by Sebastian Martin
The PGS boys and girls set to tour South Africa arrived at the school at 3pm on
the 14th July looking forward to the trip ahead. Having said goodbye to our
parents we set off for Heathrow. Five minutes later we were heading back to
school because of a missing phone. Not an ideal start!
Eventually we made it to Heathrow, the excitement mounting as we headed towards the plane. We all boarded easily and made our way to our seats. The flight was around 10 hours in total but was made easier by the inflight entertainment such as movies and games.
Overall, the long haul flight experience was not as bad as I had feared.
Touchdown…..in Johannesburg.
Eventually we made it to Heathrow, the excitement mounting as we headed towards the plane. We all boarded easily and made our way to our seats. The flight was around 10 hours in total but was made easier by the inflight entertainment such as movies and games.
Overall, the long haul flight experience was not as bad as I had feared.
Touchdown…..in Johannesburg.
We were in South Africa and for many of us it was the first taste of life on
the African continent. The boys and girls went their separate ways, with us
boys heading to Konka camp where we would play our first rugby match of the
tour. We were met by our tour guide ‘Jelly Bean’, who showed us around our new
home and rooms. There were plenty of activities to do and wild animals to look
at, including some lions close to our camp.
Suffice to say we all slept soundly on our first night back in proper beds.
Our first game against a township…..
We all turned up to the initial match completely in the dark as to what our opposition were going to be like. We were also not helped by the fact that this was our first time playing together as a team and we were very much finding our feet and experimenting.
However, the match kicked off and we were in control straight away. All the boys played well, with Joe Crosby picking up the man of the match award. This improved an already upbeat mood on the tour and we headed in for post match food with the South African boys, who were all extremely welcoming and easy to talk to.
Close-fought game …...
After another day of activities including zip-lining and African tribal dances, we set off to our next match, our second of the tour. On this occasion we played Benoni school and edged them out 24-23 in what proved to be the best game of the tour. The atmosphere was superb as the other pupils turned out to watch their team play. After the match we were put into pairs and went back to stay with our first host families. These families were all very welcoming and no one had any complaints (apart from the horrific early wake up calls).
Masula Game Reserve…….
After saying goodbye to our host families, we travelled into the bush for our Safari game drive. We were lucky to get a glimpse of lions, cheetahs, rhinos and giraffes. An African elephant even emerged from the bushes to see who was approaching! It was incredible, a once in a lifetime adventure and something that everyone in the group thoroughly enjoyed, one of the highlights of the tour.
Our tour guide added to the experience, he was extremely friendly and clearly loved his job.
PGS team outclassed…...
Our next match of the tour was a steep learning curve for the whole PGS team. Playing in extremely tough conditions we were outclassed by a well drilled and skilful team who were clearly more used to the high winds than our boys. We lost badly but this did nothing to dampen the mood of the tour, especially after the match when we sat down for a cheerful dinner with the South African boys.
Cape town hospitality……...
Time to meet our second host families, based in Cape Town, who were again extremely friendly and welcoming. All the boys experienced a South African diner with their hosts. The food was very tasty and the experience quite different to what we are used to in England. We then all headed home anticipating a six o’clock wake up.
PGS defeat local team…...
Our final game of the trip and a successful one. We rounded off the tour playing in front of a beautiful back-drop of Table Mountain and the ocean stretching for miles. It was an extremely close match up until the last fifteen minutes when PGS pulled away to win. In this match Henry Simmons scored one of the tries of the tour after some good team build up. It was a superb way to end the tour and was a good indicator that the PGS First team is heading in the right direction.
Tourists…...
During the final days of the tour we stayed at a local hotel and did various excursions on the tourist circuit.
The Robbin Island trip was cancelled due to bad weather but we visited Nelson Mandela square and a local South African township, where we distributed kit donated by the PGS boys. it was hard seeing people living with so little but they seemed happy with our donations.
It only remained for us to return to our hotel and buy some souvenirs as a reminder of our trip with a few of the boys buying local artwork to take back to England.
The 2019 Sports tour was a fantastic experience, and a real insight into South African culture and their way of life, and one that all the boys and staff will remember for a long time to come.
Suffice to say we all slept soundly on our first night back in proper beds.
Our first game against a township…..
We all turned up to the initial match completely in the dark as to what our opposition were going to be like. We were also not helped by the fact that this was our first time playing together as a team and we were very much finding our feet and experimenting.
However, the match kicked off and we were in control straight away. All the boys played well, with Joe Crosby picking up the man of the match award. This improved an already upbeat mood on the tour and we headed in for post match food with the South African boys, who were all extremely welcoming and easy to talk to.
Close-fought game …...
After another day of activities including zip-lining and African tribal dances, we set off to our next match, our second of the tour. On this occasion we played Benoni school and edged them out 24-23 in what proved to be the best game of the tour. The atmosphere was superb as the other pupils turned out to watch their team play. After the match we were put into pairs and went back to stay with our first host families. These families were all very welcoming and no one had any complaints (apart from the horrific early wake up calls).
Masula Game Reserve…….
After saying goodbye to our host families, we travelled into the bush for our Safari game drive. We were lucky to get a glimpse of lions, cheetahs, rhinos and giraffes. An African elephant even emerged from the bushes to see who was approaching! It was incredible, a once in a lifetime adventure and something that everyone in the group thoroughly enjoyed, one of the highlights of the tour.
Our tour guide added to the experience, he was extremely friendly and clearly loved his job.
PGS team outclassed…...
Our next match of the tour was a steep learning curve for the whole PGS team. Playing in extremely tough conditions we were outclassed by a well drilled and skilful team who were clearly more used to the high winds than our boys. We lost badly but this did nothing to dampen the mood of the tour, especially after the match when we sat down for a cheerful dinner with the South African boys.
Cape town hospitality……...
Time to meet our second host families, based in Cape Town, who were again extremely friendly and welcoming. All the boys experienced a South African diner with their hosts. The food was very tasty and the experience quite different to what we are used to in England. We then all headed home anticipating a six o’clock wake up.
PGS defeat local team…...
Our final game of the trip and a successful one. We rounded off the tour playing in front of a beautiful back-drop of Table Mountain and the ocean stretching for miles. It was an extremely close match up until the last fifteen minutes when PGS pulled away to win. In this match Henry Simmons scored one of the tries of the tour after some good team build up. It was a superb way to end the tour and was a good indicator that the PGS First team is heading in the right direction.
Tourists…...
During the final days of the tour we stayed at a local hotel and did various excursions on the tourist circuit.
The Robbin Island trip was cancelled due to bad weather but we visited Nelson Mandela square and a local South African township, where we distributed kit donated by the PGS boys. it was hard seeing people living with so little but they seemed happy with our donations.
It only remained for us to return to our hotel and buy some souvenirs as a reminder of our trip with a few of the boys buying local artwork to take back to England.
The 2019 Sports tour was a fantastic experience, and a real insight into South African culture and their way of life, and one that all the boys and staff will remember for a long time to come.
Comments
Post a Comment
Comments with names are more likely to be published.