2009 U14 Fiji Tour

Final wedding photo

2009-07-20T02:24:00.000-07:00

In a surprising end to our tour, elder statesman on tour, Ted Bruce was asked to "give away" the bride at the wedding of Wendy Hyslop and David which was held at Sonaisalo on the last day of our tour. Newport Rugby Club provided the photographers, videographers, master of ceremonies and of course the Newport rentacrowd. My favourite was Nigel Leck who was helping the bride with her makeup and dress. We wish Wendy and David all the best for their honeymoon, can they send Ted back tho'.

Newport boys to Newport men

2009-07-18T22:31:00.000-07:00

Dylan Matthes

Ted whispers to Wendy " I am actually already married"

2009-07-18T06:05:00.000-07:00

I do...

2009-07-18T06:00:00.000-07:00

Sonaisali is an incredibly romantic island where the fragrant frangapani sparks romance and love in all of us.

Ted Bruce, Newport rugby legand, and Wendy Hislop created rugby tour history today, witnessed by the entire Newport touring party. It must be said that there was not a dry eye in the house with many a tear shed over this blossoming, everlasting relationship being created before our eyes.

Ted looked wonderful in his traditional Fijian Sulu (skirt) and Wendy glowed with the radiance of the pacific pearls embroidered on her dress.

Ted, on seeing Wendy, said "I am truly honoured".

Sonaisali renames "the rock" in honour of Newport

2009-07-18T05:30:00.000-07:00

The general manager of the Sonaisali resort, John Grocock, announced on the last night of the tour that the rock in the centre of the resort pool was being named "Newport Rock" in honour of the 2009 tour.

The entertainment that the players gave to the other guests and the resort staff during a week of physically challenging each other for ownership of the rock was quite a sight.

Nigel Leck deserves a special mention as the only touring father to have repelled the mass of charging boys for any period of time!

Resort runs low on food so the Newport team go fishing…

2009-07-18T05:00:00.000-07:00

A group boys and fathers went on a fishing expedition this morning and landed three large Trevally’s, three Barracuda, two Coral trout, two Snapper,one Trigger and a Long Tom whilst they were out to sea. The Trevally’s took a minimum of 15 minutes each to land and the team on board were both excited and exhausted.

The happiest person in the resort when they arrived back was the head chef who yelled Bula Bula!, as the boys struggled back into the main area with these huge fish. Dinner tonight is going to be that little bit tastier thanks to our skilled fisherman.

Mark Thompson aka Rex Hunt !

2009-07-18T04:55:00.000-07:00

Kangaroo Court kept busy with multiple accusations

2009-07-18T03:35:00.000-07:00

The last sitting of the Kangaroo Court on tour was a busy one with multiple accusations against tourists.

First up was Nigel Leck who was charged with offensive language. Nigel allegedly burst into a players room containing 30 boys at 12.30am last night and formed a 6 word sentance with 5 "descriptive adjective" words. In presenting his defence, Nigel simply said that "Mr Hyde came out last night". Nigel was given a suspended sentance on the basis of his work within the outstanding security team.

Dylan Thompson, breakaway extroadinaire, was accused of self grooming whilst playing rugby against the fijians. The charged was held over due to Dylan's absence in court.

Josh Fenely was accused by a number of his peers of farting whilst they were attempting to talk to two 14year old girls that were at the resort. As soon as the alleged offence occured, the two girls left immediately. Josh was found guilty as charged.

John Slack-Smith was accused by Dylan Thompson of not knowing the club song after the boat trip to mystery island yesterday. John strongly denied the charges and led a selection of the boys (who had yesterday had their hair beaded!) in a stiring rendition of the song. The charges were thrown out by the court.

The most serious charge of the day was levelled at the Cahill family. John and Jordan were both brought up on charges relating to an incident were Jordan was accused of urinating off the games room balcony. On this allegation, John has then preceded to write a 3 page defence of his son and then broke in to Greg Donlan's room to present the evidence to him in the very early hours of this morning.

Both were found guilty immediately and have been presented the day's Flipper award.

We Sail to Mystery Island.......

2009-07-18T02:44:00.000-07:00

We sailed today to Tivua island, otherwise known as "Mystery Island" for a day's adventure aboard the tall ship Ra Marama.The ship was origionally built for the govenor general of Fiji in 1957. The island is surrounded by white sandy beaches and and has 500 acres of coral gardens.

As the ship anchored, a Newport tradition was upheld with the boys and fathers all jumping from the side of the ship and swimming into the island!

Kangaroo Court sits outside it's jurisdiction on the Ra Marama!

2009-07-17T03:41:00.000-07:00

A hastily convened kangaroo court sat on the deck of the sailing ship, Ra Marama, on it's way to Mystery Island. Justice Waying, Donlan, James and Allen heard two cases for the day.

Tom Hargreaves and Jake "the snake" Voss were accused of drawing fijian rocket ships (which could have been mistaken for a personal body part) on the conference room white board. This was taken as both a defacing of the courts property and unacceptable creative talent. Both boys were found guilty as charged and presented with the Flipper award of the day.

Nick Styler was called to the bench (with an incredulous look on his face...) on the charge of being in possession of stolen goods for 3 days and bribery. Nick had lost his thongs early on in the tour and was "given" a pair of red thongs that had not been claimed. After wearing them for 3 days, Will Davies presented himself to Nick's room and informed him that they were his thongs that he had been looking for for the 3 day period. At this point, Nick game Will F$4.00 on the basis that Will would not report him. Will took the money and immediately reported Nick to the court! In presenting his defence, Nick informed the court that he was wearing the thongs so that the owner would be able to identify them and that the charge of bribery was simply a misunderstanding.

