Thursday: "COME ON IRISH!"

After the midweek game against Windsor RFC, we caught the train to Reading, and took a shuttle to the Madejski Stadium to watch a top level rugby union game.


" The thumb of Destiny" (my dad's) holding the ticket to the Heineken Cup Quarter final game between the London Irish (from Reading haha) and Bourgoin (from France). Courtesy of Coach Joseph's connections at Bracknell RFC (thank you Mark).

The Highlanders squad were given the privilege of being the Honor Guard as the teams ran out onto the pitch. We were mentioned in the match program. This game was televised live, and hopefully some of you at home in NC were able to see us welcoming the players.

It was a great moment, and one of the highlights of the whole tour for us. Really cool.

It was a good game with many lead changes, but it was a pity that London Irish lost in the last minute. Although they lost, we were very involved in cheering them on (especially Ryan).

"IRRIISSSHHHH NOOOOO!!!!"

Posted by Robert Jordan

Friday: Twickenham and Central London

At 9am we got on the coach and headed up the M3 towards South-West London - Destination: Twickenham (the biggest rugby-only stadium in the world).After spending time in the Rugby Store (and almost missing the right entrance to the stadium), the group assembled and commenced their tour of Twickenham (aka"Headquarters") at the top of the South Stand.

It's hard to imagine that this was once known as "Billy Williams' Cabbage Patch".

Jeep Morrison took a closer look at the work of the Twickenham field crew.......
..... and the players decided to count the petals on the England Rose (15)......



....before bidding farewell to HQ, we checked the wind direction from the famous weathervane high above the North Stand (which has Hermes/Mercury, the messenger of the gods, showing how to pass the ball properly at speed!). After some desperate last-minute purchases, the squad got back onto the coach and headed into London.

At 3pm we arrived and split into groups with chaperones, and headed off on a planned walking tour of London SW1. Along the way the groups visited/passed famous landmarks, such as: The Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, the (original and best) Hard Rock Cafe, The London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, Whitehall and Trafalgar Square.

"Steven. Who's that woman behind you, and is that her house?"

One last picture at Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square, before heading off to a budget dinner in Panton Street, and then it was back to the coach and Wokingham.

Robert Jordan & Richard Jordan

Sunday: Final game against Bracknell and last day of the tour

The final game of the tour was played on a damp, cool early Easter Sunday afternoon, having been brought forward from 3pm to 1215.

The touring Highlanders were at full strength, as were Bracknell, and this was a full-blooded, evenly-matched encounter.

It was a great game to watch. The Highlanders had clearly assimilated the learnings from the earlier games, and adapted very effectively to the faster English passing and tackling game, while still retaining their strengths upfront at the lineout and in the loose.

The front row was a keenly contested area throughout, with the Highlanders props packing-down against much bigger and more experienced opponents. (It was good to see them all sharing tips and techniques after the game!!)

Both teams stepped-up their performance from the previous week, and it was good to see that despite the closeness of the scores, the full squad was used. The Highlanders will have learned a lot that will help them in their preparation for the upcoming Souths.

In the end 20-20 was a fair result for a hard-fought contest, played in the best traditions of the game.

"Take me home country roads".

Monday morning at Heathrow

Everyone is accounted for and delivered at the airport. One group has already boarded for the AA departure direct to RDU. The rest of us are flying different routes. The majority of the boys are flying back on Continental via Newark from a different terminal. Both the US and the Canadian U17 national teams are walking around here too! Jane congratulated the Canadians on their win but added we supported the US team. It's been a fantastic trip!

I hope this will not be the end of the blog, but that others will post more stories and photos. Send mail to prins@unc.edu to be added as an author.

