Inaugural Rugby Tour a Big Hit
Last week saw over 40 students and staff travel to
France for Congleton High School’s first ever rugby tour. Rugby has not been
one of the priority sports at the school over the years. However, since Mr de
Souza and Mr Cross arrived at the school they have worked tirelessly to push
Rugby as one of the major school sports alongside football. The students have
all loved the sport in the last couple of years and have won many games against
local schools.
As a reward for the recent successes and number of
students attending the extra-curricular Rugby club, Mr de Souza decided to
organise the first Rugby tour. With long term plans to take the Rugby teams to
the Southern Hemisphere the short term tour destination was chosen, France.
With 41 students on the tour, the students and
staff set off on Thursday evening (after the Open Evening). The students had
been learning French through the Memrise app and website which Mr Cross had
organised, so they were ready and raring to put it into practice.
The coach journey was entertaining with all
students singing traditional rugby songs along with more current chart songs.
When the group finally arrived at CREPS sports complex they had a quick
turnaround to eat lunch and drop off their bags before heading over to the
fantastic French team Racing Metro 92 training ground. The students received a
private training session from the Racing academy coaches. The coaches were very
impressed with the handling skills of the CHS students.
After the training session the students received a
once in a lifetime opportunity to view the training ground of a professional
rugby club’s training ground. They got a tour of the site and saw the daily
routines for International rugby stars like Jonny Sexton and Jamie Roberts. The
facilities were second to none and the fitness room was as big as the school
sports hall.
After the tour of the training ground the students
headed back to their accommodation for dinner and team meeting.
The next day after a continental breakfast the
students all turned up in their new training tops for a group run with the
staff, the run included an army style sing-along. After the run, the students
were split into four groups and received a well prepared and organised specific
sessions from each teacher. The students trained extremely hard and were
extremely vocal, with a new found confidence. The students then were split into
forwards and backs, the forwards went over with Mr French and Mr Warren to work
on hitting the breakdown, the teachers were very impressed with the intensity
of the rucking. The backs went over with Mr de Souza and Mr Cross to work on
set moves which looked fantastic with all students having a specific role.
After lunch the squad headed East of Paris to
their first fixture against club side Noisy Le Sec. With the younger squad up
first the older group watched from the sideline. The group looked surprisingly
unorganised during the warm up but after some strong words from the teachers
they got their heads focussed on the game. The game was end to end with the
home side going ahead scoring two tries in the first half. The teachers all
gave a team talk to try to inspire the group, this worked with George Johnson
scoring two tries and converting both as well. The game could have gone either
way but unfortunately for CHS the home side managed to score the winning try 5
minutes before the end. Up next was the older team. The first 5 minutes were
ferocious with both teams making some fantastic tackles. Unfortunately an
injury to Sam Cosgrove, who was playing at fly half, interrupted CHS’s
attacking and defensive play. The club opposition in the end proved too strong
for the CHS school team and went on to win scoring five tries. One student,
Will ‘Boots’ Cooper came off the pitch saying ‘It was the hardest but best game
he’d ever played in’. After the game both squads received refreshments from the
home side and had a presentation from the President of Noisy Le Sec. Man of the
match awards went to George Johnson and James Goodwin. Both captains, Harper
Whitehead and Lewis Halliday also received caps from the home side. All
students battled like warriors and all the teachers were immensely proud of
their teams.
The next day the students had an early start to
their second fixture against Soissy Rugby Club. Both teams would be playing at
the same time so the teachers had to split off with two teams. The younger
squad started extremely well causing the home team all sorts of defensive
problems but couldn’t get the first try. Sadly the game had to be cancelled 18
minutes in as Congleton student Will Dinnis was caught unbalanced and an
opposing player falling on top of him. This resulting in Will breaking his leg,
paramedics were at the scene within 10 minutes and doctors from the local
hospital also arriving. Both sets of players gave Will an emotional ‘guard of
honour’ as he left for the hospital with Mr Warren where he needed surgery on
his leg.
The older group performed superbly with Mr Cross
very impressed with the breakdown work and strength in the tackles. Again they
came up against a very strong club side and lost the fixture but they gave
everything they had to make it hard for the opposition.
After the game the squad went on a trip around
Paris where they got to buy souvenirs and have photos with the iconic French
landmarks such as the Arc de Triomphe and Eiffel Tower.
That evening the boys had
an awards evening where they received prizes for their performances during the
tour, with Brad Oliver deservedly scooping the most prestigious award of ‘Best
Tourer’.
Overall the tour was a total success with the students
building on their love of the fantastic sport, and with the Rugby World Cup in
England next year the tour has just inspired more students at Congleton High
School to get their boots and gum shield on to get involved in the sport.
Interviews
to follow.
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