Day 2: Victory!

Game 1:
Won 15 - 12 v Holland

Our first victory in the tournament and revenge against Holland for defeat in Amsterdam. We were in the early morning time slot of 9am and the cooler conditions seemed to help us out a lot. This was an all round good performance. Our O line mercilessly dealt with the Dutch attempts to set up poaches, running through them at will. The D line were getting turns in every point but initially struggling to convert. At half time we were down 8 - 6 but there was a confident mood in the air. We knew our O line had the beating of their D and would score every point; we knew that our D line would eventually convert all the turns they were getting. At 12 - 10 down the D line finally clicked. 5 straight points followed cueing a massive, jubilant celebration.

Game 2:
Lost 17 - 9 v Belgium

This game had been highlighted as a difficult game. We knew the Belgians and won Talampaya and were here to win a gold medal. For once, we started well and traded until 4 - 4. Tiredness, a very hot sun, increased Belgian pressure started to take its toll at this point. Drops appeared in our game and very quickly we were 8 - 4 down, 9 - 5 at half. We spoke about fighting to stay in this game and everyone was fired up to take the game to Belgium. We couldn't convert that determination into scores though and the Belgians continued pulling away. We fought to the end for every score but never looked in this game. Belgium were very impressive. They played a different defence in nearly every point, were willing to throw themselves around and had a couple of very impressive huckers. Their number 23 threw a succession of unbelievable forehand scores, seeming able to put the disc anywhere he wanted to. They'll be strong contenders for this tournament.

Tomorrow we have Slovakia in a huge game. Belgium and Germany look certain to take the top two spots in the group, leaving ourselves, Poland, Holland and Slovakia to fight out the 3-6 positions. Switzerland seem to be the weak link but we aren't taking anything for granted. Really big game tomorrow, can't wait.