Under 12s - Southern Hemisphere Tour

Our tour kicked off with a beach party to match any beach party. The royalists were out in force, bunting was plentiful, the beer flowed and Graeme was in his element making submarine sandwiches with cambembert cheese, rocket lettuce and sun-blushed tomatoes! After several toasts to her majesty and a few tears of happiness for Will and Kate we got down to the serious business of the tour. It seemed like a good idea to have beach tattoos, play the boys at beach rugby, have a another tinny whilst assisting in one of the local building projects. All in a days work for a rugby tourist. The rest of the tour was a hoot but unfortunatley I will not be able to talk about any details as a 'D' notice has been issued.

The boys played their best rugby of the season. It was great to be able to play different clubs, meet different coaches/parents/players and enjoy the fantastic hospitality of Rye Rugby Club. We played 5 and whilst we only won 2, we ran the opposition close in all of the other 3 games. We scored 12 tries and conceded 9. Probably our best match was our last one as minis, against a physical Welwyn Bulldogs team. Our direct forward play utilising our much improved rucking technique allowed us to set up some good ball for our backs to run on to. Our improvement in the backs defensive play was significant with our lads coming up much quicker pressurising their backs into making mistakes. A great game with us running out 3-2.

At the end of the tour on the Sunday evening our lads had an opportunity to receive their participation medals and meet/have a photo with Jeff Probyn. An added bonus was being informed that we had won the Tournament Fair Play Award for the under 12s. A great way to finish our time as minis.

Thanks to all of those who were involved in the organisation in any shape or form. Special thanks must go to John Fuller (master tour organiser) and Gary Dulieu for keeping us 'honest' and on schedule.

Next year Junior Rugby! Bring it on!