Norway vs. Bulgaria

These were some BIG dudes!

Tim getting his shirt signed by one of the best Norwegian players.

The triumphant Norge team after the game

Mark Knudsen (teacher at ISS) holds Kona after the game. Mark helps coach rugby at ISS and plays on the Stavanger team.

Sergi and Lily play on the computer after our long day at ISS

The Norge team belting out their national anthem before the game.

An injury on the field...one of many but none too serious.


Here's how Rich felt about the second half of the game (there's 2 40 minute halves)

The Norway team congratulates each other on a victory over Bulgaria

The Bulgarian team claps after their national anthem is played.

Warming up before the game.

Excellent ball boy skills performed by Tim Messina!

It's scrum time!

Here's an exercise in total dependency and trust on your teammates!


This man didn't play that day but oversaw the field being painted. He was quite a large fellow. The kind that can wear a skirt (sorry, kilt) confidently and know no one will make any comments)

My very tired puppy...had been at the school since 0845 and the international game started at 1500...She slept through all of it.


The Bulgarian team (blue) and Norwegian team (red) are led in by two local girls with Down's Syndrome.

This Saturday, after Tim's rugby debut, there was a varsity game and then afterwards, an international rugby game. The Norwegian national team took on Bulgaria. Tim was selected to be a ball boy for the game. He was so excited!
The teams walked in together to bagpipe music. They then played the national anthems for each team, with the men singing at the top of their lungs (and not well, I might add, but it seemed quite patriotic to me).
Tim got to keep his t-shirt and had some of the Norwegian players sign it. Norway won by quite a bit, but it was definitely a great match!