Nick was found guilty (again!) of the charges....

Zac Tales awarded tour Iron Man Award

2009-07-17T03:40:00.000-07:00

Zac Tales recieved special mention from the tour management team after his iron man effort at the Namaka school grounds today.

On a hot day, Zac was the only player on tour to appear in each of the 3 games that were played.
Charging into the rucks from his second row position time and time again, Zac was asked how he was at the end of the 3rd game and he simply said " I could have played more"

A great effort!

Tom Bruce, Louie Barkley and Virgil Townsend win Fijian rugby scholarship !

2009-07-17T03:35:00.000-07:00

Day two of the rugby matches between Newport and Fiji produced fast, flowing rugby and more than a few surprises.

Three boys stood out on a day that had many stars. Tom Bruce started in the first match of the day and he had one of his best games for the club. he was tireless around the rucks, making a number of strong runs and scored a very good try after great build up by the team.

In game two, Louie Barkley was close to the best player on the field. He was all over the park, making a number of important tackles and leading the pack into the rucks time after time.

The crowd were excited by the efforts of Virgil Townsend. Every time Virgil touched the ball there was a sense of anticipation as he made terrific meters and the Fijians struggled with his strong direct running style.

A great day for all of the boys and one that Tom, Louie and Virgil should be very proud of.

Thursday is gameday!

2009-07-17T03:33:00.000-07:00

Game 1 versus Namaka Public School

By Thursday the boys knew what was ahead of them having learnt their lessons from Tuesday’s game. It was a stinking hot day, perspiration was running before they even ran onto the field.
There was a couple of surprises in the first game, we had a couple of Fijian boys from Namaka ,Lex and Bensi, adding a bit of Fijian flair in the back line and wasn’t it great to see that old warhorse Wayling donning his slippers to Referee the game.
Despite the heat, the pace was frenetic. Josuhua Fenely had a big dig through the ruck, found the ball, surprised himself in open space and bolted for the line, to be pinned up just before the line.. The Fijians were quick to throw it out to the backs with young Tom Hargreaves chasing down every run with one notable boots and all tackle to save a sure try. Ben Farrugia had very strong first half game and Angus Leck was indomitable in his tackling whilst Zachary Tales consistent clean out rucking and stealing primed him for further selection in the following games. Ed Woolcott had a sensational drive for 20 metres with all our forwards protecting him, as they should, whilst his brother Jack Woolcott was kept busy covering the fleeting Fijians. We couldn’t keep the Fijians down for long, Two quick trys by the feisty Fijians had us down 14-0 at half time.
Coach Bluey Woolcott, had the boys quickly in the shade cooling off. The forward pick and drives were starting to work well but with all the backs in the rucks, we had no backline. Bluey’s advice was to keep the backs out wide and keep the game tight in the forwards.
The second half started with bustling pressure on the Fijians, with the boys in blue lining up time and time again penetrating their defensive line up the middle. James Allo showed his fitness being on of the only forwards who played the full game in searing heat. Lachlan Bain was seen using his head, literally, to stop the biggest bloke on the field. Jordan Cahill's spirited one on one tackle on the same big Fijian fellow bought the loudest cheer from the sideline. Haydon Cook’s back row performance and reeling tackles left the Fijian’s listless in the midday sun. It was this quality in the rucks led by Tom Bruce and Joshua Fenely who played out of their skins winning the man of the match award for the game, and rewarding Tom with a fantastic pick and drive try. The Fijians came back with a late try with the final score 21-7. Bluey was proud of the boys effort and fair play on the day.

Game 2 versu Mount Saint Mary’s Public School.

