We have all just checked in at Queenstown airport for the long trip back to London via Auckland and Los Angeles. The boys are in good spirits after an excellent end of tour dinner last night and a relaxing morning in Queenstown. The weather has yet again been superb and some boys went on the luge whilst others relaxed around the magnificent Lake Wakitupu. The scenery is amazing and it has been a great break at the end of a long and enjoyable tour.
It has taken a huge effort from a lot of people for the boys to experience this trip and they have done everyone proud with their hard work on the Rugby field and also their behaviour off the pitch. We are all very proud of them .
I hope you have all enjoyed the blog and I want to thank Adrian Norris and all the boys for keeping it up to date .
The tour has been a great experience and we all hope that the boys benefit from it on and off the pitch.
Thankyou to everyone who has helped with fundraising and also to the great support we have had from parents over here in NZ- it has made a huge difference.
See you when we touch down in London.
Regards
Wilko
Thursday 6 August 2009
Day 19 - Final day
The final day of an epic trip has come and everyone is feeling exhausted, however that is of course a good sign. We decided to finish with something to remember the tour by and we thought that a awards dinner would be the perfect way to highlight some outstanding efforts throughout the touron and off the pitch. The organisation of the evening was left up to Mr. Richards. He thought that due to our theme the hotel restaurant would be the best setting. Our theme, which was picked up at the 1stXV match against Geraldine, was jackets/blazers turned inside out. At 7:30 everyone rocked up in some outlandish costumes and the evening started with a buffet.
After a splendid meal the awards got under way. Mr.Kibble kicked off with his speech and awards. He highlighted efforts on the pitch to Chris Campbell as top try scorer of the team, Harvey Hanifan as best player of the tour, and off the pitch Max Valler as best tourist and you could see why with his costume. To round off precedings he decided to award a prize to the best dressed and Charlie Hopkins took it much to his teammates delight. Now it was Jonny Macmillans turn to say a few words. He obviously offered many thanks towards the coaches and to highlight his coaches efforts the U15's had bought a ball each and signed them. Now it was Charlie Hopkins turn to kick off with the seniors speeches. I emphasised about the efforts that had been put in behind the scenes. Also to give the coaches some memrobilia we had collected money off each boy and bought presents for all the staff involved in the trip. Now the awards started for the seniors and the efforts of top try scorer (as decided at Geraldine in a race) was Lawrence Okoye, next was top tourist and this was awarded for his positive attitude as Ollie Dickerson, last but not least was best player and there were many candidates but Tom Nicholls clinched it. The night was then rounded off by a conclusion from Mr.Wilkins.
I would just like to again highlight many thanks to all involved in some organisation of the tour whether thats coaches or parents and to the boys for making this a memorable trip for everyone involved.
Charlie Hopkins
After a splendid meal the awards got under way. Mr.Kibble kicked off with his speech and awards. He highlighted efforts on the pitch to Chris Campbell as top try scorer of the team, Harvey Hanifan as best player of the tour, and off the pitch Max Valler as best tourist and you could see why with his costume. To round off precedings he decided to award a prize to the best dressed and Charlie Hopkins took it much to his teammates delight. Now it was Jonny Macmillans turn to say a few words. He obviously offered many thanks towards the coaches and to highlight his coaches efforts the U15's had bought a ball each and signed them. Now it was Charlie Hopkins turn to kick off with the seniors speeches. I emphasised about the efforts that had been put in behind the scenes. Also to give the coaches some memrobilia we had collected money off each boy and bought presents for all the staff involved in the trip. Now the awards started for the seniors and the efforts of top try scorer (as decided at Geraldine in a race) was Lawrence Okoye, next was top tourist and this was awarded for his positive attitude as Ollie Dickerson, last but not least was best player and there were many candidates but Tom Nicholls clinched it. The night was then rounded off by a conclusion from Mr.Wilkins.
I would just like to again highlight many thanks to all involved in some organisation of the tour whether thats coaches or parents and to the boys for making this a memorable trip for everyone involved.
Charlie Hopkins
Day 18
Today was the day of the triple challenge involving a helicopter ride, white water rafting and jet boating. We were all kitted out in full wet suits by 8:00 am before being taken on the helicopter ride in groups of 6. For most of us it was our first time in a helicopter and it was definately very exciting and enjoyable.
