Weather Check – St Ives Rugby Tropfest

5:30 Update

Radar is looking a bit patchy, but after discussions with Ali, we have decided that we will go ahead with the screening rain, hail or shine.   If the weather is not good enough to set up outside, we will set up the screen and projector inside the house and we can pack in to view the show.

So, look forward to seeing you at 7….

Brent

 

4.30pm Update

I’ve checked the radar and there is a bit of light rain still to come, but looks like it will all be gone within the next hr.  So at this stage we are still on.  If it’s still raining at 6pm we will reassess!

Thanks and hopefully see you soon.

8AM Update.

Hi folks

I’ll be updating you here on whether we are going ahead with the event tonight at our place.

While it’s raining cats and dogs this morning, according to the forecast I’m looking at, the weather should improve this afternoon, so at this stage things ARE STILL GOING AHEAD.

I will update this site again around the middle of the afternoon, and probably once more around 5PM tonight with the latest.

Fingers crossed.

Brent

The Last Post – By Phippsie & Singo

The St Ives U14 NZ Touring Team (click on the photo to see a larger version)

Ladies and Gents

We are about to wrap up the Under 14s St Ives Rugby Tour to New Zealand.   As coaches our goals were to:

• Improve the rugby
• Win a game
• To get to know the St Ives players better

We believe we have achieved the above goals in “spades”.  As the days went by we could see that the boys were developing.  As this is a long tour you would expect that, but their development started from day 1. We expected that the rugby would be hard in all facets.  The New Zealanders wanted an Aussie scalp.  We saw during 4 tough battles on the park, an increase in the boys desire to play with passion, confidence and pride.  None of this was more evident than in the game against Suburbs Rugby Club.

Off the park your boys have all had their good and bad days which is fantastic as if mistakes aren’t made, development can not take place.  Your boys grew individually and as a group where they are starting to learn consequence for their actions.  There was an occasion where a mistake was made (no names, no pack-drills), we met with the group en-masse and explained the situation and awaited their reply.  The boys formed a leadership group, held a touring meeting and then all the boys as a group came to the dads at the “Log Bar” and en-masse realised that what was done was wrong, apologised and accepted the punishment as a group.  The boys interacted with a diverse range of fathers and learnt something from them whether it be regarding photography, motorbikes, card games or tall stories.  All the boys benefited.

This tour is traditionally a symbolic rite of passage and your boys who left as boys have now returned as triumphant, honourable and exceptional young men.

It has been a great pleasure to be involved with this tour and it’s something we will never forget.

Phippsie & Singo

Day 9 – Fun, Sun and Big Bellies.

Jetboating on the Waikato River

What a magnificent day. The brisk morning quickly turned into a barmy North Island day. After a quick breakfast of cereal and toast, we were impressed by the boys that they were ready to go on the excursion early. Obviously it takes the average 14 year old boy 8 days for some type of time structure to set in. So we headed off towards Huka Falls Jet boat on the Waikato River leading away from the largest lake in New Zealand, Lake Taupo.

Jack Fewtrell preparing for the Luge run

The trip took roughly an hour and a half, with our usual half hour break for Mc Donalds. On arrival at Huka Falls Jet boats, Jet one, two and three were all lined up looking forward to thrilling us for the next hour. Boat one left the dock which was situated in the most pristine crystal clear turquoise water. Boat two quickly followed and both boats we screaming downstream at 80km per hour right on the edge of the embankment. The skill of the drivers was phenomenal.  The twist and turns around trees, submerged branches sticking out of the water and rock walls had everyone sitting there white knuckled. When we arrived at the botton section of the

Peter Bowker Going a Little Crazy For the Luge

river boat two caught up with boat one. There was obviously a bit of lip service from the two boats, so the driver circled each other and gave each boat a spray from their jets. If you were a fish, I’m sure you would hang around closer to the dock, as there was a spring that pumped out 60 degree water. The rest of the river was freezing. Of the race back up stream the next stop was the actual Huka Falls.

