Whitgift vs. The Southport Scghool
With a meet of 630, many of the boys were not looking forward to ‘Big Friday’. The boys knew the day would consist of a huge amount of travelling followed by a very intense game of rugby against T.S.S.
The journey from Sydney airport to Brisbane went well, with Harry Ledger FINALLY finding his ‘walking’ passport. From Brisbane we headed down the coast towards the Gold Coast. On arriving at Southport we had a quick wander around the school grounds and a small team meeting, in which someone (Harry Ledger) realised he had put his bank card in the bin on the coach which had left (this was few hours since finding his passport, for a captain some would say a poor show on such a tour).
The game started slowly for Whitgift, lacking communication in defence and losing the physical battle in the breakdown area. This lead to Southport going 7-0 up from an out wide try. Southport were playing good rugby out wide and through a huge mismatch the opposition scored again and put us 14-0 down. With this score staying until half-time a big team talk from Wilko got the boys prepared for a rough, tough and old fashioned second half. The boys got right into the face of the Australians and the Southport school boys started to take a back step. This lead to Max Anglin fly-hacking on a knock-on by a Southport player, chasing and hacking again until Jordan Lewis managed a well executed pick-up to score, this was then converted by Will Page to make the score 14-7. Despite the boys trying their hardest to score we couldn’t. The game came to a disappointing 14-7 loss for Whitgift. With a few dubious decisions from the referee, including a yellow card for our Captain (England Captain, Harlequins EPDG, Voted ‘Best Blonde Locks’ of the Sutton and Epsom area 2011) Harry Ledger. Some would say these decisions changed the flow of the game and ultimately the score.
All in all a very pleasing performance in many ways, just a shame we couldn’t get the result we wanted.
James margetson
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Friday, August 12, 2011
The Final Blog
Well here I am sat in Hotel Cairns reception , with the bus outside waiting to take us to Cairns Airport and on the long journey back to England .
This has been a superb tour and I am very proud of the way the lads have behaved, developed and represented Whitgift. From a Rugby point of view , the results may not look that flash, but that they don't tell the whole story . We have played some of the top schools in Australia and we have used the whole squad and gave ourselves a chance of coming out on top in every game. The lads have developed well and really improved and importantly take home with them a knowledge of what we need to do to take our game to another level, clear our lines better , improve discipline and ball retention and tighten up our defence under pressure . I am confident with what I have seen of the lads attitude and teamwork in Australia that we can build on this when we get back and push on.
The diversity of the tour has been fantastic, Perth , the Outback , Sydney , Brisbane and Cairns are so different and it has been brilliant to experience this. We have seen the Swan bRiver, Uluru , Sydney Harbour , Blue Mountain , Surfers Paradise and the Great Barrier Reef . We all know how lucky we are to have seen this and we have also met some fantastic people .
I would like to thank the coaching staff on this tour. Noggy was superb as usual , Ross worked hard with fitness , Martino pushed on massiveley and really impressed and Webby had another great tour. A big part of this was to develop the coaches and this has been done. The 2nd XV , Under 14s will all benefit indirectly from the tour and this is really important to me.Thanks also to Noggy and Webby for doing this blog and I hope you have enjoyed it .
Finally thanks to all parents, sponsors, billets ,Mike Williams and Peter Churchill at Intourworld Sport and the Headmaster and staff for making it possible . It has been a fantastic three weeks and I look forward to catching up with you all when we get back .
Regards
Wilko
This has been a superb tour and I am very proud of the way the lads have behaved, developed and represented Whitgift. From a Rugby point of view , the results may not look that flash, but that they don't tell the whole story . We have played some of the top schools in Australia and we have used the whole squad and gave ourselves a chance of coming out on top in every game. The lads have developed well and really improved and importantly take home with them a knowledge of what we need to do to take our game to another level, clear our lines better , improve discipline and ball retention and tighten up our defence under pressure . I am confident with what I have seen of the lads attitude and teamwork in Australia that we can build on this when we get back and push on.
The diversity of the tour has been fantastic, Perth , the Outback , Sydney , Brisbane and Cairns are so different and it has been brilliant to experience this. We have seen the Swan bRiver, Uluru , Sydney Harbour , Blue Mountain , Surfers Paradise and the Great Barrier Reef . We all know how lucky we are to have seen this and we have also met some fantastic people .
