A MAGYAR RÖGBI FOTÓ- DOKUMENTUM ÉS VIDEÓ GYŰJTEMÉNYE
Mark O'Driscoll - IS Budapest
a képekre kattintva azok nagyobb és letölthető teljes változata jelenik meg

My personal rugby life - magánvonatkozású rögbis életpályám:
I first played Rugby at Alexander Mackie Teachers college in the 1970s. Először a hetvenes években rögbiztem az Alexander Mackie Tanárképzőn.
Then I played for Condobolin, in their inaugural year in the 70s maybe 76 or 77. Majd a Condobelinben játszottam, indulásukkor a hetvenes években, talán 76 vagy 77-ben.
Back in Sydney, I played for the Old Teachers club and South Sydney. Mikor visszatértem Dydney-be, az Old Teachers klubban és a Dél-Sydney-ben játszottam.
While there, I got to play 7s I remember well the tournament at Warringah.
Ottartozkodásom során hetes rögbit is játszottam, emlékszem jól egy tornára a Warringah-nál.
Through touch football I met players at Blakehurst and joined their team.
Érintéses rögbi révén ismerkedtem meg játékosokkal a Blakehurst-től, csatlakoztam is hozzájuk.
It was the best club I played for and we played in the old St George sub district group. Ez volt a legjobb klub, ahol játszottam, az Old St. George kerület alsó osztályában szerepeltünk.
I coached their juniors at two National championships, one in Victoria and one in NSW. A juniorokat itt két országos bajnokságban edzettem, az egyik a Victoria-ában, a másik Új-Dél-Welszben volt.


I played for Blakehurst - in the early 1980s. Mark a Blakehurst-ben - Forrás: M. O'Driscoll

I guess it was the late 80s I played for Petersham one of the oldest clubs in Australia. Azt hiszem a nyolcvanas évek végén játszottam Petrsham-ben, az egyik legrégebbi ausztrál klubban.
Before I came to Hungary I had met a great group of guys - The Casino Crocodiles northern NSW. Mielőtt Magyarországra jöttem volna, összejöttem egy kiváló társasággal, a Casino Crocodiles-szal Új-Dél Welsz északi részén.
My last foray into things Rugby was manager for my son's high school, Armidale High. Utolsó portyám a rögbi mezőin fiam középiskolájának az Armidale Középiskolának a vezetése volt.


Hungary:
We left Casino in northern New South Wales to take up teaching positions at the International School in Budapest in August 1995. 1995. augusztusában elköltöztünk az Új-Dél Welsz északi részén lévő Casino-ból, hogy elkezdhessek tanítani a Budapesti Nemzetközi Iskolában (ISB).
With me was my wife Gail my daughter Shannon (5 years old) and my son Brendan (2 years old). Velem jött feleségem, Gail, az akkor 5 éves lányom Shannon és a 2 éves fiam Brendon.
A friend of mine from Sydney, John Paduano was the headmaster at ISB. He was playing with Exiles. He took me to training. I guess he told the Exiles I'd coached before and when their South African trainer returned home I took over for the 1996 season.
Egyik sidney-i barátom volt az ISB igazgatója. John Paduano az Exiles-nél játszott. Ő vitt le edzésre. Azt hiszem megemlítette nekik, hogy korábban edzősködtem, így amikor a dél-afrikai edzőjük távozott, én vettem át a csapatot az 1996-os évadra.
We had a reasonable season and finished runners up in the Hungarian cup to the Elephants. Egész jó évadunk sikeredett, a Magyar Kupában a döntőbe kerültünk, az Elefántokkal játszottunk.

