Our man with a passport has been off on his travels again, Brexit isn't stopping Oor Broon.
Following successful trips to capture Germany v Georgia and Spain v Romania, followed by actually pulling the boots on in Dublin then watching a historic Scotland Women's win, it was time to flash the passport at Immigration Control once again as I took Rugby People took to the air for what turned out to be an interesting 48 hours of International oval ball mayhem.
Now, being an insomniac and setting one's alarm for 4am on a Saturday morning may make you, dear reader, suggest there's an oxymoron in the making. Indeed, the on-off nap is no way to set yourself up for a whistlestop trip that was to end with a spectacle I've never witnessed in my years involved in the game.
The Orange big bird took off from a decidedly fresh feeling Edinburgh and fair play to the budget airline in question, it did what it said on the tin and got me to 'Destination Amsterdam' on time. With little more than a window of opportunity for a wander round the Dutch capital, quicker than you could say "this coffee shop sells no coffee, dude" it was time to make my way on the No.21 bus to the home of Netherlands Rugby.
Dutch Rugby media man Baz was on hand to welcome me and introduced me to the tray of cheese infused sarnies in the comms room - clearly he noted a famished Scotsman who had been on his travels...
Meanwhile, Scotland were offering their rollercoaster ride in Rome and on retiring to the clubhouse bar, a chance to watch the drama unfold whilst the teams completed their warm-ups in conditions that were described on the Rugby Europe gamesheet as "Freezing. Hard icy wind."
Looking around the room and my eye was caught by the distinctive Scottish Rugby crest on a fellow viewers apparel. A fellow frustrated Jock watching a first half of pleasure and pain on the big screen. A knowledgeable nod and then a good old blether later just goes to show how much a village our game truly is...
So, on with the show.
Rugby Europe Trophy: Netherlands (Ranked 27) v Czech Republic (Ranked 33)
Gallery: https://www.rugbypeople.net/international/#/netherlands-v-czech-republic-17032018/
The Netherlands side had a couple of familiar faces to many of our followers and readers. Former Edinburgh rugby man Sep Visser took his customary spot on the wing, whilst Currie Chieftans man Vincent Wright was a scrum-capped second rower.
The visitors had a Scottish connection too. Czech Republic's full back Craig Kolarik plies his trade for Marr Rugby so for him and Wright, it was a chance to play out a decider following wins for their respective domestic sides against one another during the BT Premiership campaign.
Pitchside temperatures come kick-off where a windchill in the land of the windmill took the mercury to -9 degrees, so with the bonus of full sideline perimeter access, your scribe at least got the opportunity to snap on the move rather than freeze on the spot!
It was the home side who made the most of the first half and the wind, putting 17 unanswered points on the scoreboard, with Visser diving in for a try sandwiched by a double from full back Josh Gascoigne.
The Czechs rallied after the break and make good of the conditions to reduce the deficit to within a converted score after just ten second half minutes. That hope was to be short lived as Kolarik took one for the team and sat on the sin-bin stool of isolation after Referee Burlet from Belgium lost patience for persistent infringement.
Visser breached the whitewash then Prop Robin Moenan rumbled over to put the game to bed, much to the delight of the Dutch crowd in the 2,500 audience.
Going home happy in Holland after watching Hookers perform for 80 minutes won't be a line you'll find in many rugby blog posts, but why miss an opportunity...
Sunday. 6am. Alarm. Further alarm at 6.45am when I'd realised the additional snooze meant I had 25 minutes to get up the road to Amsterdam Central Station for my train to Brussels...
A 'Dundee Shower', a frantic flurry of activity to fill my backpack and a brisk walk to the station did afford me the luxury of five minutes to regulate the breathing before we set-off across the border...
A different day, a different country but still a nip in the air and a hint of snow in the Belgian capital on arrival for this Rugby Europe Championship / World Cup Qualifier between the host nation and the much fancied Spain, on the brink of their first World Cup finals appearance since 1999.
I'm no betting man however the odds were firmly stacked on a win for the Spaniards following their impressive performance I witnessed in Madrid over the Romanians. Ahhhhh, the Romanians...more on them later.
A meet up in town with two Spanish chums, one former playing colleague at Broughton RFC saw us chew the fat and decide where we thought the fortunes of the day would take their nation.
There was no Scottish involvement this time round with Edinburgh Accies Prop James Pearse remaining in the capital rather than pulling on the red, yellow and black of the home nation which he'd done in Romania the weekend before.
Rugby Europe Championship / Rugby World Cup Qualifier: Belgium (Ranked 25) v Spain (Ranked 19)
Gallery: https://www.rugbypeople.net/international/#/belgium-v-spain-18032018/
The teams were led out in front of a noisy travelling contingent within the 2,000 crowd, including a band that played on throughout this quite incredible eighty minute ride.
It was a nervy start from the Spanish who knew victory, irrespective of margin, would see them head to Japan next year and a chance to go head to head once again with Scotland - the sides having met at Murrayfield during the pool stages in the 1999 tournament.
The Belgians didn't read the script however and come half time, they went into the sheds 12-0 ahead. Four converted penalties from Vincent Hart following transgressions noticed by Romanian Referee Vlad Lordaschescu.
It was to get worse for the men from Madrid when just four minutes into the half, Prop Benat Auzqui was sent to the sin-bin with the subsequent penalty slotted to mean the Spanish would have to score more than two converted tries to win...
One of those tries came with ten minutes left and the Spanish hopes fading. Four minutes later, that gap narrowed to just five points - could Spain achieve a comeback Lazarus himself would have been proud of?
It wasn't to be. Just moments later, the Romanian Ref spotted another infringement deep inside the visiting half and it left Hart to break Spanish hearts to take the gap to what turned out to be an unsurmountable eight point gap.
Scenes of joy from the Belgian players and fans after recording back to back home victories however these images of jubilation were quickly consumed by the mood and reaction of the Spaniards who were clearly emotional following the full time whistle.
It was a defeat that meant Romania topped the group and qualified in pole position leaving Spain having to tackle a two-legged play-off against Portugal with the winners facing Samoa for last chance saloon spot in Japan.
Players raced towards the Romanian Referee to vent their frustrations, swooping on him like a seagull on chips down Portobello Promenade. Scrum half Guy Rouet was decidedly animated and had to be restrained as he confronted the whistler behind the posts. The officials were shepherded (slowly, I felt considering the situation) out of the Little Heysel ground to their changing facility in the main Heysel Stadium across the car park.
Inside the changing area, I was one of the few media people around who witnessed an armed police guard outside the match officials room. The names and national union logo of the trio of officials on a piece of A4 paper blu-tacked to the door one of the most photographed items of the afternoon as furious Spaniards engaged in conversation of disbelief and despair that their moment had been stolen away from them. There wasn't much hanging about either as the police escorted the officials to their awaiting car which raced off into the distance.
As I write this - and I'd purposely delayed it to bring news of its closure - no decision had been made following deliberation by the Rugby Europe Board of Directors on the back of the official complaint submitted by the Spanish Rugby Federation.
Lovers of the game and conspiracy theorists alike have taken to social media to share their thoughts on the matter. Undoubtedly the Spanish will face repercussions for their post-match shenanigans however the focus is largely on the appointment and performance of Romanian officials.
Spain did lodge a request for a change in match officials considering the conflict of interest following their win against Romania, but this was denied on the basis of the long-standing appointments of the best qualified personnel should stand.
The jury is out. But what verdict will it deliver? Stay tuned...