1st XV Rugby Tour to Ireland

Once we arrived in Ireland, our drive to the Johnstown Hotel was short and exciting. The prospect of who was sharing with who in each apartment was causing great expectations! After lunch the boys were given their apartment keys and room mates and a short time to settle in before the first training session. It was a two hour full on session that blew away the cobwebs and reminded the players of the physical nature of the game - it was a great session! The evening was spent playing silly team games in the games room as well as completing the first team quiz of the tour (on the subject of Ireland). 

After breakfast on Tuesday we again had training. We had picked two sides called ‘Dub’ and ‘Lin’ (see what we did there – Joe didn’t!) and our plan was to give each team a half of each upcoming match. We spent the morning perfecting scrums, line outs and back lines. After lunch we headed off to the rather high class indoor Mayan and Aztec Crazy Golf Centre for a sophisticated game of golf! It was great fun and a good bonding exercise and Jem proved to be the top golfer on the day. Afterwards we headed off to Seapoint for our first full fixture. 

An outstanding performance from all 24 players saw us run out comfortable winners against a competitive and persistent Seapoint side. We played an exciting brand of open rugby and thrived on the large, wide senior 1^st XV pitch. The quality from all the players was fantastic and there was no doubt that our two training sessions had helped every player step up a level and perform with ambition and confidence. Plenty of tries were scored from all areas of the pitch. The scrummaging was good and we showed aggression in defence and ambition in attack. The pre-match golf had clearly helped the team building preparations and all the players showed a confidence in each other and a willingness to trust them and to work hard for each other. Tries were scored by Harry S (2), Harry N, Connacht captain Tom H, Munster captain Will, Leo, Hugo, Ben and Leinster captain Tom W (4) with Christian adding two conversions and Tom H kicking 8 conversions. The final score was 80 – 24. The post-match hospitality was typically Irish – generous, warm and genuine (after which Mrs Stringer dashed off to the airport to collect Henry so he could join the rest of the tour). A huge thank you to everyone at Seapoint for allowing us to experience such a wonderful opportunity and a special thank you to Sean, the Seapoint coach. Thank you must also go to Mr Head, whose generous sponsoring of our tour shirts meant we not only played the part of a professional outfit on the pitch, but we also looked the part. We returned to our apartments tired but happy and managed to squeeze in the second team quiz (on the subject of rugby) before retiring to bed. 


On Wednesday morning we travelled into Dublin for a bit of light shopping in Grafton Street before heading towards Croke Park for our tour of this incredible stadium and home to the Irish Gaelic Games. Two hours later we had learnt a lot about this magnificent stadium and its rich history and I can only recommend the tour as a ‘must do’ in Dublin. To emerge from the warm up area to the sound of 80,000 fans was quite something even if it was piped in noise! We returned to the hotel for another full training sessions followed by time in the pool and the ice bath. Silly relays added to the team scores. Halloween evening was spent running around under a full moon playing Wide Games whilst wearing Halloween masks! More team scores were gathered from this and the Halloween Quiz which the teams completed. 


Thursday morning saw another light training session before we departed for ten pin bowling at the rather superior ‘Super Dome’! Again it was great fun with a lot of laughs and absolutely the right thing to do before our second fixture. Henry proved to be the top bowling champion. The journey to our fixture against the Wanderers Club took us right into the shadow of the Aviva Stadium where we were due to play on the warm up pitch right next to the Stadium. Mrs Stringer got chatting to Brian from Security and before we knew it we were taken into the Aviva Stadium itself and put in one of the secondary changing rooms. We then warmed up in the sound proofed area that Ireland will use this weekend to prepare to face South Africa. Having warmed up we came out of the stadium and onto our pitch to face the Wanderers. ‘Lin’ started the game this time under the captaincy of Will B and it was obvious from the beginning that this was going to be a tough game. Wanderers moved the ball well and mauled extremely effectively and we found ourselves under intense pressure as the tackle count mounted throughout the half. We conceded 3 tries which were well worked by Wanderers who were exposing us out wide. An injury to Jem saw Tom W introduced to the game and we quickly struck back. 7 – 15 down at half time was a great result for the ‘Lin’ team and huge credit must go to all the players. ‘Dub’ played the second half and our superior skill, strength, defence and pace began to show. Now it was the Wanderers under pressure and through the leadership of Minster’s Will, Connacht’s Tom H and Leinster’s Tom W we began to score regularly. The tries were great tries, including tremendous solo efforts from Will and Tom W but the team collective proved too strong for Wanderers and we finished the game 42 – 15 winners. Tries came from Leinster’s Tom W (3), Munster’s Will, Luke and Connacht’s Tom H with Christian (1) and Tom H (5) adding the conversions. 

Following the game Brian then took us on a private tour of the Stadium. We entered through the players’ entrance and were taken to the Senior home changing rooms and shown the suites, the baths and facilities as well as being able to sit where the Irish players will be sitting this weekend to face South Africa. Then we were taken out into the stands to sit in the Irish team dug out and soak in the quite incredible atmosphere of the empty stadium. Brian had organised for some of the lights to be turned on and it was a unique experience. We were also shown the medical rooms which are so impressive that Sir Alex Ferguson wants the same facilities at Old Trafford next year! As a once in a life time experience this was very special as we had the whole Aviva Stadium all to ourselves this evening. We travelled back to our apartments for dinner and, incredibly, the tour prize giving ceremony. Everyone received recognition for their part in the tour.

Friday morning was Barnaby’s birthday as well as the inter-team 7’s competition (although we actually played 8’s!). With the team contest in the balance every game and every try was crucial as all carried bonus points. Ultimately Leinster came out on top as they just managed to overcome Connacht in a tense deciding game. This result would put Leinster briefly in the lead although Connacht had been leading all week with Munster not far behind. The final result however would not be finalised until we were five minutes from school so there was still plenty of opportunity to gain and lose points.

And so incredibly we reached the end of the tour and only needed to travel home. I cannot say enough about how good the boys were (most of the time!) and how they treated their grown up surroundings and accommodation in a mature and professional manner. Despite the large flat screen televisions, it was a delight to see so many Uno cards in action. Even the packing and cleaning out of the apartments was relatively painless!

A massive thank you to all the players for their part in this wonderful tour. Thank you also to all the parents for allowing us to take their children away and thank you to those parents who were able to join us on tour and provide friendly faces for us on the touch line. Thank you to Mrs Stringer for her tireless efforts all week and thank you to Mr and Mrs Le Chevalier for all their enthusiasm, help, quality coaching and refereeing! Well done also to Luke, Toby, Ethan and Noah for being great tourists! Thank you to the parents for their generous gifts to myself and Chevs. Thank you also to Kevin for organising our fixtures and promising us more in the future if we so desired!

A final thank you must go to Mr Tydeman whose generosity towards the tour allowed us to enjoy those extras that made the tour the unforgettable experience it became – thank you.

The final team scores were as follows:

Connacht 77

Leinster 76

Munster 67

Congratulations to Tom H and vice-captain Jem for leading their team so well although Munster’s Will and Luke and Leinster’s Tom W and Sam also deserve great credit. Mention must also go to the four young Year 7’s on tour who all showed real potential in terms of rugby and leadership.

Needless to say the tour was immensely good fun and all the boys were great value. All of them have learnt a lot about themselves and each other and hopefully will take a lot away from the tour. There is so much more that I could write about but, as you know, “what goes on tour stays on tour” – isn’t that right Jem!?