During that season I met Gyula Magyarovics who was president of the HRU.
Abban az idényben ismerkedtem meg Magyarovics Gyulával, a Magyar Rögbi Szövetség elnökével.
I also met Ispanne Ria who handled the daily running of the Federation as its secretary. Rolf Stub from the Exiles took me to meet Ria and we agreed to help the HRU improve. I went to meetings of the HRU and it was proposed that I accept the position of National coach. The vote was taken and I became National Coach and Federation captain.
Ugyancsak megismerkedtem Ispánné Riával, aki főtitkárként a Szövetség napi ügyeit vitte. Az exile-es Rolf Stub vitt el Riához és megegyeztünk, hogy segíteni fogom a magyar rögbi fejlődését. Részt vettem a Szövetség több ülésén és az a javaslat született, hogy fogadjam el a szövetségi edzői kinevezést. Megszavazták és így lettem szövetségi edző és szövetségi kapitány egyben.

I was made aware that there would be 7s tournament to be held in Lisbon, Portugal that summer and that even though there hadn't been regular 7s games at that time in Hungary, it was decided by the Federation to send a team. Kormoczi Bela one of the Federation leaders organized trials to select the team at a trial in Kecskemet. I was invited to select a team.
Tudtam, hogy lesz hetes rögbi torna a portugáliai Liszabonban azon a nyáron és habár akkoriban nem volt a hetes rögbi elterjedve Magyarországon, a Magyar Rögbi Szövetség úgy döntött, hogy küld csapatot. Az egyik szövetségi vezető, Körmöczi Béla szervezte meg a válogatót Kecskeméten. Engem hívtak meg a keret összeállítására.

I do remember some of the players selected. Gabor Makai, Attila Novak and Kiss Balazs from Kecskemet, Feher Miki, Bartok Gyuri, Ivanfi Gyuri from the Elephants, James Donaldson from the Exiles, Molnar Janos, Kiss Peter from Esztergom and Kardos Attila from Miscolc. Pardon the spelling.
Emlékszem néhány beválogatott játékosra. Makai Gáborra, Novák Attilára és Kiss Balázsra Kecskemétről, Fehér Mikire, Bartók Gyurira és Ivánfi Gyurira az Elefántoktól, James Donaldsonra az Exiles-től, Molnár Jánosra és Kiss Péterre Esztergomból és Kardos Attilára Miskolcból. Elnézést a hibás betűzésért!

I think we had just a few training runs maybe at Csilleberc. It was a great tournament and along with Zoltan Adamik who was my assistant as a team we bonded very well.
Azt hiszem, csak néhány edzésünk volt Csillebércen. nagyszerű torna volt, és segítőmmel, Adamik Zoltánnal sikerült jól összeszoktatni a társaságot.
Our lack of experience was counteracted by a great team spirit and our enthusiasm and fitness.
Tapasztalathiányunkat nagyszerű csapatszellemmel, jó állóképességünkkel és erőnléttel ellensúlyoztuk.
Some of my Exile friends were disappointed not to be selected but as I was the Federation Captain I believed it was my duty to select a young team we could develop into a good, competitive squad.
Akadtak olyan exiles-es ismerősöm, akit bántott, hogy nem válogattam be őket, de Szövetségi Kapitányként hittem abban, hogy kötelességem fiatal csapatot összeállítani, amiből versenyképes jó csapatot tudunk építeni.

Playing teams like the All Blacks and Ireland would be a massive test but we really held our heads high. There were several high points, but to me the disallowed try to Feher Miki against New Zealand was one, the try saving tackle of Gabor Making on the New Zealand winger was another.
The crowds in the grandstand stood to applaud that tackle by Gabor. He chased that winger the length of the field and caught him just before the try line. Pretty amazing for a backrower to catch a winger.
Az olyan csapatokkal megmérkőzés, mint az új-zélandi vagy az ír igen magasra tette a mércét, de felemelt fejjel játszottunk. És voltak gyönyörű pillanatok, számomra legszebb Fehér Miki meg nem adott célja vagy Makai Gábor szerelése az új-zélandi szélső ellen volt, mely céltól óvott meg minket.
James Donaldson did exactly the same thing against Ireland. Legendary Irish fly half threw a dummy and took off.
James caught him within 20 meters. If James had not have caught him it would have been a try.
It went to show that selecting younger, athletic players was the right move.
James Donaldson-nál is ez történt pontosan az írek ellen. A legendás ír 10-es bemutatott egy álpasszt, majd megindult. James 20 méteren belül elkapta. Ha nem sikerült volna megfognia, cél lett volna. Ez is megmutatta, hogy a fiatal, jó felépítésű játékoosk beválogatása helyes irány volt.

