We knew it was going to be a good game, hard fought as games against the Bollocks always are. But we didn't expect the level of animosity or the injuries to be quite that severe. Something was clearly in their drinking water this week. But we survived and came out victors. A fitting end to Dick's time here in New Zealand.

I'm not going to wax lyrical about Dick. That's not my style *cough cough bullshit*, as we've all seen him play some exceptionally good football interspersed with some extremely poor drinking skills. The boy's a lightweight, in both body and sobriety. But nevertheless, it was a pleasure to have him in our team and in our lives for four years. Thank you Dick. And good luck to you and Ginny on your travels.

Photo's will show that several Keiths scored. Tries and Conversions. Except when Breen scored. I was both shocked and surprised that he could lumber his walrusesque shape across the line, and all I managed to snap of the momentous occasion was a blurry shot of the grass. Sorry, not sorry. But he's in the books as a try score so that's all that matters really. Other try scorers was Sean, Sam and Bravo who I'm thinking I may simply pre-write their names on the scoring sheet and just fill in the number at the end of the match. It's becomming monotonous, but in a very good way. Ross also dotted down for a brace but soon after he was on the sideline seeing the back of a Red Card after being on the end of some vicious kicking of which being the Scotsman he is gave a good retaliatory smack with the knee back. It's ok though, Kristen (girls name) is his lawyer at the judicary.

Currie surprised many by leaping to catch the kick offs but not so high as to worry anyone about the fall back to earth. Being able to jump higher than the height of a small box is useful, but no need to show off. Alan tried. And got better at running and holding on to people as they flew by which he and I are very pleased about. Breen, before leaving the field, tried extra hard to impress the future missus and did so with skill and style winning himself the MVP. He really is getting better at this rugby malarky.
Blah blah blah insert bit about Sam, Sean and Kev being excellent here. Also insert bit about Dick's kicking.

Poacher, Breen Aj and others were forced to retire from the game early due to some additional unnecessary rough play from Linwood. AJ's looking particularly bloody. Which gives us pause to remember that with six games left in the season, we still need to take care of our fragile bodies. So rest up this week, get a good training in on Thursday and be rearing to go on Saturday.

Crikey. What a change up. The Saracens have always been a tough team to beat and again they showed us up in several aspects of our game. Mostly the mental aspect of our game. While we weren't laissez-faire about our approach, we were at time lack-lustre about what we had to do. Lots of work to be done at training on Thursday if we want to keep our top(ish) place on the table.

Congratulations where congratulations are due, Sean for a storming barging get out of my fucking way try; Webby for being the only one on the field talking (with help from Jones and Arapai from the sideline); Trouty and Chief for doing their damndest to inspire us; Uli for not looking a day over 35; Colin for faking an injury in the hope of getting a sympathy root from the missus and of course, Tom who missed out on his 100% kicking last week but managed to get it this week (100% not over the bar or even anywhere close despite him practicing for an hour before the game).

I know we're all feeling let down in the result department, but there were some good points to be taken from the game. Such as there was enough beer for everyone in the shed afterwards; Alan has a friend to replace Dick when he leaves; someone bought the island boys a watch and a map which we need to also give to Unit and Bruce and we got Keiths returning after a while in the wilderness. Murray came back, Dick came back, Matt came back and I knew I recognised that name, Louis came back for his second Keith game in 5 years. Bravo to them.

It's difficult to quantify if we're doing poorly or doing well when you factor in the score. For example, last week we had a great scoreline and a winning attitude towards the on-field play and this week we had a poor scoreline and a not so great mental attitude. Oh wait, it is easy to quantify. Our head simply wasn't in the game and for those that had a good head space, it got beaten out of them. We have all been around a rugby field long enough to know how to play the game and we've all been around our Classics competitors long enough to know how they play the game so the only thing left to improve on is our mental game and some out basic catch pass kick run not fall over handling skills which to be fair, were not up to par from some people. No arms tackling we have down pat, but catching and running at the same time needs some work.

I'm not downcast about the game (despite the score) but I'm not up-beat about it either. Still more rugby to come in which we can show our true selves and get mohawks.

May I just say first up, this relatively young Burnside Team are a credit to rugby, their club and to themselves. Getting your arse kicked every week can be an awful thing, but these guys keep smiling, keep playing, keep taking every opportunity to pounce on a mistake by the opposition, and when it's all over, they have a beer and chat about rugby, life and shit. I was impressed.

During the week, I had this nagging thought in the back of my head that based on Burnside's current form, we'd simply switch off and treat the game as a forgone conclusion. And we know how that attitude can backfire. Even international teams can get into the wrong head space. I am however, extremely glad to report that Keith had a game plan, had focus and had the right desire to win by scoring tries not by waltzing past the opposition, but by working the ball, working the mauls and working the play. Which is how it's supposed to be done. I was impressed.

