King Penguins Match v Australian Parliament
25th September 2010, Sydney, Australia
Article by John Zimnock
After the Penguins under 55s and over 55s very successful 50th anniversary game at Twickenham Stadium versus The House of Lords and Commons , who were celebrating their 25th anniversary it was decided to form a King Penguins team so that players could continue to enjoy the fellowship of Penguin rugby after their days of playing serious rugby were over.
A fixture was arranged with the Australian Parliament in Sydney, through Andy Turnbull their organiser, the Parliament team being know in typically Australian fashion as The Pollies! This fixture being well in keeping with the HSBC Penguin tradition of tours and travel.
Accordingly the team met in the Oaks Tavern in North Sydney to meet Andy and also meet each other, for in true Penguin fashion our players came from all parts of the globe, Sydney itself, New Zealand, Fiji,England, Wales Scotland,Canada and even a world cup player from Namibia.
The Pollies were in disarray after the recent election and this meant MPs were unavailable because of calls to duty so on game day we faced a lot of players younger than we might have expected.
It was a hard fast running game, hard ground too, and our team contrived to lose in spectacular fashion by a couple of tries.
The King Penguins entertained by grabbing some spectacular scores but also entertained in an unwanted fashion, knock on at the line, even dropping the ball for no reason with no opposition in sight of preventing a try! Truly generous visitors.
The Pollies were good hosts and presentations were made and beers consumed at the pitch side, new friends were made and we look forward to renewing our rivalry on the pitch during the 2013 Lions Tour.
It is hoped the friendship made with the Attorney General for one will help us with any off the pitch meetings with the local constabulary.
Team
Back Row: Campbell Aitken, Doug Signorini, Graeme Ingles, Chris Botha, John Zimnoch (Manager), Sai Nawavu, Dave Gorrie, Keith Wallace, Bungy Williams, Ash Cole, Peter Froggat, Tom Froggat
Front Row: Hamish Tennant, Peter McElhinney, Brett Whiting, Hans Brenninkmeyer, Craig Brown (capt), Mark Love, Peter Gallagher, Alec Calcraft, Luc Evans
Still Warming Up So Missed The Team Photo: Rod Moore
Photos
Andy Turnbull, manager of the Pollies (Australian Parliament Rugby Team) with his wife Sandy, daughter of the 6th President of the Penguins, Sir Peter Yarrington
The fantastic hotel that was laid on for the King Penguins
Sai, how big was that tooth that Keith lost?
Is this proof Fijians exaggerate?
Some of our favourite supporters - Hillary and Mrs G
