Day 15 The Tlamelo project and Old Naledi
Day 15 4th August 2013
Today we arose and breakfasted at the Motel before heading off into Old Naledi district to join with the leaders of the Tlamelo project to attend a church service in the Baptist church.
We were greeted by the ministers and officials and entered the church along with two American evangelist groups who had been working in the district. During the service Mr Hardy addressed the congregation and explained the nature of our visit to Botswana and to the Tlamelo project.
Whilst the majority of the group were at church a small select group visited the project compound armed with paint and brushes to construct a Yarm School mural on a wall to commemorate our visit. Tamer Fuat, James Mccullagh and Robin Croft made a fabulous job of the mural.
After we had been to church we all collected to see the mural and to sign our names down the sides of the painting.
We all then had a late lunch at Nando’s in the Game shopping mall.
It was too late to visit the David Livingstone Memorial so it will have to wait until the next time we visit Botswana.
We returned to the Oasis Motel for a spot of leisure time (including packing for home).
We eat tonight at the Iketlo Lodge-Kumakwane.
We depart tomorrow and should be back at school late morning on Tuesday.
I may post again if I get the chance – in transit.
Day 14 Match Day 5 against Tlamelo and Select XV
Day 14 3rd August 2013
We breakfasted at the hotel and then travelled into Gabarone for some last minute shopping. We then visited an arts centre and saw lots of different artists at work and viewed their picture and sculptures. The definite hit was the musical instrument maker who made various instruments including some xylophones which the tour party really got into playing.
We lunched back at the Oasis Motel and then travelled to Wharic Park for our last games on tour.
Tlamelo Project XV 21 Yarm 2nd XV 55
Yarm showed a good organised start, Max Gray running well. The Tlamelo boys started with great heart and tackled well but couldn’t handle our more structured game.
Max Gray scored a good try but we were countered soon after with a great break from their fly half to score and convert his try.
Yarm pressed back and a great passage of play saw McGregor nearly score but be was bundled into touch. We stole their lineout and Bonavia scored. There followed some really good play from Yarm with a Bonavia turnover setting up our backs for McCullagh to score out wide.
Tlamelo restarted and tackled in numbers to take the restart ball, they couldn’t capitalise and McCullach made another break to score and convert his try.
We were the caught napping as they came back at us to break through and score and convert.
Sam Thompson was having a great time punching well above his weight and running and tackling well.
Martin Croft scored a good forwards try by bursting through and using his momentum to power over the line, McCullagh converted.
We went in at half time 14-29 up
The second half didn’t start well, a poor clearance from Yarm set up the opposition no 10 to burst through and score and convert his try.
Tlamelo were really pressing hard, their fast pace in the backs giving us a lot of defending to do.
Yarm were starting to make mistakes with a number of unnecessary forward passes.
Duggleby took the field and immediately made a difference. He charged down a kick to allow Stockdale to pounce on the ball and score, Jones converted.
Our superior gameplay started to show in the last quarter and much pressure form the forwards allowed Harry Thompson to break through and score a try which Jones converted. Alexander and foster combinbed well to make breaks. McCullach went on a great run to score and convert his try. Max Gray and Bonavia combined well to make ground and finally Duggleby popped up to score.
A convincing win for the 2nd XV didn’t really tell the story of the game as the scores should have been a lot closer. All credit to the Tlmaelo boys for a very hearty performance.
Gabarone Select XV 0 Yarm 1st XV 61
The game was no score for a long time as both teams vied for possession and both defended well. Melville made a couple of try saving tackles until eventually we breached their defence and Fox scored (on his birthday) and Booth converted.
Yarm still ahd a battle on their hands and found it really hard to break their defence.
We struggled on and some lovely offloads between O’Brien and Henderson saw Henderson go over to score and Booth converted. O’Brien was becoming stronger in his runs and he combined with Mavin to make some headway. Yetman was substituted by Collatine and this helped to strengthen the back row sufficiently for the forwards to get quick ball and the backs create the overlap for Mughal to score in the corner, Booth slotted a great conversion from the touchline.
Our forwards were beginning to dominate and the birthday boy Fox scored again and Booth converted. Fuat was substituted by Will Guthrie shortly before half time. We went in at half time 0-28 up.
The second half saw us come out even stronger against a now weakening opposition.
