Italy 2006 - U15 Rugby Tour
Day 1
After a seamless outward journey, we awoke the following morning to:
Day 2
and … rain! Heavy rain.We journeyed north to the mountainside town of Bassano for a guided tour of this historic town, famed for its resistance to Nazi-dominated Italy in World War II. We went up the clock tower, through the church-cum-hospital, into the market square – tartan umbrellas were purchased – and partway around the Castle ruins. At this point, we abandoned the tour, such was the wind and rain. We walked down to their famous bridge over the Brenta River, whereupon we split: many sensible souls decided to take refuge in a café, whilst a dozen brave souls continued down to the river for a raft ride. Out we went, swiftly at first, then calm. As our oarsman guided us gently down the Brenta, a duck swam past us!
Back onto coach, and off to the ground. Upon arrival, I gave the most bizarre pre-match instruction to the boys – have a hot shower before the match! They duly did; changed into Tour polo shirts and dry trousers and enjoyed a couple of hours in the comfort and warm of our hosts’ clubhouse. The pitch did not look good, with several inches of water just sitting on the surface.Would the match be played? By kick-off the rain had stopped – there being merely an ocean of water sitting on a very firm, hard pitch! By half time it was all but gone, much having been absorbed by players’ jerseys! The highlight of the first half: a re-start catch by James Wolfe, off-loaded to Chris Horswill, onto Nick Elliott, to Ollie Beech who ran 40m to draw their full-back and give a superbly timed pass to notre Capitaine Clement Labouche for the run in. It was great to get everyone on the pitch during this opening encounter. We were up and running: one down, three to go.
Day 3
A leisurely breakfast and off in to the Old Town of Chioggia. But we had sunshine, and lots of it. On our way back we called in to the Astro Pitch for the Tour 5-a-Side Football tournament. Tom Shiels, Josh Heley and Dan Super had, by this time, been coerced (i.e bribed!) to play for the Staff, who acquitted themselves with customary aplomb. Messrs Beech and Benge excelled at centre-back, Mr Wild defended our goal admirably, and the commandeered boys were scoring freely. We lost narrowly, in the final, to Clement’s team (whom we had earlier beaten 5 – 0, I must add!).
Day 4
A light, handling skills/organisational beach training session took place, swiftly followed by paddling/ swimming/sea-weed throwing (!) in the sea, even more swiftly followed by an impromptu ‘boys-in-charge, tops-off, pass or kick around a rugby ball’ session very closely adjacent to an English girls school hockey tour group!
Our tour rep had advised us that the afternoon’s match against Petrarca Padova would be our Tour Test Match. We were up against the U15 Champions of their national league.We arrived at the ground in good time to watch the Super 10 match between Petrarca and Viadana, at a fabulous stadium, with a pitch of the highest quality.
The Starting XV ran out on to the green carpet of the Stadium, and delivered their finest ever performance. The team try, started inside our own half, involved all players and was eventually finished off with a classic dummy-pass by Nick Marsh down the right-wing. This was to become the Best Try on Tour. The match proved to be the team’s finest hour. All those who were fit took part, and I was so proud of them all: they even received a magnificent standing ovation from the sizeable Italian crowd, in amongst whom were Frank and Gail Brehany, whose support and companionship on tour was greatly received by all.
Day 5
The Day Trip to Venice. I spent hours researching the history of Venice back in February, then spent an hour learning it whilst on the motor-boat to this most famous of cities! For all my efforts, I was still accused of trying to get a signal on ‘SatNav’ (by waving my tour notes in the air) to direct us from The Bassilica to The Rialto!
Day 6
Following another beach training session, we journeyed north again to Piazzola sul Brenta. A much-changed Starting XV took the field, in wet and windy conditions on a very muddy pitch.We held out for a win by 27 points to nil. This match could have really been our undoing, considering the high of two days previous, the contrasting conditions, and an unusual starting XV. But the players dug deep, and came through it. This was such an important match, and the favourable result really set up the Grand Slam decider!
Following the usual post-match hospitality, we returned to our hotel, whereupon the boys had been invited downstairs to a disco organised by the girls’ hockey school. Needless to say, a good night was had by all.
Day 7
My last ever training session with these boys! On the beach, again, we started with some light handling exercises, then I took the backs off whilst Mr Simon Beech supervised the forwards with their line-out ploys. It was a good final session. My thanks go to Mr Beech for offering to assist me on tour with these important training drills.
After a leisurely lunch break, off we set to Moneselice for our Tour Grand Slam decider…
It was a dry evening, on a dry, grass-less pitch. What a game it turned out to be! The opposition really made us work hard: we held on to a narrow lead for about 45 minutes, then Monselice scored – the next 5 minutes were going to be crucial. The tension on the touchline was unbearable. But we were superb. We defended gallantly and scored a late, vital try to take us clear. The relief and elation upon the sound of the final whistle saw all involved with the tour jump in the air with joy – the Grand Slam had been achieved, and all who were fit had taken part in this all important final match. The evening was to be a truly joyous occasion.
Mr P R Jackson