The white water rafting was exhilerating and thorougly enjoyed, at least by most as some of the under 15s had near death experiences after falling out of their rafts during the fastest rapids on the course. After the rapids both squads went into the sauna some for a considerable length of time as the rafting left us freezing and we all needed to thawe out.
I think most would agree that the jet boating was however the best travelling at 50 mph in the middle of a very narrow gorge it got the adrenaline pumping for sure.
We then went into a town and most of us enjoyed some seriously big burgers.
Definately a day we will not forget and a superb way to finish an excellent tour.
The white water rafting was exhilerating and thorougly enjoyed, at least by most as some of the under 15s had near death experiences after falling out of their rafts during the fastest rapids on the course. After the rapids both squads went into the sauna some for a considerable length of time as the rafting left us freezing and we all needed to thawe out.
I think most would agree that the jet boating was however the best travelling at 50 mph in the middle of a very narrow gorge it got the adrenaline pumping for sure.
We then went into a town and most of us enjoyed some seriously big burgers.
Definately a day we will not forget and a superb way to finish an excellent tour.
Tuesday 4 August 2009
Day 17
After massive night out at Geraldine Rugby CLub the boy, girls, men and women on the Whitgift Tour were off for another adventure on the last stage of their epic tour.
A few sore heads and stomachs were easily cured on the journey to Queenstown with the amazing views at Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki... A special thanks must go to Eddie for his heroics in the freezing cold Pukaki Lake where he braved the ridiculous temperatures and won a bet as he stayed in there for 2 minutes.
We then set our sights on lunch at Omprama Town where the boys re-fuelled for the last drag of the coach journey... Travelling through the Wahau Gorge was something indescribable and will be unforgettable for the rest of the boys lives.
We then made haste through the Gibbstan Valley ( Valley of the Vines) and on to the Kawarau Bridge where the tour party were chanting for a scared and frightened girl to do the bungee jump but she was not persuaded.. we will not forget her face as she cried to get of the intimidating platform over the freezing cold river.
We then arrived at the Queenstown Lodge hotel and the boys are looking foward for their triple challenge and a couple of nights that we won't forget....:)
Jamie Stevenson
A few sore heads and stomachs were easily cured on the journey to Queenstown with the amazing views at Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki... A special thanks must go to Eddie for his heroics in the freezing cold Pukaki Lake where he braved the ridiculous temperatures and won a bet as he stayed in there for 2 minutes.
We then set our sights on lunch at Omprama Town where the boys re-fuelled for the last drag of the coach journey... Travelling through the Wahau Gorge was something indescribable and will be unforgettable for the rest of the boys lives.
We then made haste through the Gibbstan Valley ( Valley of the Vines) and on to the Kawarau Bridge where the tour party were chanting for a scared and frightened girl to do the bungee jump but she was not persuaded.. we will not forget her face as she cried to get of the intimidating platform over the freezing cold river.
We then arrived at the Queenstown Lodge hotel and the boys are looking foward for their triple challenge and a couple of nights that we won't forget....:)
Jamie Stevenson
1st XV v Geraldine RFC Match Report
This was the final match of a wholly successful tour and it saw us come up against our first club team which saw a different style of play for us to try our hand against. They were less organised and much more scrappy than the school teams we played and was much harder than we expected. The game started relatively poorly and we went down to an early penalty and then an uncoverted try. We finally managed to assert some dominance and saw James Canty cross the line. We camped ourselves in their half then Jack Valler barrelled his way over just before half time. The second half was a simirlarly scrappy affair and they had attacks which were well defended then as the half came to an end James Canty crossed for another try after a quick tap penalty. The game ended 15-8 to Whitgift and it was a good final test for the tour.
Rob White
Rob White
Day 16
Game day today so we just went into Timaru for a couple of hours to relax before the match. Standard. Played and beat Geraldine RFC just about, they were a tough outfit but we finished the "rugby" part of the tour well. After the match we all went to the club bar, had a few drinks and Lawrence and Marland decided to have a "face off" using the drinks, to decide who was the top try scorer of the tour. The game was called "The Centurion". 100mins, 100 shots of Tui beer. Easy game and easy stuff for the boys, no problems for either of them so they decided to have a 50m sprint on the rugby pitch, which Lawrence ended up winning.