O’Brien was substituted by He, and shortly after Henderson made a great run to set up Mavin to score and Booth converts.
Henderson was on the rampage as a few minutres later he went on a strong run to burst through and score, Booth again converted.
We were really going great guns when Guthrie chipped over to give Jones a try in the corner.
Henderson went on another great run which led to the ball being held up.
A scrum gave great ball to our back who flung it out wide for Alexader (Sid) to score and Guthrie converted.
The game was capped fittingly by Jones scoring the last try of the tour and Guthrie converting.
A great final win on tour with again a scoreline which didn’t reflect the closeness of the game. Perhaps if the opposition team, made up of boys from 2 schools, had played together before, the game would have been very different.
We then made a presentation to the Tlamelo project of gifts and kit which we had brought with us and we also made a presentation to the combined schools team.
We returned to the Oasis Motel for dinner and then had our final tour presentation and awards evening at the Motel.
Match Day 5 Teams vs Select Teams Gaborone
| Teams versus Select Teams at Gaborone RFC | |||
| First XV | Second XV | ||
| 1 | Fox | Mahmoud | |
| 2 | O’Brien | R Croft | |
| 3 | Elston | M Croft | |
| 4 | Henderson | Robinson | |
| 5 | Knaggs | B Gray | |
| 6 | Yetman | Stockdale | |
| 7 | Duggleby | M Gray | |
| 8 | Mavin (capt) | Bonavia (capt) | |
| 9 | Booth | S Thompson | |
| 10 | Wilson | H Thompson | |
| 11 | Peddada | McGregor | |
| 12 | Lawson | Phellas | |
| 13 | Mughal | McCullagh | |
| 14 | Alexander | Foster | |
| 15 | Fuat | M Nargol | |
| 16 | Collatine | ||
| 17 | Melville | ||
| 18 | Jones | ||
| 19 | He | ||
| 20 | Hartigan | ||
| 21 | W Guthrie | ||
Day 13 Kgale Hill and the Tlamelo Project
Day 13 2nd August 2013
Today we gathered at 6:20 and travelled across Gaborone to the foot of Kgale hill and set off to climb.
The terrain was quite rocky but not too steep and all of us who attempted the climb made it to the top. We left 3 injuries and Mr Thomas behind.
The Kgale Hill, Gaborone is located on the western side of the city. We got some breath-taking views of the Dam and the city.
We then returned to the hotel for breakfast.
After breakfast we travelled to the Tlamelo project in the district of Old Naledi in the city. The area resembles a township in South Africa but is in fact a district ruled by a chief and elders. The area is very poor and contains a large number of disadvantaged children.
We split into teams and took it in turns to play with the children, prepare food for them and also visit sites in the neighbourhood.
When we arrived there were about 20-30 children but by lunchtime at 1:00pm there were hundreds.
HtHatsHats off to Mr Morrison who supervised his team in the precision production line which served the lunches of chicken and pap to the hungry children.
To say that we enjoyed our visit is not using the right words it was a very humbling and moving experience but in the main a happy time..
We returned to the Oasis motel for a late lunch before going out again to visit the Botswana Craft Centre and The Dikgosi Monument which commeromorates the Batswana (Botswana’s people) strive for a free state and their request to become a British protectorate in 1885.
We went out for dinner at The Obama Restaurant in Gabarone (The name is coincidental).
Our last match day tomorrow at Wharic Park.
Match Day 4 against Livingstone Kolabeng College
Day 12 1st August 2013
Today we breakfasted at the Oasis Motel and then Had some free time in the morning to relax and some of us walked to a nearby shopping mall to browse and purchase some gifts.
We assembled for lunch and then set of for Wharic Park for our matches against Livingstone Kolabeng College
Livingstone Kolabeng College U16 XV 7 Yarm 2nd XV 64
Yarm started strong and an excellent turnover from Bonavia led to an attacking scrum from which Duggleby picked up and made good ground.
Bonavia opened the scoring by finishing a good forward drive and going over, McCullagh converted
Shortly after a great interception by Wilson sent Duggleby over and again McCullagh converted.
A good backs move saw Harry Thompson score in the corner.
Yarm continued to win ball and despite being pushed back to our 22 we won a scrum against the head and pushed back upfield to their 22. McGregor was running good lines and offloading well. The ball was whipped along our backline and McCullagh scored in the corner and converted his try.
