Rugby Flyer (5 page)

A
s Eoin predicted, Ted didn’t want to know about the mystery of Marcus McCord’s missing music machine. The coach was more interested in getting the ninety-nine young rugby stars fed and into the buses for their outing.

‘We’re going to a bowling alley,’ he announced.

‘But I’m useless at cricket,’ moaned Rory.

‘Not that type of bowling,’ Ted laughed. ‘Ten-pin bowling. It’s a good way to relax and get to know your teammates. We’ll have a little competition with a trophy and prizes for the winners.’

The mention of the word ‘competition’ was enough to stoke up the majority of the boys.

At the bowling alley they changed their shoes and Ted organised them into teams. Eoin had never played the game before but quickly got the hang of it. Killian was quite an expert and coached his other team-mates
skilfully while scoring highly himself.

As the competition drew towards a close, Eoin and Killian’s team were in second place. Ted announced they would have to play a final game against the leaders, who included Marcus McCord.

The tall loudmouth laughed when he saw who he was up against in the final, and high-fived his team before the game began.

He was so confident that he bought a hotdog to celebrate. He held it above his head like a trophy and squirted some ketchup on the sausage before tossing the sachet on the ground. He was still guzzling the hotdog while he bowled his first ball.

By the time the last round was coming to an end, Killian’s team were ahead by three pins, but McCord had one more turn. As he moved to take his shot, Eoin noticed that the sachet of ketchup had stuck to the sole of his shoe. Eoin could see what was going to happen next – and even considered calling him back – but he knew that it would be McCord’s own fault.

The loudmouth stepped into the lane to fire down the ball, but as he put his weight on his left foot – and the sticky sauce – it flew from under him, and he skidded head first down the alley towards the pins, wailing as he went. Mercifully he stopped before he recorded a
strike with his head, but he had to let go of the ball and it ran harmlessly down the side gully.

McCord found his feet and stormed back up to where the players – even his own team – were laughing at him. ‘Who put that there?’ he howled, blaming his woes on everyone but himself. ‘Was it you, Madden?’

Eoin shrugged and smiled. ‘I think there was only one person eating hotdogs all evening…’

McCord turned and left the alley, leaving Ted open-mouthed at his behaviour.

‘Well, I hope he is a better loser on the rugby pitch,’ said the coach, before presenting Killian with a trophy that looked suspiciously like the replica European Champions Cup that sat in the Leinster Rugby offices.

‘You can’t keep that,’ he laughed. ‘But your team can keep these,’ he added, before handing them each a carrier bag filled with even more Leinster goodies such as baseball caps, DVDs and a season ticket for all the province’s home games.

‘Cool,’ said Andrew Jacks, who played for Springdale Secondary and was one of the best of the scrum-halves at the training camp.

Killian looked as if he was already starting to regret winning the trophy. ‘Your man will be unbearable now,’ he said.

‘Not as unbearable as he would have been if his team had won the trophy though,’ chuckled Eoin.

Killian was right though, and the double setback of losing his music player and the bowling prize had put Marcus in a particularly foul mood. He stomped around the dormitory, looking in every corner and under every sheet where he had searched five times before.

‘If I find that one of you has stolen it, you’ll be so sorry,’ he thundered.

His three room-mates kept their thoughts to themselves and, quite exhausted, slipped into their beds and were asleep in seconds.

Eoin was woken up around 7am by a muffled noise t like the sound made by a tiger if an elephant was standing on its tail.

‘That’s the music player,’ hissed Killian under his breath. ‘Where is it coming from?’

Eoin grinned. ‘It’s under the floor,’ he whispered. ‘There’s a secret passage that starts in this room. I hid the noise-maker down there. It must have been set to go off to wake him up at this time every day to that racket.’

Eoin hopped out of bed and went to the back of the room where he flipped up a trapdoor that was partly hidden by a curtain. ‘Sssshh,’ he gestured at Killian, ‘you stay there and let me know if he wakes up.’

Eoin descended the steps into the room below, picked up the squawking device and hit its snooze button. He carried it back upstairs and carefully placed it under McCord’s bed before returning to close the trapdoor and slipping back under his own duvet.

Two minutes later the music started again and McCord sat up with a start.

‘What’s that, what’s that…’ he called out.

‘There’s your sound system,’ yawned Eoin. ‘You mustn’t have looked under your own bed.’

McCord hopped out of bed and picked up the player, looking confused. ‘But… but…’ he said, trying to start an argument with himself. ‘I’m sure I checked under there.’

