The past week.

Hey again, so much has happened over the last week. Here we go....


We had our first proper 8o minutes against the current Super 10 champions Padova.  The first half was a pretty one sided affair with their pack dominating in the mauls and before we knew it we were 2 scores down. Just before the break we managed our first sustained attack and we scored a great first try through our new Kiwi powerhouse Cameron Eyre. His celebration of throwing the ball in the air and shooting it was very Kiwi but I loved it.  After i slotted my first kick from the right hand touchline I thought to myself maybe I should get myself a celebration but then I remembered I am English and that just wouldn't look as cool.

So the game finished 19-7 to Padova but we definitely should have been in with winning as we created so many chances but just couldn't finish. But we will take the positives from the game and improve for next Friday's match against the famous Italian team Calvisano. That one should be a big hitting encounter. There is definitely a common theme with some Italian teams which is to pick the biggest mutants you can find and just bend over and push. They definitely eat plenty of Pizza.

As for the food it's true what they say that the Italians do some of the best food in the world. I can confirm that Pizza and Ice Cream are the best two I have tasted. A description of the Italians is they love Carbs on Carbs. An example of this can be seen in some restaurants that serve Chips on Pizza. I'm yet to try that one but it does look pretty good.

The location of Mogliano is brilliant. 10 mins from Treviso, the airport and also Venice make it great for little day trips. This week I hit up Treviso for a little coffee trip, then Venice for an evening dinner which was amazing. The city of Venice is manic during the day but in the evening it is even more beautiful. Hardly anyone there and the water is lit up which looks pretty breathtaking.

Treviso for coffee. The square is beautiful and the coffee even better.

Venice at night time. Loving the chaved up boat with the blue neon on. Looks a bit like my famous Peugeot 205....

The pic above is the wonderful Italian fashion. A shiny puffa jacket is a must if you want to fit in. Think I'll need a bit more persuading before i buy one of these....

So after the game against Padova we went out to a place called Home Rock Bar where we tried the local beverages. I was missing good old England so I ordered a Vodka Red bull and I'm not exaggerating I needed literally a 1/4 of a can of Red Bull as the shot's they give you are massive so after 3 of these i was well on my way and as you can see below when you have a few vodka tonics you do some silly things.

Sunday is our rest day and we did just that. Myself and Anna plus 3 other foreigners ( Mark, Bubba and Meyer) took a road trip to Jesolo where we hit the beach. Meyer obviously didn't check his towel before he left. I think he though by bringing a t towel he would be better off?????

We were definitely the 5 most ghost like figures on the beach but we didn't care. Proud to be white and foreign. The weather has been immense and I hope this doesn't mean that there going to have a brutal winter. Could get used to this weather.

Sunday night I got back to a bit of English reality and uploaded another load of Matt Hampson Foundation items onto eBay. To check out the items of player issue kit please click here. Some great bargains to be had and keep looking back this week as there is going to be some World Cup specials.

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/thematthampsonfoundation


Thinks that's all. Big week's training ahead now. Calvisano will be a battle but hopefully one we can win in preparation for the start of the Super 10 season the week after against Lazio.

Ciao ciao,

MC.