We knew we were in for a big game when the whole St Mary’s team poured themselves out of a 6 seater minivan. Steve Crawford and Ted Bruce had the Namaka School kids cheering in unison for the Newport boys. It was obvious the boys had watched the previous game and listened to their erstwhile coach Peter Farrugia. Virgil Townsend’s rumbling mauling style had the Fijians quickly on the backfoot and the quick thinking Joshua Tyler’s intercept stopped a sure early try. A quick tap by Nathan Grifiths sent Kahu Andronicus on a spirited run, bringing us closer and closer to the try line. Another quick penalty tap and quick pass to Mitchell Hasler saw Mitch sprinting and bouncing off the last line of Fijian defenders to score his first try of the international series. Nathan’s quick thinking, bought a tear to the eye of the former Hornsby Great Scott Griffiths. All this time he thought smartness had skipped a couple of generations.
The persistant Dominic Allen made a strong tackle right on the sideline to loud cheers from the frenzied crowd. This put us back into their half forcing the Fijians back onto the try line. With a ruck right on their try line, the Fijians quickly threw the ball back to their fullback and our effervescent Louis Barkely’s rambunctious charge down and tackle forced the Fijians to restart at the 25 metre line. Some time later, during a line out, our effervescent forward was it again using his head this time .as forwards are known to do, in a line out, bamboozling our team with his performance and causing raucous laughter on the sideline. Our dominant #10 Daniel Channon has the Fijians spooked, every time their 5/8 receives the ball, he put’s it up in the air and sends it sideways across the paddock. Ben Farrugia is back on the ball backing up from the first game with a 1st class effort. Just before half time young Jakob Nielson scurries up the sideline putting enormous pressure on the Fijian’s, with a real referee running the game, rather than the wayward Wayling, half time is called and the boys head to their dugout, up 7-0, with their coach Peter Farrugia singing their praises. In a moment of brilliance or credulance, Peter calls for a change of game plan. Peter said “ We went out with a plan, we stuck to it, now we’ll change it and have more of a run”. This well worn journo reckons this could either be the making of Peter’s career or the breaking! Time will tell.
The second half is on and there is no holding back our halfback Nathan Griffiths. Nathan put up a strong performance during the whole game. Jake Voss ,in a stumble tackle off the ball brings down two Fijian backs in one fall, but unfortunately retires from the game with an injured ankle. Without his passing talent in the backs, surely the coach will call a change in strategy. All we hear is deafening silence from the dugout. Tom Milligans quick chase and ankle tap stops a certain Fijian try which resulted in a ruck and us winning the ball vigorously, but the boys having listened to their coach closely decide to throw the ball around with Fijian flair. Dylan Matthes, our tight head prop, is waiting out wide, gets the ball in hand, goes forward with a couple of Fijians hanging of him and what’s he do, a backhand flick pass, surely coach Peter’s brilliance will shine brightly today. The Fijians pick up the flick pass, off the boots and scurry across for a quick try, 7 all, leaving Peter’s brilliance somewhat dimmer.
From the kick off a quick ruck and we turn over the ball, with Chris Styler making long yards up the middle from the ruck. This is where the Fijians were weak, we exploited this perfectly in the 1st half. Hugo Campbell was ball hungry every time he got a sniff of that leather/plastic/nylon ball, his relentlessness at the breakdown was a delight to watch for this retired back rower. Soon after, a quick kick and the juggernaut, Joshua Tyler, has the ball in hand with a lightening fast run down the sideline sending Newport into the lead, 14-7. Soon after the kick the Fijians mounted a comeback as our boys tired with a spirited fleet footed try, levelling the game at 14 all. With a minute to go Joshua Tyler makes another quick break behind the scrum down the left wing, leaving soon to be anointed “super coach” feeling taller, only to be pinned back metres from the try line by a grappling Fijian tackle. The Fijians were back on the ball, turned it over and sent it flying out through every set of hands with a counter attack resulting in a try under the posts, showing the boys in blue how open Fijian rugby is truly played. The final score was 21-14 to St Mary’s and the final words are left for that long forgotten coach, Peter Farrugia “ Fantastic effort, structure in first half was perfect”, I asked him “If it was perfect why did you change it”, Peter quickly responded with “Don’t talk about that, talk about that 80 metre try they scored in the forwards in the 1st half.

Game 3 versus Nandi District Group

Club president Geoff Hannigan had taken over the coaching jacket, in what I thought was a very vain attempt to show up the acclaimed super coach Greg Donlan, who up until now was the only coach that had coached a winning side. The game started, with not just one but two whistle blows, some wag from the Fijian side had bought his whistle with him on the sidelines. This confused our backs, who thought the game was over and started walking of the field. Fortunately one of the brighter boys in our side spotted this, our tight head prop Jake Crawford and put an end to this, with a sterling tackle that would have taken the chrome of his father’s Subaru. It looked like the boys had a cunning game plan. I asked the coach “what’s the game plan?”, Hags said “There is no game plan!” whilst the boys were putting on a blindside move which sent Adam Hannigan across for the first try off the game, to which Hags responded, “That’s part of the plan, I sent it across telepathetically”. The first try was followed quickly by another backline move this time a switch back to Jack Donlan from Tyson who ran into a break for a 60 metre try. As the heat in the air dissipitates, Louis Wayling showed his brawny brilliance by taking the ball right up the middle with 6 Fijians hanging off him, pulling more players in and managing an offload to Adam Hannigan to score again on their blind side. Luke Matthews kept up a strong game despite being ill before running on. A valiant effort. Tom McGain’s snappy service from half back was consistent throughout the game putting pressure on the Fijians on every phase. Jordan Towns performance was trades man like, nailing the Fijians with every tackle, whilst Dylan Thompson playing in the back row, applied his trade with forceful pressure on their backs, limiting the usual Fijian flair. Will Davies straight running damaged the backs continually, he set up a cracker try with a clean pass to Conrad Hutchings who easily made it over for try #4. Corey Burns continued to show his mettle with consistent straight running of the rucks , keeping their forwards busy all day chasing him down. Tyson Damp at full back was one of the stars in the backs, each kick cleanly caught saw him running the ball up quickly gaining valuable metres whilst saving the forward’s energy. At the half time whistle we are up 28-0 and the encouragement from the coach was simple “keep doing the game plan boys”.

The game started positively, with pure aggression displayed by Konrad Hutchings setting up a ruck with a quick clean the ball passed quickly out the backs with Harry Jones placing the ball out wide superbly with his cut out pass resulting in another try by Adam Hannigan in the corner. James “lipstick” King put in a huge amount of work with his effective tackling all day long. I missed the last try, so I apologise for missing this one out, maybe one of the boys will remember and claim it, but I didn’t miss the conversion attempt, the honour of which was given to our prop Jack Slack Smith. Whilst the try was scored out wide it is tradition in Fiji to kick the goal from directly in front. Slacko lines his drop kick, gives it a good heave ho, and the crowd sighs, both linesmen called it a no goal. It looked to me like it was over, but I did overhear one of the linesmen Jim Allen, legendary 5/8 according to Eddie Wayling, say “can’t let a prop get a conversion”. Let the controversy begin.

