that he had an important journey ahead in just a few hours, and he would be foolish to put that and the opportunity it gave him at risk. He wasn’t afraid of any potential danger in the Lubov house, but he didn’t want to take the chance.
He lifted his right hand and waved, and the figure at the window waved back. He looked closer and was sure he saw a blaze of red on the figure’s chest. Fighting his instinct to rush to the house and solve the mystery, he turned his back and jogged back towards home.
C HAPTER 17
U p in his room Eoin looked at his suitcase and wondered what else he should bring. He tossed in the biography of Johnny Sexton, but suspected he wouldn’t get much time to read on the trip. He gathered together his toothbrush and a few bits he would need. Almost as an afterthought he picked up the tiny half rugby ball his grandad had given him. ‘You might bring me luck,’ he said, staring at the odd little item about the size of a lemon before tucking it inside a sock and returning it to his kitbag.
He closed up his bags and lugged them down the stairs to where his mum and dad were waiting. His father would bring him to Dublin, but his mum had an appointment in Ormondstown, which meant she couldn’t come too. She worried about him every time he left home for school or a trip, and told him he needed to catch up on his sleep in the car.
Eoin’s dad let him doze until they neared Dublin, and called him again as they neared Belfield.
‘C’mon, son, you’ll be out playing rugby in half an hour, you’d better get yourself bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.’
Eoin took a swig from a bottle of water and rubbed his eyes. ‘Thanks, Dad, I needed that sleep. Sorry I was such boring company on the way up. I promise I’ll be full of chat on the way home next week.’
His dad laughed and told him he forgave him. He slipped him a few five-pound notes and wished him luck.
‘I’d say the results will be on the website somewhere,’ Eoin said, as he lifted his bags out and slammed the door. ‘I hope I get a game now,’ he grinned as his dad waved goodbye.
The Leinster offices were thronged with dozens of other boys bubbling with excitement, but all were silenced as soon as Ted arrived and raised his hand in the air.
‘Great, I think that’s everyone,’ he said. ‘It’s now half past eleven but your flight is not till six o’clock so I propose we have a little practice match to get you used to playing together. We’ll have another training day before the tournament starts, but we have already decidedthe best approach is to divide you into two teams and reserves. The way the competition works is you will play three sixty-minute games in four days, which is a completely unreasonable workload, I believe. We are going to alternate the teams and see how that goes. The group games and semi-finals are two days apart so we might take another look at the policy if we qualify.
‘Whether you win this tournament or not is irrelevant to me,’ continued Ted. ‘I will, of course, be delighted for you if you do, but the most important thing for me is that you learn from playing with new people, and against people who play in a different way and even speak a different language. It will be exciting to be in such an atmosphere, but I’m sure you don’t need me to explain how you will be expected to behave.’
The players changed into their match gear and jogged out onto the training pitch. Ted’s assistants consulted their clipboards before pointing each player to the left or right where they collected an orange or yellow bib.
Eoin wore orange, as did Charlie. They introduced themselves to those fellow players they didn’t know, before Ted came across to talk to them.
‘OK guys, the plan is for this team to play in the second game in London, and then in the second half of the third game. It may sound a bit stupid, but we wantto give as many people as possible a chance to play. Like I said earlier, winning
He lifted his right hand and waved, and the figure at the window waved back. He looked closer and was sure he saw a blaze of red on the figure’s chest. Fighting his instinct to rush to the house and solve the mystery, he turned his back and jogged back towards home.
C HAPTER 17
U p in his room Eoin looked at his suitcase and wondered what else he should bring. He tossed in the biography of Johnny Sexton, but suspected he wouldn’t get much time to read on the trip. He gathered together his toothbrush and a few bits he would need. Almost as an afterthought he picked up the tiny half rugby ball his grandad had given him. ‘You might bring me luck,’ he said, staring at the odd little item about the size of a lemon before tucking it inside a sock and returning it to his kitbag.
He closed up his bags and lugged them down the stairs to where his mum and dad were waiting. His father would bring him to Dublin, but his mum had an appointment in Ormondstown, which meant she couldn’t come too. She worried about him every time he left home for school or a trip, and told him he needed to catch up on his sleep in the car.
Eoin’s dad let him doze until they neared Dublin, and called him again as they neared Belfield.
‘C’mon, son, you’ll be out playing rugby in half an hour, you’d better get yourself bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.’
Eoin took a swig from a bottle of water and rubbed his eyes. ‘Thanks, Dad, I needed that sleep. Sorry I was such boring company on the way up. I promise I’ll be full of chat on the way home next week.’
His dad laughed and told him he forgave him. He slipped him a few five-pound notes and wished him luck.
‘I’d say the results will be on the website somewhere,’ Eoin said, as he lifted his bags out and slammed the door. ‘I hope I get a game now,’ he grinned as his dad waved goodbye.
The Leinster offices were thronged with dozens of other boys bubbling with excitement, but all were silenced as soon as Ted arrived and raised his hand in the air.
‘Great, I think that’s everyone,’ he said. ‘It’s now half past eleven but your flight is not till six o’clock so I propose we have a little practice match to get you used to playing together. We’ll have another training day before the tournament starts, but we have already decidedthe best approach is to divide you into two teams and reserves. The way the competition works is you will play three sixty-minute games in four days, which is a completely unreasonable workload, I believe. We are going to alternate the teams and see how that goes. The group games and semi-finals are two days apart so we might take another look at the policy if we qualify.
‘Whether you win this tournament or not is irrelevant to me,’ continued Ted. ‘I will, of course, be delighted for you if you do, but the most important thing for me is that you learn from playing with new people, and against people who play in a different way and even speak a different language. It will be exciting to be in such an atmosphere, but I’m sure you don’t need me to explain how you will be expected to behave.’
The players changed into their match gear and jogged out onto the training pitch. Ted’s assistants consulted their clipboards before pointing each player to the left or right where they collected an orange or yellow bib.
Eoin wore orange, as did Charlie. They introduced themselves to those fellow players they didn’t know, before Ted came across to talk to them.
‘OK guys, the plan is for this team to play in the second game in London, and then in the second half of the third game. It may sound a bit stupid, but we wantto give as many people as possible a chance to play. Like I said earlier, winning
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