Yarm backs continued to dominate and Bonavia broke to set McGregor away but he was pushed into touch.
Shortly after on the other wing Alexander stormed over to score and McCullagh converted.
The first half ended 0-31
The second half saw Wilson off and Matthew Nargol on with some re-shaping at scrum half. The opposition made two substitutions and we thought we were in trouble when they broke through to score under the posts and convert.
Yarm soon took charge again and McCullagh scored and converted.
A great drive from the forwards saw Robin Croft power through and score for McCullagh to convert.
A try came out wide soon after when Sam Thompson was sent over after Alexander made a break, McCullagh converted.
Max Gray made a good strong run only to be hauled down for a five metre scrum. The scrum win sent Sam Thompson over in the corner and McCullagh converted.
Our final try came from a bursting run by Jason He.
A convincing win for the 2nd XV.
Livingstone Kolabeng College U19 XV 7 Yarm 1st XV 43
They opposition had some big forwards and quick and slippery backs. A deep worked w backskicked was chased up and Knaggs secured only to be turned over and them to pressure us. We weathered the storm and regained the ball to clear. Mughal nearly scollowedored in the corner after Henderson had made a good break. We went on to steal the lineout and our backs showed great running whith the ball to switch play backwards and forwards across the field. A high tackle on Fuat gave us a penalty which we ran and a strong run from Mughal set Fuat up to score.
There followed a period of ferocious tackling on both sides and shortly after Wilson came on for Booth who went off with a bloody nose. He was soon back and participated in a strong rush to send Mavin over in the corner.
One of the opposition props was sin-binned for a dangerous tackle which up-ended Elston (on his birthday!)
A great win in the lineout by Henderson sent Fox over for an archetypal forward try. Booth converted and the half ended 0-17.
The second half started in great style with a try from Mughal which Booth converted. Wilson came on for Will Guthrie.
Shortly after this the back line linked well to send Lawson over for a try.
Collatine came on for Yetman and Melville replaced Hartigan.
Jones was having a storming game playing flanker.
The opposition took on the challenge and some great handling saw them score and convert. Knaggs made a number of great breaks which eventually paid off and he score d for Booth to convert.
Knaggs was substituted and Hartigan came on to score a late try which Booth converted.
After the game we made some presentations and then returned to the Oasis Motel for dinner.
After dinner we all went out to the cinema and watched The Internship a – very funny film.
Back to the Motel and an early night – we’ve got a hill climb at 6:30 in the morning!
Teams vs Livingstone Kolabeng College at Wharic Park Gaborone
| Teams versus Livingstone Kolabeng College at Gaborone RFC | |||
| First XV | Second XV | ||
| 1 | Fox | Mahmoud | |
| 2 | O’Brien | He | |
| 3 | Elston | M Croft | |
| 4 | Henderson | Robinson | |
| 5 | Knaggs | B Gray | |
| 6 | Jones | Stockdale | |
| 7 | Yetman | Duggleby | |
| 8 | Mavin (capt) | Bonavia (capt) | |
| 9 | Booth | Wilson | |
| 10 | W Guthrie | H Thompson | |
| 11 | Peddada | McGregor | |
| 12 | Lawson | McCullagh | |
| 13 | Mughal | Alexander | |
| 14 | Hartigan | S Thompson | |
| 15 | Fuat | Foster | |
| 16 | Collatine | R Croft | |
| 17 | Melville | M Nargol | |
| 18 | Wilson | M Gray | |
Gaborone & Mmankgodi Cultural Centre
Day 11 31st July 2013
Today we breakfasted at the Oasis Motel and then assembled to travel into the centre of Gaborone.
We had a chance to change money and to meander around the shops and stalls in the middle of Gaborone before we assembled at the British High Commission to be greeted by officials there.
After another bit of shopping we travelled to our next stop.
We visited the Mmankgodi Cutural village where we were welcomed by traditional singing and dancing. We sat in the village meeting place (Kgolta) and were welcomed by the village chief. We then participated in many chores like pounding grain and making flour,
We were treat to a lunch of ground beef and vegetables and pap and traditional ginger beer.
We then boarded the bus and travelled to Wharic Park for a training session.
After this we travelled back to the Oasis Motel to change and transfer to the Rodizo- a Brazilian style restaurant in the Riverwlk Plaza. Here we had an “All you can eat” meat challenge which managed to beat most of us!