James King causes school girl riot

2009-07-15T16:46:00.000-07:00

Of the 44 playing tourists, no one created more interest from the Fijian school girls that James King. Arriving at the Namake public school on Tuesday, James was immediately targeted by the school girls for special attention. They wanted his autograph, asked him to talk to them and generally could not stay away from him.

Tour management were immediately concerned with James ability to stay focused on the upcoming match and his fellow tourists looked on with a mix of confusion, great interest and genuine awe......

They called for volunteer's for firewalking.........There was only one !

2009-07-15T16:42:00.000-07:00

Newport arrives at the Korovuto Village!

2009-07-15T11:22:00.000-07:00

We travelled to the Korovuto village today to experience the real side of Fijian life. The village are the traditional owners of the land that the Sonaisali resort is located on and they provide 70% of the staff that are working at the resort. We were welcomed to the village by the chief in a traditional ceremony where we presented two Kava root bunches as a mark of our appreciation.
After both the boys and fathers tasted Kava (some taking to it more enthusiastically than others!) we had a guided tour of the village looking at traditional Fijian huts; catching mud crabs in the local river; seeing their market garden where they grow their own vegetables; watching demonstrations of basket weaving and seeing the raw Kava root prepared for the village to drink.

We gave a gift to the village of 4 sets of rugby jumpers, 50 stationary kits, a large amount of second hand clothing and a monetary donation to assist with the 600 people within the village.

The day ended with the Newport boys playing a game of touch rugby against the village children on their oval. Goal posts made out of bamboo, a bull watching from the northern dead ball line and a game of touch ended a terrific afternoon.

Newport 1 + 2 + 3 v's Namaka, Mount St Marys, Namaka

2009-07-14T17:20:00.000-07:00

Apologies for the late blog on the games but getting the computer has been a daunting task.

Tuesday saw the assembly of the lads at the wharf on the island. The three boats ferried the boys and support staff to the two waiting buses to commence the 30 minute drive to the oval at Namaka Public School. En route via Nadi the boys were getting the first taste of Rock Star treatment. The passers by were cheering and waving and the boys boys responded like true rock stars. The boys delighted at the simplicity of the homes they passed, the bamboo football posts and the crops being tendered on the road.

Game 1:

Newport v's Namaka.

The warmups over, the nerves settled, the opposition aren't that big, half of them dont have boots, theyre all smiling..this should be good. Then kick off, and game on, the Fijians were lean, excited and ready to rumble and thats what they did. Our boys were subject to a blazing flurry of open rugby with Fijian ball skills not only being entertaining but pure genius in any open play. Our boys put in some valiant forward plays with successful pick and drive moves but as soon as the ball went loose, went wide, they were there...in numbers. Loose play specialists the Fijian attacks on our ball carriers were hard and skillful, tackling and ripping the ball simultaneously. Out wide the Fijian Namaka team were a delight to watch passing from player to player in loops, run arounds, open play what was described by one dad as being "played on ball bearings"

Namaka ran in two tries very quickly through loose open play and their fullback and centres running the gaps like naturals. Despite the superb tackling of some of the boys, the Fijians were so strong and able to break, bounce, roll out of tackles and continually distribute the balls.

Tom Bruce ran in a great try which was converted before half time. The score was 17 to 7. Second half saw some great settling by the Newport boys as the reality of the open play had registered. Continually they kept the ball in the forwards and continually worked phase after phase against a powerful defense. Despite the continual interuption they toiled at the line. There were some fantastic interludes with the Fijians showing some great gymnastic skills in the ball grab attempts and their rag doll tackling techniques. One high rag doll tackle saw the young Namaka forward "yellow carded" much to the cheering of the local crowd.

The crowd was coherced into barricking loudly for Newport, practising the mexican wave, and generally having a great time with the tourist on and off the field. There were smiles all round.

Despite some magical second half runs by the barefoot centre for Namaka the Newport boys were able to turn the tidal flow on occassions. Great pressure from the forwards and solid tackling efforts in the back's saw Newport spend some valuable time in the opposition quarter. On two occassions in the loose play the Fijians were beat at their own game by Tom Hargreaves who on two occassions secured an opportunistic ball and scored on both occassions. Was he a fijian??? or just an opportunistic lad catching on to their game plan?

In the forwards Angus Leck played magnificantly always pushing up the centre and taking on the Fijians. James Allo and Dylan Matthes put in some great efforts and matched the toughness of the forwards. Tom Hargreaves brought home the bacon for Newport and restored credability at the end of the game to bring the score to 22 (Namaka) to 19 Newport.

The coach Gene Burns was delighted by the boys comeback vowing to continue his coaching prowess into Thursdays game . Hope he improves his Haka by Saturday!

Game 2:

Game 2 – Tuesday
Newport versus Mount St Marys Public School
2.40pm – overcast and cool – A good day for Rugby.
The kick off saw a different tempo and expectation to that of Game 1. It was obvious the free flowing style of the Fijians needed some serious counter measures. The opening kick -off set the tone for the game with forward packs engaging in a physical tussle.
The first break downs saw the ball shut down by Newport on several occasions in the forwards and when the ball was sent spiralling along the St Marys backline Jack Donlan and Harry Jones completed some huge hits on their opposing centres. The intensity of the game did not falter either opponent with both forward packs and back lines still giving 100% physical effort. Newport was successful in shutting down the five eight and centre combination on several occasions while the forwards congregated on the loose ball. It appeared some of the lessons witnessed in game one had been learnt.

