Blogs • Josh Pemberton (Blog Scholar 2009)

As Dr Clark said in his last blog, the Cameron Shield (sporting competition against Knox) is ours for the year. Despite this, the remaining sporting fixtures against the old foe have not been rendered dead rubbers. In particular, the rugby match between the two colleges has massive significance of it's own. Last year we won Cam but with Knox prevailing in the rugby, which is undeniably the single biggest contest of the year, they still retained some bragging rights over us.

So it was a massive relief on Thursday when our team, after several months of training, claimed a hard-fought victory. We went up 5-0 early in the match after Willy Sams broke the line and put Cam Burns through, and despite shading Knox for most of the match we struggled to put any more points on the board. When Knox scored and converted to go up 7-5 most of us thought the match was over - especially when Willy kicked a dropped goal which the referee disallowed on the basis he hadn't seen it. This was despite the protests of Dr Clark, who had a front on view and was adamant it had gone over.

Eventually we put enought pressure on Knox to work our way up to their line, and eventually Cam snuck over to score the winner. The crowd of Selwyn residents, and a massive number of exies, was almost delirious. It was an awesome victory and much of the credit must go to the coaches, Willie Allan (captain) and Tom English (vice captain). Whichever way the cultural competition ends up going, this match ensured that no Knoxie can taunt me about anything to do with sport for the rest of my time at the College.

This weekend we were visited by a large number of students from College House, a hall of residence at Canterbury University in Christchurch. Like Selwyn, CH is a traditional hall with a long history, and the rivalry and friendship between the two colleges goes back many years. On Saturday we competed for the "Warden's Cup", a prize for the overall winner of contests in soccer, rugby, netball, squash, tennis and basketball. I won't go into detail with the results as CH came out on top overall. Yet it was a fun day and I enjoyed the chance to play in the boy's soccer. Most students including myself fall out of playing organised sport when they go to uni, and having the chance to be coached for a few weeks by ex-Selwnyites and play for the College was pretty awesome.

In addition to the sports events there was also performances of the haka and waiata of both colleges, and a 'hop' or party at the Captain Cook Tavern on Saturday night. As far as I recall a great time was had by all. There is a real link between the halls - most Selwynites have school friends in CH, and in my case there is a strong family connection - three of my cousins have lived at CH in the last ten years, and my dad went there in the 1960s. Our billets left us this morning for a long bus trip home to Christchurch, after a great weekend. In my opinion the sports games were a great excuse for a full-on but fun weekend, which served to further strengthen the bond and friendship between New Zealand's two finest halls of residence.

I'm currently sitting in the main library at university, battling with a philosophy essay which is due in tomorrow. And unfortunately I won't be able to finish it today, because in half an hour the Third Annual OUBPS (Otago University Beer Pong Society) Championships begin. It's an open tournament but about two thirds of contestants will be Selwynites or ex-Selwynites. For the ignorant, the tournament will see 22 teams of two throw thousands of table tennis balls, consume plenty of beer, and offer a whole lot of good banter whilst fighting to get through pool play and hopefully into the complex top-eight play off system, over the next 10 or 11 hours. The bad news for me is that I'm already feeling pretty under the weather after a big night last night and about four hours sleep. A beer pong tournament on the back of a big night in town is like playing a game of football right after an intense three hour training session. However Dunedin has turned on some stunning weather, and with the entire tourny hosted at a Castle St flat it promises to be a great day.

A few weeks back I mentioned that I'd try to put up a link to a clip of this year's ballet at the rugby at Carisbrook. Tracking down a good quality clip is taking some time, but in the meantime here's a link to one of our performances at the Capping Show this year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGZyuvOOUMo