Wednesday 3rd - Thursday 4th

Dunnottar Castle

Wednesday 3rd
Departed Gordonstoun for Aberdeen, via Dufftown, home of Glenfiddich Whisky. The group enjoyed a guided tour through the Glenfiddich distillery and gained an insight into the history of the whisky region.

Arrived at Aberdeen and traveled to the Robert Gordon College playing fields for a light training session before meeting billet families.

Thursday 4th

Scottish Piper walking both teams to the field

The group assembled at Robert Gordon College in the morning before meeting an 'Old Boy' from the School who, very kindly, gave us a 'locals' tour of Aberdeen. One of the more memorable stops was at Dunnottar Castle. This impressive castle ruin was built literally on a rocky outcrop with cliffs drops from all sides. The group walked around the castle and down to the waters edge below before returning to Robert Gordon College for lunch.

Early intensity in the match

The final game for the tour began with a Scottish piper marching both teams on to the field. A nice local crowd had assembled for the match, and they were rewarded for the loyalty early with a quick try almost directly from the kick off. The Grammar boys regained their composure and played competitively for the remainder of the first half. Robert Gordon College proved to be a very well drilled side and began the second half with great intensity. Grammar matched their intensity but unfortunately were not able to convert these efforts into points on a scoreboard. Robert Gordon College too strong at full time defeating Grammar 19-0.

A small presentation of 'thank-you's' were held to acknowledge the efforts from both teams and their coaching staff before the Grammar team went home with their billet families. This was effectively the final activity for the tour; the following morning the tour group will depart for Manchester Airport by bus before flying out to Dubai then on to Brisbane and finally landing in Townsville Sunday afternoon. 

Kenway again preparing to deliver

Jonsson and Murdock wrap up

Kenway still delivering quality passes

RBC vs TGS scrum

Harry with time and touch

Grammar winning line-out

Robert Gordon College vs Townsville Grammar School

Friday 28th - Tuesday 2nd

Big Bus Tour of London

Jake sizing up the guard

Friday 28th
The group began the day with a 'Big Bus Tour' of London, taking them past major tourist landmarks (Big Ben, London Eye, Tower bridge etc...) and most of the properties on a Monopoly playing board!

Everyone stepped off the bus to watch the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. There were literally thousands of people surrounding the gates but our rugby boys put their game skills to good use and moved through the defense (crowd) with ease giving them a perfect view of the ceremony. The afternoon was spent shopping and sightseeing with many boys finding bargins at Lillywhites sports store.

Saturday 29th

Buckingham Palace

The final day in London began with a river cruise along the Thames river to Greenwich. On arrival, the group walked to the famous observatory where they synchronised their watches to GMT. In the afternoon many students visited another of London's popular attractions the 'London Dungeons' whilst others continued sightseeing around the city.

Sunday 30th
After checking out of the hotel, the group walked to Kings Cross station, home of 'Harry Potters Platform 9 3/4' to catch a train to Edinburgh. The train trip provided the group with magnificent views of the English countryside.

Landmarks of London

On arrival in Edinburgh, the group was taken for a bus tour around the city. Whilst the ancient buildings and Edinburgh Castle were impressive, it was Murrayfield Stadium, home of Scottish Rugby, that they couldn't pass without walking through the venue and taking some photographs. It is a Rugby tour after all!!    

Monday 1st
Waking up in Edinburgh, the Scottish weather welcomed everyone with cold windy conditions to visit Edinburgh Castle. Then, just as our tour guide said 'at least its not raining'..... it started to drizzle! Still, the walk around Edinburgh Castle was well worth braving the cold for. After the tour, the group jumped onto the bus and made our way to Elgin, home of Gordonstoun School. The staff and students were extremely welcoming and immediately invited us to dinner in the boarding house dining rooms before being shown to our accommodation for the evening.

