Day 41 - Dubai

This morning I focused on prayer and study for The Grapevine Project (http://www.thegrapevineproject.org/). Less than 40 days to go and there is so much to be done. I'm looking forward to spending time with the students, encouraging them to follow God wholeheartedly and live according to God's word. It's always a wonderful weekend, filled with challenges and blessings. Please pray for us from now.

After lunch I rested around the house, even taking an afternoon nap. Rugby practice was at 7:00pm and I wanted to have every ounce of energy for it. After being on the InnerFight workout method for the past 2+ weeks I wanted to see if there was any difference. There was.

We got to the rugby club and I was quickly greeted by some familiar faces. Most of the guys didn't know me from Adam, and that was OK. After a warmup and stretching period the coach divided the first team from the second team, as both groups are playing on Friday. Since I wasn't named to the first squad (How could I be? I've missed three weeks of practice. Besides, I'm ineligible to play in the league because I do not have a residence permit.), I ran out with the second team.

There, I went through all the drills with the rest of the boys. Holding a blocker pad I would give chase to the ball carrier with my linemates, allowing the ball carrier to crash into me. We then did some work on "set pieces", including lineouts and scrums. A lineout is a play which is set and run when the ball has gone "into touch" (out of bounds). The player throwing the ball in must throw it into the field of play, but parallel to the "try line" (goal line). This means that each team lines up on either side of where the ball will be thrown, and both sides will attempt to recover the ball. In an effort to control the ball the throwing side will make a verbal call as to how far the ball will be thrown. It is then thrown in, but high enough that two teammates will actually lift a third into the air to retrieve it and pass it back to a teammate. It's quite a sight to behold, as the poor fellow being lifted often winds up 10 feet in the air with a wedgie as his teammates are lifting him by the shorts.

A scrum is the set piece that most people think of when they visualize rugby. There are two or three rows of players per side that pack and engage as the ball is thrown in between them. Remarkably there is some engineering as to how the scrum is assembled. It begins with the front row players, who stand arm in arm. The outside players are called "props". The middle player is known as a "hooker", and his job is to "hook" the ball with his foot back towards his team. If done right the team will win the ball as the rest of the players will push forward until the ball appears out the back of the scrum. The second row players are called "locks". They have to latch on to the first row by placing their shoulders under the backsides of the first row while reaching up and grabbing hold of the waistband of the props' shorts. In order to form a tighter pack, the locks reach between the props' legs and grab the shorts from the front.

I had no idea what I was getting into, but I was waved over to stand in as a prop for a scrum. So I put my arm around the hooker and was getting myself psyched up to engage the scrum. I felt the bump of the lock behind me and then, without warning, I felt his hand grab my shorts from the front. No problem, as my brother had demonstrated that on me previously. But in the process the lock managed to catch some of the hair on my stomach. As he tightened his grip on my shorts I felt the hair follicles being slowly pulled away from my stomach. (I still haven't checked to see whether there is a bare patch.)

Fortunately we did some more running and practicied running the ball. During the game situation drills I was content to play defense and try to knock down the ball carrier with my pad. For the most part I held my ground, but there was one fellow who caught me while I was too upright. As I felt myself going backwards I instinctively grabbed him and brought him down with me. I'm starting to get a feel for this game. And not just a feel, but a love for this game. I'm beginning to understand my brother's fascination with this sport.

Eventually we did away with the blocking pads and ran full speed. But to protect ourselves before the game on Friday, the ball carrier would go down quickly so as not to have a full-speed collision. Even still, there was some pretty serious contact in the drill. As I was chasing one play, the ball carrier went down before I could reasonably pull up in time. Realizing my next stride would have placed my boot (cleats) on his face I did a half-jump and splits and barely avoided stomping him. More hitting and running and we finally ended practice with a lap around the pitch (field). This was no ordinary lap. It was an exercise where the runners in the back of the pack would have to run around to the front of the pack as we trotted around. Thus some built in interval training.

I was thrilled that despite feeling so spent, I was able to keep up with the practice. And several of the guys expressed disappointment that I would not be available for the game on Friday. I told them if I had a residence permit I'd be happy to play. Shortly after we finished, the first team came off. My brother and I grabbed a sandwich and a sports drink from the clubhouse and hung out with the boys for a bit. After cooling off we then headed home for a quick shower and a run for a more complete dinner at Al Hallab for Lebanese sandwiches, salad and pomegranate juice. By now it was 11:30pm, but we had worked up an appetite.

I hope you enjoyed the adventure of rugby practice. Tomorrow I'll try to get some pictures too!

Blessings,
Khalaf.