Match day 4 tomorrow at Wharic Park
Post navigation
Gaborone in Botswana
Day 10 30th July 2013
Today we breakfasted at Bakgatla camp and the boarded the coach for Botswana.
The journey took a lot longer than anticipated, and the border immigration was terribly long winded, and we didn’t arrive until about 3:30pm.
We said a fond farewell to Frank -our driver, who had looked after us very well in South Africa and had become a member of the tour as he stayed with us on the game reserve and joined us for meals and the entertainment.
We got settled in at The Oasis Motel and were met by our hosts.
We boarded a coach to travel to the Mokolodi Game Reserve.
Imagine the excitement when two police cars turned up and we were escorted through the streets of Gabarone. One police car in front complete with blue flashing light stopping traffic at roundabouts and escorting us through red lights, and the other police car behind with four policemen in it!!
We feel a bit like royalty. Well I suppose we are, because we are the first rugby touring side from outside Africa to visit Botswana!!
We travelled up to the gates of the reserve were we transferred into game trucks to travel to the Boma (lakeside) for a Braai(barbecue) round a campfire in the bush.
We were treated to a series of dances by a traditional dance troupe – and some of the boys were encouraged to join in (special mention of Will Guthrie for a sterling performance).
We had a lovely evening and returned to the motel quite late.
Pilanesburg and Sun City
Day 9 29th July 2013
Today we were up very early and assembled at dawn’s light (6:30 am) for a morning game drive. The temperature when we set off was 2 degrees C!!!
We travelled some way before we saw some warthogs , jackals and zebra and giraffe. We saw a civet cat and a Kudu outlined on the skyline.
The game drive was not as good as the one last night.
We breakfasted at 9:00 and then set of for some fun and R&R at Sun City.
Sun City is an entertainment complex set deep in the bush. It was first constructed by an entrepreneur in the 1970s in what was then just inside the Botswanan border (this because of the strict gaming laws in the then Apartheid South African regime).
The entertainment park became within South Africa after boundary changes and is still a top destination for South Africans from Johannesburg and Pretoria.
The park is laid out like a ruined Inca city in the bush. The centrepiece is The Valley of the Waves.
This consists of a beach with tidal waters, a series of water slides and water rides.
We enjoyed the ‘sea’, sun, rides and ‘very sharp’ silicone sand. – even lunch was provided.
Then we travelled back to the camp for dinner. After dinner we had a quiz night and the whole party took part in a game of ‘killer pool’.
This rounded off a thoroughly fun day.
Up early tomorrow to head for Gaborone in Botswana.
Pilanesburg Game Reserve
Day 8 28th July 2013
Today we enjoyed breakfast at the HPC and then packed up to head north on the coach to Pilanesburg.
After a long coach journey and a stop for lunch at the Sun City shopping complex, we arrived at Bakgatla Camp in the Pilanesburg game reserve.
After getting set up in our chalets we had a dip in the camp pool. The water was freezing cold but great fun and we enjoyed half an hour in the water.
We assembled at 4:30 pm for an evening safari into the game reserve.
It wasn’t long before we came across some teenage elephants, then a mother rhino and her cub.
This was followed by impala, giraffes, springbok, zebra and hippos. We saw a jackal and the highlight of the drive (in the dark by this time) was seeing some lions even though they were a long way off.
Looking forward to the morning game drive tomorrow.
Back to Bakgatla camp for dinner.
Internet in Africa
Hello, I’m back after three days. It is now midnight on 30th July.
The internet at Bakgatla camp in Pilanesburg was down so I didn’t have any access for two days.
Today we have been travelling up into Botswana and had an evening out in the Mokolodi Game Reserve for a Braai and traditional dance entertainment at the Boma.
I shall catch up over the next day or so with posts and pictures of the game reserves etc.
The internet here in Botswana works but is very slow.
Eldos and Soweto Match Day 3
Day 7 27th July 2013
Match Day 3 Eldos RFC and Soweto RFC
After breakfast at the HPC we boarded the bus to travel to Eldorado park just outside Soweto to play our 3rd matches of the tour.
Eldos XV 24 Yarm 2nd XV 26
Mr Morrison made his international debut as referee for this game as the home referee didn’t show.
He team started well, the backs making good breaks through the opposition.
