Sorry – I had technical problems and missed most of the match. Seemed like it was going to be a good one though…
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Final Score: Cheetahs 24 – 26 Lions Watching the Lions of Saturday gave me an unpleasant sense of Déjà vu. There have been so many times in the last season watching Bath (or listening on the radio) when they squandered a strong lead. When the Lions were 20 – 0 up, I thought that this was going to be another convincing victory. Somehow, however, they managed to get themselves turned over at the breakdown far too often and only won the game by the width of a goal post. With only minutes to go, the Cheetahs fly half attempted a drop goal which would have won them the game. It missed, but only narrowly, and the Lions were saved their blushes… Final Score: Golden Lions 10-74 Lions We must now rethink the possible cause of saturday’s weak performance. Perhaps it was the altitude or maybe it was simply that the combinations didn’t work. What is much harder, in the light of last night’s Lions game, is too suggest it was simply lack of cohesion or ‘gelling’ that would come with time. The British & Irish Lions team that played last night, and thumped a poor Golden Lions side, had little or no more reason to ‘gel’ than the team who played on Saturday. But they were superb. Some will suggest that the opponents were too weak to expect anything – but you can only play what is in front of you and the Lions played well for 80 minutes. They even finished the game with 14 men after Ugo Monye (who had a, largely, suberb game) went of injured at 70 minutes. It certainly is true that the Golden Lions didn’t really offer very much; as it is also true that the Royal XV played with a lot of heart. But the Lions (B & I) linked extremely well, offloaded well, tackled well and simply dominated in very way. It’s far from a reason to think we’ll win the test series, but it may mean we get a clearer idea of the test side a bit earlier than expected. That can only help. A little while ago, I was in a car with some very dear male friends and I overheard one of them, in the context of a discussion of men and worship, say that he didn’t think love or intimacy were particularly male attributes. At the time I was shocked and, I must admit, a little angry. Thankfully I was far too tired to have made any comment. This particular event started me on a train of thought on masculinity and, in particular, biblical masculinity which has led me to this post. I suspect it will be the first of many posts on the subject as I do not yet think I have reached many firm conclusions. Except to say that not only do I think that both love and intimacy are masculine traits, but I think that one of the things that the church is perhaps lacking these days is men who are passionate about intimacy with Jesus and about loving him. David was a man of passion, love and intimacy for God. He was also a “man’s man”. Even with the most basic definition of that as someone who could quite happily beat us all in a fight. I do see a couple of reasons why some men might find struggle with this. First of all, we refer to Jesus, appropriately enough, in the masculine. This can lead to, as I heard someone say recently, “Jesus is my Boyfriend” type songs and situations. Many men in today’s Christian culture find the idea of relating to another man in any way other than friendship uncomfortable. There are plenty of guys who are willing to say “I love Jesus”, but there seem to be far less who will exuberantly show that they mean it in worship. Don’t misunderstand me – I’m not particularly a fan of leaping around like a crazed thing; nor for the trend of wanting to be undignified for it’s own sake, as if that was a virtue. But I do have enourmous respect for men who can be passionate in worship. For some that will mean dancing, but equally it can be seen simply shining from the faces of other men. The second problem is one of newer Christians or non-Christians. These men will be coming from a view of masculinity that is entirely based upon their culture. This will include many valid ideas – but will also include some ideas that actually make it difficult for some men to really enter in to a church community and worship. I’m not sure what the answer to this is, except that I’m certain that toning down our own passion isn’t it. As I say, I suspect this will be an ongoing source of subject matter for me and I’d love to hear any comments whether they agree or disagree. I think this is an important subject that it not talked about enough. Any suggestions for resources in the further study of this would also be very welcome. Final Score Royal XV 25 – 37 Lions Many will claim that the Lions were lucky to have won their first match, but that’s not the way I saw it. The first 30 