I would like to thank the coaching staff on this tour. Noggy was superb as usual , Ross worked hard with fitness , Martino pushed on massiveley and really impressed and Webby had another great tour. A big part of this was to develop the coaches and this has been done. The 2nd XV , Under 14s will all benefit indirectly from the tour and this is really important to me.Thanks also to Noggy and Webby for doing this blog and I hope you have enjoyed it .
Finally thanks to all parents, sponsors, billets ,Mike Williams and Peter Churchill at Intourworld Sport and the Headmaster and staff for making it possible . It has been a fantastic three weeks and I look forward to catching up with you all when we get back .
Regards
Wilko
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Test Match V Nudgee
On a hot winters day the squad begun to prepare what could only be described as a titanic battle between two teams that 2 years ago had been a mighty encounter with Nudgee pipping it in the last play of the game to win by a point. In the morning the Whitgift boys went through their team runs and warmed up well, then we had a chance to relax after a great Nudgee lunch which reminded us of home, pasta, sauce meat, just how we like it.
At 3pm strapping done, Rob Whites blister superbly covered up and Rob Kings leg hair still bald from the ripping of his last leg taping, the players came back into the changing room ready for some inspirational talk from the coaching staff. The message was simple, Wilko; "this is the best we have got to play, this may the only chance you have of taking on a school as proud of this in their own back yard", Martino; Attack the 10/12 channel get over the gain line quickly and earn the right to play. Webby: "Defence, postive tackles, get to lineouts early have a clear picture of what you have to execute."
The game kicked off in glorious Queensland winter sun, with a sizeable crowd. The pressure was high, but the physicality of the Nudgee boys was not causing the Whitgift defence too many problems. Suddenly with several phases built up, Jordan Lewis spun the ball to the short side with Rob White blistering through several tackles to score, no page conversion, but Whitgift 5 Nudgee 0.
A good penalty from our 22, saw us ridiculously not kick to touch and Nudgee broke with accuracy and power and scored out wide with their kicker converting to go 7-5 Nudgee. Again some good passage of play from the Whitgift side saw us gain a penalty just outside the 22, this time a cool collected Page slotted it through the middle 8-7 Whitgift. The game ebbed and flowed and to be fair to Nudgee was it not for a handling error with the try line to beat they should have crossed Whitgifts line again. But this was proving a titanic battle with the team the first to make a mistake surely to be punished. With 5 minutes to go, Nudgee strung a series of attacks together and scored out wide, missed the conversion but 12-8 put them on the front foot. The line out was working well and the build up was good and in the last play of the game before the halftime whistle Max Angling made up for his earlier misdemeanour and burst through under the posts, with Pagey again converting to put us up 15-12 at half time. Game on!!!
The game started as it had finished at a frenetic pace, but the forwards of Nudgee were proving a handful and they were gaining yards on every rampage. Eventually a series of miss tackles in midfield resulting in them going under the posts and converting to go 19-15 up. Another good passage of play from a driven line out saw Whitgift gain a penalty, again Pagey slotting it from out on the right hand side, 19-18 to our hosts. Then, whether it was more by luck or judgement Rob King caught out wide defensively gambled took an interception and galloped(yes galloped) from the 22 to the posts, which was converted and sent the faithful Whitgift supporters into ecstasy. 25-19 Whitgift.
A series of missed lineouts and poor game management allowed the opposition to again strike back and convert to go 26-25 up. Whitgift threw the replacements on and went for broke, but again some poor decisions left the Nudgee backline with some mismatches in midfield to go in under the post and convert 33-25. Still Whitgift had time to respond and with a promising lineout position and some phases, but eventually the steam run out and a simple turnover led to the opposition putting the ball to touch--Game Over. We had battled hard, made some mistakes, but stuck at our task, it felt as if we had snatched defeat from the hands of victory. Work rate superb, commitment superb, execution needs to be improved, too many line breaks were made for us not to go over. A bitter sweet pill to swallow. The boys have impressed hugely and improvement has been enormous. But this can only be the start. They have to push on, they have to continue to improve, they have to become ruthless. 4 games lost by a score, the little things, the little things. What a head start, what an effort, we certainly got in their faces, we earnt the Aussies respect. But we have to look forward to get better still.
