Quarter Finals Day
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So today wasn't as good a day as previous - but hey, let's be honest, we still did okay!!! Although a 3 - 0 loss to England looks like it was easy - it really wasn't, with a few little things going our way things could have been different - England just was the best team today so kudos to them - they played well.

I had some good jokes for today's blog but thanks to someone commenting that I should be getting the other boys to help with my jokes I have lost all my confidence and so I'm not even going to try now!! Yes, offended! (Joke??!) Hmm!

Paul started us off against Number 5 ranked junior Charles Sharpes (came 5th in Individuals) so it was always going to be a tough battle - he played really well and was unlucky to not push through and take the third - he was up 8 - 5 if I remember, but Charles pushed through and didn't make mistakes to get England off to a 1 - 0 lead with Lance about to go on (playing order 1 2 3).

Lance was playing English number two Nathan Lake - who had a good individual event as well and stormed off to a 2 - 0 lead. Lance was playing really well - good intensity and aggression level, really keeping his English opponent on the back foot the whole time and giving NZ a huge chunk of hope to pull our way back into the tie.

Unfortunately a few hard matches over the last few days took their toll and Lake managed to edge his way back into the game to win it in 5 for England, a really good fight, Nathan played a really good game and it was unfortunate we couldn't pull Lance through!! He gave it his best though and I think that I can speak for everyone when I say that he has done NZ proud! Same with all the boys - we can all be proud of them! Got a pretty nice picture of Lance after his game though - a good indication of how much he put into the game.

Bryce went on against number 3 from England James Earles for the dead rubber match with a little less motivation than he probably would have had if New Zealand had drawn 1 all and it was a decider - Earles taking out the best of 3 battle in 2 games unfortunately.

This is just a photo of the bus trip! Not sure why I added this one...

Tomorrow we are playing GERMANY in the 5-8 playoffs. Will be a big match and we are hoping to go alright - will again give it our best and try and do New Zealand proud - we appreciate all your support! Looking forward to the match.

Also, only 3 more sleeps untill home time - for those wondering about our flights home, tournament finishes on Saturday (Sunday NZ time) and then we have Closing Ceremony/Prizegiving where we get suited up again (will get some photos!) and then we leave Sunday morning quite early I believe, flying through Lima, Peru - to Santiago, Chile again before we board our last flight bound for Auckland! We land at 4.20am on Tuesday 10th August (NZ time!) so be good to see you all at the airport!!!!!!!

Thanks guys