, as we struggled to secure the ball or any field position. They took a quick penalty as our Komodo defense was on its heals and again snuck in for a quick and cheeky score. Brownie was livid... He would soon get his revenge. Off the next kick off, the Komodo would finally assert themselves. The forwards secured ball, their persistent and unforgiving tackling was starting to take its toll on the Wanderers as the Komodai began to retain possession. The backs would get some ball and we saw some excellent phase play. Rob the Rebel saw a gap and took it himself, shook 3 wanderers for a beautiful individual finish. Brownie then got a chance to show off his renowned speed; he took the ball at halfback, started running sideways, (ala ML) dummy's flying around like candy, eventually wheels around the entire backline to take it around the corner for the best try on the day—up to the point. And after the slow start, we were back in the game... from here on out, it would be slug for slug.
In the third quarter, ISCI played its best rugby, outscoring the Wanderers 14-0. With Rob ‘Al Haig’ Krauss limping off, McCarthy ambled inside with first Badlands Burgertron and then Shawn Reed aka ‘Duddles’ aka ‘Horror Show’ aka ‘Shoeless Joe’ aka ‘Orchard Road Trekker’ filling in at 12. Was it coincidence that with the hulking Behemoth Burger lurking outside that McCarthy tapped and went from a midfield penalty, showed and split the defense, stepping inside the fullback tracking across for our third try of the game? Whatever it was, the try put us on top, and almost on the very next possession we scored again, with Johnno “Apocalypse Cowboy”, our lucky #13 import from Saigon, taking a switch off evergreen McCarthy and smashing through four players to score under the posts. With Seb “Bobby-socks” Sharp converting again, we were up by two tries!
Alas, the fourth quarter saw the wheels come off the wagon, as we let in two soft tries by their suspiciously buff scrum half. But no matter—they missed one of the conversions and we had won by two points. We celebrated by quaffing an excellent 2010 tabasco-infused draught of Jose Cuervo. Damn you, Suresh!
Player Ratings
Nic from Bali: Solid in the scrums, flawless in the loose, and a beard straight out of Stagecoach—9
Manu: He got lifted in the scrums but did yeoman work in the loose, especially strong for a guy who never met a Trixie he didn’t like. 7.5
Frano—A few big smashes early on in defense, rock solid as ever in the scrum. Amazing work-rate in the 15 minutes he played. 7.5
Suresh: The aforementioned tipple knocks him down half a notch, but he was as dependable as ever. 8
Dicko “No back chat, please” Dickinson—What can you say about the oldest guy on the pitch winning one of the man of the match honors? It sure is nice to have him yelling at the ref instead of telling us off as the ref! 9
Sean “Pants Around The Ankles” Reed—embodied the indomitable spirit of the ISCI touring side by sobering up just in time to get smashed on several occasions. We look forward to more stories from our newest Afrikaans. 7.5
Chris “Badlands” Burgertron—deserving top 3 man of the match, proved his versatility when he stepped into the centers. Unlike “I’ve soiled myself” Reed, Burger was able to bounce back fantastically from an epic Friday morning. Breakfast, anyone? 9.5
Sebastian "Bobby on the job" Sharp--typical tireless work on and off the pitch. Quiet but committed, did all the little things in the loose. Was seen to be enjoying himself on one occasion. 8.5
Mark “Whipper-Snapper” Brown. Only Brownie could take 7 weeks off and still work as hard as he did. Always good to see his ornery side come out when we were going backwards in the first quarter. 9
Rob “Shimmy-Sham Flim-Flam Man” Krauss: Stopped talking long enough to step his way for a try before limping off into the sunset. Probably didn’t realize that playing number 10 would mean tackling most of the time! 8
Chris “hamstrung again” McCarthy—incredibly, lasted the whole game and scored a try to boot. Felt like Francois Steyn with Burger and Reed outside him. Is docked one full point for not going out Friday night. 8
Johnny “from Saigon”: heaps better than VanDers. Gets extra points because he brought his dad. Scored a cracking try to put us up for good. You’re welcome in Jaktown anytime, mate. 9
Rupert “Ruprecht”: Little action on the wing but was good value off the pitch. Docked .5 points because Rob built you up like the second coming of Serge Blanco. 7.5
Dan “Ole!” McNally—not one of his better performances, but didn’t get much ball either. Made up for most of it out on the town. 7.5
Ed “Burnt Cork” Carpenter: a late addition, held his own in contact. Looked the part more than most of us in the bar afterwards. 7.5
Ollie “child’s toy”: came on as a late replacement winger. A tough transition for the world’s tiniest lock. Gets an extra half point for mercifully kicking the ball out to end the game. 7.5
corrections, addendums, welcome!
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