Charles Guthrie was very much running the show when he made a break on the right landing badly and having to be stretchered off. His brother Will replaced him at scrum half.
McCullagh scored under the posts after Ben Gray had made a break and was held up, Will Guthrie converted.
As we have seen many times before this spurred the opposition and they broke though our defence to even the score.
Yetman was very good in defence and Wilson made some clever breaks.
Wilson broke through in the corner to score but Will Guthrie couldn’t convert.
Jason He did some great defensive work before Wilson again broke through to score and McCullagh converted.
The score at half time was 7-19
We didn’t start the second half as well as we ended the first and weak tackling allowed the opposition to score. They repeated this minutes later to bring the score to 17-19.
Yarm started to come back into the game and Bonavia broke and scored for Guthrie to convert.
Yetman popped up again to make a try saving tackle. McGregor showed good handling going forward.
The game would have been sealed for Yarm as Yetman scored a try by grounding the ball over the wrong line. (I should point out that the pitch was marked out as a soccer pitch and the try line and soccer goal lines were within a metre of eachother!)
We were in grave danger of going behind after they kicked over the top to score and convert in the dying minutes of the game.
We held on to win the game by 2 points.
Soweto XV 17 Yarm 1st XV 40
A great start by Yarm saw Duggleby run through to score and Booth convert. Our defence stood up well with Elston and O’Brien working well.
Some handling errors held us back a little until O’Brien made a break to offload to Henderson who scored under the posts for Booth to convert.
They kicked off and Mavin was floored off the ball resulting in them losing a man to the sin bin.
Undaunted Soweto strove on and made an interception in our back line to score.
Collatine broke strongly and scored for Booth to convert.
We went in at half time with a comfortable 21-5 lead.
We started the second half in the same vein and Alexander offloaded to Wilson and Booth converted. Peddada showed some strong running lines and was responsible for setting Alexander off to score a classic ‘wingers try’ running down the line some 30m to score. Booth converted.
Soweto came back at us and scored a try in the corner.
Mughal made some good breaks but Soweto had him well marked and he couldn’t break through.
Soweto broke and scored and converted after many attempts to break us down.
Wilson sealed the game by kicking through to score minutes before the end of the game.
We then made a small presentation of some shirts, balls and helmets which we had brought from home to donate to the township clubs.
We travelled back to the HPC – changed quickly and travelled to the Loftus Versfeld Stadium for the SuperRugby semi final between the Blue Bulls and The Brumbies. The atmosphere in the stadium was electric as a very tight game panned out to a last minute try by the Brumbies clinching a place in the final against the other semi final winners – The Chiefs from New Zealand.
Back to the HPC for dinner and a nights rest before we travel to Pilanesberg in the morning.
Match Day 3 Soweto RFC
We had breakfast at the HPC this morning and are heading off to Soweto for our third matches.
| Teams versus Soweto RFC | |||
| First XV | Second XV | ||
| 1 | Fox | Mahmoud | |
| 2 | O’Brien | He | |
| 3 | Elston | M Croft | |
| 4 | Collatine | B Gray | |
| 5 | Henderson | Stockdale | |
| 6 | Knaggs | M Gray | |
| 7 | Duggleby | Yetman | |
| 8 | Mavin (capt) | Bonavia (capt) | |
| 9 | W Guthrie | C Guthrie | |
| 10 | Booth | Wilson | |
| 11 | Peddada | McGregor | |
| 12 | Lawson | Phellas | |
| 13 | Mughal | H Thompson | |
| 14 | Hartigan | S Thompson | |
| 15 | Fuat | McCullagh | |
| 16 | Yetman | Robinson | |
| 17 | C Guthrie | M Nargol | |
| 18 | Alexander | S Thompson | |
Loftus Versfeld Stadium Pretoria
Day 6 26th July 2013
We all assembled at Wonderboom to travel into Pretoria.
We had arranged to visit the Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria.
The stadium is the home of the Blue Bulls (formerly Northern Transvaal) and is often referred to a one of the ‘homes’ of SA Rugby.
We visited the changing rooms and the pre/post match ante rooms. We were allowed into the stadium through the tunnel but not onto the pitch as it was being prepared for the big match tomorrow against the Australian Brumbies in the Super 15 competition Semi Final.
We saw the players dining room and the media and commentator boxes as well as the VIP and directors area.
