Team Diary Saturday 28th March 2009
After a very good evening reception for the SABU 80th birthday celebrations held at Grey College (high school home to many famous South African international rugby players and cricketers – including the late Hansie Cronje), we woke on Saturday morning to return to the more familiar Bloemfontein shooting program; the individual Scottish Sword competition at 300m and 900m in the morning, and the club teams match – the Dewar – in the afternoon at 300m and 600m. It was another anniversary of sorts this day also, as General Mac advised us after morning prayers that it was 30 years ago that the “Tartan Team” of predominantly Scots, but also including some English and Irish shots as well as one Channel Islander, travelled to South Africa during what was euphemistically called “the difficult period” and presented a magnificent sword as a trophy. Two members of that team, Hamish Hunter (Scotland) and Cliff Mallet (Channel Islands) were on the range, and received a well-deserved spontaneous round of applause.
To most of the team, the ten shots to count at 300m, the first range of the day, were perfectly straightforward although there were some sneaky wind changes that were enough to move the unwary into the inner. However, Mary Boston and the Irish shooter with whom she was paired, proceeded to fire 15 rounds to count, egged on by the fact that the register cards had 15 scoring spaces. She is already resigned to winning the “Mug of the Day” hat, although – believe it or not – there are some other challengers (see below). Moving back to 900m, the wind was its usual self again, the first detail experiencing 1½ to 8 right and the second detail, a stronger breeze but with a similar bracket. Matt Ensor mastered the conditions on the first detail to score a hardearned 50 to record the only 100 full score of the morning. His delight was palpable (see photos) as it was his first individual trophy win at a major meeting. Jon Underwood and Parag Patel both had high V 99’s to come 2nd and 3rd respectively, giving the team a 1-2-3 clean sweep of the medals.
We repaired to one of the shelters, where the captain lead the sandwich making party of Mary and Jane, as the usual “tiffin-wallah” – Parag Patel – was plying his other considerable skill on the second detail. When he and the others returned, we were regaled with several interesting “Holly-isms” – “Why does water go down the plug hole the other way south of the equator? Is it because the taps are on different sides of the basin?!” “How do rockets refuel in space? I suppose that’s what the space station is for”. Her claim to want to be an Astrophysicist if she can’t make it as a lawyer, clearly caught the eye of the “Mug of the Day” nominating committee!
After lunch, we began at 300m in the Dewar, but this was not without some controversy, as two of our four nominated teams (BCRC and English XX) were disqualified as a result of a ruling by SABU after last year, that a “club of Internationals” could only shoot alongside in a club match of this type. Cynics have already suggested that ICFRA will soon be in session to write a rule as to when a rifle club is, or is not, a rifle club. This was a pity given that we had not been advised beforehand, but our 2 other teams (OCRA and Surrey RA) were able to uphold the team’s honour, although OCRA had to rely on the appearance of Tim Clarke to make up the requisite numbers. This team started brightly enough, dropping only 3 points at 300m (including a “not so special” magpie), but rather fell away at 600m in the strong-ish 4 minute average right wind. Full results were not available at the time of writing.
With the prospect of no shooting on Sunday, and with the captain away for a 1993 GBRT to Africa reunion with Stephen and Jane, the rest of the team went out in various groups to paint the town different hues of red. The “Elder Statesmen” were satisfied with a fine steak and some decent red wine, while the youngsters settled for copious shots of a local cocktail (a “Springbok” – Crème de Menthe and Amarula!) and a journey through the bars and clubs of Bloemfontein with members of the other home nation teams. The stragglers were seen – and heard! – at 3.30am in the pool after what was unanimously felt to be “a good evening”.
Scottish Sword (2 & 10 @ 300m & 500m)
- Matt Ensor (England) 100.10
- Jon Underwood (England) 99.12
- Parag Patel (England) 99.9