Agen crushed, 65-22.

Early in the season we were able to take down the highly competitive Biarritz Club that resides in the Basque country of France. It was a great game to play in, scoring my first try in Top 14 competition. Morever, the victory came over my USA teammate, Takudza Ngwenya, who is not only an amazing player, but stand up person as well. In this match we both played right wing, in other words, not against each other.

Thirteen games later we met again, however, this time we were playing against one another. Whether it was because I know how good of a player he is, or because I haven't played many games for Agen over the past two months, I was highly anxious, a little intimidated and super focused before the match.

Unfortunately, these emotions were short-lived as it was the worst performance of the season for Agen. We were beat everywhere on the field, left, right and center. Our narrow margin of victory 4 months ago felt amazing, but I couldn't imagine how a 40 point victory felt for them. They put up 10 tries to 3, in a 65-22 victory (Taku had 2 of those). 

Last post a reader asked what it's like playing against some of the best players in the world...well let me tell you. The concentration level for a match like this is already at ridiculously high levels, but now you have to focus on a single player as well. You have to do your role, and know where he is at all times. His first touch was an explosive run in which he ran one player over and continued while another three more finally took him down. His first try came when the Biarritz scrumhalf gave a great dummy to get through and with only the cover defense to beat, he passed to Taku; who with still much to finish, raced past one, handed off our big number 8, then ran past another to finish the try. Playing against a player like this is terrifying, yet exhilirating. I find I play my best rugby when it's against the best players. Your courage overcomes fear, which in turn gives you confidence. However, this time around I never had the opportunity to prove it and in a situation like this you can only say "job well done," and hope that next time it's a better challenge.

Next 2 weeks are Amlin Cup Matches, and then we have an all important game at home vs. Bourgoin.