We ‘bumped into’ Morne Steyn the Bulls and Springbok Fly-half just outside the stadium and then visited the Gym and pool areas.
We lunched in the stadium and visited the club shop where many of our party bought shirts and teeshirts.
Our visit ended with two very special things.
An invitation to watch the ‘Captains run’ – the final training session by the Bulls before tomorrows big game. This is a great privilege because the training session is normally held behind closed doors.
We were also presented with 45 complimentary tickets for tomorrows big match at 5:05 pm.
The thanks of all the touring party must go to Mr Webb who managed the contact the Blue Bulls via a contact at Saracens resulting in contact between Mr Webb, Mr Hardy and the Management of the Blue Bulls and their kind hospitality and welcome today.
Looking forward to our matches and then the big game tomorrow!
We then travelled from the Stadium to the High Performance Centre at Pretoria University where we are staying tonight and tomorrow night.
Mr Thomas was really pleased because there was cricket to watch. Austria A were playing South Africa A at the HPC. The Australian team even included Joe Root’s favourite Aussie – David Warner.
As I’m penning this the boys and some of the staff are in the swimming pool having a great time
Match Day 2 Wonderboom High School
Day 5 25th July 2013
Match Day 2 versus Wonderboom High School
We arrived at the school for a photocall and then prepared for kick offs.
Wonderboom High School Select XV 15 Yarm 1st XV 12
The match started well for us with some solid work by O’Brien at the breakdown resulting in his carrying for 20m offloading to Henderson who scored and this all in the second minute of the match.
Wonderboom came back at us with some rolling mauls and very solid attack by their forwards to pin us down in our 22.
The Yarm defence was awesome despite our giving away several penalties (at least a few of which were very harsh) Scrums were awarded to the opposition even though the ball had been kicked dead over our line.
Wonderboom hammered on in the forwards and were rewarded with two tries during the rest of the first half.
We did cross the line at the end of the first half but the try was disallowed for a ‘forward pass’.
The half ended 10-5 to Wonderboom, but more importantly the penalty count was 15 to Wonderboom and 1 to Yarm.
The second half again started well for us as Peddada broke for a 70m solo effort to score and give Booth a fairly simple conversion.
Wonderboom came back at us with a vengeance and the battering our boys were taking started to tell.
Alexander replaced Hartigan as Collantine and O’Brien seemed to take on the whole Wonderboom pack by themselves.
The size of the Afrikaan boys was really started to tell in the scrums but all credit to our front five for stemming the almost inevitable push off the ball special mention must go to Elston who battled away in the tight and the loose, came away at the end of the game bruised and battered, but proud of his performance.
We weren’t having much better luck in the LineOuts either.
We did hold onto our lead for a while but eventually the pressure by Wonderboom paid off and the scored again.
Fuat replaced Jones and Guthrie moved to scrum half, with Fuat making himself the last line of defense.
In the dying minutes of the game O’Brien kicked through from about 30m and chased his kick to score under the posts. The referee disallowed the try and said that the ball had not been grounded but knocked on over the line resulting in a 22 drop out to Wonderboom!
The game ended 15-12 and the penalty count was 17 to Wonderboom and 4 to Yarm. The free kick and infringement awards showed similar discrepencies.
In my 50 years of playing, coaching and refereeing rugby I have rarely seen such a poor performance by a referee whose interpretation of the laws of the game was very mixed and who even embarrassed his own colleagues and students with his control of the game.
It was with some trepidation that the second 15 took the field hoping that things would not go the same way for them.
Wonderboom 2nd/3rd XV 18 Yarm 2nd XV 6
Yarm started well but were again faced with a very big and very strong pack. We defended well and kept the advance to a minimum. Phellas kicked a tremendous penalty kick from the halfway line, only to have Wonderboom reply with a penalty shortly after. The ran in a try just before half time
The first half was quite exciting and the half ended 8-3.
The second half saw Wonderboom start to throw everything at us and they very soon scored in the corner.
Yarm continued to fight on and a sterling performance from Yetman kept the big forwards at bay. Ben Gray very nearly scored from a line out on their 5m line but was held up over the line.
The pressure from Wonderboom was again too much and despite Sam Thompson tackling a player at least twice his size the went on to score again.
The game ended 18-3.
Day 5 Pre-Match against Wonderboom High School
Today the staff collected the boys from Wonderboom HS and we travelled into Pretoria for a look around, some well earned R&R, a bit of shopping and a spot of lunch.