The ball was hotly competed for whenever a play had shutdown. More often than not the bustling Newport pack, perhaps not as physical but definitely well structured continued to harness control and several phases of pick and drive delivered some exciting and tiring football as the big fellas pursued the yardage up the centre. Several phases saw the ball put to the back lines of both teams but each opposing backline shutting down each other in a very effective defense. It was a real contest and the yardage gained and lost was equal in proportion.

A penalty was given for a St Marys infringement and the boys created a set play designed by the "Coach of Coaches" Greg Donlan (supported by the sensational Assistant Coach Angus James, the irrepressable Assistant Assistant Coach Scott Griffiths and the mercurial Assistant Assistant Assistant Coach Ilkka Tales who introduced "Chilli" to the warm up sessions to "fire up the boys") that delighted the Fijian crowd and dazed their opposites. The penalty was set on the 25 metre line of the Fijians where the boys formed a semi circle. At the rear of the circle Harry Jones positioned as ball receiver, the tap was taken and the semi circle confused the vision and movement of the ball while it was quickly flick backward to Harry peeling to the right side of the field, with a short dummy and strong inside run to split the Centre line and score directly under the posts. 5 nil. No conversion.

Every kick off was a contest as shortly after Kahu Andronicus was off the field with a Fijian headache. Virgil Townsend was playing a strong forward game with great aggression and drive up the centre. Despite a bleeding nose he kept going. The play was full of Fijian acrobatics as they attempted intercept passes, tackles and the famous Fiji rag doll tackles (grab around the neck and flung around). Entertain and athletic despite being offside on several occasions. The Newport boys took and gave some heavy tackles.

Off the field and on the sideline some major activities were also being conducted. Some of the boys from game one were engaged in a sideline game of touch / grab / smash footy which saw Zac Tales leave the sidelines (off field) in a bloodied state much to the delight of the local kids who were amazed at the efficiency of our medical team. Zac Tales was the reserve this match, having played in the previous match, and had asked the "Coach's Coach" for the honour of carrying the kickoff tee. Some time during the game, Zac had taken his boots off and started a game of rugby on the sideline with the local kids. A try was scored in the main game, Greg Donlan went looking for his tee holder only to find Zac at the bottom of a ruck with kids jumping all over him. Greg yelled out, "Where's my tee Zac" and Zac shook of 4 local challengers who had him locked at the bottom of a smothered tackle. He jumped up immediately apologising "Sorry Coach I stuffed up, here I'll get the tee, "Too late, snarled the coach, Harry just missed the dropkick, if this cost me my coaching career, you'll be playing fullback and kicking the goals your self".

The St Johns boys were on hand with Ambo parked at the ready and a proverbial esky in hand. The medical kit was ice in plastic bags and plenty of goodwill.

Back to on field action: -
Corey Burns was sensational with his pick and drive efforts which was ultimately rewarded with a bustling try that was nicely captured by the team photographer. There were some strong backline plays between the respective back line and defence particularly by Conrad Hutchings who was brutal at times. Jack Donlan ran with purpose but could not seem to get the penetration through his opponent. But managed some good offloads. Harry placed some well executed kicks and bolstered the attacking position gaining some 30 + metres in distance. Dan Channon at full back did some solid head on line tackles that were nothing short of full commitment.

Hugo Campbell came from the field stating “These guys are really tough on us” to be met by the coaches comment “ Really, thats a bit unfair” and a sly grin.

The second half saw some great backline passing by Newport and finally another try was the reward from a swift counter attack. Conrad was seen making multiple tackles on the attacking Fijian side as they tended to bounce back onto their feet after being tackled.
The back's were met with some exciting looping and flowing rugby however the diligence of the forwards contained alot of their activity with limited opportunity. The backs produced some great set moves, run around moves themselves. It was a substantial contest that saw the closing minutes with a breakaway run from the fast Fijian St Marys winger beating several players but ultimately gallantly chased by Jack Donlan in a great tackle that unfortunately saw both players slide over the try line of Newport. Try and game over. The crowd on that side of the field was delighted. The final score was Newport 17, St Marys 5.

A funny twist of events saw Harry Jones moved from Centres to Front Row as penalty for “poor form” on tour, but despite continual grumbles he played well before being put into the second row where his head gear and orange boots still looked good but gave him a bit more room to move. He showed such promise there is conjuncture he may remain in the forward pack. Virgil Townsend was moved out onto the wing showing he had the smarts to play in the backs, waiting for the opposition to run to him rather than him moving up in defense.

The oval had some incredible divets including some well concealed reinforced concrete but was happily covered by the friendly guests with sawdust and a prayer. The dads marked the spot praying the game would never encroach.

The crowd loved the game with all the Fijian locals totally happy for us to win either way. As the teams shook hands, t shirts were given to the locals. After the experience of the first game the boys realised that their head gear was a prized possession so these were held tightly and none had to be rescued on this occasion. The spoils of war.

Game 3:
Newport v’s Namaka
This game had a strong tempo built around it and occurred in short succession after game 2. The boys ran and were met by fairly lean team who despite a few players did not have a height advantage over our side. They were ...fit.
The kick off saw the weather threatening to rain, the crowd thinning from school children but well supported by the parents and friends who had finished work. The team they were playing was apparently undefeated for several years and were attending in confidence. The game marked the return of Will “bear” Davies after his unlucky leg injuries and surgery.

