Senior decision-makers in Swiss rugby decided that instead of eight different teams trying to play against each other this weekend's tournament would be broken into two parts. The three historically strongest teams Zurich, Lugano and Zug played in one pool while all the other teams played in a separate pool.

As all three teams had a full squad, (Zug with 20 players) it was decided that we would all play with thirteen rather than twelve on the pitch to get more game time for all those who had travelled to Basel.
In the first game, Zug took on Zurich and this weekend Zurich had nineteen players in their match-day squad with all their best players available. On paper, this was going to be a classic, dry weather, a lovely pitch and a senior referee. The first half was a real arm wrestle and in fairness, Zurich were a little unlucky to go into the break with the score tied at 2-2. The Zug squad and coach's halftime team talk was focused on the players upping the tempo and more cleanly executing our strategy. Instantly from the restart the crowd saw an increased effort from Zug in both attack and defence that saw us running out 6-2 winners at the final whistle.

The next match was between Lugano and Zurich and in the early stages Zurich had most of the territory and looked the stronger of the two teams but in the second half, Lugano managed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat and came out as the eventual 5-3 winners.

The last match was a winner takes all event between Zug and Lugano. This season had already seen Zug dispatch Lugano three times in different tournaments but since our last match, they had recruited two “Boray sized” players although not blessed with the same skills. As is always guaranteed with Lugano they brought a higher level of physicality to the game. Rather than shy away from this rougher confrontation the Zug players increased the standards from the Zurich game and comfortably won 6-1.

It is always good to win at these events but certainly, from my perspective, the most satisfying part of Sunday’s matches was the player's response to the halftime talk in the first match against Zurich. We have a number of leaders on the pitch who set high standards for themselves but also drag others with them. The team could have buckled as Zurich were playing the better rugby but instead, they all upped their own game. They took control of the match and didn’t look for excuses.