This afternoon we play the matches
| Teams versus Wonderboom High School, Pretoria | |||
| First XV | Second XV | ||
| 1 | Elston | Mahmoud | |
| 2 | A Nargol | He | |
| 3 | Fox | M Croft | |
| 4 | Collatine | B Gray | |
| 5 | Knaggs | Robinson | |
| 6 | Henderson | M Gray | |
| 7 | O’Brien | Yetman | |
| 8 | Mavin (capt) | Bonavia (capt) | |
| 9 | Jones | C Guthrie | |
| 10 | Booth | Wilson | |
| 11 | Peddada | Foster | |
| 12 | Lawson | Phellas | |
| 13 | Mughal | McCullagh | |
| 14 | Hartigan | S Thompson | |
| 15 | W Guthrie | H Thompson | |
| 16 | Duggleby | Stockdale | |
| 17 | Fuat | M Nargol | |
| 18 | Alexander | McGregor | |
Day 4 Soweto Township
Day 4 24th July 2013
This morning the staff travelled to Sutherland High School for the last time to collect the tour party.
We then travelled to Soweto to experience :-
The Soweto Tour – Nelson Mandela’s House and The Hector Petersen Museum
Soweto, South Africa’s largest township, was where the struggle for freedom was given form. Soweto township tours are the best way for the first time visitor to immermse themselves in the urban vibe of the place that was at the heart of the freedom struggle. A township tour of Soweto explains the history of how many black people gravitated to the cities, especially Johannesburg, where they were housed in single-sex hostels attached to mines and factories.
In the museum there is a series of individual exhibition areas which takes the visitor through a dramatic emotional journey that tells a story of a state- sanctioned system based on racial discrimination and the struggle of the majority to overthrow this tyranny.
We were fascinated to learn that the change in proposed schooling using English and Afrikaans was a major problem which led to the protests of 1976 , the police brutality and the loss of innocent lives.
Aparteid eventually was rescinded in 1990 and South Africa now stands as a free and democratic nation.
We were very moved by the exhibition and the truths that emerged when we learned what really happened in Soweto.
We had a great buffet lunch in Wandi’s restaurant in the township.
This afternoon, we transferred to Wonderboom High School and met the new hosts for two nights billets.
Match Day tomorrow
Match 1 reports
Sutherland High School 2nd Xv 21 Yarm 2nd Xv 31
The match started with nothing giving to either team until they scored and went ahead by seven points. Some tremendous effort by our boys brought us back to 7 -5 when Charles Guthrie made a tremendous jinking scrum half run to score. We continued to press and John Phellas scored a fabulous try which he converted to make the score 12 – 7.
Sutherland drove back at us determined to score and a couple of slight mistakes let them in to score and convert. The half ended anybody’s game at 14-12 to the home team.
I don’t know what Mr Morrison said to the boys at half time but it brought them out battling.
The team was invigorated with new team members shortly after half time by Max Gray replacing Robinson, Stockdale for Yetman and Foster for Alexander.
The tackling of Bonovia was immense as he really stepped up to lead his side from the front. Sam Thompson punched well above his weight tackling centres and wingers with abandon as our boys defended really well.
We thought the game was slipping away when Sutherland scored a to make the score 21-12.
Yarm were not to be beaten and Phellas broke through with a magnificent 40m dash to score and convert.
Again anybody’s game at 21-19.
Our backs now started to dominate and gaps started to appear in the opposition defence.
A good centre move from McCullagh created a gap for Harry Thompson to score out wide.
It wasn’t long before ‘that man’ Phellas broke through again with another 30m dash and passed inside to Charles Guthrie for him to score. A nail biting end to the game was approaching and at 21-24 wasn’t comfortable enough.
Phellas was n’t giving up and another 30m run saw him break through to score and convert his try.
Yarm ended the game worthy winners.
Sutherland High School 1st Xv 14 Yarm1st Xv 0
A series of hits early on showed that the huge Sutherland pack meant business.
We countered with a great defensive effort resulting in a near score from the scrum in the bottom corner.
We battled on and played most of the rest of the half in their half of the field.
O’Brien mnad e a huge break only to knock on just short of the line secured by their defense.
