Darwin Airport, looking back

After Brisbane, there was a bit of the danger of after the Lord Mayor’s Show at Townsville, not one the girls would prove to be subject to. Saturday saw them win their netball match, then draw in Hockey this morning.

For the under 16 boys it was perhaps a game too far as, in a muggy morning, the precision and speed of thought wasn’t there against a Townsville representative side, as Nick Richardson writes…

A strong start to the game by the opposition, led to two early tries. The first half was a story of drop balls and knock-ons by RGS. This allowed the opposition to take complete control of the game. The start of the second half , however, was far more promising with intense pressure on the other team by RGS, this allowed rgs to score their first try. Unfortunately Townsville scored from the kick off, to give them a 20 point lead with 15 minutes to go. This is when the controversy started, the referee blew the final whistle. This came as a surprise to both teams and the supporters on the sideline. Not surprisingly most of RGS team felt hard done by. Though the last game didn’t go to plan the tour as a whole was a success with 3 out 6 games won.... 

The 2^nd XV started strongly, but then subsided to some direct running. The 1st XV, despite being the better side found themselves 10-10 at half time. However, the second half saw us take over, but unable to convert pressure into points until two tries saw a safe gap opened. For the upper sixth players, of course, their last game of their school careers. And ended on a high.

Now, we're a transit louge in Darwin airport, longing for home. In the next few days, before I go on holiday, I'll add some more stuff. piccies etc

Brisbane

In a very hard fought game the under 16s lost 25-5 to a very powerful Brisbane State High School side. A close first half, not helped by an unconventional referee whose propensity to use his whistle robbed the game of momentum, saw two Brisbane tries. In the second a different referee (!!!!!!) let the game flow a bit more, though the Aussie view of the breakdown continues to trouble us. Some real forward pressure, a point made by their coach, led to a powerful charge over the line by Elliott Renforth. Whilst the opposition ran in a late score, the lads did themselves proud against one of Australia's best school sides. Some battered bodies, but some proud hearts! Even Brownie said they were 'superb'.

The 1sts won a fantastic victory with a last minute try, though the 2nds lost heavily.

The girls won both the netball and hockey.

All round, well done all... more to come

Important notice: changes to Townsville fixtures

The Townsville fixtures are somewhat different from those advertised. .


First, Rugby...


9am  U!6 Rugby vs Cathedral School
10am 2nds vs Cathedral/Ignatius Park combined
11.20 1sts vs Townsville U19 Reperesentative side


All at Townsville District RFC


Hockey:
10am vs Cathedral School, at the Murray Hockey Complex

Looking forward to some real tests today

Today, with the boys all playing Brisbane State High and the girls at Sommerville House, we all expect some very tough games. reports will follow early this evening...

Under 16s looking back & forward

It was an extremely difficult game due to the intense heat. Unfortunately in the first half the RGS As found themselves 4 goals down within three minutes as the netballers struggled to adjust to the arid climate. The game progressed quickly with numerous interceptions from Ellen Barton, and some strong shooting from Holly Clark and RGS As brought it back to a 3 goals deficit at half time. They continued to dominate at the start of the second half, equaling the Merewether score however RGS couldn’t keep this up and unfortunately lost in a bitterly tight game 22-21.

Ruby Wilkinson, vice captain.

vs Bishop’s Druitt As W 23-10, Bs lost to As 15-9

Before the game commenced, Tom Penny took it upon himself to warm the girls up with some excellent shooting displayed, putting Ruby Wilkinson to shame. However, the heat was intense as we went into the match and playing on grass proved difficult to adjust to for the whole team. However we took it in our stride and immediately took the lead in the first of the short quarters. A strong defense teamed with fantastic and consistant shooting from Ruby Wilkinson the RGS team finished the match with a huge lead. A brilliant game from all the girls who are looking forward to playing again in the next few days.

Hettie Williams, captain.