After Lisbon in 1996 the owner of ISB, David Ericsson approached me about organising a team to play in the Hungarian League for 1997 onwards. As our school charter promoted the idea of supporting local Budapest/ Hungarian initiatives e.g. the Peto Institute, David suggested we form a team that would support sporting, cultural and charitable initiatives.
Az 1996-os liszaboni szereplést követően az ISB tulajdonosa, David Ericsson megkeresett azzal, hogy szervezzek egy csapatot, mely benevezne a magyar bajnokságba 1997-től kezdődően. Mivel iskolánk alapokmánya tartalmazta azt az iránylevet, hogy támogassuk a helyi budapesti és magyar kezdeményezéseket, mint pl. a Pető Intézetet, David azt ajánlotta, hogy olyan csapatot alapítsunk, mely sport-, kultúrális- és jótékonysági megmozdulásokkal is foglalkozik.
David was able to organise a ground to play and train on at Csilleberc. He sponsored the kit. Rugby polos in red, white and green and shorts with the IS logo and socks.
That summer we organised an international 7s carnival at Csilleberc with club teams from Hungary and Europe. Our team IS Bears (so named after the North Sydney Bears R.L. team) finished runners up to the Fijian team made up of UN peacekeepers. A walkathon was held from the school to raise funds for the Peto institute. A Hungarian Barbarians match was played against English 15s divisional side Somerset as a finale to the weekend's activities at Csilleberc.
Dávid meg tudta szerezni az edzésekhez és a meccsekre a Csillebérci pályát. Ő biztosította a felszerelést. Piros-fehér-zöld mezek, nadrág és lábszárvédő IS logóval.
Azon a nyáron sikeresen megszerveztünk egy magyar és európai csapatok részvételével zajlott hetes rögbi fesztivált Csillebércen. Csapatunk, az IS Medvék - mely nevét az ausztrál North Sidney Bears RL-ről kapta - az ENSZ békefenntartókból álló Fiji csapat mögött másodikként végzett. Jótékonysági túrát is szerveztünk az iskolától indulva, melynek célja az volt, hogy a Pető Intézet számára gyűjtsünk adományokat. A hétvégi csillebérci események zárásaként egy magyar vegyes csapat játszott 15-ös meccset egy angol somerseti csapat ellen.

(photo 4 with Fijian player,photo17 Phil Strunk USA uni student played for Bears,photo 25 my son Brendan and his mate Ross Brown and his dad after children's games from the Csillaberc activities).

As for the Bears, once we agreed to form a team, Ria introduced me to a group of young guys mainly uni students from Budapest.
One of them Marco Nikowitz I had met in Pecs. I was a guest of the Pecs Indians.
I stayed at Villmos's (Velkovics) family farm and later we had some training.
Later through Ria Marco indicated he would prefer to train in Budapest he bought along Napoleon (Agoston Peter, Boz (Andras Toth), Zulu, Skinny Csaba (Vajda Csaba), Dorogi Laci ,Vizi Attila and many more including Sebastian a French student who played fullback for us. He really helped bring the team together.
Meanwhile Marcos had decided to bring some experienced Miscolc players to help us. We played our first game at Orci Kert against Székesferhervar. David Ericsson played that day on the wing. He went well too.The journey had begun.