A ‘Spear tackle’ on Fuat rattled Yarm and we used the resulting penalty to good use with Will Guthrie putting us in a good position from the penalty kick.
Despite being close we couldn’t finish and the best that occurred was another penalty attempt from Guthrie which he snatched at somewhat and failed to score. We went in 0-0 at half time.
Hopes were raised in the second half only to be dashed when we had to substitute Jones with Duggleby.
This was followed by some poor handling which interrupted our play and started to see mistakes creeping in
Asughal made a good break, enjoying and nearly scoring again. They came back at us and scored a break through try which they converted.
Our pack were starting to struggle against a large Affrikan front row but it must be recorded that James Elston and Richard Knaggs played extremely well on their first first XV games.
Duggleby came on for Jones and proceeded to put in some fabulous tackles and runs from the base of the scrum.
Despite some good runs, Yarm weren’t going to succeed, this was confirmed with Sutherland’s running in another try to take the score to 14-0.
Alexander also acquitted himself well as he tackled like a demon to the end of the game
Day 3 – Match Day 1
Day 3 23rd July 2013
Match Day 1
Teams selected
| Teams versus Sutherland High School, Pretoria | |||
| First XV | Second XV | ||
| 1 | Elston | Mahmoud | |
| 2 | A Nargol | He | |
| 3 | Fox | M Croft | |
| 4 | Collatine | B Gray | |
| 5 | Knaggs | Robinson | |
| 6 | Henderson | Yetman | |
| 7 | O’Brien | Duggleby | |
| 8 | Mavin (capt) | Bonavia (capt) | |
| 9 | Jones | C Guthrie | |
| 10 | W Guthrie | Wilson | |
| 11 | Peddada | Alexander | |
| 12 | Lawson | Phellas | |
| 13 | Mughal | McCullagh | |
| 14 | Hartigan | S Thompson | |
| 15 | Fuat | H Thompson | |
| 16 | M Croft | M Gray | |
| 17 | C Guthrie | M Nargol | |
| 18 | Booth | Foster | |
| 19 | Stockdale | ||
| 20 | McGregor | ||
| 21 | |||
| 22 | |||
After breakfast at the hotel, the staff travelled to Sutherland High school where the whole party re-assembled.
We then visited The Lion Park in Johannesburg and enjoyed a self-drive with guide where we saw the lions, zebras, giraffes and springbok. We also had entry in to the walk- in section where you can see and pet the lion cubs and feed the giraffes.
We lunched at the Lion Park and then travelled back to Sutherland High School for our first match.
Match Report to follow
Apologies for SA internet
To say that the internet in SA is bad is an understatement.
I have loads of photographs from our first couple of days which refuse to upload.
Watch this space!!!
I will upload these as soon as I can
Day 1 21st July 2013
We assembled at school at 7:30 am, and after a team photograph, we departed for Newcastle Airport.
We flew to Heathrow t 12:00 noon and then spent 6 hours amusing ourselves in the airport.
Some of the boys met Lee Halfpenny ( British Lions Full Back) and others pursued the Tottenham Hotspur squad as they prepared the leave foe Hong Kong.
A long afternoon watching the golf and the cricket culminated in a weary group trekking off to travel to Johannesburg.
An overnight flight that we were not really looking forward to.
Day 2 22nd July 2013
We transferred to a coach and travelled to Pretoria where we visited The Voortrekker Monument & Nature Reserve
The Voortrekker Monument is situated in the northern part of South Africa in the Pretoria (Tshwane) region in a nature reserve. It is a unique Monument which commemorates the Pioneer history of Southern Africa and the history of the Afrikaner and is situated in a beautiful setting. Today it is the most visited heritage site of its kind in Gauteng and one of the top ten cultural historical visitor attractions in the country.
We then travelled to Sutherland High School and students met their hosts for two night’s billets.
Hello and welcome to the Tour Blog 2013
Hi,
This is the place where I shall post daily reports on our progress on Tour.
These reports will explain what we have been doing and will include comprehensive match reports as necessary.
I shall post photographs, either here on the blog or, more likely in my gallery in Flickr. (after I’ve archived the 2011 ones!!)
In order to keep the site managable and the photographs quick to load I will be reducing size and quality.
This shouldn’t matter too much because after the tour I will author a DVD of all the photographs and videos in high resolution for you to keep.
Regards
Les Foggett
Yarmschool Rugby 