We lost a tough battle to the Russians last night 17-15.  The boys fought hard to come back from a 17-10 deficit with Tye Hamblin scoring a late try in injury time.  Within the first 10 minutes we lost two key players to injury.  After reviewing film, both injuries occurred from malicious tackles with what appeared to be intent to injure.  At least one of the Russian players is being reviewed and cited for purposely grabbing one of our player's ankles and gator rolling well past the play.  I cannot make excuses for the loss; I can only say that our guys played with their hearts on their sleeves.  There were some hellacious hits from our boys and many dominating scrums, but in the end we could not pull it off.  As it stands, there are five teams that still have a shot at winning this tournament (including Canada).  We play Japan in three days and it is a must win for us to move forward.  Japan is one of the top teams in the tournament and is noted for their tenacious and disciplined play.  At this level, all teams play with a big heart and pride, but discipline will be a key in big games.  The ability to both avoid penalties and capitalize on them when they are in your favour is what will separate the top teams. 

      The coaches have decided to give the guys a bit of a rest day today to focus on recovery and film sessions.  This late in the tournament is where our therapy/hydro sessions and activation sessions are most important.  There is the culmination of over thirty training sessions and two games that will require this sort of attention.  Our hydro sessions are somewhat limited as we are forced to take a fifteen minute bus ride to the venue and we must share the pool with all eight teams.  The activation sessions are meant to re-activate the major areas of the body that take a beating during play and to help stretch and roll or trigger point tight and banged up muscles to aid in recovery.  At this level of play and with the culmination of training sessions and games, we must take every step possible to recover (at this point, I'm willing to bet there is no one in the tournament that feels 100%). Generally, when the body takes abuse to the joints in contact sports the stabilizers shut down and the major muscles surrounding the joint get tight.  It is our body's nature to protect the injured joint by tightening the surrounding muscles to limit movement to the said joint.  If you take the knee for example; suppose one of the supporting ligaments gets injured, it is not uncommon for the quads, hamstrings and calves to get tight to lock down the joint.  If you have ever been to physio before, you know that the first step is usually attempting to get the swelling out of the joint, followed by gaining range of motion and getting the stabilizers to fire.  I am pretty sure all of us have sprained an ankle at some point and can remember part of your rehab is to stand on the injured leg and balance.  It is the same principle, get the range of motion back and get the stabilizers firing again to speed up recovery.  Our activation sessions will generally include working on the major areas that get banged up and need work (shoulders, torso, hips, knees and ankles).  Even if I am wrong on this, I have to say that the guys all feel better after and it is a great way to keep up morale and team bonding.  Because the hotel we are staying at cannot provide us with a team room, we are forced to line up in the hallway and do our work there (pics are on my facebook page).  And because everyone is unhappy at this hotel (staff), they have told us we are not allowed to do this anymore.  I deem this important for the guys, so we are still doing it, just on an individual basis and in small groups in the hallway of the 12^th floor.  Our therapist-Ben Suen has been working around the clock with these guys to get them feeling better and is still (as always) doing a great job working on them from morning to night. 

Enough about Rugby, here are some more fun facts about our trip!

• We went to the biggest mall in Europe today.  It reminded me of the underground shops in Japan.  Millions of stores that I have no desire to go into.
• I took about 20 plus photos of man purses at the mall before my camera battery died.  I think I walked by 2 or 3 stores dedicated to the "murse".
• I asked Sue (our awesome interpreter) what these guys could possibly be carrying in these bags.  I have a wallet and a pack of gum, should I get one?
• Man purses come in many shapes and sizes.  If I were to ever get one, I think I would like the one that goes over my shoulder so I could keep my hands free to do other things.
• Hedgehog must be a breakfast and lunch meat only because it never seems to show up on the dinner menu.
• I know I have ripped on the Russians not appearing happy, But our crazy bus driver, Sue and few others that we have gotten to know are amazing.  I am guessing it is a bit of a front from the Soviet era and it just takes a little time to get them comfortable with you.
• I have not tried the Vodka yet, but there is no shortage of it here.  You can go into any store and see over 50 varieties of it.  Most of which I am guessing taste like pure fire.
• It has been great to see so many parents have made the trek here to support their kids.  We have about 7 or 8 sets of parents that have come here to show the Canadian colours.
• I met a guy in the elevator today from Chicago.  We exchanged pleasantries and I found out he has come to Moscow "just for fun".  I asked him if he was sure he was in the right place.
• Our ability to get adequate nutrition is affecting performance.  I joke about the hedgehog, but just the smell of the dining hall makes me gag.  I walked into a bathroom after dinner the other night with Murd and he bee lined it to toilet to dry heave.  If the coaches feel this crappy, the boys are surely hurting.  We have tried daily to get a change with the food, but nothing will happen.  This is always one of the toughest things to battle in a foreign country.
• Peanut butter, Nutella and Bolognese sauce are our new staples at every meal.  We laughed when we saw the Japanese bringing in soy sauce and nori.  Now we feel their pain.
• The entire team headed straight to the food fair to get some recognizable food.  Normally I would not allow them to eat fast food, but given the circumstances, it was needed for their mental health!
• The hearts that appear on the toilet paper in the room are a constant reminder of how bad the food really is.  It is like an executioner smiling just before he chops your head off.

      I will keep you updated every few days as always. In the meantime, feel free to check out my newest photos on my facebook page.  We are all in good spirits and making light of the given situations.  I'm off to our film session.

Yours in Strength,

Joe McCullum