South Africa Rugby Tour 2011: 07/01/2011

Saturday 30 July 2011

Day 8 - George

A strenuous morning training session to prepare for Shiplake’s first-ever entry into a South African rugby 7's tournament tomorrow. The boys had to get used to the very different demands of the game and the front row in particular found out how exhausting it could be.

Team captain and birthday boy James Riley’s strategy for the event is to “win every game! Attack, attack, attack and create chaos”. Sorted.

From midday Shiplake was kindly entertained by Marek Lapham’s family who were staying in a stunning beach house in a nearby town called Wilderness. It was the perfect opportunity for the team to have some down time and relax in the sun, body surf, play some beach touch rugby, bury their team mate in the sand (Toby Stevens) and throw the fully-clothed birthday boy into the sea.

We were also incredibly fortunate to sight a small pod of whales mating just 100 metres from the shore. An amazing experience.

A huge thank you to Ashleigh Lapham for hosting all 29 of us.

Day 7 - Villiersdorp to George

Early start to begin the six-hour coach trip between Villiersdorp and George. Travel attire has been relaxed since the plane journey – no 1s were replaced with Hollister Tees, hoodies and headphones.

A few stops on the way for bathroom breaks and mass purchasing of Biltong, before arriving at Oudtshoorn (one hour from George) for a guided tour of the Cango Caves – an incredible, 5km system of caves with 150 million-year-old stalactites/mites. In the largest cave, a former concert venue, the Shiplake boys (and fellow tourists) sang a hearty Happy Birthday song to Mr Cane-Hardy while the tour guide gave him a congratulatory hug.

While some boys spent time admiring the delicate, icicle-like limestone formations, others (Piers Chen) said it would be “so satisfying to bring a sledge hammer in here”. Different strokes...

Then it was on to Cango Ostrich farm to learn how the birds fed, mated and incubated, followed by a hilarious display of ostrich-riding skills from James Riley, Tom Jones, Nick Arbuckle, Jack Madden and Jack Forrest (there was a weight limit of 75kg). Prize for best rider went to Jack Forrest who remained saddled throughout while Nick Arbuckle won ‘best wipeout’ after taking the bird down to the dirt with him.

It was there the team bought its super-butch tour mascot, Adam (named after our legendary coach driver).

Arrived in George at about 7pm where the billet hosts were waiting to bring the boys home for a hot supper.

Day 5 & 6 - Villiersdorp / Game 2

Chill-out day yesterday to relax and prepare for today’s big game. After the morning training session Shiplake divided its time between the Beverly Hills-esque Franschhoek, where Piers Chen joined the tour dutifully dressed in his no 1s, and then Stellenboch.

Red-meat-heavy Team Meal in the evening.

Pre-game “prison” breakfast of cold scrambled eggs and wieners this morning. Character-building. Four members of the team in the dog house after shaving “try stripes” through their eyebrows and staff needing to search village shops for make-up to fill in the gaps. Could only find black eyeliner so one player looked convincingly like Bert from Sesame Street.

Excellent morning training session followed by lunch at the hostel of bobotie (curried meat and fruit dish not dissimilar to moussaka), pumpkin fritters and sweet apricots, with ice cream in a peanut sauce for dessert. Boys were perhaps a little perplexed by the flavours but the meal offered plenty of sugar/energy to be burned in the afternoon match.

A brilliant game ensued with a 17-31 win to Shiplake.

Team captain Jimmy Wright said: “Really pleased with the result. It was a great opportunity to use our backs and we used our size to dominate a smaller team. I’m particularly pleased with the set plays that went according to plan in the middle stint of the game.

“For the next match we’ll aim to improve our alertness in the first ten minutes of play but there were some outstanding performances from Max Nutman who really stepped up and defended well, George Davis had a blinder and Jack Madden made some cracking try-saving tackles.”

A well-earned team night out in Stellenbosch to celebrate the win.

Wednesday 27 July 2011

Day 4 - Stellenbosch to Villiersdorp

DAY 4

A two-hour training session to start the day at the Rugby Performance Centre in what felt like hurricane conditions. The team then hit the showers, shavers and tuckshop before checking out of RPC smartly dressed in their No. 1s.

On to Stellenbosch, a pretty university town famous for its wineries and for being “the heart of rugby”, to the elegant Simonsig winery for a tasting session. We were given a menu sheet describing the wines available and were invited to taste five including their signature champagne. After much swilling and bouquet-smelling the boys proved to be quite the connoisseurs and decided the “gooseberry and green fig-flavoured Chenin Blanc was sick” (very nice).

It was free time for lunch in Stellenboch centre, though everyone was drawn to the same diner where one could get milkshakes, 500g sirloin steaks and buy-one-get-one-free burgers (note: two burger meals, not just two beef patties). There were also plasma screens playing England’s live test match and a SA rugby game. Perfect.

In time for sunset we took the 80-minute coach journey through the mountains with truly incredible views over the valley town of Franschhoek.

Arrived at de Villiers Graaf school in Villiersdorp just in time for supper. The basic accommodation - a typical South African boarding school - was a culture shock for the boys and will hopefully make them grateful for being at Shiplake College.

In the words of David Plato: “For the purposes of banter, this couldn’t get any better.”

