Greens in Argentina - Part 7
Wednesday's a rugby day (or evening to be correct).
The bus was secheduled to leave for La Plata rugby Club at 4.30pm which left the majority of the sunlight hours available for shopping. The 'Tomorrow' and 'Fantasy' Landers were quick to seize the opportunity, travelling to various parts of the city for some retail therapy, the majority of the 'Adventure Islanders' however were still paying penance for their nocturnal lifestyle, many not surfacing until the sun was well past the yard arm.
We had our first encounter with the dark side of this vibrant and bustling city around midday when Abdullah had his wallet pick-pocketed whilst shopping up at Florida. The standard dress precautions such as carrying valuables in your front pockets, nothing in the back pockets etc had been taken - all to no avail. A heavy downpour of rain had pushed everyone to the sides of this fairly narrow shopping strip with the thief capitalising on the close quarter jostling to make the undetected snatch. The heist was reported to the police, a report made out (in Spanish) and credits cards etc stopped - the loss was confined to cash.
Rafa Carracas would have been a prime suspect in the theft if he hadn't been embedded on our tour. Rafa was overheard to say that he hopes that the police can track down the culprit as he (Rafa)would like to meet him / her and discuss employment opportunities with his 'Done and Dusted Strip Club' venture.
The tour group meets and boards the bus for the 4.30pm departure. We travel south for a little over an hour before reaching the La Plata Rugby Club which resembles a cross between a desert oasis and a tropical island. The complex has eleven rugby grounds (seven regulation and four that are much smaller for kids mini-rugby.
The La Plata players are warming up for our contest by doing the 'beep' test whilst our players make theirway to get changed. Most of the MCRC players had swapped their jerseys at the conclusion of the Tandil Sevens - the green jumper having appreciated significantly in value following the boys win in the Plate final. The MCRC "Baa Baa's" would be on show today.
The on field activities start with some skills drills - the La Plata players joining in having suspended their 'beep' assessments. A game of touch rugby is then organised to further increase the intensity before a game of 15 a-side gets underway. The game is played in good spirit with the La Plata side showing no signs of fatigue from thier electronically based warm-up, the Greens however are down a bit on energy following thier not so ideal preparation for the contest. La Plata prevails four tries to nil.
The MCRC Baa Baa's return to their room to lick their wounds and shower. The La Plata side returns to their training paddock to resume their 'beep' testing. Seems our presence had provided a contact element in their pre-season prepartions.
We are directed to a large room adjacent to the main clubhouse for a BBQ and drinks. Both are plentiful with some rating the BBQ fare the best on tour yet. It would be very wrong to compare and judge what were have been served whilst in Argentina however given the kindness and hospitality that we have been treated to everywhere that we have ventured -(Abdullah's Florida Ave experience excepted).
We split ourselves up during the seating arrangements so that we can talk to the La Plata players and officials. Rafa Carracas is seated next to a player who plays anywhere in the front row or at number eight. The player casually mentions that he plays for an Argentinian national side and that he would like to come to Australia and play. Rafa reaches for a raw meat soiled napkin for the player to sign - not as an autograph but as an impromptu contract which permits Rafa to act as the players sole agent. The player signs the red saturated piece of paper thinking it is some kind of strange momento that Rafa is collecting.
The player then moves away and joins his team mates. Rafa says to me that "I've got his signature and I get a 30% cut of whatever he brings in". I explain to Rafa that the 'contract' is not enforceable as it has no name, no terms or conditions, no value or no witnesses -in fact, it's a blank piece of by now dripping with juice paper and any writing is totally indistiguishable. "Doesn't matter" says Rafa, "You can't deny that it is signed in blood - I'll add the details later" he further contends. The sodden piece of serviette is later found in pieces in the toilet having disintegrated before it could be registered.
We return to Buenos Aires at around midnight.
Hogar San Pablo Orphange Hands on Humanity Project tomorrow - we are all looking forward to seeing the kids faces when we unload the boots.
More to come....
Correspondent D' Internationale.