Cairns beckons, there a few tired bodies, a couple of minor knocks, but good spirits. Some refection that needs to be done by everyone. The sun is shining, the food is plentiful and sea is sparkling blue. No riots, no petrol increases, no phone hacking. Enjoy every moment, grasp every opportunity the season is nearly upon us. Come on Whitgift!!!!!
Nudgee 33 Whitgift 25
The BTECer's
At 3pm strapping done, Rob Whites blister superbly covered up and Rob Kings leg hair still bald from the ripping of his last leg taping, the players came back into the changing room ready for some inspirational talk from the coaching staff. The message was simple, Wilko; "this is the best we have got to play, this may the only chance you have of taking on a school as proud of this in their own back yard", Martino; Attack the 10/12 channel get over the gain line quickly and earn the right to play. Webby: "Defence, postive tackles, get to lineouts early have a clear picture of what you have to execute."
The game kicked off in glorious Queensland winter sun, with a sizeable crowd. The pressure was high, but the physicality of the Nudgee boys was not causing the Whitgift defence too many problems. Suddenly with several phases built up, Jordan Lewis spun the ball to the short side with Rob White blistering through several tackles to score, no page conversion, but Whitgift 5 Nudgee 0.
A good penalty from our 22, saw us ridiculously not kick to touch and Nudgee broke with accuracy and power and scored out wide with their kicker converting to go 7-5 Nudgee. Again some good passage of play from the Whitgift side saw us gain a penalty just outside the 22, this time a cool collected Page slotted it through the middle 8-7 Whitgift. The game ebbed and flowed and to be fair to Nudgee was it not for a handling error with the try line to beat they should have crossed Whitgifts line again. But this was proving a titanic battle with the team the first to make a mistake surely to be punished. With 5 minutes to go, Nudgee strung a series of attacks together and scored out wide, missed the conversion but 12-8 put them on the front foot. The line out was working well and the build up was good and in the last play of the game before the halftime whistle Max Angling made up for his earlier misdemeanour and burst through under the posts, with Pagey again converting to put us up 15-12 at half time. Game on!!!
The game started as it had finished at a frenetic pace, but the forwards of Nudgee were proving a handful and they were gaining yards on every rampage. Eventually a series of miss tackles in midfield resulting in them going under the posts and converting to go 19-15 up. Another good passage of play from a driven line out saw Whitgift gain a penalty, again Pagey slotting it from out on the right hand side, 19-18 to our hosts. Then, whether it was more by luck or judgement Rob King caught out wide defensively gambled took an interception and galloped(yes galloped) from the 22 to the posts, which was converted and sent the faithful Whitgift supporters into ecstasy. 25-19 Whitgift.
A series of missed lineouts and poor game management allowed the opposition to again strike back and convert to go 26-25 up. Whitgift threw the replacements on and went for broke, but again some poor decisions left the Nudgee backline with some mismatches in midfield to go in under the post and convert 33-25. Still Whitgift had time to respond and with a promising lineout position and some phases, but eventually the steam run out and a simple turnover led to the opposition putting the ball to touch--Game Over. We had battled hard, made some mistakes, but stuck at our task, it felt as if we had snatched defeat from the hands of victory. Work rate superb, commitment superb, execution needs to be improved, too many line breaks were made for us not to go over. A bitter sweet pill to swallow. The boys have impressed hugely and improvement has been enormous. But this can only be the start. They have to push on, they have to continue to improve, they have to become ruthless. 4 games lost by a score, the little things, the little things. What a head start, what an effort, we certainly got in their faces, we earnt the Aussies respect. But we have to look forward to get better still.
Cairns beckons, there a few tired bodies, a couple of minor knocks, but good spirits. Some refection that needs to be done by everyone. The sun is shining, the food is plentiful and sea is sparkling blue. No riots, no petrol increases, no phone hacking. Enjoy every moment, grasp every opportunity the season is nearly upon us. Come on Whitgift!!!!!