The tempos of the game commenced ferously with the forwards locked in a solid tussle. The first break down saw the tenacious Fijian side rip and steal the ball and quickly disperse the ball with rifling passes to the centres. It was here that there was no doubt Will was back. Like a cruise missile Will locked on to his opposing centre and absolutely took his legs and feet right from underneath him in what was a massive tackle. The Fijian smiled and got up and his mates had already regathered the ball and commenced recycling the ball through the backline. Hit after hit was made on their backs but their agility, desire to move forward proved the Fijian's to be more elusive than wiley coyotes. The pace was frantic and very physical. Jake Crawford made some solid advances while Louie Wayling put in a stellar effort. Louie would continually break through the pack with surging bull like runs, often checked by the Fijians but he did not stop.

The open play by the Fijians was superb particularly in their back line. They appeared to have incredible numbers out wide time and time again, looping and doubling up to make our sliding defence work hard. Even when tackled they would not stop and there was always agile numbers waiting to go forward and seize any opportunity that presented.

The forwards worked hard at controlling the ball in the forward pack, the contest was even but they were exceptionally physical and hard players often countering our moves with great effect. They did manage to provide some good clean ball to the back through some strong rolling mauls particularly with Louie Wayling proving a standout. The ball cleared several times with crisp half back passes from Tom McGain to Tyson at five eight and then to Will Davies and Harry Jones in the centre and the winger Josh Tyler showing some great catching skills on occasion. Continually the backline combination of Newport saw Tyson Damp running diversion lines with Will Davies or Harry in the centres. Some created some excellent breaks and others were read well by the Fijians who produced an effective swarming defence. Our ball security was tested over and over as the Fijians had mastered the art of tackling the player , quick to their feet, rip and steal the ball and they would then counter attack in moments. Our techniques were tested continually and often left wanting by the free playing Fijians who were masters of opportunity.

Within 10 minutes the Fijians had spun the ball from the maul to the inside centre who placed a great kick behind our centres. Three Fijians swarmed on an isolated Will Davies, a poor bounce did not favour will and fortunately nor the Fijians. The scrum win saw an unfortunate drop ball by Newport which was gathered on the run by the Fijian full back who exhibited some superb running and open play skills to weave his way into a try in the corner.

The kick off was a swift affair with Fijians taking the ball on the run and again the fullback despite being gallantly pursued by Dylan Thompson blitzed his way to the try line. In further play we retaliated with some great counter attacks, particularly with one back line move where Jones placed a well judged kick over the heads of the Fijians backs with a nasty bounce and hotly contested pursuit Harry regathered the ball only to succumb to a knock on. The ball was won in the scrums (uncontested) by our lads and it saw Tyson preparing to sidestep his opponent when the ground just slid out from under his boots and the move was lost. The ground top cover was very loose and played the same tricks on Harry and Jack on several occasions when looking to put in the big moves!! The fumbled ball was snapped by the Fijian five eight who then spiralled the ball to touch for half time. Score Newport Nil – Namaka 19.

Second half resumed and some serious rag doll tackle attempts by the gymnastic styled Fijians saw some cautions issued and almost another Fijian half back being sent to the side line. The contest in the forwards was epic, just a hard to and fro as both teams battled for ground. Another penalty in our favour saw Dylan Thompson receive the ball and make an outstanding run down the left side of the field. A short time later while scrumming down it was incredible to see the depth of attack angle the Fijians used against our flat defence. They hit the ball with speed and while appearing to shimmy and shake they ran straight but always managed to offload to their outside or inside man. Their back lines often had the second rowers joining in.

Our forwards continued to valiantly contain the Fijian fowards but whenever the ball went loose it was “Fiji time”. They would then scoop and run the ball passing and swooping with some of the best backline displays of open rugby that had been seen for a long time. In fairly quick succession individual and team brilliance by the Fijians split and penetrated our defence. Unlike home games these players do not stay down and they play with a sixth sense of who is outside them or a knowing trust that support is looking for action right behind them.It was not long before the score line was rising against us.
Newport showed terrific determination which was exampled by a scrum pack down in the locals 25metre line after the forwards had worked their way solidly to the scrum position. The ball was won cleanly and McGain rifled a perfect pass to Damp who dispatched quickly to Davies then Jones, Jones drew his man and threw a cutout pass to Josh on the wing who collected the ball between his knees at speed to run and dive for the corner. Try to Newport. The crowd loved it as well. The score was Newport 5: Namaka 26
The next fifteen minutes saw a flurry of tries scored by the Fijians in rapid succession. They exhibited some great open rugby that proved so difficult to contain. There was some great moments from Luke, Will Davis tackling and line running was hard, handling and running of Josh on the wing. The tidal wave couldn’t be stopped. It wasn’t a pushover for the Fijians but it was a great exhibition of some of their skills. Their try scoring and quick drop kick field goals to covert was like sevens rugby and very matter of fact. The boys on both teams finished the game with a score line of Newport 7: Namaka 40 . Despite a hard game the boys had all thoroughly enjoyed themselves and had come off pretty much injury free. This was amazing considering the games intensity.

The boys gave t-shirts to the opposing players and the final exchanges and thank yous were completed. They all had a fantastic time, a humbling experience culturally, and also felt rather humbled by the Fijian rugby skillset. It is their national love and passion. It shows. What a pleasure to watch, and what great attitudes the Newport boys played with.

