RC BASSETS-7 v WOODFORD-48

After the amazing day enjoyed by all on Saturday which got off to a flying start with victory over Betuwe RC, followed by the Grand Prix of Holland challenge we woke eager to continue our crazy fantastic weekend with more of the same.

The sun was once again beaming as we clambered aboard the coach, with the Bassets as our intended destination. We arrived in good time to a wonderful club with amazing facilities, a 3G pitch and a club house to die for, all signs that point towards the fact that the senior team was in the top division of rugby in Holland, we were expecting a more difficult task than the day before, or were we??

The lads once again got themselves pumped up for the pending duel by blasting out some tunes as they got changed, the noise level only dropping as they exited the changing room together, shoulder to shoulder as they took to the field.

Our opponents were considered to be of a higher standard than the team we faced on Saturday and this time only one girl was in their line up, all be it in the crucial scrum half role, but the lads did not let it affect the way they played and I think if anything it encouraged them to play an even more expansive and fluid game than before.

Things got off to a flyer for the tourers as Ben Sharratt & Lewis Walcott both put points on the board early, these were duely converted by the exocet boot of Matt Unwin. Cade Carter-Thomas scored his first try whilst on tour and Kieran Chopping, fresh from his wreaking havoc on the go-kart track the night before, stormed through to score his first of two for the day. I don't think our opponents found this level of play easy and I believe a couple of their coaches were getting frustrated. Don't forget most of their players would have been a year older than most of ours.

We tried to even things up in the second half by giving the home team two of our prized assets in Ben Sharratt & Lewis Walcott, this did in fact balance out the teams a bit and even saw our opponents score a try, but eventually the Woodford domination was there for all to see, more tries from Domingo Lapadula, Kieran Chopping with his second, Keelan Byrne and Henri Hobbs put the game well out of reach as it finished 7-48, well done boys, we couldn't have asked for any more.

We then spent a few hours with our hosts and friends, the players even found themselves being wooed by a couple of the local girls, gifts (& phone numbers!) were exchanged by both teams, and stories were told with promises of future tours to come, both ways, but despite the incredible hospitality that was afforded to us by our generous hosts we had to bid farewell as we had a full schedule to keep to, a gentle trip with 20 boys into Amsterdam was looming on the horizon.

We got to our next destination in 30 minutes, again we all disembarked and headed for the city centre to gaze at the wonderful architecture & canals that Amsterdam had to offer, and boy oh boy were the lads ecstatic with the wonderful sights they saw!! Amazing buildings and boats, phew. We had our dinner al fresco and returned to the coach feeling relaxed after a few hours of watching the world go by, and best of all we hadn't lost anyone, win win!

After arriving back to Centreparcs we decided to make use of the brilliant facilities this camp had to offer as we made a quick dash for the Oasis swimming complex, and what a lovely spot that was too, apart from when ten boys entered a flume, yet didn't exit it until all the lifeguards surrounded them to flush them out, to be fair it was all fun and games and on the whole the boys behaviour on site was exemplary, no complaints and no hassles.

We decided to gather at the bar area just to discuss the weekend and how it had all gone, drinks flowed as we reminisced on what a wonderful time we had all had, now was the time to relax until the next big event, Man of Tour which was yet to be decided, but would be given on the journey home.

We waited until we were deep under the English Channel on the Eurotunnel train before gathering the entire tour group together for the presentation, there were many candidates for the prize but as the say in Highlander (JOHN), there can be only one! It was to rapturous applause that this years Golden Boot went to Vincent Novotny, an absolute man mountain on the pitch, he had played two stunning games, but his behaviour off the pitch couldn't be further from how he plays on it, he is a polite, well behaved and a courteous young man. He did his mum proud as he travelled without her, yet his maturity in all areas was evident for all, and on top of all this he gets car sick just going down the road, yet he coped for the entire journey without a single complaint, a very well deserved accolade Vinny.

And here should end the story as we arrived back to sunny Woodford at 6pm, unfortunately for some of us the drama was only just about to begin. Nathan had been sick on Saturday night but was ok by Sunday. As we docked in Felixstowe Ben suddenly was sick too. By Monday night/Tuesday morning almost 50% off the coach had gone down with sickness & diarrhoea. Some were to stay off work/school for 2/3 days, some would see it pass to members of the family that were not even on the tour, it was truly awful. We think it has something to do with the coaches toilet, I am in ongoing talks with the company and will let you know the outcome

However although it has slightly taken a bit of sparkle away from the weekend it will not extinguish the blinding light of a brilliant tour, a fantastic experience where we met new friends, watched some brilliant rugby from the lads, had plenty of fun and activities, and lots of laughs along the way, dare I say it, best tour EVER?? I think so and whilst we will not be doing anything quite so grand this year due to GCSE's we will still be doing something!!