We played at Csillaberc then K FK field. I think in 1998 one of our expat players Anton Van Heedron from South Africa was working for South African breweries and was able to get us the use of the Dreher pitch.
It was the best pitch we played on in Hungary, it meant we could play wide back line play.
I think we played against Szeged in one match and scored over 100 points.
In 1998 we played with a new group of players from other teams in the 2nd Nemzetkozi in Szentes.This was a 15s tournament and gave emerging players from other clubs to push for selection in the National team.
I am sure Lajos Vida-Szucs organised that tournament.

This photo row no.3 Gabriel from Batta played with us that day. This photo shows us against one of the old Yugoslavian teams.
And the team photo that day:



From 1997 I had been trying to get experienced players from the very strong Romanian league to play in Hungary. Istvan Balint had joined our team.
He had played with Bekescsaba with Kardos and soon found his new home at the Bears.
He also worked for Ria at the Federation, he made contact with Oradea club.
We went to visit and three players came to work with us Adrian Mitacrou stayed and helped with the trainings at the Bears.
Unfortunately, sponsorship for hiring training facilities had dried up. Ria was able to get us permission to train the statue park near the NEP Stadium.

1998 is the year of the first Budapest 7s and the IS B 's big walkathon and Hungarian 15s v. Somerset from the UK.

With Attila Kardos in Verbunkos Restaurant at the banquette for Somerset in 1998.


In 1999 we played Budapest 7s at Fradi stadium a big coup to use one of the most famous stadiums in Hungary. Many international teams from France, Scotland, Slovenia, Austria etc came but the most successful 7s team at that time Fiji were the major drawcard.
We beat Austria convincingly in round one. A narrow loss to Slovenia ensured we had to play Fiji.
Hungarian team with the Fijians:


We were soundly beaten but Kover Robi was outstanding for us.

Istvan Balint, Kover Robi and Mark

Robi was the best player I bought to help Rugby in Hungary.
When I first took on the coaching role in Hungary. I believed we needed to get away from the 10 man Rugby that was prevelant at that time .Instead of forward oriented play. I wanted the teams I coached to run the ball. Guys like Robi, Adrian, Turi Pal from Kecskemet had these skills.
Other teams in the Hungarian League followed suit.
Esztergom and Bata soon had coaches and players from the Romanian league some with experience at international level.

While still on 7s, slowly other Hungarian teams who were not happy with my appointment as National coach and Federation captain could see we were playing good Rugby and challenging strong teams. I was very pleased and elated in fact that Ando Attila from the Elephants accompanied us to Spain to play in the Benidorm 7s as did Turi Pal and up and coming player from the Bears Hevali Nico.
Adrian Mitacarou and his partner from the American School in Budapest, Laurie also came. Zoli Adamik was our trainer/ manager again. The bonds of comradeship on these trips helped with the building of the new way.

While this had all been going on the Bears travelled to Heidelberg, Germany each summer for the 7s tournament, it was a mixture of club and national teams. I always felt the Heidelberg 7s was a fantastic tournament. We watched the development of the Georgian National team as they tooknon the Welsh,Irish and German teams. It was a great grounding for us, players from other teams in the Hungarian League joined us. Probably the hi light for me was beating the US Marines team based in Germany and in our last trip to Heidelberg we went as the Hungarian 7s team.It was a special tournament, a celebration of 100 years of Rugby in Germany. We played Romania, Feher Attila from Kecskemet scored for us in a low scoring game. We were so excited putting on a show like that. Baby we had speed and were born to run.I'd like to mention Apro Juhaz Laci from Szeged he was injured in an earlier game but played with busted ribs. He played injured and set up that try. New guys had come into the team including Szentes .See photo 7.Perhaps Lajos you could name the guys.They deserve a big congratulation as I don't think any Hungarian team had put points on Romania.Later we auctioned Attila's jersey at the Burn's Night dinner in Budapest, thousands of forints were raised for charity. John (Archie )Smith was the winner. Archie runs Recruitment I international ,he still lives in Budapest and he was a sleeve sponsor for the Budapest 7s.