The falls were flowing at near 100%. The volume of water was amazing and the driver advised we could not stay too long in the wash because it was too dangerous. The water coming over the falls was hitting the river bottom 25 metres below and making bubbles of water bigger than the boat rising all around us.  When we arrived back at the dock, the grins on faces were hard to hide. A truly amazing ride in a glorious location. The drivers pointed out the Huka Falls lookout and mentioned that the dam at the lower section of the river opens every two hours. We had about another hour to wait till the next opening so we decided to go and see the Falls from another angle. They say if the falls are at 30-40% flow, the world best kayakers sometimes have a go at them. It is illegal to do so because it is classed as attempted suicide in to attempt the falls. With a few minutes to spare we darted off to the dam (remember, the boys are moving faster by day 9). The gates slowly opened after a couple of waring sirens and the gully quickly filled up with an enormous amount of water.

Josh Bowker and Jack Finnegan heading off down the luge

Once again the boys were getting hungry so we started on our trek back to Kiwi Paka for a BBQ. We had a lazy afternoon, some cleaned boots, some swam in the hot pool. Next attraction was the Rotorua Luge followed by Dinner. We caught the gondola up the mountain for a spectacular view and went around to pick up our weapons. After the slow and lazy scenic track, it was time to take on the advance speed track and the only accident was: picture

It was now time for dinner at the buffet restaurant was ready for us. I was going to apologise to the chef, as it would have been his busiest evening trying to keep the buffet looking full. Lucky we could catch the gondola back down, as everyone was as full as pigs. We are now back at Kiwi Paka watching the Dragons smash the Roosters and will be retiring early (rubbish) for our safe return tomorrow.

The Haka Video

Hey folks

We had a top day today, but I won’t steal Peter Bowker’s thunder (he’ll be doing a post later on tonight).

However I promised you a low resolution video of our boys doing the haka,  here you go.

Group Number 1

Group Number 2

Enjoy

Brent

Day 8 – Off To Rotorua By Grant Ford

The boys performing a Haka in front of a girls teenage waterpolo team

We are now entering the final phase of the tour. Having enjoyed the feast of rugby, it is a sense of relief in the boys and fathers that they can now relax and enjoy some R&R.

The boys learning the Haka

After gathering everyone and collecting the buses, we set of from the Backpackers Hostel at 10AM on our way to Rotorua.  After a quick stop at McDonalds (for a change) to have a brunch before heading off to Rainbow Springs (which is a Kiwi wildlife park). We were introduced to the wildlife of NZ, the Kea bird, Kaka bird, Tutara lizard, giant redwoods and the national bird – Tui, which we thought was just a beer!

Johno Green requires little encouragement to flash his bum... We have all seen it on many occasions this tour.

The boys were impressed with the Kiwi hatchery but the biggest attraction (as usual) was the souvenir shop… they could have spent hours enthralled with the little trinkets.

For lunch we had pizzas in the car park before moving on to our digs for next two nights – Kiwi Paka in Rotorua.

We found it a bit unsettling when driving through Rotorua and seeing the steam rising from cracks on the side of the road and in people’s backyards. We have told the boys to test the temperature of any pool of water before diving into it. For dinner tonight we piled into a Chinese Restaurant that could do with a bit of a renovation (it was very tired) and had a good feed before coming back to the digs for Haka World.

Haka world was fantastic, two of the local Maori men explained the Haka that the All Blacks do before each game. They started off with the origins of the Haka and gave us some fascinating background into how it was written and what it means. They then took us through the Haka line-by-line and explained each line in terms of meaning and pronunciation, and then showed the boys the gestures and facial expressions.

Once the boys were primed and ready to go, it didn’t take much to get them to shed their clothes and don some Maori skins in preparation for their own Haka. They completed the preparations with war ink markings on their face. Never fear, these “tattoos” should wash off in 4-8 weeks as they only used Henna ink. When it came time for the performance, the boys proudly strutted passed a very large group of teenage waterpolo ladies who were treated to quite a show. As you would expect Johno Green had his undies right up his bum to show maximum butt to the ladies.

