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Our senior rugby playesrs are currently touring in South America. The following news has been received to date:
22 August: The senior squad ended their tour with 2 matches at Saint Georges College in Quilmes. The 2nd XV played Saint Georges 1st XV and put up a good performance losing the match 15-12. Andrew Berry led the team well with passion and aggression in a well fought battle. Little mistakes led to us being turned over in possession and missing out on good opportunities to score. The 2nd XV can be very pleased with their efforts on tour. They have come together well and made good progress. Each player has made significant progress and they are looking forward to the season proper.
The 1st XV played against Belgrano Day School, the leading rugby school in Buenos Aires, and produced their best performance of the tour. In a fast and sometimes frenetic match the team were very composed and produced some top quality rugby to win an enthralling match 36-15.
With 20 minutes to go the score was 15-14 to Belgrano, but 5 substitutions and a fantastic finish saw the team home.
Man of the match Tomas Palacios, playing at his former school played superbly, as did the young paring of Guy Skivington Jones and Darryl Morrow starting his first 1st XV game.
The squad now move to Buenos Aires for the final 2 days of the tour and are looking forward to the Tynedale tournament on Sunday 31 August.
19 August: The tour party returned to Buenos Aires on Monday and were met by their hosts for 2 nights, our old friends from Saint Andrews Scots School. On Tuesday 2 matches were played and once again both teams were very successful.
The 2nd XV won 63-5 with fine performances from Man of the match Darryl Morrow, captain Andrew Berry and full back Ronson Cheng who staked a claim for a 1st XV start with an outstanding attacking performance. The team bounced back after a disappointing performance against Trinity College and they are to be commended for their spirit.
The 1st XV won a tight encounter 19-14 after being 19-0 up after 50 minutes. Outstanding tries from Harry Mountain (2) and Henry Oliver (following a break from Guy Skivington Jones) gave the team an excellent start. Injuries and illness had deprived the XV of captain David Cherry and Lock Luke Morrow, however, their replacements Stuart Dalrymple and Jack Fotheringham respectively performed heroically under intense pressure. A spirited Saint Andrews fight back was thwarted with some excellent tackling and the squad were mightily relieved to hear the final whistle.
Both teams have a day off tomorrow and then move to Quilmes to play 2 matches against Professor Palacios´ old school Saint Georges College. No other injuries to report and I am pleased to say that Duncan Biggar played 20 minutes for the 2nd XV after a debilitating illness had sidelined him for most of the year.
17 August: The tour has moved 4 hours south of Buenos Airtes to the 4th largest city in Argentina, Mar del Plata. The two teams played yesterday and had very mixed fortunes.
The 2nd XV played our hosts for 3 nights Trinity College and really struggled with the pace and power of the opposition going down 50 points to nil. In this defeat however there were excellent performances from Darryl Morrow and Andrew Berry who both demonstrated great courage in testing circumstances.
The 1st XV played against a select team from the Mar del Plata area and had their best performanceof the tour. They were under the cosh for much of the first 20 minutes, however, fantastic defence and excellent handling in conditions that would have not been out of place in a Scottish winter meant that they held a 5-0 lead at half time thanks to a try from debutant Will Lerche.
Our hosts scored a good try after the break to lead 5-7. The team lifted again and a penalty from Leslie and two well worked tries from David Cherry and Nick Watt saw the team home to a thrilling and well earned win by 18 points to 7. Excellent performances from man of the match Simon March at scrum half, fly half Henry Oliver and debutant centre Guy Skivington Jones ensured that the coaches were very happy at full time. This is a landmark performance and the team are looking forward to the final 2 matches in Buenos Aires.
Mr Horrocks celebrated his 50th birthday on Sunday 17 August and the squad took him out for a meal.
12 August: The senior squads continued their tour in Chile with two matches against Mackay College in the coastal city of Vina del Mar. All of the bags have now been returned so it was a relieved (and clean) squad that took to the field to record two wins against spirited opposition. The 2nd XV played extremely well to record their second comfortable win in a row and the 1st XV got their tour up and running with a fine 46-12 win after leading by a solitary point at half time. Fine performances in the match from captain David Cherry and new arrival Harry Mountain whilst Myles Paterson, Stuart Dalrymple and Darryl Morrow experienced game time for the for the first time at this level. James Young and Guy Skivington Jones impressed for the 2nd XV.
The squad move to Mendoza to play on Wednesday and on Thursday they will be joined by Mr. Appleson and Duncan Biggar for the final 10 days of the tour.
8 August: 1st matches vs The Grange School. Almost all of the tourists were still without their tour bags (probably still at terminal 5); however, the matches were very good with the 2nd XV winning comfortably against an under 15 team and the 1st XV losing narrowly to a very good Grange 1st XV. All in all a very good start to the tour and the players have now moved to the coast to prepare for their matches against Mackay College tomorrow morning.
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