Good way to end the night, wild celebrations followed Lawrence's victory.
Nice.
Good way to end the night, wild celebrations followed Lawrence's victory.
Nice.
Whitgift School U15 - Mountain View School U16
The school welcomed us onto the grounds with a traditional Maori welcoming ceremony, in which selected pupils of the school sung several Maori songs. In respect to this we replied with a song of our choice to accept the welcome(Wonderwall - Oasis). We then moved towards the changing rooms and began our preparations for our final game of the tour. The pitch itself was situated in a beautiful scenery, with the Southern Alps on the side and on the other the hilly forested plains of New Zealand. The day began with good conditions for a game of rugby; the ground firm, however a strong wind from the south.
Whitgift won the toss and decided to kick against the wind and the game commenced, evenly between the two sides. Whitgift then had a penalty, which was quickly taken and passed out to Luca who stepped multiple players and scored under the posts. After the first try, the game lifted off and many consecutive tries came henceforth and we were dominating the game for the majority of the rest of the first half. Tries scored with strong running from players and great support play by the team. At half time the score stood 40-0 and various substitutions were made, however the main aim of the second half was not to drop our standards and loose our momentum, which unfortunately occurred in the second half of the match against Shirley Boys.
In the ssecond half we were receiving the kick and with a good take from Agim, allowed us to advance onward and break through the oppositions line, once again. Furthermore we managed to control the second half in the forwards and the backs, permitting us to practice new skills and moves, which would help future games against harder oppositions back in England. Fergus was then substituted for no.8, George in the centres, Eliot to prop, Barney to flanker, John to second row and Rory and Greg to wing in the quarter of the game making a large impact and adding some 'fresh legs' to the team. Subsequnetly to this George scored three tries beating various players with his extreme speed and Greg also running in a superb try. Regrettably in the last few minutes of the game we also let in onew try, nonetheless however we successfully defended off the opposition for the final few mintues, with great defence at fullback by Joe Choong, ending the game with the final score as 64-5.
All in all the match was a triumphant result with great work from the forwards in both rucking and keeping the momentum of the game on the front foot with hgih intensity, but also strong running and skills within the backs. All things considered a magnificent way to finish the tour on such a high note.
Final Score: 64-5
Tries
Luca Petrozzi
Harvey Hannifan
Chris Campbell
Fritz Kirchenr (2) - Captain
Charles Gutteridge
George Smith (3)
Greg Westcott
Conversions
Mathew Clark 7/9
Fritz Kirchner
Whitgift won the toss and decided to kick against the wind and the game commenced, evenly between the two sides. Whitgift then had a penalty, which was quickly taken and passed out to Luca who stepped multiple players and scored under the posts. After the first try, the game lifted off and many consecutive tries came henceforth and we were dominating the game for the majority of the rest of the first half. Tries scored with strong running from players and great support play by the team. At half time the score stood 40-0 and various substitutions were made, however the main aim of the second half was not to drop our standards and loose our momentum, which unfortunately occurred in the second half of the match against Shirley Boys.
In the ssecond half we were receiving the kick and with a good take from Agim, allowed us to advance onward and break through the oppositions line, once again. Furthermore we managed to control the second half in the forwards and the backs, permitting us to practice new skills and moves, which would help future games against harder oppositions back in England. Fergus was then substituted for no.8, George in the centres, Eliot to prop, Barney to flanker, John to second row and Rory and Greg to wing in the quarter of the game making a large impact and adding some 'fresh legs' to the team. Subsequnetly to this George scored three tries beating various players with his extreme speed and Greg also running in a superb try. Regrettably in the last few minutes of the game we also let in onew try, nonetheless however we successfully defended off the opposition for the final few mintues, with great defence at fullback by Joe Choong, ending the game with the final score as 64-5.
All in all the match was a triumphant result with great work from the forwards in both rucking and keeping the momentum of the game on the front foot with hgih intensity, but also strong running and skills within the backs. All things considered a magnificent way to finish the tour on such a high note.
Final Score: 64-5
Tries
Luca Petrozzi
Harvey Hannifan
Chris Campbell
Fritz Kirchenr (2) - Captain
Charles Gutteridge
George Smith (3)
Greg Westcott
Conversions
Mathew Clark 7/9
Fritz Kirchner
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