minutes aside, I thought the Lions were clearly the better team. The problem was that their accuracy was poor – which isn’t entirely a shock for the first game of the tour. Some of these players haven’t played for a little while and most of the combinations were brand new. The first half was dissapointing and the Royal XV deserved to go in at the break with an 18-10 lead. The Lions did rally at the end of the half, however, to secure a well finished try through Irishman Tommy Bowe. In the second half the Lions scored three excellent tries; although they would have been dissapointed not to have scored at least two more. There were plenty of opportunities, which displayed their ascendancy, but the accuracy was simply not there and cost them the chance of finishing those chances. Lee Byrne came out with his reputation in tact – possibly even enhanced after a suberb solo effort try. Jamie Roberts also did well, and I was pleased to see Riki Flutey looking dangerous. Plenty to improve on, but not as bad as many will suggest. The rest of this tour is starting look very tasty… It was also a delight to see a return to the much missed maul. It begins! Lions team v Royal XV: Lee Byrne (Ospreys/Wales), Tommy Bowe (Ospreys/Ireland), Keith Earls (Munster/Ireland), Jamie Roberts (Cardiff Blues/Wales), Shane Williams (Ospreys/Wales); Ronan O’Gara (Munster/Ireland), Mike Blair (Edinburgh/Scotland); Andrew Sheridan (Sales Sharks/England), Matthew Rees (Scarlets/Wales), Adam Jones (Ospreys/Wales), Simon Shaw (London Wasps/England), Paul O’Connell (Munster/Ireland – captain), Joe Worsley (London Wasps/England), Martyn Williams (Cardiff Blues/Wales), Andy Powell (Cardiff Blues/Wales). Courtesy of BBC Rugby Union. Looking forward to a first tour win! I just downloaded Skyfire – which is a new browser for windows mobile 5/6. I’d previously been using the beta version of Opera; which was annoyingly buggy. I’ve only been playing with Skyfire for a few minutes – but I’m already impressed. It’s fast and, so far, hasn’t given me any problems. The user interface looks good and the fact that’s it’s named after one of the best transformers doesn’t hurt! It’s free and you can get it from getSkyfire.com Last week I listened to a sermon by John Piper called What Is the Recession For?. I was exceedingly challenged by some of the things he said, not just in terms of the recession and any present financial difficulties, but also from the point of view of general suffering and troubles. Life for me and my family is quite challenging at the moment. I have various health problems, which seem to be increasingly serious, and am finding work very stressful at present. As a result, I often find myself crying out to God for healing and/or a change in my job situation. One of the things that God particularly impressed on me, while listening to John Piper speaking, was that I also need to use this time as an opportunity to seek God. In fact that’s actually what really matters at this time. Don’t misunderstand me – praying about my job and health are good things and I will certainly consider doing so! But, if they, are the focus of all my praying, they may reveal that my identity or idols are in my health or job. What I need more than anything is to know Jesus more; to hear his voice more. If I have that then the rest doesn’t matter half so much. If I was to have the best health I’ve ever had, but not know Jesus; then I’ve settled for second best. Similarly with my job situation. In fact,if it was a straight choice between knowing Jesus more and having great health; If I could only have one or the other then I would be extremely foolish to prioritise my health. Even though that would help at work and would also make life at home much easier. As I say, that doesn’t mean I won’t pray about my job or my health. It does, however, mean that my praying needs to reflect knowing Jesus, hearing his voice and enjoying his precence as my highest priority. So here it is – my new blog RedFruit. Actually – it’s my second attempt at the RedFruit blog. The first attempt was lost a few years ago but some of it can still be found via the Internet Archive. My main reason for this blog is to write about things that God has been speaking to me or challenging me about. I think that writing them down will help me to clarify my thoughts. It may be that they are also of interest or help to others. If that’s the case then that’s brilliant but, if not, then I’m sure I’ll still find it useful. It’s also very likely that I’ll post about the other passions in my life: my family, church, music, films and rugby. In fact, with the British & Irish Lions tour starting this weekend, there’s a good chance there’ll be a few rugby posts soon. Anyway – welcome to RedFruit. Coming soon… |
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