The other boys got out of bed and dressed silently, before heading down to breakfast. It was only when they left the room and were well down the corridor that they dared to laugh.

T
he final morning of the training camp was less intensive, but the men and women with the clipboards were still buzzing around making notes. Ted and his coaching team went to each of the groups, which were split up again by positions, showing them a series of drills they could do on their own to sharpen their skills.

At the end of the sessions Ted gathered the boys all together and explained that each of the exercises he had shown them would be detailed in the log book they would be given at the end of the day. In the book they were to record the amount of exercise they did, and the games they played. Also to be recorded were any injuries and illnesses, and any extended breaks from training. He told them that becoming a professional rugby player required great effort and commitment on top of the skills that they already possessed, and the academy
would need to monitor how much work each player was putting in.

After a break for lunch the teams for the three trial games were posted on a board. Eoin was out-half on the team called the Wolfhounds.

‘That’s a cool name,’ said Rory, ‘a lot better than my team… the Hedgehogs!’

Eoin laughed as Charlie explained that each of the teams was called after one of the limited range of Irish mammals available. ‘There’s the Squirrels, the Foxes, the Badgers and the Elks – and that last crowd are extinct.’

Charlie looked a bit glum when he realised he would be lining up behind Marcus McCord in the Foxes’ pack, but not as glum as Killian, who was upset that he hadn’t been selected on any of the six teams.

‘I’ve no chance of getting to Twickenham now,’ he sighed.

‘Don’t give up just yet,’ said Eoin. ‘They said everyone will get at least half a game so you’ll get called up somewhere. Keep warm and supple and be ready for the call.’

Ted called them all to attention, and announced that Squirrels would be playing Badgers, Elks would take on Hedgehogs, and Foxes would play the Wolfhounds.

Eoin grinned nervously and patted Charlie on the back. ‘Go easy on me Chaz. I promise I won’t make you
look too bad when you miss your tackles.’

The groups broke up and Eoin jogged over to where his new team-mates were gathered. One of the Academy coaches had taken over and was explaining how he wanted the team to play. The coaches had kept together the famous triplets Seán, Tom and Ultan Nolan who made up the front row of the Wicklow College Junior Cup team, and Eoin knew a few of his new teammates to see from previous games. Andrew Jacks was scrum-half and the two had a chat to sort out how the most crucial partnership on the team would work.

Eoin wasn’t too worried about McCord – the Dodder Woods second row wasn’t quick enough to be a problem for him, but he knew he would have to keep an eye on him. The first few minutes of the game were nervous and scrappy as players struggled to get to know their team-mates. Eoin was delighted he had such a good scrum-half and Andrew ensured that every ball that he sent back was quick and straight into Eoin’s hands.

The Wolfhounds led 10-3 as half-time approached, and had the put-in on a line-out close to half way. The ball took a bad bounce off the ground and came awkwardly to the scrum-half, who stumbled before flipping the ball up to Eoin. The Foxes’ second row came barrelling through the line-out and crashed into Andrew
just after he released the ball, sending him flying to the ground and finishing up on top of the smaller boy.

Andrew roared in agony, and the referee blew the whistle instantly. He checked how the young scrum-half was and signalled for the physio to come on, then immediately turned to Marcus and waved a yellow card in his face.

‘If this was a schools’ cup match I’d give you a red,’ he started. ‘That was a very reckless move.’

Andrew was lifted to his feet, but the way he held his arm meant everyone knew he had suffered a break. That was the end of his trial and an ambulance soon came to take him to hospital.

Ted came over to see what the fuss was. He tried to console Andrew, then he glowered at McCord before talking to the Wolfhounds’ coach who realised there were no more specialist scrum-halves among the reserves. ‘We only have one spare back,’ Ted told him. ‘He plays on the left wing for St Osgur’s, but I’m sure he can fill in. It will be worth checking out how he does under pressure.’

Killian was summoned and the situation explained to him. Eoin grinned and reassured him that although he had never played No.9 before, he would be there to make him look good.

M
arcus was steaming on the sideline as he had to sit out the first ten minutes of the second half, but the Wolfhounds were unable to use the advantage to extend their lead. Killian was struggling badly in an unfamiliar position and had knocked-on the ball a couple of times in promising situations.

Eoin had a word with him. ‘Don’t rush things, Kil. Take your time with the ball, let it lie inside the scrum or ruck till you decide what you’re going to do. The forwards can hold them up for a few seconds if you need more time. When you’re ready to pass, just aim the ball at me and follow through on the throw.’