Deeds not Words

2009-07-14T16:46:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday we visited Namaka Public school to play our first rugby games. As the boys walked into the school they were greeted with loud cheers from over 500 Fijian kids ready for assembly. The boys were treated like movie stars, they were clearly overcome by the occassion and surprised by the welcome they received.

The principal addressed the students and players, welcoming Newport warmly to Namaka. This was followed by a performance song by the Namaka students, and then the singing of the Newport Rugby Song led by Jack Slack Smith. It was unanimous, the choir master needs to be taken to task, our singing prowess was no match against the perfect Pacific pitch of 500 children.

Impersonation of Judges continues in the Kangaroo Court

2009-07-14T16:03:00.000-07:00

The Kangaroo court sat again on Tuesday morning to consider evidence from three seperate matters that occured on the first day in Fiji.

John Cahill was alleged to have been seen walking through the resort in the early hours of Tuesday morning with the resort clock from the reception desk to ensure he knew what the time was. He was also found in the early hours by hotel security practising his yoga moves on the slippery dip in the children's playground, upside down and asleep at the time. John was found guilty as charged.

Harry Jones was accused by his fellow playing tourists, whilst the court was in session, of to much self awareness, bum slapping, nipple tampering and topless parading through the resort. Harry was actually asleep in his room whilst the court was in session and he was found Guilty as charged in absentia.

The most serious charge of the day was levelled at Murray McGain and Steve Crawford for their late arrival to the first tour meeting on Monday morning. Murray had stressed to all tourists on Sunday that the meeting was compulsory and to be there on time. At 9.01am, to the great delight of the touring party, the door to the conference room was locked and both Murray and Steve were found guily as charged.

Murray took legal advice from his council, Rob Davies, and attemted to deflect all blame onto Steve, unsuccessfully. In sentencing, the court considered the seriousness of their offence and declared that they be given the Flipper award for the day. This award entails the wearing, at all times in public, of the special Flipper tour hats.....

The Newport Dolphins......Does anyone know the words to Flipper ?

2009-07-14T15:31:00.000-07:00

Who am I ?

2009-07-14T14:38:00.000-07:00

The tour unexpectedly welcome a celebrity on Monday night at the resort's Zero bar. On an evening that was designed for the father's to get to know each other at the start of the tour; family, work, interest's and those 'special things" that we would not know about each other, there were a number of absolute classic moments, but none greater than one of the touring father's admitting to stardom.

There were notable speaches from Barry Towns, who attempted to explain his late arrival to the buses on sunday morning as a timing test for tour management to see the quality of their preperation; Peter Farrugia gave a demonstration of his ability to drink a schooner whilst standing on his head and Ilkka Tales spoke from experience, with a tear in his eye, of the dangers of handling chilli and then going to the bathroom!

BUT.....the most surprising revelation came from James Campbell who admitted to being regularly mistaken for not one celebrity, but three. First was his likeness to Kevin Costner (who remembers Waterworld?), next came the obvious mistake that people make with his similarity to Nicholas Cage;and the final admission that brought the tour to it's most important point to date was his open admision that he is James Bond! This situation is at it's worst when he is coming our of the surf at Newport beach.

For his honesty, James was made to drink many, many beers.......

Zero to Hero

2009-07-13T14:05:00.000-07:00

What a sensational first day on Sonaisalo. The entertainment crew had us split into 7 teams for a competitive round of kayak racing and volleyball. The kayak race was a basic relay around a moving bouy, a big plastic paddle steamer powered by pretty boy Harry Jones and Captain Cool Adam Hannigan. The first paddlers set the tempo for the rest of the teams. Unfortunately for the Wau's, their first paddler was Virgil Townsend. Virgil set himself up fabuosly up on the bow of the kayak and proceeded slowly out to the steamer until he capsized. There he stayed for the rest of the race, bobbing up and down in the gentle waters of the Pacific, unable to clamber back upon his trusty stead.

There was a lot of controversy on the winner, I still maintain that the Coco Locos won, but the win was awarded to the Bamboo Breakers this morning, only because they had the numbers in the room drowning out my protests.

The kayaking was followed by volleyball. Nigel Leck astonished us all with his aerial smashes, Jack Slack Smith showed why he won't be picked for the olympics for Volleyball whilst we saw moments of brilliance from young Tyson Damp (clearly relieved he didn't have to play with a dolphin hat) and Virgil Townsend who redeemed his earlier sins with a chant emanating from the crowd awed by the athletic display he put on. As one of the dads said, Virgil Townsend "a true Zero to Hero!" Untiki were declared the final winners, much to the chagrin of Eddie Wayling.

The afternoon was spent organising the teams and coaches for today's games. On announcing Greg Donlan as one of the coaches, Greg declared Monday as the happiest day of his life.

Crawford and McGain, Late Again

2009-07-12T15:35:00.001-07:00

Day 1, the resort looks fantastic, there is a commanding rock in the middle of the pool. As soon as we arrived 48 boys were on it jostling for King of the Mountain last night. As we sit here typing away, Steve Crawford managed to climb onto the rock without anyone looking. The boys quickly dispatched him much to his dismay and the fathers laughter.