The performance was fantastic, we have recorded it and post a low resolution version of it online for your enjoyment tomorrow.  In the meantime I hope you enjoy these few photos of the night.

Day 7- It’s All About The Game By John Davis & Dennis Meyer

Harry Wilson Getting Creamed By A Huge Islander - He Was Fine!

Friday morning and we were promised a nice Hotel breakfast as Mark had used his local contacts to ensure the boys didn’t need to survive on take-away stodge that was the menu for all the meals yesterday.  Thanks Mark

Kaz had a great game today

Game 4 was scheduled for noon Vs Auckland Grammar – 15 players at 20 paces.  We didn’t quite win – coming across the line in second place, but our team can hold their heads high at the conclusion of an outstanding campaign here in NZ.  The final score didn’t reflect our performance, with many attempts at the Auckland Grammar line being repelled within a metre or so.

After a post-match awards presentation, we adjourned to the Auckland Domain, which is this city’s equivalent of our Centennial Park.  Nevertheless, the boys managed to find about 20 square metres right next to the busses to kick a ball.  Figure that.  Those that didn’t kick a ball into a bus sat in a bus and listened to music.  Weirder and weirder.

Dave Smerdon Copping A Head Massage

After a shower we are at a pub in Newmarket, which is like an old warehouse, a section at the back has been separated from other patrons and the boys can run around and not break anything, as it has all been removed.

Days highlights:

• The driver of the ECM bus might have collected a brick wall as he squeezed into the Quest Hotel after breakfast.  I can’t tell you who it was, but his initials are D.S. and he works in Hong Kong, with a son named David
• Most boys had a shower today, and all ate a healthy lunch with salad included.  NZ does a good job of making ANZAC biscuits, but no fruit was spied within an arm’s length of the 14 y-olds
• The Singo award (for the best mo-grow) has suffered more drop-outs.  2 more have bitten the dust, while this scribe has trimmed his to something slightly presentable

Kinda sums up the day...

The next 4 hours at the pub is bound to produce some more stories, stay tuned.  Michael Arapidis leaves us tomorrow, as dove Dad-Dave Smerdon, so this is our last meal together as a complete unit.  I think we owe it to ourselves to celebrate a tad.

Tomorrow we leave Auckland and head for Rotorua, which promises to smell almost as bad as the tour buses.

Day 7 – Final Game Day Against Auckland Grammar By Brent Pearson

Game Day Breakfast

It’s Friday morning and the boys and Dads have all had a nice sleep-in.  We didn’t muster until 8:30AM. followed  by a short walk up to the Quest Apartments for breakfast.  What is interesting is the change in the boys attitude over the duration of the tour.

Peter Bradley Fueling-Up For The Big Game

Before game 1 I think it’s fair to say that most (if not all) of the boys were “shitting bricks” before the game.  Some of the boys were almost physically sick before the first game due to anxiety and nerves.

The boys were still somewhat nervous before the second game day against Suburbs Rugby Club because they had heard all these stories about the big Islander boys etc.   Although the nerves were definitely nowhere near as bad as the first day.

This morning I can’t detect any nerves at all in the boys.  In fact it is almost the opposite.  It feels like they are all really pumped up and looking forward to the game.  There is a really positive feel amongst the team. I think they are going to “Go for broke” today as they literally have nothing to lose.   I would say that there is nobody sitting here having breakfast that doesn’t believe that they can win the game today against the toughest team  - Auckland Grammar.

Katalak is psyched and ready!

This is going to be fairly interesting as one observation about the boys as they have played this year, quite often they DON’T seem to be in a positive head space going into a game.  It seems as often I hear things like “these guys that we are playing are tough”, or “I think we are going to get smashed”.  I’m sure that this state-of-mind totally impacts the way they play the game.

We are just finishing breakfast now and heading out to the game which starts at Noon (9am Sydney time).  The weather is wet and raining today… first time we have had rain on tour.  Quite a few of the boys are happy about playing in the rain.

Win, lose or draw, I think the boys are going to have a blast this afternoon playing their final game.

Brent

JD and Mike Finnegan catching up on news - We haven't had any news for a week!