Looking at the score sheet should tell you all you need to know about who was in the right places at the right time, but others who not always get their name on that scoring sheet, did their part and made others look good. When you've got an average age of over 35½, we weren't short of experience (10 centurions on the field), but it was the newer rugby recruits who still impact on the team. Brad and Alan on the wings put it some excellent runs with Jared following through with a try. Tom wanted a 100% kicking record, but missed 1, then got 1 but had it disallowed so he ended up with 6 out of 9. And Cal got 2 out 2 to show how it's done. Not that he was skiting or anything.

A warm welcome back to Keith Rugby to Stewart Rankin for his second Keith game. His first being over 20 years ago. Once a Keith, always a Keith. Perc popped his boots back on again and we hope to see more during the season, but notably absent was my son, Dick and Piez. I'm sure they were all at a fitness and skills camp preparing for next week.

There was too much good shit happening on the field to be fair to everyone in this report, so I'll finish up by saying what a fantastic job everyone did and it was simply the best game of footy this year. And not because of the score, but the manner in which we reached the final score. Well done everybody.

May I just say first up, this relatively young Burnside Team are a credit to rugby, their club and to themselves. Getting your arse kicked every week can be an awful thing, but these guys keep smiling, keep playing, keep taking every opportunity to pounce on a mistake by the opposition, and when it's all over, they have a beer and chat about rugby, life and shit. I was impressed.

During the week, I had this nagging thought in the back of my head that based on Burnside's current form, we'd simply switch off and treat the game as a forgone conclusion. And we know how that attitude can backfire. Even international teams can get into the wrong head space. I am however, extremely glad to report that Keith had a game plan, had focus and had the right desire to win by scoring tries not by waltzing past the opposition, but by working the ball, working the mauls and working the play. Which is how it's supposed to be done. I was impressed.

Looking at the score sheet should tell you all you need to know about who was in the right places at the right time, but others who not always get their name on that scoring sheet, did their part and made others look good. When you've got an average age of over 35½, we weren't short of experience (10 centurions on the field), but it was the newer rugby recruits who still impact on the team. Brad and Alan on the wings put it some excellent runs with Jared following through with a try. Tom wanted a 100% kicking record, but missed 1, then got 1 but had it disallowed so he ended up with 6 out of 9. And Cal got 2 out 2 to show how it's done. Not that he was skiting or anything.

A warm welcome back to Keith Rugby to Stewart Rankin for his second Keith game. His first being over 20 years ago. Once a Keith, always a Keith. Perc popped his boots back on again and we hope to see more during the season, but notably absent was my son, Dick and Piez. I'm sure they were all at a fitness and skills camp preparing for next week.

There was too much good shit happening on the field to be fair to everyone in this report, so I'll finish up by saying what a fantastic job everyone did and it was simply the best game of footy this year. And not because of the score, but the manner in which we reached the final score. Well done everybody.

May I just say first up, this relatively young Burnside Team are a credit to rugby, their club and to themselves. Getting your arse kicked every week can be an awful thing, but these guys keep smiling, keep playing, keep taking every opportunity to pounce on a mistake by the opposition, and when it's all over, they have a beer and chat about rugby, life and shit. I was impressed.

During the week, I had this nagging thought in the back of my head that based on Burnside's current form, we'd simply switch off and treat the game as a forgone conclusion. And we know how that attitude can backfire. Even international teams can get into the wrong head space. I am however, extremely glad to report that Keith had a game plan, had focus and had the right desire to win by scoring tries not by waltzing past the opposition, but by working the ball, working the mauls and working the play. Which is how it's supposed to be done. I was impressed.

Looking at the score sheet should tell you all you need to know about who was in the right places at the right time, but others who not always get their name on that scoring sheet, did their part and made others look good. When you've got an average age of over 35½, we weren't short of experience (10 centurions on the field), but it was the newer rugby recruits who still impact on the team. Brad and Alan on the wings put it some excellent runs with Jared following through with a try. Tom wanted a 100% kicking record, but missed 1, then got 1 but had it disallowed so he ended up with 6 out of 9. And Cal got 2 out 2 to show how it's done. Not that he was skiting or anything.

A warm welcome back to Keith Rugby to Stewart Rankin for his second Keith game. His first being over 20 years ago. Once a Keith, always a Keith. Perc popped his boots back on again and we hope to see more during the season, but notably absent was my son, Dick and Piez. I'm sure they were all at a fitness and skills camp preparing for next week.

There was too much good shit happening on the field to be fair to everyone in this report, so I'll finish up by saying what a fantastic job everyone did and it was simply the best game of footy this year. And not because of the score, but the manner in which we reached the final score. Well done everybody.