Our main man...

Here's to our coach. Happy Birthday Al!

Final day in London, then home...

After our visit to the Imperial war museum we checked into our hotel for the final two nights. The Royal National hotel is one of a group of mega-hotels very centrally located in Russell Square. People from all over Europe are checking in and out of this place at all hours of the night and day. In the main foyer you could hear could hear just about every language except English being spoken. On this occasion as with most other times we've been here, the majority of travellers coming and going are Spaniards and Italians.

March 25th: Our first full day in town and after a bit of bus tour of the major sites we gone right down to business; dropped off on Shaftesbury avenue, just a stone's throw from Picadilly circus we all made a B-Line for the single most important stop in the city - Lillywhites!!

This is a sporting goods paradise and the boys took little time is spending their last few quid on everything from soccer jerseys to new rugby boots, flags, scarves, rugby balls and whatever else they deemed a must have. Prices on things such as good rugby boots are deceptively cheap considering the location. But that is what Lilywhites is known for and it's what brings people in from all over.

After a good 5 hours of sightseeing and shopping, we brought the boys to the Soho Pizzeria on Beak Street for our final team dinner. Excellent food and excellent value. It was great to finish off our tour this way; a great bunch of boys with their overworked coaches having a well deserved meal, talking about their experiences over the last 2 weeks and a few good laughs. A fitting finale to a great touring experience.

March 26th: Flight home. A few final purchases in the Terminal Five duty frees then off to Vancouver. Cannot help but remark with great relief at our luck. We came home in between the BA strike actions. Had our return trip been schedules for the 27th, we'd likely still be there...

Thanks to all parents for your support of our tour. We look forward to the next one.

On to London

First bit of sightseeing in London, the big guns out front of the Imperial War Museum. Very cool.

Not exactly sure what all the fuss was about; lots of people were milling about this old house. Somebody named Bill used to live there??? ;->

No rugby tour would be complete without an added cultural component such as this, a Striker tradition; a stop in Stratford upon Avon for the requisite visit to Greggs. (It's an English thing, Partridge would understand...)

The last fixture

The final game on tour always seems to be the toughest; not necessarily because the opposition is so much better but because the boys have come to a point where physically they are taxed the most. The fatigue of long travel, early mornings, changes in sleep and diet patterns as well as the odd sniffle and stuffy head takes its greatest toll at this point. Yet invariably it is also the point at which the team displays the best that they have taken from this formative experience through their bonding, their positive attitudes and in the effort they put out on the playing field. Though we lost this game it was our most competitive effort. The shock-loading of high level rugby that started March 12th has now started to pay dividends for this young Striker side. Improvements have come across the board from the set pieces to completing passes under pressure to kicking, to winning the contact area through improved tackling, rucking and repetitive phases of possession. Needless to say we are very proud of this group of athletes who have started to come together as a rugby team.

A trip down memory lane

If you're old enough to remember the Beatles, well, you're old... Having said that, one is never too old to enjoy their music and learning about their history. Our second day back in England started with a Beatles tour. The trip into Liverpool involved a "ferry cross the Mersey" (Anyone know the song; Jerry and the pacemakers?)

After a brief wait and some dockside entertainment provided by Mr. H, Paddy Pascal and a few dozen crazed pigeons we met our very knowledgeable guide Jackie. From that point we were treated to a fascinating history lesson on the lives of all the Beatles and learned about the events that brought the band members together as well as the places and events that shaped their music and careers. As we went through the old streets stopping at various locations, the music played, the lyrics now came to us. Magic.

On the Wirral

After meeting our hosts at St. Anselm's College, the boys were off for a good night's sleep. The following morning, we ran a final tour training session and then we were off to the city of Chester. Chester is a lovely city characterized by its old Roman walls and "the Rows" which are shopping galleries and boutiques lining either side of the streets. The stores operate out of storybook tudor style buildings which make for a great postcard.

On to England for the final fixture

The trip back into England brought us back through North Wales. Our first stop from the ferry was this rather lonely train station rendered famous by its excessively long name (58 letters) Uhmm... What were the Welsh thinking?
Anyway the phonetics, if you can read them, are above. The translation:
"The church of Mary in the hollow of the white hazel near the fierce whirlpool and the church of Tysilio by the red cave"

Fascinating...

Ouch...

Well, it just wouldn't be tour without at least one trip to the hospital. In this case one of our young players ended up with this little badge of honour following a particularly hard tackle in the game vs. Belfast. At first we were concerned the injury would require an extended stay in Belfast and surgery, not the best situation given our timetable. Fortunately we were informed that this could be dealt with at home.

Belfast High vs Hugh McRoberts

Beautiful backdrop, perfect weather a good sized crowd and a comptitive match made this a great day for rugby.