The Last Day

In a sea of green Brits, a black blur emerges from the masses. He has the rugby ball tucked gracefully into his arms with a machine-like grip. Above the sound of raindrops pitter-pattering on the worn field rises an uproar of cheers for the young rugby star Willem Prins as he scores the Highlanders' first points of the game with a thrilling break away try. Then, minutes later, a penalty kick succesfully converted by Graham Joseph gave the Highlanders an eight point lead. However, Bracknell were not about to let their spirits down. The Bracknell boys played hard with all their hearts and evened the table with an eight point run. In the second half the Highlanders were down, but Willem soon scored an impressive try to reduce the Highlander defecit to only 2 points. Sebastian then let the Highlanders take the lead, and Graham made the kick, making the score 20-15 Then in a heart lifting turn of events, Bracknell narrowly missed a penalty kick by hitting a crossbar. Unfortunately, Bracknell were not done. Several minutes before the end of the game, Bracknell scored a try with agressive forces drawing the game at 20-20. The game came to a close with both teams worn and exhausted. The Highlanders sustained a few injuries, Michael Pugliese suffered a minor cut on his leg (but continued playing), Matt Daniels took a hard hit to the sternum, among other minor bumps and bruises. After the game the two teams came together to take pictures and have a delightful post-game meal. MVP awards for the tour were given to Sebatian Torres of the backs and Michael Pugliese of the forwards.

Written by: Jules Hill, Emily Prins, Gabe Blanchard

(Happy belated birthday Dad!) -Zach

Day Two: The West Country

A bright, sunny and blustery day greeted the Highlanders' first day trip to the West Country.

The first stop was Bath (known by the Romans as Aquae Sulis), and is one of several English cities that built their rugby or cricket grounds within sight of a cathedral or abbey.

We split into several groups and headed into the city.

Carlos Torres is admiring the view of the Abbey from the 'Rec'.... home of the famous Bath Rugby club (est. 1865).

"Now that's a rugby field".

After lunch (Cornish pasties, fish & chips etc), we got back onboard and headed to Millfield School to watch some international rugby.
We raised the flags and saw the US U17s play the Canada U17 team. Several of the Highlanders players knew members of the US team.

After the game we had a special briefing from the US U17 team coach, followed by a tour of the school's very impressive sporting facilities, including the pool......

..and the cricket field which has a great view of Glastonbury Tor (where King Arthur is reputed to be buried. Last stop was at Stonehenge in Wiltshire. Overall a great day.

Windsor Game

On Thursday the Highlanders faced a tough side from the Windsor Club. Windsor started strong, scoring in the first 10, the conversion was good forcing the highlanders to step up to the challenge. Following another converted Windsor try the Highlanders scored in the corner off of a penalty, the conversion hit the post for a score of 14-5 to Windsor. Following huge pressure by the Highlanders forwards Windsor picked up another two tries to end the half 28-5. The Windsor forwards were clearly being pressured by the powerful Highlander pack, but the backs struggled against the experienced English players and the fast, expansive style of play.
The second half opened well for the Highlanders with two tries. Following heavy pressure in the Windsor half the Highlanders had a try held up. Windsor was penalized and the Highlanders scored a try off of the penalty. Windsor fought back but the Highlanders were able to punch one more in before the Windsor backs were able to run another two in. The final score didn't really match the game, the Highlanders held the ball for more than 60% of the game but were unable to capitalize on it due to the strong Windsor defense. A great game with a final score of 40-19 to Windsor.

Roster: Bahner, Pugliese, Werner, Daniels, Thomas, J. Harrington-Smith, Jordan, Painter, Joseph, Prins, Stamper, Marshall, Smith, Harper, S. Torres
Subs: Van Valkenburgh, Morrison, Mackman, Workman, Blanchard, Gazzola
Tries: Torres (2), Harper
Conversions: Joseph (2)

Compiled by Jim Morrison and Graham Joseph

visit to Twickenham and London

The team took a trip via coach to Twickenham, the home of English rugby. A tour guide showed them around and apparently entertained them with many rugby tales.

They arrived in London at 2.30. They split into groups and started a walking tour that hit the major sites: Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and a meander over to Piccadily for dinner. The walking tour resumed on the way to the coach, visiting Trafalgar Square and Whitehall.

Another taste of England.

Tonight the hotel staff told us that the "American boys" were very polite and well behaved (unlike the English boys!!).