Greenwich Time Line

Tuesday 2nd 
After breakfast, the group traveled to Findhorn, a nearby fishing town. The group walked along the rocky beaches and enjoyed lunch at a local restaurant before making their way back to Gordonstoun for the big match. Once school had finished for the day, both teams assembled on the main Rugby pitch surrounded by a gallery of staff and students who braved the wet conditions to watch the match.

The first half was hard fought with wet and cold conditions really taking TGS out of their comfort zone. However, our group held strong and produced some of the best performances our coaches have seen throughout the entire season. Grammar was able to strike the first blow on the scoreboard with some good wide passes, finishing with Clark Caleo in his return match after a major knee injury to score a try in the corner.

Zack on his way to Hogwarts (via Kings Cross station)

Gordonstoun rallied in the second half, moving the ball around and finding space to score a try early, leveling the scores. It was an intense battle from that point with both teams not willing to back down for a moment. Grammars consistently strong forward work created an opportunity for Jake Murdock to add to the scoreboard via a penalty kick, taking Grammar to 8-5 with 10min remaining. Sensing this was the time to stand strong with each other, the Grammar team held their positions perfectly and secured their first win for the tour.  

After the match, Gordonstoun hosted a dinner function in our honour and Juhee Kong presented the Captain and Coach of Gordonstoun with gifts in appreciation for the hospitality they had shown us over the past two days.
    

Murrayfield stadium Edinburgh

Captain Kong

Edinburgh Castle

Baker brings the intensity against Gordonstoun

TGS vs Gordonstoun with crowd looking on

TGS putting pressure on the line early

TGS scrum

Caleo first touch - try

Murdock steps out

Kenway feeding the backs

TGS defending the line

The kick that sealed the match

TGS vs Gordonstoun

Tuesday 25th - Thursday 27th

St Stephens Gardens in Dublin

Tuesday 25th

CUS vs TGS Captains meet

Departed Galway in the morning after thanking our hosts for a wonderful stay. Arrived in Dublin, set down our gear at the Catholic University School (CUS) before walking through St Stephens Gardens and on to explore the centre of Dublin. In the afternoon the tour group met their billet families and departed for home at the end of the school day. A lot of families live some distance from the school, it was an experience for many of our tour group to catch numerous buses and train connections to make the journey home (considering some of our boarding students only commute 30 sec down a set of stairs for them to be 'at school').  

Wednesday 26th


Students met at CUS in the morning before venturing out for the day. The group took a long walk through Dublin city to the iconic Guinness factory and toured through the facility. At the top of the Guinness factory was an observation deck with a 360 degree view of Dublin.

Kong wraps up the CUS Scrum Half

In the afternoon the group met back at CUS and was bused to the playing fields (like many schools in Ireland, the CUS school campus didn't have ovals on site). Both teams ran a quick warm up training session before the game......it was rather cold!

The captains met and the game kicked-off with TGS displaying great intensity and early ball possession. CUS soon matched our intensity and the game became an arm wrestle for the forward packs. Both teams were rewarded for their efforts with tries but it was CUS who went into the half time break with a slight lead.

Perkins ready to unleash

In the second half TGS won back some of the points with exciting work from the forwards which was finished off beautifully by the backline. This well matched game had many highlights but none more impressive than the combination of efforts from Dan Perkins and George Muller, both players were simply brilliant for the entire match. The final score was 31 - 21 in favour of CUS. At the post-match function, TGS Rugby Captain, Juhee Kong, presented the CUS coach with a TGS shield and signed TGS jersey as a memento of the match.    

Bakers feet too fast

Thursday 27th
Early start for the next leg of the UK journey, England. Students met at CUS one final time to say goodbye to their billet families before taking the bus to the airport.

Grammar line out

The flying time from Dublin to London was a little less taxing than the groups previous journey from Brisbane to Dublin. This time just 1 hour in the air! Upon arrival in London, the group traveled by bus to the Royal National Hotel, which will be our home for the next three days. Once settled in, the group met for a quick introduction to the 'tube' network that will faithfully transport them around the city (with some practice) to all the major landmarks. After a successful trip to Trafalgar Square they were ready to venture out and explore the many tourist spots that London is so famous for.

