Rugby mummies!

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Our new contributor Rugby Mummy kicks off with a look at, well, rugby mummies…

Having spent years waiting for my son to be old enough to play rugby, my excitement and enthusiasm definitely took a nose dive on the first truly freezing, wet and windy Saturday morning standing on the touch line with a not-so-mild hangover. Bleary-eyed and slightly dishevelled, I watched as twenty-odd nine-year-olds (although not as odd as the coaches), scrambled around in the mud. Why, oh why, does the rugby season run during the winter months and then end abruptly just as the first glimmer of a tentative summer appears? It beggars belief.

Never having been a member of the SAS, I certainly was not prepared for the sub zero wind-chill factor or the driving rain which was gradually seeping through my totally inappropriate trainers and the jeans that were just slightly too long. Within ten minutes I was soaked to the knees and mild hypothermia was setting in. Meanwhile, four grown men, ostensibly the coaches, were cavorting in a way that was just too energetic for that time of the morning – it was 9.15 on a Saturday morning – does no one have lie-ins anymore?

Warm-up (?) over and the opposing team of equally energetic small lads and their eager parents arrived in varying makes of impressive four-by-fours, raising suspicions that Belfast was to be over-run with marauding roos judging by the number sporting bull bars. As they disembarked, (the parents, not the kangaroos), the heavens ceased their incessant downpour, and feminine visions of loveliness with recently coiffured extensions revealed themselves from the climate-controlled interiors.

Not a squelchy trainer in sight. Ugg boots (the real ones mind! – not the cheap version from Primark) were the order of the day. I stood transfixed as I was examined by these paragons of virtue, found wanting and dismissed from their gaze. Cool boxes and thermos flasks appeared along with rather nifty little fold-out chairs complete with rugs to keep the occupant cosy on the sideline. I had half a packet of fluffy Polos to sustain body and soul, and a scrunched-up napkin with which to stem the permanent drip from the end of my nose and wipe away my salty tears of inadequacy.

Meanwhile, things were hotting-up on the pitch. Lines had been drawn, coins tossed and ends picked, all done by the coaches of course – the kids being much more interested in rolling down a muddy bank. As they mustered their charges and endeavoured to instil discipline and common purpose in the face of the enemy the sun actually made an appearance, and it seemed the gods were smiling on us, and those humongous golfing umbrellas could be stored once more in the Land Rover to be replaced with Ray Bans worn with a certain panache on top of perfectly teased tresses.

The whistle blew, the ball bounced in the opposite direction to which it was meant to go and thirty little lads scampered insanely behind it, over it, on top of it and beyond it, much to the chagrin of the coaches who were shouting much needed instructions. But their pearls of wisdom were scattered to the skies by the veritable maelström that howled around the pitch.

One little chap – not my son, though it was hard to tell by this stage thanks to the mud – seized the ball and went charging down the sideline much to the delight of the home crowd, who shouted encouragement much along the lines of “GO ON MY SON” – they’re everyone’s sons by this stage – when up from the away-end a Burberry goddess appeared, abandoning her cashmere throw to the mercy of the mud, and with dulcet tones that defied the wind, shrieked: “ TAKE HIM OUT JOSH, GO FOR THE KNEES, BRING HIM DOWN.”

Well, the rest of the match was lost to me. The pure visceral venom that was directed at a nine-year-old child even shocked me out of my hangover. Much as I enjoy a good rugger match and evoking certain violence on players whose parentage I have just questioned, it is nonetheless saved for special occasions (Ireland v England springs to mind for some reason). It is not, under any circumstances, to be used against small children; their coaches will do that for us in the cosy, half-time pep talk: “Get yer finger out, you’re playing like a girl,” etc.

Healthy competition and a bit of macho repartee is to be expected on a rugby field, and in my son’s case, actively encouraged as he has three sisters who all tend to bully him. But family dynamics aside, rugby mummies are a truly scary breed; their innate sense of superiority and aggressive “must win” attitude far surpasses that of their male counter-parts – they are trying to out-do the lads. No amount of touché éclat can conceal a mean spirit.