Group picture after the Windsor game

Thursday:game against Windsor

An early tactical practise was organised pre-breakfast this morning, in the grounds of the hotel. After breakfast sleepy boys took naps, hung out, or swam till lunchtime.

In the afternoon the game against Windsor was played. The Highlanders put in a valiant effort but the score ended up about 40-19 to Windsor (I hope someone will write a match report and correct this score if I have it wrong) As a spectator I heard many compliments about our team from the side lines. I think much has been learned that they can take to Souths. Coach Joseph was incredibly proud of his boys performance.

At this moment they are at the Madjeski Stadium in Reading, watching the London Irish play against a French team. It is supposed to be a vibrant atmosphere with lots of drum rolls being played in the crowd. They caught a train there and will ride the same back.

A good day of rugby, with the score not really reflecting the great fight the Highlanders put up.

Tomorrow they will visit the hallowed halls of Twickenham, the home of English international rugby and then continue on to London for a walking tour. They have done a huge amount of walking in beautiful weather this week, but tomorrow it is forecast to be heavy rain. We will see.


Jane

Some pictures from Bath

On the bus

gathering for the bus to Millfield


Photo-op organized by Emily following impromtu game (in a little patch of grass marked "not for ball games")

Millfield school pool building

(one of many such buildings!)

The bus driver surprised us by taking a route back from Millfield that took us right past Stonehenge right at dusk ...

Trip to Oxford

The boys made good use of public transport to get to Oxford today. They started off by catching a local bus from the hotel to the train station. Then two trains to Oxford, changing at Reading.

The weather was beautiful, sunny and breezy.

They were provided with a map of Oxford and a ticket for the hop on/hop off bus and set loose in the seat of learning!

At 3.00 we all met up in the University parks and a spontaneous game of touch rugby was started with an English group of boys (the latter were engaged because our team had forgotten their rugby ball and the English boys had one!)

With the entire group assembled, we walked through the colleges to the Head of the River pub on the banks of the river Thames, for dinner. Everyone had a splendid time chatting and looking out over the river.

British railways then took them back to Wokingham, where after a day of walking, they treated themselves to a taxi back to the hotel.

Bath and a "School"

Okay so, today was the trip to Bath and we watched the USA U17s squad play Canada at the Millfield private school. 

Millfield is unlike high school like any you may know, in fact, it's sort of like an olympic training center for sports, with a library and a teacher.  They have a huge indoor pool (olympic size of course), with a mini pool on the side. There are three professional rugby fields, and two cricket fields, a golf course, a manor house for the dean, and a very small trailer for the "Physics Annex" (where they teach physics class).  The huge cafeteria overlooks the rugby field so that you may dine and watch.  It's like dinner and a movie, except REAL HD. There are even huge buildings for badminton, fencing, shooting, and ping pong. Those are each separate buildings. All this for the bargain tuition of just under 30,000 GBP per year. Thats just under $44,000. Cheap. Wait that reminds me of Duke tuition and board.

Earlier in the day we drove to Bath, an old English city from the time of the Romans. Yep that's about 2000 years ago. We walked around Bath and bought sweets and rugby clothes. This was a short but interesting visit. Lots of old buildings with curved facades.  

Back to the ridiculous "school". The U17s USA squad played the Canadian squad, ending with a 22-7 loss (or something like that). It was a sad moment. But then we got the tour of the campus and everyone ate together so the wound was healed. We ate and mingled and we talked to the two North Carolina players on the U17 squad, which was cool. We had met them from NC all stars.

The ride back was calm, and we saw stonehenge for like 2 minutes, it was sweet. Kareem didn't know Stonehenge was in England. Tim was asleep. Jon somehow missed it. I guess its easy to miss, its only 25 huge rocks on a completely cleared field...

But we don't have pictures yet, so we will upload those tomorrow, but everyone had lots of fun. :D

Monday:some down time

Asher and Johnathan were a welcome sight at breakfast this morning arriving from the USA camp. All the team are now here.

Today was a day for exploring Wokingham, making a choice of walking into town (30 mins) or working out how to catch the local bus. Stocking up on snacks was a priority.