Sunday 24 July 2011

Day 3 - Cape Point

A mass of girlish squeals filled the RPC this cold, windy morning as Shiplake boys jumped in the outdoor pool for their recovery session. (Mr Cane-Hardy managed a 15-second dip before “losing all feeling [his] legs” and clambering out.)

The group excursion for the day was to Cape Point, the most southern tip of Africa where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet. Along the way we stopped off at various coastal bays along the Cape Peninsula including Boulders Beach, home to a colony of miniature penguins. We then arrived at Table Mountain National Park to start a blustery uphill walk to Cape Point lighthouse and viewing area.

Feeling windswept but invigorated we jumped back on the bus to get some of the “best fish and chips in the Cape” at the quaint seaside village Simons Town. Then, after some free time to walk off the deep-fried hake, the coach headed home to the Rugby Performance Centre (cue team nap).

After some room-tidying time and a hearty dinner, Mr Beckett and Mr Cane-Hardy took a high-intensity gym session for the squad while the team’s professional physio, Paul Holmes, attended to any injuries.

Early night.

Day 2 - Match 1 & Langa Township, Cape Town

A great day. Started with a 46-7 win against Riebeek Valley School XV. Many of Shiplake’s trys came through their greater physicality and power over the opposition. Fantastic to see some home supporters in the stand (the Arbuckles, Laphams and Platos) who were welcomed to the after-match braai (barbecue) and presentation.

Tries: Davis, Thomas, Law, Glover, Pearce (2), Wright, Waldron
Cons: Thomas (3)

In the afternoon we headed into central Cape Town to pick up our guide for a tour of the outer-city townships. A thought-provoking experience. Our guide, himself a township resident, lived through the apartheid segregation in 1983 and recalled the day when police came to remove his family from their home. He was shot twice in the legs for resisting and although he walks perfectly now it is clearly a painful memory to retell. This, among other facts and stories, gave us an insight into township communities.

We were taken through the major townships of Langa, Nyanga and Kayelitsha where we were told, despite poverty and vast unemployment, there is a strong sense of community and support. The coach stopped off in Langa township where Shiplake boys had the opportunity to meet a few residents and give out mini rugby balls, colourful stationary and activity books to a group of excited children (who also turned out to be world-class hagglers).

A delicious dinner was served at a restaurant in the township while a ‘very cool’ local band played cultural music on glockenspiels and drums. In fact, as it was David Plato’s 17th, everyone sang a special edition of Happy Birthday accompanied by the soulful voices of the kitchen ladies who emerged especially for the song.

Then it was back to the V&A waterfront for a drink before the bus journey back to RPC.

Friday 22 July 2011

Day 1 - Heathrow Airport to Cape Town

Impeccably dressed in chinos, jackets and ties, the Shiplake rugby side landed in sunny Cape Town at 10am this morning after a great South African airways flight. The boys looked particularly smart compared with another touring team on the same trip dressed in mismatched tracksuits, flip flops – one of them even wore a pink cowboy hat.

In fact the Shiplake side looked so professional walking through Heathrow T1 that various rugby fans ambling around the boarding gates, including the headmaster of Wellington College in New Zealand, stopped them to ask about the tour and offered tips guaranteed to secure wins in South Africa, including “have the full back cutting in to the line, works every time”.

The team made a swift transition from baggage claim to bus and departed straight for the waterfront. On route we passed the imposing, cloud-shrouded Table Mountain, at which time a debate took place about which ridge ‘was meant to look like a lion’.

Upon reaching the infamous V&A marina and shopping area, the boys had free time to look around and returned having bought ostrich burgers, dried biltong and vuvuzelas (which of course had to be confiscated within minutes on the coach).

At 4.30pm the team arrived at the Rugby Performance Centre in Riebeek West after a scenic journey from Cape Town.

Shiplake was welcomed by father-son team, Alan and Alan, with an adrenalin-pumping video about the RPC including its host list of teams such as the South African Super 15 and footage its training sessions like ‘The Graveyard’ (to improve strength, power and stamina) or ‘House of Pain’ (to improve individual skills).

The boys then had a light training session to prepare for tomorrow’s game against Riebeek Valley School XV, which included team runs.

The centre’s motto: ‘perfection in execution’, is evident here in everything from the world-class training facilities to the delicious, healthy food and a rugby pitch in an amazing setting against green mountains and wine country. If Carlsberg did rugby centres...

Wednesday 20 July 2011

Pre-Tour Training

The boys worked really hard on various aspects of their game including contact skills, kick chase, team play, passing, offloads and scrummaging to name but a few. Obviously Nick Pearce and Henry Corke are going "head to head" for the centre positions in the team....

Mr Tom Haynes (Henley Hawks and a Judo/Self Defence Coach) came into Shiplake to run a morning session on how rugby players can take a huge amount out of the discipline of Judo. He taught the boys techniques to tackle larger players than themselves, and ways to move an immovable prop (Toby Stevens) at ruck time! See photo below!

The boys have come on leaps and bounds as a team since Monday at 9am, and I look forward to seeing how they progress over what will be a tough and demanding tour to the Southern Hemisphere.

See you all in Heathrow at 6pm!

Saturday 16 July 2011