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SPORTS 15
Rugby Tour – South Africa
Will Ngassa, U6E
Our tour started on Thursday when
we set off from School to Heathrow
for our 12 hour flight to South
Africa. Arriving in Cape Town we
quickly set to work on our rugby
with a visit to Stellenbosch Rugby
Academy where the staff gave us
our first training session. The next
day we had an enjoyable coaching
session from some of the students
at the Academy. We were full of
optimism for our first game against
Stellenbosch Rugby Academy,
hoping to start our tour on the front
foot. However, they were a strong
side with some big players but we
still fought on. Unfortunately, we
lost the game but we all learned
that this tour was going to be tough
and that we would have to fight for
every second of it.
Although we were disappointed, we still had
a lot to be cheerful about as we made our
way into Cape Town to watch the Stormers,
Cape Town’s professional rugby team, play
in the quarter finals of the Super Rugby. We
woke the next day ready for river rafting,
about which we were all excited. Despite
the low water levels, due to a drought in the
western Cape area, we had a very enjoyable
morning amidst the South African nature.
Our second match against Edgemead High
School followed, which we knew we needed
to win. Again, we went onto the pitch with
high hopes of success; within the first
minutes we were up a try and so morale
was high. We went on to win the match
comfortably: the first win of the tour. Our
next day was a visit to a paintball park which
some of us were more excited about than
others. We split into forwards vs backs and
the backs proceeded to beat the forwards
5-0 with ease. After this we went to the
waterfront where we enjoyed some amazing
seafood and an exploration of the area.
Then came the day we were all waiting for:
our game against Bishop. We had learnt that
they founded rugby in South Africa so we
knew that they were going to be a good side.
We didn’t let our heads drop throughout the
match and we were rewarded with some
tries but they were very well trained and
proved too difficult to overcome. We all
felt that we played our hearts out and were
proud of what we had done as a team. The
next day, we were lucky enough to go on a
helicopter tour where we had a great aerial
view of Robben Island, Table Mountain and
the city of Cape Town.
Then came our journey to Knysna. On the
way we stopped off at a wildlife ranch where
we saw many animals indigenous to South
Africa, and also stopped at an Ostrich farm.
The next morning, feeling well rested, we
walked onto the pitch at Knysna to play our
fourth match. It was well fought by both
teams, but a conversion by Dan Davey with
the last kick of the game secured our second
victory on tour. After the match, we were
invited to the Knysna yacht club to watch the
Lions, another South African pro rugby club,
play the Hurricanes in the Super Rugby semi-
finals. Once again it was amazing to see the
love of rugby from the natives. The next day,
we went to a sports club in order to teach
some underprivileged children rugby. It was
incredible to see the happiness that sports
could bring to children in situations that we
could never imagine. Many in the touring
group thought that this was our best activity
and we look forward to doing similar work in
the future.
Leaving Knysna we made our way to our final
destination, Addo. On the way, we stopped off
in Port Elizabeth to play our final match against
Pearson’s’ school. It proved a difficult match
and unfortunately the opposition triumphed.
The last day, was spent in the Addo national
park; this was incredible as we departed in
jeeps to witness animals in the wild. Altogether,
we came within touching distance of hyenas,
buffalos, elephants, and even lions! This was a
special way to end a great tour that will live on
long in all of our memories.