Hockey Central Coast L 6-0

It was needless to say that we were both nervous and excited about our first hockey match. A long warm up helped us get used to the fast surface however we were slightly shocked at the pace Central Coast brought to the game immediately. Despite this, we stepped up to their standard and not only made some good tackles in defence but also managed some strong breaks. Although we were playing some of the best hockey we have played as a team, Central Coast managed to score three goals within the first half. This did not affect our morale as we went back on with confidence to continue playing our own game. It seemed unfair that we were not able to get any shots into the back of the goal but we didn’t give up. Strong passing, communication, determination and good fitness helped the whole team to put up a good fight, going in for every tackle, chasing all the balls down and playing the ball around Central Coast. Sadly, our hard work didn’t pay off in the way thatz we would have hoped and our opposition managed three more (rather amazing) goals before the final whistle. We came off the pitch knackered but elated as we all felt very satisfied with the way we worked together and played as a team.

Ellen Barton, Captain.

Hockey Merewether L 2-0

After our narrow defeat in netball, all the girls were excited to play and even more determined to win the following hockey game against Mereweather that evening. We began well, playing quickly and managing to make some good breaks within our attack. The defence of Kristen, Claire-Marie and Katherine along with the help of Steph kept the ball well away from our goal in the majority of the first half however Mereweather had numerous short corners and just before half time slipped in a rather lucky goal which was a slight set back. Half time gave us a chance to regain our confidence and we went back on playing strong and fast. With great teamwork and communication we had a lot of chances and breaks and even a few shots but we seemed to struggle to finish them off. We were under a lot of pressure as Mereweather had more short corners but our goalkeeper Hettie saved them consistently. Mereweather scored once more in the last 5 minutes but RGS continued to play with our upmost effort until the last seconds. Although it was our second hockey defeat, we took the loss with pride and no one could critisise the effort put in, once again playing some of our best hockey yet.

Ellen Barton, Captain.

Elliott Renforth rocked up on his motorbike and the whole team was raring to face a strong Mereweaher High School. The boys weren’t physical enough last game in the forwards therefore the feisty Mr Dunn began his rigorous training with the lads. The scorching sun (22 degrees) made the pitch turn hard and the stand in captain Simon Robson began his inspirational speech. ‘Whos gonna tackle him?’ three times was shouted out and the boys responded with a firm ‘I am” Then Merewether High School kicked off their assault against the Royal Grammar School. From the beginning it was a physical encounter with hard tackles being made. However the breakthrough came 10 minutes into the first half with Thomas Gholkar powering through three tackles to the reach the line. Then Merewether High responded spectacularly by running via a back move to the try line and a double whammy occurred after they duplicated their first move to cross the try line leaving a 14-7 finish to Merewether at half time.

With the team under the cosh there was only one option and Mr Dunn invited the sweaty skipper Nick Richardson after his vigorous warm up to join the battlefield. The first 20 minutes of the second half was similar to the first half with a close encounter; however the tide changed when RGS began there whitewash of Merewether High as they scored try after try due to there magnificent fitness. Although Jonathan Lightley sustained an injury it was a great outing for the Rgs 16’s and set us on for the winning tour. The final score being 38-14.

Elliott Renforth, Player.

This was followed by an emphatic 50-12 win over Bishop’s Druitt from Coff’s Harbour, But then, the real test….

More anon

Wins for under 16s, looking back on Armidale

Yesterday, the 16 Boys won 50-12 against Bishop's Druitts and the girls won the A team netball too, the Bs losing narrowly toi their A team. The party is all together again now, and off to Brisbane. Menwhile, George Bilclough writes...

After the disappointing cancellation of the midweek match, the first team ended up with almost a week’s respite before their encounter with Shore School. The second team narrowly lost to Central Coast Grammar School, with gutsy performances from Matthew Haigh at hooker and re-christened Dale (formerly Sandy Robson) at scrum-half, with the latter rewarded with the prestigious man-of-the-match award. The match was blighted somewhat by the injury to stalwart centre Chris Lambert, who was sent to hospital with a severe concussion and suspected spinal damage. Several probings later, Chris was fortunately deemed healthy, much to the delight of the entire touring party; not to mention worried friends and family back home.