The Strikers showed much improved form in the match today. The forwards were comprehensively more physical with better committment in the loose play and managed possession better in contact. Flanker Connor Martyniuk terrorized the Belfast halfbacks with his tackles and relentless pressure on the Belfast halfbacks. The Strikers' improved start was rewarded with an early penalty from which Mo Rahmaty slotted in the three points. Belfast responded with a change in tactics opting to move the ball very rapidly out to their backs, creating overlaps and attacking on the wings with tremendous pace and skilled passing. Their kicks into the corners paid off for Belfast with successive tries. The second half brought more of the same from Belfast who capitalized from our mistakes and missed tackles. In spite of this McRoberts came back with tries from Kapi Vataiki and Adam Webster. The end result: Belfast 34 to McRoberts 17; another loss but an altogether much improved effort.

Adam Webster was again awarded the man of the match award by our hosts but other notably good performances came from Kamal Sidhu, Andy Lam and Connor Martyniuk.

County Antrim

March 18th: Arrived in Belfast shortly after our visit to Bru Na Boinne. This is a wonderful, modern, cosmopolitan center which has shed its troubled past. As usual, our hosts at Belfast High are superbly organized and very gracious. Boys are looking a bit tired so a good night's rest is definitely in order.

March 19th: Thought we like rugby? This school has 4 sets of uprights. That's 4 rugby pitches. Every other sport is, well, just another sport. Rugby is paramount. (Pure bliss). After a good morning training session we made our way up the Antrim coast to Giant's Causeway. The Causeway is a formation of basalt rock columns created over 60 million years ago as a result of volcanic eruptions and the subsequent cooling. The end result is breathtaking, mysterious and powerful. Today the Giant's Causeway is a World heritage site. The images don't do this place justice.

A pleasant surprize, we were joined today by Mr. Duncan Bees who came out to see his son Graeme on tour. How nice is that?

Bru Na Boinne

March 19th, visited Bru Na Boinne (Newgrange). The boys did a tour of the Neolithic burial mounds which pre-date the Ancient pyramids of Egypt by 500 years. The entry faces 90 degrees due east parlleling the subsequent layout of Christian cathedrals. During the winter solstice a ray of sunlight enters the front of the mound producing a tapering ray of light that illuminates the center chamber for a total of 17 minutes. The engineering expertise required in such a design is astounding given the fact it was completed over 5000 years ago. The lottery subscription for the mere 100 places available to enter Bru Na Boinne on December 21st numbers typically over 32,000.

NEWSFLASH: British Airways goes on strike

The good news is we won't be affected. BA cabin crews will start the first of two organized strike actions. The schedule is as follows:

- a 3 day action starting March 20th

- an additional 4 day action starting March 27th

We leave for home March 26th. Apparently good timing... Obviously, we will keep you all posted if there are any further developments.

Happy Saint Patrick's day

Dublin is a great town; a non-stop party from one end to the other. And, as far as the Irish are concerned, Saint Patrick's day is just an official excuse for... another big party.

March 16th was our first full day in town and one could see the preparations for the upcoming parade and celebrations everywhere. The boys spent a few hours exploring the sights and sounds of Grafton and O'Connell, St. Stephen's Green and Temple Bar district. By the time they returned to the coach, more than a few of them were sporting the conspicuous green leprechaun hats, scarves and tattooes (the washable kind!)

Wednesday morning our game against High School kicked off at 10:30 a.m.. This would allow us to have the afternoon for another trip into town to watch the Leinster School's cup final.

Our game was a very good lesson in expansive and enterprising rugby by our Irish hosts. Whereas the Welsh favoured a bashing, physical style, the High School was typical of the Irish fast paced high energy game. The ball spent relatively little time in rucks and mauls and once out was moved with tremendous speed through very skilled hands. It was a long day for our centers.

Some adjustments were made in the second half and McRoberts opted to keep the ball tight in the forward pack, picking and driving from the breakdowns and this paid off with an excellent try from Adam Webster. Arnold Lam was a model of hard work at scrum-half today, marshalling his troops but also doing a lot of tackling applying pressure on the opposing halfback. The end tally was 27-7. Deservedly, both Adam and Arnold were awarded "man of the match" honnours by the other team.

Post Game: Hosts brought all of us to a local restaurant for a hot lunch featuring traditional Irish stew (A faithful and savoury Saint Paddy's day standby) Afterwards, we went to the RDS stadium to watch the Leinster Schools Cup final between Clongowes Wood and St. Michael's College. Attendance: 31 McRoberts guys and 19,000 other Dubliners. Let's put this in perspective; 19000 spectactors for a highschool rugby game. This is unlike anything we have in Canada let alone B.C. And nothing quite compares to the kind of atmosphere generated at such an event. Ireland is a rugby-mad nation and the schools, where it is played at the highest skill levels, take it very seriously. In fact the game is so important and so popular that it is televised on national television. The two most widely watched sporting events in all of Ireland in the last week have been, the Cheltenham festival and the Leinster School's final.

Tomorrow we'll be heading off to New Grange and then Belfast for our next stop.

It's all good craic...

It's not just any High school...