The swimming pool and hot tub are getting some serious use.

Dinner tonight was fish and chips, dripping with British grease and eaten outdoors in the brisk evening air. A spontaneous game of tag followed and a good time was had by all!

(scene from yesterday's game)

Day One

Game 1 vs Bracknell under 16s (sort of)




We opened our tour of England with a hard-fought brawl against Bracknell's strong club. Since our opponent was using a younger squad, we did the same, starting all underclassmen and new players. Both teams gave it their all and played a tough match, but we ended the day with a 22-14 loss. The less experienced pack showed great fortitude against a skillfull squad. Kareem scored the first try to tie the game at 5-5 and Willem tacked on another two points to move us ahead. Sebastian Torres later gave us a 12-10 (14-10 after Willem's magic) lead off of an interception near the Bracknell try zone. Unfortunately, Bracknell battled back with overpowering scrummaging and explosive backline play from their number 12 and grabbed the win. The physical play and lack of errors proved that we can definitely compete with the UK clubs, especially after a little more sleep. Both clubs shared a couple pints and conversed after the game, giving us a new perspective on the camaraderie surrounding rugby.





Breakfast of champions

We enjoyed a buffet encompassing both traditional favorites (eggs, cereal, fruit) and exotic delicacies (black pudding, breakfast ham). The tasty yet nutritious cuisine will surely keep us at full strength throughout our epic UK journey.


Dinner (Supper?)

The club took a "relaxing" 20 minute stroll to Wokingham, a quaint town offering plenty of entertainment. We dined at an Indian buffet serving curry chicken dishes, rice, and vegetable medleys. The tranquil evening proved to be just what we needed after a long first day.

At 12.00pm the team was picked up by a fleet of cars from the Bracknell rugby club. They will play their first game in 2 hours. Some of them are a little weary this morning, but all are energised by the bracing spring air and the thought of a rugby game.

It's a wonderful sunny morning. Everyone has eaten a large breakfast, carefully avoiding the blood pudding (a.k.a. black pudding). Several practice sections on the grounds. Owen is looking after the patio.

20 Players arrived!

All the players are here now except: (arriving tomorrow AM) Robert Jordan, Jim Morrison, Wes Painter, Graham Joseph, Sebastian Werner, and (arriving Monday) Jonathan and Asher.

Coach Joseph, Jeep and Richard are arriving in the morning as well.

All players dined extensively on sandwiches, chips, crisps (see earlier post) and apples, as well as a variety of English snacks!

Willem's Perspective

We're around 4,000 miles away and it's really different around here. Everything they say is slurred into one big sentence and every fifth word is football. But the hotel is awesome, my room has a nice view of the radiator on the roof (haha), but it's the closest to the pool and hot tub which makes it acceptable. I visited the local subway to discover that they don't sell footlongs, conversation:

Me: Hello, I'd like a footlong on monterey cheddar.

Person: Wot?

Me: Okay, maybe a third of a meter?

Person: Mate, we only sell six inch subs.

So then i left and got a pastie, which was quite delicious.

Reconnaisance team report

The Prins family arrived and has scouted out the area and the hotel. The team is in for a treat!

This afternoon we were informaed of one hitch: Coach Joseph's flight was cancelled! Instead Jeep, Jim, Wes, Graham and Coach Joseph will arrive Sunday morning early, in time for the game at Bracknell. Meanwhile, we'll be here to meet all the players coming in tonight.

The weather is cool but sunny. At night it will be chilly.

On the eating front (for boys on 5+ meals a day!), Willem recommends the Cornish pasties, and the meal deal from Marks and Spencer (a.k.a. "Marks and Sparks"): sandwich, drink, and bag of crisps for 2 GBP. By the way, in England "crisps" = potato chips, and "chips" = french fries.

Itinerary

Saturday April 4 - travel

• 5.00 AM meet at RDU group Travel desk in Terminal 1.
  
• 9:20 PM arrive Heathrow via Continental 18 from Newark.
  
• Transport by chartered bus to Hilton St. Anne’s Manor hotel, Wokingham.
  
