I’m pleased to report that the ACT Brumbies team took out the inaugural Sevens by the Sea tournament at Newport on Saturday, 27 February.

We Brumbies lasses were undefeated over four pool matches against Sydney Uni, Redfern Legends, Penrith and Hunter. We entered the semis ranked second, falling two points behind Warringah on for-and-against, and this lined us up for a second meeting with Sydney Uni.

We put on a great show and defeated the Students soundly. After a 20 minute break, we headed for the final against Warringah.

What a great game! ACT played Sevens the way it should be played – elusive with the ball, avoiding contact and ripping them up when presented with opportunities, supporting each other, communicating and being patient, accurate and strong in defence. We took the game 33 – nil.

Personally, I was fairly pleased with my day. I had been a little nervous because in my first game back after my last knee reconstruction, I tore the meniscus and was sidelined for another three months. Thankfully, there was no repeat of this calamity.

I had set myself the following aims: to be quick onto any loose ball, to contest the breakdowns where appropriate, and to constantly support the ball carrier. I’m happy with how I went and naturally, there is still plenty to work on for next week.

I was quite pleased that we faced Sydney Uni in our first pool match. Alex, one of my competitors for a backrow position at the Brumbies, was actually playing for them rather than for us. She’s a fearsome competitor and a great challenge for me to face in my first game back. ‘Twas a good game, a good game.

ARU Sticker featuring Berrick Barnes and Alex Hargreaves

As I’ve said, I take a bunch of positives from the day, and have a little list of things to work on, too. I’m heartened at both the determination and skill we showed – it bodes well for our representative season and we can take a heap of confidence from the day.

ACT Women · Brumbies Women · Rugby · sevens

Upon recommencing studies in Science, I’m struck by the human desire to classify; it seems our natural method of organising both data and concepts. I don’t think there is any surprise that Object Oriented Programming has emerged as a dominant programming paradigm because it provides a platform for designers to create classified systems in which members of classes interact in predictable ways. Seems quite a good corollary to biology to me.

This, for me, touches on two other lines of thought. Firstly, it reminds me of both Plato’s Forms and of Kant’s Categories. I’m no expert on these subjects at all, but I do find them highly appealing.

I like the idea that we possess or create abstract concepts and make sense of the world by treating our experiences as concrete instances of these concepts. From watching my children learn, and from observing my own mind, I think these abstract concepts or forms or categories are fluid: they can be adjusted and refined or subclasses can be created as necessary. They provide the framework for learning and for understanding the world.

Secondly, and perhaps more enigmatically, I am drawn again to thinking about the nature of the relation between human thought and reality. C.S. Lewis says that human reason bears a direct correlation with reality – I hope I am paraphrasing correctly. We only understand reality through logical inference, and this applies to knowledge gained through science, but also to general everyday knowledge such as the sun sets in the evening and rises in the morning. We aggregate our experiences and draw conclusions about what is likely – sometimes almost inevitably likely – to occur. Lewis’s conjecture is that the operation of our logic mirrors the operation of reality, and from this our ability to obtain knowledge is derived.

These are mere ruminations – I really ought to spend some time developing a coherent theory for myself on these topics. The results would have big implications for me and I would enjoy it. I really ought to get back to my Biology and Chemistry for the moment, but my heart remains with Epistemology and Metaphysics.

Categories · Forms · philosophy · science

So, here begins my blog at rather an interesting point in my life.

I’m currently on sabbatical – that’s one way of looking at it. In pure fact, I’m taking 12 months or so off to concentrate on playing rugby. Nearly 31 years old and playing rugby for fun: I am indeed in a fortunate position.

But this week is something special. I’m playing rugby for the first time in almost 8 months, returning from a knee reconstruction. Actually, playing for the Brumbies is always special, but I will savour this weekend and intend to provide a decent preview of my mettle!

We’re playing in the Sevens by the Sea tournament, which will be pretty tough – it’s apparently 5 games in the one day. But at least I’ll have a jersey on rather than a water runner’s bib!

No more water running for me!

sevens