Tuesday 15 April 2014

Spier Raptor and Bishop's Game

Today started with a trip to the Raptor centre at Spier which proved to be a massive success. The boys were allowed to cuddle owls, stroke a kite and then had a show from a Poorly behaved Buzzard! There were so many different types of bird to see and the raptor show was very interesting and entertaining at the same time. It proved to be one of the boys favourite sessions so far.

After a burger lunch we travelled to Bishops school in Cape Town. Bishops is a beautiful school with lovely grounds and the pitch that hosted the first ever game of rugby on South African soil, it was also the site of our last chance for victory.

The Bs opened the day by again playing some excellent rugby and going toe to toe with their opposition until late in the second half when the Bishops boys scored a couple of tries and stretched the lead. Again Matt Thomson played well but Finnian Young stole the show with 2 we'll taken scores.

The As were then presented with the opportunity to win our final game on tour, an opportunity they took with both hands. We started quickly with Max running for a long distance try that was soon added to by Luca Boyd. Bishops then picked up their game and combined with some interesting refereeing decisions we had a game on our hands. We led at the half and turned with the wind at our backs ready to finish the game off. Bishops decided to make that as hard as possible with some excellent rucking and tackling to keep themselves in the game but after some concerted pressure we scored our third try to stretch our lead. Immediately following the kick off we made a mistake and Bishops scored a reply making the score 19-10. That was how the game finished with our boys celebrating a hard earned win. Well done lads, we were all very proud to see the great performance from all of the boys and the win on South African soil was the perfect end to the rugby on tour!

Fish and Chips





Monday 14 April 2014

Camps Bay





Camps Bay and the Waterfront

We spent the morning having a nice relaxing swim in the water off Cape Town today at the surfers hot spot of Camps Bay. The beach was made of clear, white sand and the sun came out for a bit to give us a heat approaching the mid twenties. The boys used this time to swim in the sea, play rugby and generally mess around.
After this we travelled to the waterfront for a fish and chip lunch and some shopping. It didn't take long for the boys to find the nearest sports shops and Stormers rugby shirts and Kaizer Chief football shirts were quickly flying out of the shops.
The Spier Raptor centre and our final game against Bishops are planned for tomorrow so the boys were quickly sent off to bed to rest and prepare.

Saturday 12 April 2014

Rondebosch







Rondebosch Game

The boys played their second game of the tour under searing heat in conditions as alien as can be for an English team. Rondebosch welcomed us to their extensive facilities and proved to be fantastic hosts with food and an after match function organised for our visit. The warm welcome did not extend to the pitch though as our boys fought hard but were ultimately conquered by a tough and clinical group of players. Both our sides fought well with the A's especially making for an extremely competitive day.
The B side played first and started very brightly Matt Thomson and Dan Owen playing well and carrying the ball strongly. Approaching half time we conceded a try that proved to be vital, the first half was close and at 12-5 we were keeping it tight through a Mickey Reynolds score. However a laboured attack from our back line was intercepted with the Rondebosch winger running home untouched. This knocked the stuffing out of our lads and the second half proved to be damage limitation,the hosts confidence grew and ours waned the weather also tired us immensely, this led to a final score of 44-5.
The As played afterwards and worried the hosts from the start our physical pack and direct running led us to get into scoring positions but with some basic errors and clinical finishing we found ourselves behind at the half. After the half the weather and a few unfriendly decisions took their toll as a couple of scores increased the gap between the teams. We did finish on a bright spot with Dan Owen stepping up from the 2s to score the final points of the day, we lost 29-14. Again the back row of Walker, Chen and Aldred played very well and are developing into fine rugby players.

The final game of the tour is on Tuesday against Bishops who are supposed to be the toughest of the lot, the boys have developed and learnt so much so far we're hoping for further progress and maybe even a win!! 

Wednesday 9 April 2014

Kusasa Township






Kusasa Township






Township and Camps Bay

Today we all had a massively unique experience that most people will never have and that will stay with us forever. Today we went to the Kusasa Township just outside Frandschoek. We saw lessons, sang songs and played rugby with the students of the school. The township is as you would expect, a poor place to bring up children, no clean water, no sanitation, little food and shelter from corrugated metal. The metal roofs we were told heat up the shacks to unbearable heat in the Summer and maintain no heat for the winter. 
Saying that the main feeling was one of enjoyment, spending time with the students you realised how happy they were in their lives we were only too happy to help where possible but the pleasure derived from just our presence was heartwarming. 
We spent time with the nursery school age too which was another experience, I walked through the gate to the school and before I could say hello I had 2 young smiling faces grabbing my legs and asking for a hug. The boys were amazing, to watch them interact with the older students, to try and speak their language (very hard!) and discuss Manchester United was great but the nursery was special. Within minutes the boys had children on their shoulders, running around playing football, taking pictures and giving cuddles. It was fantastic. It served as a reminder how good our boys are and how they are a credit to all involved, we as staff were very proud. As you will see from the pictures it was all smiles.

The afternoon was spent in Camps Bay, think the South African Malibu or Manly beach. The boys had lunch and walked around for a bit seeing the amazing beach and landscape! All under the gaze of Table mountain. Tomorrow the boys go to South African school and then play their school mates in the 2nd game of the tour.

Tuesday 8 April 2014