Some best days are the direct result of hard work, as Colonel Ants Howie writes.
During the lunch break, the First XV forwards used to practise their lineouts and I used to act as halfback. It was thrilling stuff helping our First XV heroes.
My aim in life at this rugby-mad school was to make the First XV. I became a student of the game, applying reading and research to a level not matched by my academic studies. My bible before rugby trials was the book Fred Allen on Rugby; it was inspirational. And of course I played the game through the grades, making 5A, then 4A, then skipped a grade and into 2A, on to 1A (Second XV) in my sixth form, and I toured with the First XV but I was not a real member of it.
In my last year, the First XV trial teams were posted on the noticeboard, probables v possibles. A new guy had arrived at school in the seventh form, a South African and loose forward vying for my position. My preparation for that trial was olympicesque: fitness training twice a day including sprint training, tackle bags, skills training (kicking with both feet), and rugby studies in the library. It was heavy stuff but absolutely necessary to be in the zone on the day.
The Wednesday trial came, for which I had a new pair of adidas boots, rare then, that my uncle had brought back from overseas. The stage was set. Coach Fr Peter (Snake) Blake offered a few terse words on what he expected to see, and the whistle blew. I played well, I thought, mainly because I was very fit. I recall tackling a lot (Fred Allen's mantra was ''tackle, tackle, tackle''). I can still remember to this day seeing the First XV being posted on the noticeboard that evening, names typed in red, and I had made it.
I am starting to perspire slightly as I write this story some 40 years later. It was such an important event at the time and our team that year was one of the most successful that ''Stream'' has fielded. It was one of the best days of my life.
- Dunedin soldier Col Ants Howie is a senior military adviser to the United Nations, Somalia (Unsom). He has recently signed on for a further year in Somalia, as the international community works to restore peace and security.
Tell us about your best day. Write to odt.features@odt.co.nz. We ask correspondents not to nominate weddings or births; of course they were the best days.