That last tournament in Heidelberg was in 2000 ,the jersey we auctioned that night were the new strip for the Bears, they were manufactured in Hungary and sponsored by Tescos. Unfortunately David Ericson had lost interest in Rugby after the 1998 season, pretty much I ran the finances for the Bears. IS was was not a sponsor.I paid for the buses, the training facilities, the refreshments for our visiting teams, the referees fees, my wife washed the jerseys ,shorts and socks. I paid for the balls etc.We used my car as the scrum machine etc, etc.It was getting very hard as all the staff at IS weren't being paid by Mr.Ericsson, we soon became aware the school had unpaid bills all over Budapest. In fact we weren't paid from October 1999 until March 2000.However I kept using my savings to keep my family going ,the Bears and support other staff at IS. Eventually the school was sold to Szamalk who showed no interest in Rugby.

Our third Budapest 7s had a good international like the other two.
The USA national team were the strongest national side. Hungary had been getting stronger in 7s from our initial teams in 1996, in three years we had improved immensely. Our 1999 team still had members of earlier teams Kiss Balasz and Turi Pal from Kecskemeti, Attila Ando from the Elephants and the versatile and very experienced Karoly Suiogen from Esztagom. Two new players from the Bears Hevali Nico and Pasztor Tibor came into the squad along with Adam Nagygyörgy from Szentes and Jega Szabo Zsolt from the Elephants. We also had a very experienced English player.
We played well in the early games and were beaten by the USA side which sent us to the bowl finals. We beat the Czech Republic, took the bowl.
I think Zolli Adamic has it. It was wonderful, I think it was the first time a Hungarian team had beaten the Czechs in any form of Rugby. On that day Karoly played with exceptional enthusiasm he led his forwards, the bookends Zsolt and Attila. The bowl final was a low scoring game, those three players kept the game within our reach with fantastic, brutal defence Zsolt and Attila wanted to come off as they were exhausted but I ask to give a little more and then I sent on the fresh legs first Balasz and then young Tibor.
Immediately we made great meters and a final pass to Adam on fulltime saw him score a great victory. To all the players who played that day thank you for a superb team effort and sorry Tibor you had to wait but it was worth it.
I'd also like to thank John McHugh from the Exiles and his team of helpers for a wonderful tournament .The Margret Sziget venue was just right , lots of spectators .The ground was not too big and there were lots of interested passerbyes on the island.
Just a foot note a young Kiwi playing for the Bears Dean Marshall Courte, had been mentoring Tibor and a young Solti Gergo he did a wonderful job Hungary hadn't had a great halfback since Feher Miki retired. Tibor went to join the Exiles and eventually become the National team halfback. I believe he is still with the Exiles, my wish had come true that the Exiles would now take Hungarian players into their team and help them develop their skills and also help the Hungarian League remain competitive and strong.
Dean played for Austria at the tournament. Thanks for your support Deano.

Back to the Bears, from early on we always had a reliable, experienced player who was able to keep the team a happy unit. One such guy was Gergely Richie a Canadian with Hungarian heritage he was studying medicine in Debrecen. He made the trip every week to play for us wherever we had to play.
Richie aka "Rock n Roll" Richie played just about every position on the field for us, he was a very good player and a great guy. I think he is a doctor in the US now. All the best Richie, after he left we picked up a young Englishman, Dylan Jones he worked for the British Council and was married to a Hungarian lady and lived in Kispest, like Richie he could play many positions .
He was a tough little guy who led our young forwards around the pitch.
Along came Aaron Muhly, Aaron still lives in Budapest, all the way from the USA, like Dylan and Ritchie he played at University. A real easy going guy loved by his team mates a great link for the Solti brothers and Bisztrai Marci. He stayed on with the team when I left.
He too married a local lady and lives near Octagon and owns a very successful translating business. Thanks Richie, Dylan and Aaron for all your support and help for the Bears. You will always be remembered as great rugby ambassadors and mentors for our young team mates.