Weather: Glorious. Blue skies. Cool breeze. Birds chirping. Ideal rugby conditions. Unfortunately, our car situation was less ideal.

13 heroic men from Vorarlberg set off to take on Innsbruck on their turf. Spirits were high, Spotify playlists were questionable, and the GPS was optimistic. But then came the first tackle of the day… delivered by a BMW.

Yes, Luke’s car decided today was a perfect day to retire from all forms of movement — leaving Luke and two other players stranded somewhere in the scenic wilderness in Tyrol. As a public service announcement, Vorarlberg Rugby would like to state officially: BMWs may drive well, but their alternators are not great.

Enter the true MVPs of the early game: the ÖAMTC, who rolled up like a mobile pit crew. After a brief examination (and what we can only assume was a prayer circle around the car), the diagnosis was clear: the BMW was benched permanently. We shoved it into touch, regrouped with our boys, and rumbled toward Innsbruck again, this time with the full 13-man battalion back on the road.

We arrived just 30 minutes before kickoff, which, let’s be honest, is plenty of time for a "warm-up" that mainly consisted of awkward stretching and someone pretending they knew how to tape ankles.

With 13 brave souls, we took the pitch against a fully stacked Innsbruck side. If rugby is war, we were the under-armed rebels, and they were the Empire (complete with fresh legs and working cars).

The first half was mostly Innsbruck trying to run circles around us on the wings while we heroically chased them like golden retrievers who've just spotted a tennis ball. Despite this, we held strong for 60 glorious minutes. That’s right — 60 minutes of pure grit, occasional confusion, and a few impressive tackles that definitely hurt us more than them.

At the 60-minute mark, injuries started piling up. Bodies were aching. One player's hamstring said, “Nope.” Another’s shoulder tried to retire early. We were down to 10 and facing the cruel reality of not being able to continue officially.

BUT—in a wonderful show of sportsmanship and solidarity—Innsbruck loaned us a few players so we could keep the game going and give the crowd a show. Shoutout to the Innsbruck lads for not only beating us but also joining us. Truly rugby spirit at its best.

We may have technically forfeited. We may have started with 13 and ended with 13-ish. But damn it, we played. We tackled. We limped. We bonded. We mildly annoyed BMW customer service.

Huge thanks to Innsbruck Rugby for the warm welcome, the loaned players, and not laughing too hard when we arrived looking like a touring rock band with half its equipment stolen.

We'll be back next year. With 15 players. And maybe a Volkwagen.

thanks to RC Innsbruck there's a video of the game