Nudgee 33 Whitgift 25
The BTECer's
Day 18 Cont
We woke up this morning, most of us very unhappy to leave what would be arguably be our best billets so far. After a 'relaxing' weekend, today was more preperation for Nudgee who we will be playing tomorrow. We started off by training at TSS, improving our skills, defensive organisation and set piece play. We also introduced two new back moves called 'Parra' and 'Surfers' which hopefully will work tomorrow ( won't go into detail about them just incase any Nudgees are reading this!). We then left TSS, and after an hour and a half coach journey and a overly leightweight meal we hit the pool, which was 50 metres long and surprisingly warm. We threw a ball about and tried to make 3 man towers, with many attempts failing dismally! After the relaxing swim we got paired off and sent with our new billets. Speaking on behalf the team, we are sure that the game tomorrow will currently be at the back of everyone's mind, but also one that everyone is thoroughly looking forward to. Lets hope for a good, aggressive game of rugby and one that culminates in our best performance on tour, one that will see us hit all our targets and finish with a bang!
J.Lewis
J.Lewis
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Day 18
After saying 'goodbye' to our TSS billets, we had a training session to help improve our defence at the breakdown, in open-play and in lineouts as well as rehearsing new set-plays. We all quickly showered and changed and got on to the coach heading to Nudgee. After a very quiet coach journey due to everyone's lack of energy, we were astonished by Nudgee's land and facilities. They had an impressive 400 metre running track and a gym with a large amount of benches and machines. We had a small lunch consisting of 'Southern-fried chicken' with some cheese and salad with a few snacks on the side. We took advantage of their outdoor swimming pool and enjoyed a good muck-about in the pool which was refreshing for all of us. After killing some time at the pool, we picked up our bags and met our new billets who we will be spending the next three nights with.
D. McDougall
D. McDougall
Test Squad v St Joseph's Nudgee
Test Squad v Nudgee
1. J.McMillan
2. S.Hugklestone
3. E.Mack
4. R.King
5. R.White
6. J.Margetson*(Subject to late fitness test)
7. N.Burnham
8. H.Ledger(Capt)
9. J.Lewis
10.M.Angling
11.J.Donohue
12. F.Kirchner
13. G.Smith
14. L.Baker
15. W.page
Replacements:
D.McDougall
S.Brown
S.Cooke
J.O'Sullivan
M.Clarke
L.Petrozzi
A.Bowers
S.Wright
M.Valler
INJ: R.McCall
A.Hutcherson
1. J.McMillan
2. S.Hugklestone
3. E.Mack
4. R.King
5. R.White
6. J.Margetson*(Subject to late fitness test)
7. N.Burnham
8. H.Ledger(Capt)
9. J.Lewis
10.M.Angling
11.J.Donohue
12. F.Kirchner
13. G.Smith
14. L.Baker
15. W.page
Replacements:
D.McDougall
S.Brown
S.Cooke
J.O'Sullivan
M.Clarke
L.Petrozzi
A.Bowers
S.Wright
M.Valler
INJ: R.McCall
A.Hutcherson
Day 16 & 17
After greeting our billets the night before, some boys woke up to do many activities such as surfing, sun-bathing and jet-skiing. As the weather was lovely and warm, most boys headed straight to the beach where most of us bumped in to each other at 'Surfer's Paradise'. We tried to maintain our rugby skills by playing touch on the shore/sea which resulted in many of us getting soaked. Myself and others went for a traditional Nandos lunch and dug in to some delicous chicken. We returned to our billets for a relaxing night in watching the Wallibies against the All Blacks whilst eating something off the 'barbie'.
Sunday was a repeat of Saturday for most players by going back down to 'Surfer's Paradise' and one of us, Luke Baker, experienced drowning whilst others who could swim went further out and enjoyed getting hit by the huge waves. A number of us stayed in on the Sunday and had a BBQ by the canal with our hosts. Our hosts were keen to get us out of the house and took us out for a quick game of bowling which became increasingly competitve with each go one of us had.
D.McDougall
Sunday was a repeat of Saturday for most players by going back down to 'Surfer's Paradise' and one of us, Luke Baker, experienced drowning whilst others who could swim went further out and enjoyed getting hit by the huge waves. A number of us stayed in on the Sunday and had a BBQ by the canal with our hosts. Our hosts were keen to get us out of the house and took us out for a quick game of bowling which became increasingly competitve with each go one of us had.
D.McDougall
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