Killian was better after that, and was able to set up Eoin for a pinpoint kick into the corner with a few minutes left. Because of the hold-up with the ambulance the other two games were already over and all the other players had gathered around the pitch to watch
the closing stages of the Wolfhounds versus the Foxes.

Marcus McCord won the line-out for the Foxes but dropped the ball, which broke loose at the back of the line. Killian set off like a hare and scooped up the ball at full speed as he broke through a troop of Foxes. It was as if he forgot that he was a scrum-half and had gone back to being a speedy winger. He brilliantly sidestepped the Foxes’ full back and sprinted over the line before diving between the posts.

‘Fantastic break, what a try,’ called out Ted from behind the goal where he had been stationed. ‘Well done, Nicholson.’

Killian was chuffed, and Eoin gave him a clap across the shoulders before taking the ball from him for the conversion. He smacked the ball over the bar just before the referee gave a long blast on his whistle to give the Wolfhounds a 20-6 win.

‘Great try, Kil,’ he grinned as he rejoined his delighted teammates. ‘That was an amazing sidestep.’

The other teams had come onto the pitch and all were now seated on the grass as the coaches distributed water bottles and fruit.

‘Thanks, lads, they were three good, competitive games with some excellent individual performances,’ announced Ted. ‘I’m going to head off with the coaches
to select the squad for Twickenham. After your showers, can everyone please go into the hall here and collect your log books. There’s food and drink too, and hopefully we’ll be in with the names before you get too bored.’

Eoin showered and got dressed. His dad was due to collect him at 5pm and he was keen to find out how Dylan had got on in Limerick. He joined the queue for the buffet and swapped a bit of banter with Charlie about the game.

‘Do you think I did enough to get the trip?’ asked the Castlerock and Foxes No.8.

‘You played really well,’ said Eoin, ‘and I’m sure they’ll remember the stormer you had in the schools’ final.’

‘Well, I suppose we’ll find out soon enough,’ Charlie sighed.

The boys tucked into the food as if they hadn’t eaten for a week. While the earlier meals had been healthy and nutritious, the coach had allowed them a little more junk food to mark the end of the weekend.

Charlie had no fewer than six cocktail sausages sticking out of his mouth when he spotted Ted had come back into the room – and almost choked as he tried to swallow them all at once.

‘Oh no, I’m sure to miss out,’ he grumbled between chewing the last of the meaty snacks.

There were lots of very nervous-looking boys around the hall. Nobody could be sure they would win a call-up.

Ted started by telling them that he had heard from the hospital that Andrew was comfortable and on the mend, but sadly he wouldn’t be coming to London. Then he began reading a list of names with two or three players for each position, and there were a few low-key cheers and sounds of people being clapped on the back.

The coach got to the No.10s and Eoin was delighted to hear his name called out, but there was no luck for Rory at scrum-half. Rory shrugged and admitted that he hadn’t really thought he had a chance. There was a surprise when Killian’s name was called out as a utility back, covering for various positions – ‘he did a very admirable job filling in today,’ said Ted. Charlie, too, was called up as one of two No.8s and they were all relieved to note that Marcus McCord had been left out.

‘The tournament in London takes place in two weeks,’ announced Ted, ‘and we will be in touch with the boys lucky enough to be selected. I don’t want the rest of you to get disheartened and I want you all to start on your log books tomorrow. We’ll be in touch with you before the new season starts and then throughout the year. If anyone has any questions there is a page of contact numbers at the back of the book.’

The boys started to scatter. A few exchanged emails or Twitter accounts before their parents arrived to take them home. McCord seemed a bit sheepish at the way the weekend had turned out for him, but his pride wouldn’t allow him to admit he had only himself to blame.

‘If I ever find out who stole my sounds they’ll be sorry,’ he growled as Eoin, Conor and Killian discussed the ways they would be getting home. ‘If your pathetic schools get into the cup next year I’ll be ruining your season.’

Eoin laughed and wished him all the best. ‘We’ll send you a postcard from London if we solve that mystery for you.’

The Dodder Woods bully had no answer and stormed off to grump at someone else.

Eoin made his farewells and promised to keep in touch with his old and new friends before hopping into the back seat of his dad’s car. His mum had come along too, and she immediately demanded a full blow-by-blow account of the weekend.

Eoin started to explain about the trip to Twickenham, but as he lay back on the seat he found himself drifting away. By the time the car got on to the motorway he was fast asleep.