At 6.30am on the 30th June 2013 44 pupils and six members of staff from Coleraine Academical Institution, met at school on the Castlerock Road to embark on what was to be a once in a lifetime rugby tour to South Africa.

Over their 19 day adventure the touring party would have to travel over seventeen thousand miles to enjoy the many spectacular sites that the Rainbow Nation has to offer. During their trip they were able to enjoy a variety of activities, ranging from enjoying the sun and slides at the ‘Valley of the Waves’ to lending a helping hand olive picking in the olive vineyards with the Goedgedacht Trust in Malmesbury.

During the duration of the tour, both the Under 15 and Under 17 teams played five fixtures each. The first game saw the Coleraine sides pitted against a local township’s teams, Ikageng Community. These fixtures were played in the magnificent backdrop of Konka Camp and both games resulted in CAI wins- U17s 33-15 and U15s 24-12 respectively.

With only two days until the following game, the tour party were able to take in the South African culture with a very enjoyable trip to the Lesedi Cultural Village. During this visit the boys were able to learn about the Pedi, Zulu, Xhosa, Basotho and Ndebele tribes throughout South Africa.

Following this, the next day the boys travelled to Sandton in Johannesberg, known as ‘Africa’s richest square mile’, where the teams would play their next fixture. In these fixtures, both sides ground out tough wins of U17s 7-0 and U15s 19-0 against strong Harlequins Pretoria RFC teams.

The team then had six days before their next games and it gave them a great chance to explore what great sights ‘Suid-Afrika’ had to offer. These included the superb Mabula Game lodge where the boys were able to see the ‘Big Five’ including buffalo, lions, elephants, rhinos, but, unfortunately, no leopards due to it being the Winter season.

As well as this, before their flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town, the boys were able to enjoy the Voortrekker Monument and Museum Monument Hill, which commemorates the Great Trek.

After touching down in Cape Town Airport, the touring party departed immediately for Table Mountain, from which they were treated with a stunning aerial view of the Western Cape Peninsula, on what was a perfect winter’s day of 23 degrees Celsius!

The next day, both teams took part in the fiercely competitive Swartland Festival in which both sides struggled. In their first fixtures the U15s, playing an older U18s side, lost out 48-0, with the U17s struggling to contain the strong physicality of their Swartland hosts, losing out 34-0.

The following day, the boys got treated to a training session at Paul Roos Gymnasium with the very successful Stephan Jordaan and Hein Kriek, coaches with Paul Roos and the Stormers Academy. This was a very enjoyable experience for the boys to train at one of the biggest schools in South Africa.

This session was followed by a one night stay at the Goedgedacht Trust Farm in which the boys were able to enjoy activities such as olive picking and taking a coaching session for the children of the neighbouring rural villages.

The next day the teams were in action once again at the Swartland Festival. The U15s side played incredibly well against Despatch High School and were unlucky to have a try disallowed in the dying minutes, to lose out 15-14. As for the U17s, they were pitted against one of the best sides in South African schools rugby and were well beaten against a far superior Bishops Diocesan College 78-0.

The next few days were less physically strenuous on the boys and allowed them to do some gift shopping in the Cape itself, visiting Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, as well as visiting terrific sites such as the ‘Twelve Apostles’, Seal Island, Chapman’s Peak as well as the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve and Cape Point.

This was followed up on the next day by a visit to the infamous Robben Island, steeped in history, for of course, holding South Africa’s ‘Madiba’ or ‘Tata’. This offered the boys a chance to get a real understanding of the significance of Nelson Mandela and the part he has played in South African history.

As the tour began to wind down, the tour party took the chance to visit the Langa Township, which still stands as the largest townships in South Africa today. This visit was swiftly followed by transfer the final fixture of the tour for both sides against Wynberg Boys High School. In both fixtures, Inst ran out victorious with the Under 15s winning 31-0 and the Under 17s dispatching Wynberg 40-0.

On the 18th July, the boys packed their bags for one last time before making their way to Cape Town Airport, before travelling the final eight thousand miles back home to the North Coast of Ireland.

Coleraine Academical Institution would just like to thank everyone who helped sponsor and support this magnificent tour throughout the eighteen months of planning and preparation and for making it such a good experience for all on the tour party. A special word of thanks goes to the parents and families of the players who give the tour such unstinting support as well as the Principal and Governors of the school for their enthusiastic support of the tour.

On the playing front there were several star performers. On the U15 team, flyhalf Callum Smith, prop Mac O’Neill and hooker David Greatorex were stand out performers and will be pressing for places on the 1st XV next season. On the U17 team, prop Daniel McAllister, hooker Kieran Burns and no8 Joel Stanbridge were exceptional.

Hopefully these experiences will propel C.A.I. into a successful season next year as this is the most talented group of players to come through school in the past ten years.

Coleraine Academical Institution Tour of South Africa 2013

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