RUGBY TOUR 2008 - ROAD TO
KWAZULU NATAL
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Final
Report From South Africa - April 28
We left Perth in
the early hours of Saturday morning for the start
of our 2008 Tour. After 26 hours of very tiring travel
we arrived at the beautiful retreat of Thangami in
northern Natal. On Sunday the boys relaxed in the
naturally heated spring spa baths before being taken
on a game drive and mud fight, which they all enjoyed.
Monday 7 April
Our tour started with a reception
in Vryheid, which was hosted by Vryheid High School.
There were 700 players from 22 schools from South
Africa in the school hall. The proceedings included
a spirited rendition of ‘Advance Australia
Fair’ and all verses of ‘Walzing Matilda’.
Following this, our second side played the host school’s
second team. We opened our tour with a 22 to 5 win,
which was very exciting.
Tries: Jason DeFreitas,
Morgan Spence, Sean Friend, Daniel Hearn
Tuesday
8 April
We played the main match against our host
school, Vryheid in front of a large crowd of 3000
people from all over the region. We were welcomed
onto the oval by other players and supporters in
a tunnel, which expanded across the oval. The boys
from both sides ran down the tunnel to the cheers
of an excited crowd. Both sides then stood in front
of a packed grandstand whilst the national anthems
of each country were played and sung with great enthusiasm
by all players. It was a very moving and proud experience,
which motivated our side to play some impressively
the first half - the best they have played for some
time. The result was 20 to 15, which was a fantastic
result and certainly shocked the locals who were
not anticipating such a competitive side.
Try Scorers:
Alex Reid 1, Christiaan Van Der Linde 2, Marnus Ferreira
(Man of the Match) scored 2 penalties and 2 conversions.
No injuries were incurred.
Wednesday 9 April
The
seconds team played the Barbarians and won 22 to
5 - another great result. In the afternoon there
was a goal kicking competition with the best kickers
taking part. Marnus Ferriera booted 10 goals straight
and easily won the competition - another win for
the Aussies!
Try scorers: Matthew Scott, Jared Henry,
Michael Cheang and Phillip Patterson.
Sean Friend
completed one successful conversion.
Best Players
were Phillip Patterson, Matthew McGowan and Sean
Friend.
No injuries were incurred.
Thursday 10 April
We took some time off to visit Itala Game Reserve
to see African Game in the wild. What a day! We were
fortunate to see giraffes up close (at least 30),
zebra, warthogs, springboks and many other native
animals. For lunch the boys were required to cook
their own Braai (Barbie) and, from their effort,
this appeared to be a new experience for them. Many
steaks were returned to the flames to be completely
cooked – but they looked cooked!!
Friday 11
April
Our senior team played Port Stepstone with
another fine team effort and took the game out 19
to 0. The result of this win meant we had not lost
a game in the competition, so the organisers decided
we should play the top Rugby College in South Africa,
Michaelhouse. Expectations were high but we left
our poorest performance for the final game and lost
31 to 0. We managed to hold them to 7 – 0 in
the second half and should have scored on at least
two occasions but this wasn’t to be. It was
a great experience though! After the game we returned
to Thangami where the boys could recover in the warm
spas. We frequented the pools even in the midst of
heavy rain.
Tries: Donaldson, & Clay. Conversions
to Ferreira & David Thomas.
Man of the Match
was Byron De Freitas
Saturday 12 April
We arrived
safely in Greytown (host town) for the traditional
tour, and played two important games. Up until this
point we were injury free and had received wonderful
hospitality:
Game 1: U/15’s played Greytown
2 Results: Kolbe 27 Greytown 2 0
Try scorers were:
Tom Lynn (x 2), Morgan Spence, William Stevenson & Eric
Hanssen
Best on Ground: William Stevenson & Tom
Lynn Sean Friend converted one of the tries.
Game
2: Senior Game played Greytown 1 (senior game - Trophy
Game) Results: Kolbe 17 Greytown 15.
Try scorers
were: Jason de Freitas, Jacob Townrow & David
Thomas (who converted one of the tries)
Best on Ground:
David Thomas Weather beautiful – clear skies – 25
degrees.
During this visit the boys went out to Ceylon
Mercy Mission and delivered the funds that they raised – these
were very well received.
Friday 18 April
Wartburg – The
weather was absolutely perfect for playing conditions.
U/15 game: Kolbe 34 Wartburg No. 2 0
Try scorers
were: Morgan Spence (x2), William Stevenson & Cameron
Lazzari Conversions: Jason de Freitas (x2)
Best on
Ground: Morgan Spence, William Stevenson & Eric
Hanssen
Kolbe 19 Wartburg No. 1 10
Try scorers were:
Sias Bezuidenhout x 2, David Thomas (plus 2 conversions)
Best on Ground: Sias Bezuidenhout.
Good team effort – first
time we have defeated Wartburg – so very exciting.
This completes the major part of our games – only
one defeat and 8 victories.
No substantial injuries – plenty
of bruises.
Following our successes against Greytown
and Wartburg the team had a weekend of rest and recuperation
at Zingela Safari and River Company.
Saturday 19
April
The team participated in abseiling and canoeing
down the Tugela River.
Sunday 20 April
Teams participated
in a paint balling "war" and just managed
to complete flying foxing into the river before a
cold front arrived. For two hours we had a loud and
spectacular thunderstorm which encouraged the team
to sleep or play cards.
Monday 21 April
We left our
mountain retreat to travel to Hermansburg to play
our traditional game. Because of the decline in student
numbers both Hermansburg and Wembley College were
unable to field full teams so a "sevens" competition
was organised with our two teams. The weather was
freezing (about 8 degrees) however the rugby was
played with great spirit and enthusiasm.
KOLBE 43 defeated HERMANSBURG 20
Try scorers Conversions
Alex Reid 3 Jason De Freitas Jason De Freitas 2 Tom
Lynn Brandon Pike Nick Hearn Tom Lynn Travis Barlow
KOLBE (Under 15) 37 defeated HERMANSBURG 0
Try Scorers
Conversions Cameron Spence 2 David Thomas David Thomas
Chris Lamber Eric Hanssen Cameron Lazzari
KOLBE 17
defeated WEMBLEY COLLEGE 0
Try Scorers Conversion
Sam Donaldson 2 Sam Donaldson Kayne Tamati
KOLBE
(Under 15) 19 defeated WEMBLEY COLLEGE 17
Try Scorers
Conversion Travis Barlow David Thomas 2 Will Stevenson
Tom Lynn.
This completed the rugby for the Tour of
08. 12 wins and 1 loss - an outstanding effort! We
completed the tour in Durban where we cleaned our
gear and held a team dinner at Spur in Amanzimtoti.
Thursday 24 April
At 9.00 we left Durban and after
a brief stopover in Johannesburg and a 12 hour visit
to Mauritius .We arrived home at 12.30am on Saturday
morning (1 hour ahead of schedule). We were all very
tired but appreciative of the experience and at times
overwhelming hospitality we received over the previous
21 days.
Sponsors
Thankyou to our sponsors:
Education World,
GF Engineering, Zest Health Clubs, Thiess Limited,
Boom Logistics, TMP Pty Ltd, City of Rockingham,
ISC Sports Clothing, ANZ Banking Group
Robin Giles
Team Manager
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