The night wasn't too late, I managed to go to bed at 1:30am and the others were done by 2:00am, which is midnite Sydney time. The boys were tucked in and asleep by 11pm Fiji time, or so we thought! Coconut throwing onto roofs and balcony was reported by guests this morning between midnite and 2:00am, forensic tests are underway to determine whether it was the boys or the dads doing the throwing....

Barry Towns continued his fine form from Bilgola Surf Club to Fiji. He made his way back to his room at 2:00am to wake his bed buddie James Campbell to let him in. He is now known as Barfly Barry.

We had a full bench of the Kangaroo Court this morning. The Court quickly despatched rulings on one of their own, sentencing Angus and Fergus James to 24 hours of public humiliation or until they sing the song to Flipper in public for their disregard to "Tour Etiquette and Clothing".

The court had taken note of the Kiwi supporters on tour. Gene Burns, Kahu Andronicus and Nick Styler (for supporting the poms), for their sins, had to do the Haka. Video attached...

Each morning, after breakfast, we all meet in a conference room at 9:00am for a briefing of our coming days activities and any judicial matters to be dealt by the Kangaroo Court. At the end of todays meeting at 9:30ish Steve Crawford and his bed buddie Murray McGain stumbled in. Steve's excuse was that Murray "wanted one last cuddle". No doubt this will be dealt with harshly by tomorrow's court.

Safe n Sound, almost

2009-07-12T15:02:00.000-07:00

It may come as a surprise to some of you, but we all arrived safe and sound in Sonaisali. Our gear turned up, most of it at 1:30 in the morning.

The first Kangaroo court was held at Sydney Airport. Tyson Damp was sentenced to 24 hours of public humiliation for his vagrant systematic abuse of tour property. In testimony for Tyson, Gary Damp made no attempt to support his son, distancing himself by providing evidence against his own son. The Justices immediately swooped on this evidence by Gary and sentenced Gary for the crime of "Unsupportive Father" having to carry the same heavy burden of public humiliation as Tyson.

The flight was a bit rough, a little bit too rough for young Dom Allen. Before we had even taxied off the runway Dom was dumping his lunch across four seats. He is up and running today, Jim did a magic job holding the plastic bag closed against Dom's mouth to maximise the spray effect. Our plane was delayed for 30 minutes for cleaning.

The boys had stocked up with lollies and chocolates in duty free before boarding. It was great to see the lollies being shared by all the boys. It was noted that young Louie Barkley, led the feeding frenzy, having bought half a kilo of chocolate, he quietly sat on his own and ate it all.

Barry Towns continued his fine form from home to plane. He slept the whole way to Fiji.

Louie Wayling, James Allo and Tom Hargreaves an unsavoury looking group of boys were stopped by customs and body searched. It was a surprise to us all that their dad's got through, images of Schappele flirted through our heads. Their penance wasn't heavy, customs ordered the boys to clean their rugby boots before entering Fiji.

All in all, the boys were well behaved on the plane. Early hours on the tour......

The honour of first Fiji Bitter goes to John Cahill, within 45 seconds of clearing customs, before picking up his bags he had a cold one in his hand. 3 minutes later he dropped it and smashed it to pieces delighting the thirsty dads who didn't manage to buy one!

Happy days ahead!

Tears and fears

2009-07-11T19:04:00.000-07:00

What a huge turnout for the final sendoff. I didn't see many tears from family, clearly their thoughts had turned elsewhere as the buses rolled out of Newport carpark on a magic Sunday morning. I did overhear a couple of yummymummies saying that they were off to Coolangatta for some cosmetic surgery, is this the new Newport mantra, "Dads away breasts at play"?

The rumours were swilling fast through the crowd, had our diligent treasurer Barry Towns scooted off to Sth America with our hard earned funds, or was he still under the table at Bilgola Surf Life Saving Club celebrating it's 60th birthday. Fortunately he made the bus, 24 minutes late which was duly noted by the Court reps, we are eagerly awaiting Lisa's version of events on this tardiness, we cannot make much sense out of Barry.

The bus passengers noted the heavy handedness of our court jesters (judges). Justice James (angus) claims that the judiciary is above the law, claiming he is exempt from wearing the uniform. We all await with bated breath the first Kangaroo Court on Monday morning, will the Judges maintain a suitable standard by reprimanding one of their own for such a vagrant abuse of tour protocol.

Steve Crawford has been reviewing the tour questionaire's by the players. Clearly, a theme is setting in as to the most likely candidates to appear before the courts. The first candidates will be Tyson Damp and Josh Tyler for their reckless disrepect for tour gear, Barry Towns for not skipping to Mexico and Justice James for blatantly disregarding tour protocol. I did see a couple of Dads with kids in tow heading into the calm of the first class lounge, elitism is at large on our tour and this should be stamped out immediately by the judges.

Flight is called, happy days!

I'm Excited

2009-05-28T17:37:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting here at home counting down the days, watching a pile of tour kit filling up my lounge room, getting very excited about the trip. As you all know by now, the legendary John Eales will join us at the clubhouse on the 23rd June to hand out the tour jerseys and regale us with stories from his first tour as a schoolboy in Brissy. We have added a couple of videos onto the blog about John so you can see first hand some of his achievements. Also, check out the old skool games and the rugby kicking game at the bottom of the blog for you to while away those days dreaming of Fiji.

Welcome to the 2009 U14 South Pacific Tour blog

2009-02-23T17:43:00.000-08:00

As we get closer to departure date, we'll keep you informed via this blog. In the meantime, visit the U14 Fiji tour info page on the club website for updates