In the absence of any fixtures, Sydney proved itself to be a highly enjoyable city: however, Saturday came along and it was time to crack on with the proverbial business. Having watched the second team succumb manfully to the might of Shore School’s fourth team, the first team knew that their encounter with the opposition’s equivalent was going to be a taxing one.

The opening two tackles, both on senior players, confirmed such suspicions, as messrs Peacock and Pearston were sent sprawling respectively, heroically – and quite unbelievably – retaining possession. First blood went to Shore, with a try coming courtesy of uncharacteristically poor defense in the backline. However, keen to maintain the status quo to some extent, the RGS struck back through a try from Dave Watchorn (C), thanks to an innovatively taken penalty from Andrew Peacock (VC). To say that the team’s kicker, yours truly, failed to add the extras is something of an understatement, the corner flag unfortunately not the intended target. The remainder of the half passed in a similar grain, with Shore regrettably extending their lead slightly further, leaving the score at 14-5 in their favour at the interval, though with RGS morale still high. 

As I feel that I am spending too long on this entry, fortunately there is little more to say about the game, other than that numerous errors later, the RGS side stoically conceded a hefty defeat. The final score at 41-10, only superb runs from Pearston (SP) on the left wing and a try from Stephenson on the right wing managed to salvage some pride.

Armidale. A place lost in the outback and the middle of the 18^th Century. A perfect place for some tour fun as we found ourselves staying in a school classroom; such close quarters helping with insulation as temperatures plummeted in the evening. The first team won, tries from Carding, Guy, Lowes and Pearston sealing a 22-12 victory for the lads. The second team lamentably did not have such success, losing narrowly 14-12, perhaps due to the loss of Dale and captain Furness, both promoted to the first team for their inaugural tour caps. 

DON"T PANIC FOLKS

The lads who were in hospital are fine, and their parents know!!!!! indeed, the one with me (Jonathan Lightley) was chatting with them on Skype this morning.


Now for a nice long train journey. Later today, the under 16s play.  More to come...

WIN FOR FIRSTS, NARROW DEFEAT FOR SECONDS

Up in Armidale the seconds lost 14-12, 1sts won 4 tries to two with a weakened team.  More to come...

Victory for Newcastle in Newcastle! But much more....

Apologies for stop-start blogging, been otherwise engaged with (thankfully not seriously in the end) injured lads. Yesterday the under 16s won and excellent victory 34-14 over a strong and physical Merryweather High side. After a close fought and physical first half finished 14-14, we decided to step up and dominated the second half and stopped butchering chances, running in three tries and an early penalty. A definite step up from the first game and a very physical performance saw a few injuries.


Have I mentioned my forthcoming guidebook, Hospitals of South East Australia? On a serious note, we had to go to hospital with three lads yesterday (all fine). The kindness of some of the folk from Newcastle would do their Geordie namesakes proud: one parent stayed with me and the boys in casualty for four hours, another has welcomed myself and the lad who had the overnight stay into their house for the night until we can get a train in the morning (it's their computer I'm using now). So all you parents who have so kindly opened your homes to boys and girls from touring schools in the past, your Aussie counterpoints have shown why that it is such a great thing. Being stuck in a hospital 12,000 miles from home was made so much easier by such kindnesses!  One is coming to our Newcastle in a couple of years: looking forward to that!


Meanwhile, the 2nds narrowly lost a shortened game 14-12 (floodlight issues!) in Armidale, as I write the 1sts are kicking off... more to come. Hopefully will have photos etc to put up tomorrow.

Hard Day at Shore

Two defeats at Shore School, the 2nds losing 32-12 and the 1sts, after a tight first half, 41-5. In the 1sts game we got a lesson in tactical kicking and straight running.

Apologies for the haitus, medical supervision duties!

16s play in Newcastle today, c'mon lads!!!!!!!!

