The Eve of the Australian Trip, The Tournament and Kangaroo Court

About 24 hours from now, on Saturday evening, I will be headed from Los Angeles to Sydney on a 14+ hour flight. First up however is a 6 hour drive from Phoenix to LA with two of my rugby players.  We will arrive at 6AM on Monday morning Sydney time (about a 17 hour time difference from LA time).

Once on the ground, the focus is squarely on the rugby tournament the first week. Team meeting in Australia Monday afternoon, practices on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday; and then the tourney will start on Friday next week and matches will be played through Sunday. A few trophies will be awarded. Due to the distance, many clubs are unable to send a team, and are sending individual players, and some clubs are combining to field a full team like my club, with our alumni from Denver.  In all, 24 teams will compete, representing over 30 rugby clubs from about 13 countries.

THE TOURNAMENT ITSELF

The tournament tiers and pools have been announced:

Premier Tier (seeds 1-12)
Pool A: Sydney A, Los Angeles, Chicago, Melbourne A
Pool B: SF Fog, Manchester, New Zealand Falcons, Brisbane
Pool C: London A, Gotham (NYC), Sydney B, Royal Bucks (Charlotte/Atlanta)

Championship Tier (seeds 13-24)
Pool D: Philadelphia, PHX/DEN, Muddy Armada Berzerkers (San Diego/Toronto/Sweden), London B
Pool E: Sydney C, Boston, Amsterdam, MUG (I believe Nashville, Charleston and others)
Pool F: Ottawa, Emerald Valkyries (Dublin and New England), BaaBaas (World Barbarians), Melbourne B

So, my guys will be playing Philly, London and San Diego/Toronto/Stockholm combined team. A very nice pool to play in the preliminary round. This tourney is structured like 2010 with a similar number of teams. If that holds true, then the Pool D,E,F winners plus the next best team would relegate up to the Premier Tier quarterfinals, while the remaining 8 teams battle for the lower Tier championship. In 2010, my club won the Tier 2 championship. This time we want to win the pool and maybe be relegated to the upper tier quarterfinals. We will see.

KANGAROO COURT

Now that the international rugby trip is upon us, and many of my guys are already in Australia, they are all put on notice that Kangaroo Court has been convened, and crimes will be punished. Long a tradition in many sports, especially rugby, Kangaroo Court will punish any and all crimes against the team whilst  on tour. 

Sample crimes include:  Sabotage - passing the ball to the opponent; Conduct Unbecoming a Rugger - being late for team meetings/practices/match warmups, etc; missing team dinners, missing the bus, are also punishable. Finally, Moral Terpitude -conduct that brings public humiliation to the team will be prosecuted including - having 1 too many beers at the pub the night before the match, or failing to sing an appropriate rugby song verse when directed by the lads at the pub! 

Trials will be swift, punishment will be severe and cause appropriate humiliation to the convicted, much to the delight of all the other rugby teams present.

Kangaroo Court does have a Judge. The Judge is the sole determinator of fact, and presents the case to the jury (the team). The defendant can choose a defense attorney but must choose wisely. The court adheres to the Laws of Rugby, and is truly a solemn proceeding as detailed in the photos below:

• Defendants are sworn in by the judge:

• A Defense Counsel is selected by the Defendant, unfortunately, the Defense Counsel violated the Laws of Rugby, and the Judge imposed a 'gag order' and instructed the Seargant-at-Arms (Baliff) to apply the gag order

• The trial resumes with the defendant forced to wear the 'Sombrero of Shame' while evidence is presented of their crime, testimony is offered. Unfortunately, the Defense is unable to present its case due to the gag order, and the jury (the team) renders the only true verdict….GUILTY! The Judge then imposes sentence!!

 

So, Ruggers beware! The Australia trip has begun and the Court……is watching!