Shuto League 10s Urayasu Japan,

    On a cool summer day on the first day of July, the Tokyo Gaijin took the field in Urayasu as part of the Urayasu 10s tournament. While most players showed up and were ready to play on time, as per usual there were a few who were late or debilitated due to long nights of helping old ladies across the street and other gentlemanly pursuits.

    Captain Al Nimmo and Vice Captain Jesse Takahashi busied themselves with the paperwork to find out which field was A and which field was B, which teams were in our pool and when exactly we were to play our opposition. They then set about organizing the large squad of Gaijin players that had gathered. A quick team warm up and run through was performed as stomach's churned in anticipation of the upcoming battle.

First up - Tokyo Gaijin vs. Urayasu Beers (Win).
    While the squad that played in the first game is a haze in the back of my memory bank I do remember that it was a fine try by Apisai Bati that sealed the Gaijin`s fate in the first few minutes of the tournament. This drive helped to ignite the Gaijin. With a win under the belt the team took advantage of the rest time to practice their kicking and prepare for their next confrontation.

 First and foremost, we would like to say thank you to all of our supporters who came out and helped us for the game.  The weather was miserable and the ground was a mess, but without you we couldn’t have played in the mud. Now, on to the story.

Fired up by their recent success in the first round of the Tokyo Cup tournament, the TGRFC once again headed to Kizoochi Rugby Grounds in hopes of putting another victory under its belt.  While May 6 may have been a beautiful day in many parts of the world, with couples strolling leisurely through sunny parks and children playing in grassy knolls, this was not the case in the dreary outskirts of Tokyo.

 With a grey sky, continuous rain, and soup for a field, the conditions were perfect for two things: Spartans defending Thermopylae and stressed-out working men playing Rugby.  Throw a little bad blood between teams into the mixture and the stage was set for a classic TGRFC battle.  The boys were also hoping for a little revenge from last year’s narrow loss to the Donkeys. 

After a thorough dress check to ensure that no players had faded shorts and that their underwear was color coordinated, the Gaijin took the field ready to take on the Donkeys, the weather, and a thoroughly incompetent referee.