warum finde ich das: www.w6n.it erst jetzt?

yesterdays st paddys saw a wild bunch of "mighty bremen ladies" invading the local pubs on recruitment tour. we started off in jonny b goodes where i did not receive the gift of seeing italy beat ireland, but instead been given a nice shamrock badge to wear on my new ladies team polo. and loads of cider of course. the pub was crowded with our girls team, some of the uni-rugby guys, some of our senior mens and most of the youth team, plus a lot of the usual expats. we picked up some english guys and headed off to the irish pub in schnoor after the great welsh performance. never go there! what a bunch of fucking losers!! we stayed for like 2 minutes and i almost started a fight there... off we went to hegartys, singing and celebrating the "mighty bremen ladies". we were greeted by the usual pub rocker and met some nice ladies there and hopefully mira will keep her promise and join us on tuesday!! then we went to a private party (we weren't invited) but got thrown out after the first beer, which was a good thing, because the party sucked. so we had to play table soccer in one of the worst pubs in bremen, but the beer was cheap and it wasn't as crowded as the heagrtys, where we ended half an hour later. we had planned to go to paddys pit, but at 4 in the morning everyone was happy with finding the way back home.

unfortunately we had taken one of the mens players with us and the drinking did not really help him today ;-) anyhow, i got up early (around 11) and just in time to open the door for nadine, who came to pick me up to see the men play today. rain and hailstorm could not keep us off the pitch and we saw a glorious win against rostock (36:0) that could have been even higher if only the ref would have put his glasses on. wait, he HAD his glasses on. well.... i don't usually blame the ref but he did not give two tries, which were absolutely good. well, it did not help him (he's the rostock coach) and so we were all confidently marching off to the club house to the usual bbq and beer. oh, and our youngster simon scored his first try and had to drink out of his shoe.

i forgot the gifts!!! today mr juchem came to watch the mens game and brought a big bag of gifts with him: a jersey of western province rugby club (south africa), loads of pins, a picture of the springbok women (requested by me) and one of the mens team, which i gave to ross, as hes from sa. and michael gave me an issue of england rugby magazine, thank you!!

"Bortolami wants Italy to retain perspective

Italy captain Marco Bortolami believes the national rugby team players must keep their feet firmly on the ground but can now look to the future with optimism. The Azzurri were greeted as heroes by 10,000 fans in Rome's historic Piazza del Popolo following yesterday's final RBS 6 Nations game against Ireland. Pierre Berbizier's men may have lost 51-24 at the Stadio Flaminio to finish fourth but they finish with their best record since joining the tournament in 2000. Saturday's setback provided a low-key end to what has been an otherwise impressive tournament for the Italians, after wins against Scotland in Murrayfield and a home triumph against Wales. The triumph in Edinburgh was the first tournament win away from the Eternal City for the Azzurri since they joined the competition. "This defeat is not a step back," said 26-year-old lock Bortolami. "Let's not forget that Ireland play the best rugby in Europe even if they lost against France. "We have scored two tries against Ireland and this can only give us confidence for the future." Italy have shown a big improvement since their opening 39-3 defeat to France. They produced a good display against world champions England in Twickenham, losing 20-7, before beating Scotland 37-17 and then edging Wales 23-20. Berbizier's men can take some positives from the tournament as they look ahead to this summer's World Cup in France - the Italians begin the competition against the mighty New Zealand All Blacks on September 8. "I believe we have played a good Six Nations," said Bortolami. "We've always maintained that we must improve and we will continue to work hard in order to be better. "We hope that the fans will continue to support us in our next competitions and we must be confident for the World Cup." Frenchman Berbizier said: "I want to thank my team. "My players have given everything until the end of the game. Unfortunately will doesn't win you games. "We simply have to compliment Ireland, in the first half we have had opportunities but it's difficult to get back into the game when you are losing against them." Italian rugby has enjoyed a high profile during this year's Six Nations on the back of their improved performances and the sport's reputation for good crowd behaviour at a time when the country's favourite sport, football, has been rocked by scandal and violence. Even Italian prime minister Romano Prodi, who met the team earlier in the week, has declared himself a fan of the sport."