NORTHWEST PASSAGE (Northwest Passage: Stan Rogers)

Dedicated to the Aussie forwards in the 2003 World Cup final, and the gallant Canberra-based Canadians.

Chorus: Ah, for just one time I would take the Northwest Passage
To find the hand of Johnson reach illegal for the ball;
Tracing one more line through a pack so wild and savage
And make a Northwest Passage through the maul.

Westward from the scrum-base 'tis there 'twas said to lie
The route through the advantage line for which so many try;
Seeking cup and glory, leaving weary, broken bones
And a long-forgotten trail of grunts and moans.

Three driving mauls thereafter, I take passage overland
In the footsteps of brave Finnegan, when through the scrum he ran
Watching flankers rise before him, then behind him sink again
That hardiest of forwards, driving on despite the pain.

And through the maul, behind the ball, the leg-drive pushing west
I think upon big Willie, Toutai Kefu and the rest
Who cracked their forward ramparts and did show a path for mine
To race a roaring charge across the line.

How then am I so different from the first men through this way?
Like them, I left a settled life, I threw it all away.
To seek a Northwest Passage through the strength of many men
To find myself flung backwards once again.

by Chris Clarke