Match Day 2

Started today with the Australian Reptile Park and our new friend Elvis…

Then played Central Coast Grammar. The girls lost to their Hockey 1^st team, and then to their netball side in an exciting fast paced game.

The 2^nd XV went down 22-12 to their 1^st XV. The 16s won 20-7, following a very strong second half, probably should have won by more… 

And perhaps the nicest touch of all, the ex-Head of CCGS, and an Old Novo, with Dave Watchorn...  More to come

Some Sport related stuff, match reports looking forward

George Bilclough writes…

For me, match day began earlier than anticipated as I was rudely awoken by what I initially thought was the 5-point earthquake in Wellington, but which was in actual fact Jack Ridout face-planting to the floor after tumbling over his tour bag in an attempt to locate the toilet in the darkness.

After some incredible hospitality at the billeting households, players gathered at Marcellin College for what was sure to be a highly testing encounter against Victoria State (a representative side from an area with a population of 4 million people, a fifth of the Australian population). 1^st XV morale was bolstered considerably by the 2^nd team’s performance, they having ruffled the feathers of the large home side, unfortunately conceding defeat eventually after having gone in at the interval in the lead.

Similarly, the 1^st team began enterprisingly, with some superb defense from both the forwards and backs demonstrating to the sizeable opposition – their squad consisting of 18 Polynesian islanders averaging about 43 stone a player – that we meant business. Indeed first blood went to the RGS, with Jamie Guy capitalizing on some loose ball to dive over like a salmon in the corner. However, the RGS then subconsciously appeared to recommence their role as underdogs, and as a result soon found themselves under the cosh. It took some outstanding D from James Carding at outside centre (carrying a post-cricket-season gut which helped him to hold his own) to keep his menacing counterpart at bay. Andrew Peacock and Alex Ruffman were also heroic in the loose, with Dave Watchorn leading magnificently by example as comes naturally to the bloke described by Mr. Brown as ‘the hardest man [he] has ever seen’. Regrettably, after some extended work on our own line, the enormous opposition eventually broke through.

At the interval, it was all still to play for, the RGS trailing 8-7. To replicate his feats in defense, Carding scored early in the second half to regain the lead after some slick handling from the back-line subsequent to a quickly-taken penalty from astute scrum-half, Will Genia; sorry, Harry Fenton. This marked the beginning of a twenty-minute spell of domination for the touring side, with a try from speedster Neil Pearston on the wing consolidating the lead. Scott Atkinson’s delicious switch line opened up space for the Sevens Player of the Season who cruised in to score with his first touch of the ball. Magic. Unfortunately, Scott was brought back down to ground, literally, as he was sent aerial by the Victorian number 8, ‘Big Eddy’, as he stormed towards the try line. And thus momentum shifted with this moment of symbolism, Victoria henceforth thrusting the RGS away as they ended up victors by 12 points. The loss, although lamentable, was not without comedy as our own number 8, Ruffman, resorted to desperate measures with an attempted chip ahead: the ball went at right angles to its intended direction of trajectory, to the amusement of everyone watching, least of all himself.

And on the Under 16 Rugby, Nick Richardson writes…

The first game on tour was always going to be a tough test for the 16’s. However, the team adapted well early on to terrible conditions and the pouring rain.  The first half was a close affair with strong defence from the which only  we allowed the opposition to penetrate the line 3 times, which resulted in a 19-0 lead to the home team going into half time. Though RGS had butchered several chances with aimless kicking. Unfortunately the second half wasn’t the same story the defence crumpled time after time to leave the score at 48-0 at the end. RGS hardly touched the ball in the second half, and the size of the islanders was a key factor in this. However the pitch was in an awful state.  Mass improvement will be needed for the next game.