• Sandwiches and snacks will be organized at the hotel.
  

Sunday April 5 – game at Bracknell Rugby Club

• 12:15 PM - transport from hotel to Bracknell Rugby Club by volunteers from BRC.
  
• 2 PM game vs. Bracknell
  
• Lunch at field club house contributed by BRC
  
• Transport back to hotel by BRC volunteers.
  
• 7:00 PM walk to Baranda Indian Restaurant Wokingham
  
• 7:30 PM Buffet dinner
  
• Walk back to hotel.
  

Monday April 6 – practice and local activities

• Obtain bus pass for Wokingham and Bracknell area bus service
  
• Walk or bus to practice at Wokingham local field or at BRC.
  
• Walk into town, pick up lunch at café or sandwich shop
  
• Shop at Tesco or other supermarket for own snacks for the week
  
• Back to hotel by 6PM
  
• 7 PM – Fish and Chips brought to hotel.
  

Tuesday April 7 – Bath and Millfield Intnl Rugby Festival day trip

• 9AM chartered bus departs hotel, arrives Bath before 11AM
  
• Bath sightseeing and lunch
  
• 1:30 PM bus departs for Millfield International Rugby Festival
  
• 3 PM USA U17 team plays
  
• Post-game tour of Millfield School
  
• 6:00 PM Dinner at Millfield School
  
• 7:30 PM return to hotel by bus
  

Wednesday April 8 – Oxford day trip

• 9:30 AM walk or bus to Wokingham train station
  
• Train 10.27 – 10.40 Wokingham – Reading, connecting to 10.53 – 11.18 train Reading – Oxford.
  
• Selection of activities to choose from for groups of 2 – 5 players. Lunch.
  
• 3 PM meet at Oxford University Parks for head count, weather permitting
  
• 4:30 PM scenic walk to Head of the River Pub
  
• 5:15 PM pub dinner
  
• 6:30 PM walk to train station for 19.01 – 19.26 train Oxford to Reading, connecting with 19.34 – 19.42 train Reading to Wokingham.
  
• Walk or bus (last bus 20.14) back to hotel.
  

Thursday April 9 – game at Bracknell Rugby Club, London Irish match in Reading

• 12:15 PM – transport to Bracknell Rugby Club by BRC volunteers.
  
• 2PM game vs. Windsor
  
• Late lunch at BRC club house arranged by BRC.
  
• Transport back to hotel by BRC volunteers or public transport.
  
• 6:30 PM walk to Bin Oaks for bus to Reading Madejski Stadium
  
• 7:30 PM London Irish match, buy own dinner at stadium
  
• 10:00 PM return to Wokingham/Hotel by bus
  

Friday April 10 – Twickenham Rugby museum and London

• 9:00 AM departure by bus for Twickenham Rugby museum.
  
• 10:30 – 12:30 museum and stadium tour.
  
• 1 PM bus to central London: Westminster.
  
• Lunch (£10) and group sightseeing.
  
• Bus tour of London with stops.
  
• 6:00 PM dinner
  
• 8:00 PM return to hotel.
  

Saturday April 11 – practice and local activities

• Practice at local field or at BRC, travel by public transport.
  
• Practice at local field or at BRC, travel by public transport.
  
• Walk into town, pick up lunch at café or sandwich shop
  
• Possible afternoon trip to Windsor.
  
• Dinner TBD
  

Sunday April 12 – game at Bracknell Rugby Club

• 12:15 PM – transport from hotel to BRC by volunteers
  
• 2 PM game vs. Bracknell
  
• Lunch at BRC club house arranged by BRC.
  
• Transport back to hotel by Bracknell Rugby Club volunteers.
  
• Dinner: TBD
  

Monday April 13 – return

• 8:00 AM depart hotel by chartered bus to LHR.
  
• Depart Continental 111 at 11.40 AM to Newark
  
• Arrive RDU via Continental from Newark at 9.20 PM.
  

Welcome

Welcome to the Highlander's UK Rugby Tour! We will try to file reports and pictures here as we go along the trip. Post your comments and questions in response!