Day 14 - Mabula, Johannesburg, London Heathrow

A 5.50am wake-up call by safari rangers to ensure everyone was up and ready for the 6.30am game drive. Coffee and biscuits outside the foyer before setting off at sunrise. Within 40 minutes one of our trucks spotted a family of lions which were wrestling no more than 4 metres from its vehicle – exciting albeit a little unnerving.

 Another successful game drive for all three groups and a hearty breakfast before checkout.

As a surprise to break up the three-hour journey back to Johannesburg airport, our driver Maurius arranged a pit-stop for lunch in Bella Bella and pre-ordered each member of our group a 1kg rump steak. Despite all the betting that took place on which boys would be able to finish their meal, most of the team – to their delight – managed to clear their plates. The fastest to finish, however, was Luke Maguire who was awarded a Bros steak knife from the restaurant.

Then it was a swift transfer to Jo’burg airport for last-minute shopping and our night flight back to London.

Mr Cane-Hardy and Mr Beckett would like to thank all the Shiplake boys for their excellent behaviour and efforts on this tour.  We look forward to a great season of rugby ahead.

Day 13 - Mabula Game Park

Plenty of swagger/limping from the boys as they boarded the coach for the three-hour drive to Mabula early this morning. Many were in muscular pain from yesterday’s very physical match and so, on went the “cans” (headphones), back went the seats and the team slept throughout most of the journey.

Upon arrival at the Mabula Game Lodge we were met by a fleet of khaki-cloaked safari rangers. By incredible coincidence one of them turned out to be Peter Walker-Munro, a former Shiplake boy who warmly welcomed the boys and called for a raise of hands for his fellow Everett guys.

After checking in to luxurious rooms everyone enjoyed a buffet lunch before watching the 1pm reptile show or sunbathing by the pool. It was then time to adorn more layers of clothing and head to the trucks for our afternoon game drive.

In short, we had magnificent close-up viewing of a herd of elephants, zebra, giraffes, warthogs, a mother rhino and her baby, impalas, an armadillo, buffalo, crocodiles, wildebeest, hippos, waterbuck, baboons and a variety of antelope. We even saw the carcass of a warthog in a tree that had been dragged up there by a leopard a few days prior.

This evening the team wore their no 1s for dinner which included a traditional African show displaying local singers and dancers. Various Shiplake members, such as Mr Beckett, Mr Cane-Hardy, Max, Nick P, Teddy and Luke were invited to join the dance troop. Which they did with vigour (video evidence available upon request).

An awards ceremony rounded up our final night and the winners were as follows:

Young player of the tour: Nick Arbuckle

Players’ player of the tour: Jimmy Wright

Coaches’ player of the tour: Teddy Hewins

Best tourist: David Plato

Day 12 - Game 4 v Christian Brother's College, Johannesburg

CBC 29 - Shiplake 5
Match report to follow

Day 10 - George, Port Elizabeth & Johannesburg

Bit of a shocker. Staff received a 4.30am phone call from our bus driver Adam saying we would need to push back our 6am start to the journey for Port Elizabeth. Apparently a drunk driver smashed into the back of our coach (affectionately named “El Josa” by the boys) in the early hours of the morning and was now inactive at a depot. Therefore one of Adam’s colleagues was driving through the night from Cape Town (an eight-hour journey) to bring a replacement vehicle.

A huge thank you to all the billet hosts who transported the boys to the staff guest house from the school meeting point at 6 on a Sunday morning to await the coach. Team McDonalds breakfast ensued while staff changed our booking to a flight later this evening just to be safe.

The silver lining to this event was the group being able enjoy a more leisurely, scenic drive up the garden route, stopping off in towns like the lake-side Knysna to do some shopping and burger-buying.

Arrived at Port Elizabeth with plenty of time to check out the beach before checking in for our 19.40 flight to Johannesburg and boarding a small but slick plane. “This reminds me of my private jet, Sir,” remarked James Riley as he found his seat.

After a smooth 90-minute flight we arrived in Johannesburg and were transported to the Protea, a smart airport hotel but with peculiar showers-in-the-bedroom rooms. Still, everyone was grateful for flat-screen TVs and a good night’s rest after a hefty travel day. Clinking of the room service trolleys could be heard about midnight delivering steaks to various boys’ rooms...

Day 9 - Glenwood House 7s Tournament

Sevens tournament at Glenwood House school. Started with a presentation by the hosts followed by team prep and physio for those that needed it.

Match Report by Mr Beckett:

There were a few nerves on show in the warm up before the start of Shiplake’s first ever 7s match in South Africa. The Shiplake 1^st VII (Ostriches) were pitted against the host team, Glenwood House 1^st VII. The day started off well with attacking rugby from kick off, and some excellent link play between Thomas and Davis, setting the latter up for the first try of the day. Glenwood kept up to the pace of the game well, however, tries from Davis (2), Chen (2), Madden and new recruit Waldron ensured victory. The 1^st VII missed out on a 7 try bonus point, something they were sorely disappointed in.

Final score 1^st VII 46-0 Glenwood 1^st VII.

Next up were joint favourites P. W. Botha College, famed for playing crowd pleasing rugby, and winning some of the best tournaments in South Africa. The boys went into the game a little star struck and let in 2 early tries. With leadership coming from scrum half, James Riley, the 1^st VII stepped up their game attempting to play a game of ‘keep ball’. The opposition had different ideas, and turned every mistake or half chance into a try.

Final score P.W. Botha 36-0 1^st VII.

Last match of the group stages pitted Shiplake 1^st VII v Shiplake 2^nd VII. With the 2^nd VII consisting mostly of front row forwards, a decision was made to mix up the teams to make the match competitive. Beckett’s Bandits played Cane-Hardy’s Cannons in a thrilling encounter. Tries from Pearce (2) and Glover for the Bandits left the score at 17-0. Cane-Hardy’s Cannons came back and when Jardine trusted his pace and gave Green the outside, Green scored what was arguably the try of the tournament in a 60m sprint to score under the posts.

With Shiplake finishing 2^nd on points in the group stages, this pitted them against P.W. Botha College once again, and the boys knew a tough task was ahead. A slight change in attacking organisation changed the match significantly, with Wright, Hewins, Chen, Corke, Pearce and plenty more boys playing P.W at their own game, asking questions of their defense. Shiplake will probably not come up against a better school boy 7s side again (certainly not in the UK) so a 21-0 full time score line was admirable.

James Riley can be quoted in saying “We played with confidence and took the game to them. Our 7s ethos of ‘attack, attack, attack – create chaos’ really came through and I am proud of the determination the boys showed out there. It is a very promising start to 7s rugby at Shiplake”.

The 2^nd VII were always underdogs going into this 7s tournament. They decided to play to their strengths, and use their physicality to dominate teams. First up for the forward dominated Shiplake 2^nd VII was Glenwood House 2^nd VII and trys from Z. Jones, T. Jones and Arbuckle gave the visitors a commanding 17-0 lead. Glenwood house fought back valiantly, scoring 2 trys in the process with the final score 17-10 to Shiplake. Next to face the Shiplake Rhinos (self named) were P. W. Botha 2^nd VII. Shiplake knew they had a tough challenge ahead. P.W. Botha spent most of the match under the Shiplake posts, scoring 8 tries in the process. Final score 40-0.

Overall, a hugely rewarding day for the boys, and a promising start to the 7s rugby calendar at Shiplake which will resume in January 2012.