16 responses to “Rugby mummies!”

  1. parky

    Gut feeling was flat top deliberately couldn’t resist as a show of solidarity with an innocent bystander not too well versed in the petty tiffs of country yokels, ha ha!

    Oddly enough Junty my first taste of sustained violence on a rugby pitch came at the hands of an oul timer whilst playing at the home of the great white hare. After the third assault off the ball and being helped to my feet by the smiling assailant I was in the words of a monty python sketch writer, hazily getting used to it!!

    1. junty

      Parky – its bred into them from a very early age LOL 🙂
      I think that there are so many other little villages/ communities around them starting with B – Ballynure, Ballyboley, Ballyrobert, Burnside, Ballyeaston etc. that they have developed a complex over the years

  2. junty

    Parky – whenever the folks from the home of great white hare are involved it always is messy regardless of the gender ! If they can’t win by skill alone it always resorts to violence

    Hee hee hee …. Flattop I knew you couldn’t resist ….. I’ll buy you a pint at the Quins game mate !

  3. Flat-top

    Ok so I know I shouldn’t bite but just for clarity I wonder Parky could you just confirm that Ballyclare did indeed win this infamous match, well they usually do don’t they 🙂

    1. parky

      Flat-top – I can’t remember if Ballynure won or not, my attention was directed those spectators who couldn’t control themselves or their charges on the pitch!!

      The female ref actually had a confrontation with a section of the crowd!!!

      Remember this was kids tag rugby, it was nasty!!!

    2. John

      And 5 euro fine for Flat top! The only place the home of the great white hare can be named is in the schools section – we’ve got to think about the kids!

  4. parky

    I’m a multi cuiltural, secular, non sectarian, married, easy going, drug free, rugger loving sort of guy. So local petty rivalries between neighbouring villages mean zilch!!!

    I do hate the eurozone though!!

  5. junty

    Good on ya Parky ……. 10 Euro in the kitty already ……
    I don’t think that blogosphere counts towards a fine …… It is that other B word !! 😉

  6. parky

    Ed….. I’m surprised at you not censoring Parky’s comment – Eh? Ballyclare or blogosphere?

    1. John

      Make that 10 euro!

  7. parky

    Welcome to blogosphere rugger mum, decent article, hope to see more. The spectators at kiddy matches have always been a concern to me especially in terms of thier mental health.

    Remember a tag rugby game featuring my daughter at 13(yrs old) against a Ballyclare team which ended with one girl being sent off and a confrontation with the ref and spectators.

    I briefly wondered was I still on planet earth!

    Believe some parents may be playing out failed sporting careers through the fledgling efforts of their young sons and daughters.

    1. John

      We’ll done Parky – remiss of me not to officially welcome our rugby mummy to the fold. I’m sure we’ll be reading more in the near future.

      1. junty

        Ed….. I’m surprised at you not censoring Parky’s comment ….. After all he used the ‘B’ word….. Is he a distant relation of Flattop ?? LOL. 🙂
        Nice article rugger mum.

        1. John

          Missed that one Junty – 5euro Tour Fine to Parky for mentioning the small village just off the road between Larne and Belfast that’s not called Ballynure.

          1. Flat-top

            Ed you are never ON tour anymore 🙂

          2. John

            At the rate you and Parky are racking up the fines I’ll be able to hire a helicopter to go to them.

            As PRO of Ulster Women’s Rugby I doubt that I’ll be at too many away fixtures this year as well as the girls deserve full support from everyone in the camp, besides if you had the option of being in the company of gorgeous gals or fat old blokes which would you choose?

            Mind you you have the chance to be in the company of both at the 5th (or is it 6th) Annual Front Row Union Awards on Saturday 3rd September 2011. I believe you will be in the country at the time?

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