U16 netball A team vs Firbank Grammar School, Hettie Williams…

The game got off to a brilliant start, turning over Firbank’s first centre pass, giving us an immediate advantage. We continued to turn over balls, bringing us up by 4 goals towards the end of the first quarter. Our strong lead was kept throughout  the second and most of the third quarter but Firbank managed to take the lead at the end of the third quarter  to 24-23. Determined not to lose and let it get us down, we went into the final quarter on the attack. We turned over all but two of their centre passes and teamed with the goals from our own centre passes, brought the score back up to 34-24 and two final goals from Firbank in the last 45 seconds took the final score to 34-26 to RGS. An impressive start to the tour for the girls who are all looking forward to their next match on Thursday.

Under 16-B Team-Captain Alice Kennerley…

The team was apprehensive of the competition although after watching the A team’s victory it felt as though a good result was achievable. In the first quarter Firbank had a healthy lead although in the second quarter Sarah Cheesebrough and Grace Seeley had great movement In the D and Gobeni Mohan fed in some lovely balls meaning that RGS managed to win back a lot of the goals and won the second quarter. In the third quarter there was a changing of positions; however, Firbank managed to go on to win the third and, only narrowly, the fourth quarter. The B team gelled well as a team and had good movement throughout the match, and while overall the score was 28-14 to Firbank but it was by no means a failure.   

           

Central Coast

The difficulty of obtaining wifi at less than $1m a go slows reports down a little, but we had a ball in Sydney even without the 1st XV match. Walked miles, opera, made friends at the rather good Australian Hotel on the Rocks, surfed and had fun at Manly, jet boats... Can't add many piccies here, bloomin' connection's too slow...


Arrival...

Manly Ferry

Manly beach, including 7st weakling with surfboard, C'mon Brownie...

Jet boat, and aftermath...

As you can see, life's hard

Game Off

We have just been informed that following last week's heavy rain in Sydney, the 1st XV's game against Eastwood, tomorrow Tuesday 25th, is off. 

More will be posted soon, including the views of players and more details of what's to come.

On the up side, safe and sound in Sydney! Off to the Opera tonight...

First games. Boys Lose all Three & Girls Win one Lose one

Underway at last. Playing the Victoria State XVs, all three side went down to defeat. In a close game, the 1st XV took a lead midway through the first half, before going in 10-7 down at half-time; this observer thought the RGS were the better side for much of that first half, putting on serious pressure in the line out and at the breakdown. In the second half, it was harder to establish a platform as the referee's interpretation of the breakdown hurt us, as did some boys of Polynesian extraction the size of the proverbial brick facility. Despite and excellent Pearston try, tries either side from them kept them in front and they ran in two in the last few minutes to flatter them somewhat.

Earlier, the 2nd XV lost having been 19-0 up at half time before a mixture of tiredness and substitutions let the opposition score 36 points without reply in the second half. Meanwhile, the Under 16s in a mudbath fought out a close first half before crumbling against some more rather large Polynesian backs in the second half to lose 51-0: bit of a lesson in the end.

The honour of the RGS was however upheld by the girls' Netball A team, who came from behind to win their game in the last quarter; the Bs lost a hard fought game.

More, with photos, to come. Sunny Australia?

 


Well, the sun does shine sometimes... training yesterday...

On the bench at the MCG. Unfortunately, on the first night we went to what was quite possibly the worst Aussie Rules game in history, mostly notable for ten jet-lagged party's tendency to fall asleep and the locals amusement at an entire row of girls asleep (and it was bloomin' cold).

The Sky Tower was, well, high...

These lads may well now weigh up to five times more following the vast quantities of food their billets have given them. Others have been to a Samoan dance, gone to church (oh yes), Lord knows what!


Meanwhile, if Mrs T is reading the beer is not hideously expensive, I am not in a rather nice bar with (finally) free wifi and yours truly definitely did not end up in the place below in the early hours! What a country!

Sydney here we come......

Arrived and trained

We're here

WHAT A GREAT CITY

All the boys and girls out in billets
Photos tomorrow when there is good internet access

We are all over jetlag

Getting Ready for the Off

Well, the time is almost nigh. As we get ready, here's the tour party as seen back in  the dark days of winter...