Murdock gets across

After a few hours of sightseeing the group rejoined to share dinner together and celebrate Dan Perkins birthday. The boys made the occasion special for Dan with a chocolate Sunday ice cream complete with birthday candle presented to him whilst the entire restaurant sang Happy Birthday!......as if turning 17 in London wasn't special enough!!

Catholic University School v Townsville Grammar School

Welcome to London

Trafalgar Fair

J.Hickey, aka Mr Gilmore looking for a lorry to drive in London

Happy Birthday Danny Perkins

Tour begins

Travel stopovers

Arriving in Dublin, at last!

Aran Islands

Thursday 20th / Friday 21st
Travelling, whilst exciting, does have its moments. The boys were very pleased to finally arrive at Galway after a 38 hour journey from Townsville via Brisbane, Dubai and Dublin.

Saturday 22nd
First day as tourists in Ireland, the group walked through Galway and took a bus to West Port before boarding a Ferry to Inis Mor, the largest of the Aran Islands. This small group of islands have wonderfully preserved ancient forts, ruins and farm land. The recommended form of transport whilst on the islands is by bicycle, so the group  (coaches included) peddled their way around each of the tourist attractions culminating at the Dun Aonghasa Fort which sits impressively against 80m cliffs on the western side of the island.

Sunday 23rd
After a morning training session to sharpen their skills ahead of the first match on Monday, the group travelled to a farming region called the 'Burren', to visit the Connelly farm which has been worked in their family for over 300 years. Bert Connelly, guided the group around his farm and explained a little local history including farming methods, landscape features and even Irish superstitions (Fairies.....true, well some think so).

The next stop was the Cliffs of Moher, these impressive walls of limestone were simply amazing to stand at the top of. The group took tour mascot, 'Russel' the wombat, for a walk along the cliff tops and posed for a few photographs against the famous Irish landmark.

Cycling the Inis of Mor 

Returning to Galway that afternoon, students were introduced to their Colaiste Ignoed billet families who, very generously, provided our group with the valuable experience of a regular Galway/Irish family's lifestyle for two nights.

Monday 24th

Dun Aonghasa Fort

Game day. Students met at Colaiste Ignoed for a pre-match warm up before a 2pm kick off. After the customary 'coin toss' and good luck handshakes, the match began with a TGS kick off. The intensity from both teams was immediately felt resulting in a tightly contested ball and no scores until the 18min mark of the 1st half (to Colaiste Ignoed). Shortly after, Grammar broke through the defense line themselves to even up the scores leading into the half time break.

The second half was a true arm wrestle, both teams producing very exciting rugby but neither side able to gain the 'upper hand' in the contest. One more try to each team fittingly resulted in a 15 all draw on the scoreboard. Strangely, 10 years ago Grammar toured to Galway and played Colaiste Ignoed, the score from that game - 17 all! It seems our two schools remain perfectly matched.

At the post match function, TGS Rugby and Tour Captain Juhee Kong thanked the Colaiste Ignoed team for their hospitality and presented the Captain and Coach with a TGS plaque, jersey and tour tie. 

Cliffs at Dun Aonghasa

Staff on edge!

Bert - Irish Farmer, guiding the group around his family property

Hike to the farm lookout

Farm lookout over the Burren region

Fairy Tree

Candidates for the next Irish 'Boy Band' album cover

Cliffs of Moher

Boys introducing Russel to the Cliffs of Moher

Captains pre-match briefing

TGS team huddle before 'kick off'

Baker breaking through the defense

Early line-out win

TGS scrum

Henway pass

Ormes kick

Muller taking a few along with him

Perkins on another drive through

Backs - Linking the passes

TGS and Colaiste Ignoed