St Pauls - Struan Leslie "London Guide" on left

Trafalgar Square

Saturday morning we continued with our Struan Leslie tour of London with our first stop the Bank of England & the Royal Exchange. From there we did a walking tour of the City of London 'Square Mile' taking in such sights as the Wall of the City, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, St Pauls Cathedral, Millennium Bridge, London Bridge and the Tate Gallery of Modern Art. With tired feet we stopped for lunch at the bustling Borough Markets, where Jamie Oliver gets a lot of his fresh produce from (we didn't see him!). From there our plans to take a ferry to Greenwich were thwarted by an unusually hot and sunny Saturday which saw every pasty skinned ‘Londoner’ having the same idea, leaving no room for us on the ferries!
A quick change of plans saw us jump on a train to Trafalgar Square where the boys took lots of photos of the Nelson Monument and got a team photo on top of one of the lions. A relaxing afternoon was spent basking in the unusual April sunshine at St James Park
The day ended with our official tour dinner at a Camden restaurant where we were accompanied by the Bale family who joined us for our end of tour celebrations. An excellent evening was had by all, the boys feasted on pizza and ice cream and official speeches and presentations were made by tour captain Liam Frawley and tour leader Mr Leslie. Jarrod Cole was awarded Player’s Player by his peers and now has ‘Marge’, our tour mascot as his own! David Clancy was awarded Coach’s Player, Richard Cook Most Improved and Mitch Burling Best Team Man.
Who would have thought that the most exciting part of a Rugby trip would be shoe shopping, but a frantic group of boys hit the streets of Piccadilly Circus on Sunday morning to spend their inheritance. We cruised Regent and Oxford St before heading to Covent Garden for lunch and some interesting street performers. A smooth getaway this afternoon and a painless check in at Heathrow hopefully bodes well for a smooth return to Brisbane on Tuesday morning. We will be tired and smelly but we shall see you soon.
UPDATE
We couldn’t get the blog posted at Heathrow before our departure, so we are now in Singapore (9pm Gold Coast time). The flight was good, with most of the boys catching up on some much needed sleep. We have about 3hours here before we board the last flight on our 2008 Rugby Tour.
SEE YOU IN THE MORNING!

Boo!

Hooray!

Half Time v Gala

Gala - David Clancy line-out win

Gala Joe Berkhout in action

Team photo before Gala match

Friday morning, 25 April – ANZAC Day

Just arrived in London after what has been an enjoyable Scottish experience. The last two days were spent in Galashiels, very close to the village of Melrose where we watched the Sevens competition at the start of the tour.
We were again treated to excellent hospitality by the Gala Team, with the boys quickly establishing new friendships. The Gala boys are now very keen to fundraise for their own overseas tour.
Wednesday saw us travel to Galashiels through Newcastle. We had a stop in Newcastle where the boys saw the impressive bridges over the river Tyne and had a chance to unwind and look around the shops.
After lunch we made our way into the scenic Scottish Borders region. We had an important stop at the border for photo opportunities and a chance for Mr Leslie to finally feel relaxed and at ease after three days in England.
Thursday saw us drive to the village of Pebbles for a look around and a swim, before heading back to Galashiels to prepare for the game.
The boys went into the game ready to finish the tour off on a strong note. However, the Gala team was very impressive and put took us to task in the early part of the game. They had strengths all over the field and dominated the first twenty minutes scoring two well executed tries. The All Saints boys regained composure and fought their way back into the game, demonstrating the improvements they have made on tour. The forward pack was able to get on top of the Gala boys out rucking them and giving the backs some good opportunities. Only excellent defence stopped us from scoring.
After half time the boys continued to play well particularly around the ruck. Some good strong running from the backs allowed good metres to be gained, however, the well organised Gala defence was able to hold out our attack. Gala went on to score a couple of tries before we hit back with our own.
Gala were the strongest team we had played on tour and boys did themselves proud by remaining in the match and committing themselves right up to the final whistle.
The improvement in skill will definitely benefit the boys as they return to play in Australia. Their attitude to training and commitment in games augers well for the future of Rugby at All Saints. The coaching staff has been most impressed with the manner in which the boys have conducted themselves on the field.
After the match we were again treated to good Scottish hospitality and well fed by the parents at Gala. We really appreciate all the efforts of every billet family, rugby supporter, club and school that has helped us during our tour.
An early start out of Galashiels saw a smooth run to Edinburgh airport but sadly we said goodbye to our legendary bus driver, Aaron. (we are now Celtic converts) I have never seen a more nervous wait for baggage at Stanstead terminal nor such joy when all bags were received.
Now on to the final leg of the tour and the sites of London.....

We had a lunch stop at St Paul's Cathedral after our driver give us a short Tour of some sights on the way. From there, we drove to the Houses of Parliament and had opportunities to take some photos and video. Our main objective of the afternoon was the 'flight' on the London Eye. We were met Mr Leslie's brother who has lived in London for some years and was able to point out various landmarks from our pod. The weather was good enough to see right to the horizon, it was magnificent.

After leaving the Eye, we stopped the bus 'round the corner' from Liz's place. We walked round in front of her house, where we had a photo taken - as seen on blog.

Tomorrow, we have a big day of sightseeing, followed in the evening by our Tour Dinner.

Game v Alnwick


Boys on Lindisfarne

Game v Alnwick

Game v Alnwick

Game v Alnwick

"Boy's Time!"



Lisdisfarne Castle

Boys on Lindisfarne

Linisfarne Priory

Bamburgh Castle

Tuesday 22nd April

Another sunny, warm day, who says they get bad weather over here! The day started with a trip to the Holy Island of Lindsfarne – the Cradle of Christianity. The only access to the island is across a causeway which is only passable at low tide. The island has 160 people living there and the old priory stands as a reminder of the significants of the Island to the early Christians. The church has celebrated its 1200th anniversary. The island is also a sanctuary for wildlife including seals.
After the Holy Island we travelled up to Berwick for lunch and from there onto Bamburgh Castle. The Castle has outstanding views of beautiful coastline. The boys all felt a little homesick as they watched the surf roll in across the North Sea. If it was 20 degrees warmer there would have been a chance of a swim.
The team then travelled back to Alnwick to play against Duchess Community School. The boys were a little bit weary from the sightseeing and this showed early in the first half. Duchess scored a couple of early tries with good forward play. However the boys started to click into gear and the forward pack started to assert some authority. This allowed for some clean ball for the backs and we spent a lot of time in their half. Duchess led 15-5 at half time and the boys faced a difficult prospect.
The second half was a different story with the boys running into the wind they lifted and turned the game into their favour with two well executed tries. All Saints hit the lead and it looked like a win was on the cards. However, the game was turned on its head when Duchess scored a try against the run of play taking a lead 22-17 with about eight minutes to go. The All Saints boys kept trying and the belief amongst the team saw an excellent try scored in the corner with only three minutes to go. This levelled the scores and the conversion was missed.
The last play of the game saw the All Saints boys make a big break down the field. They had the chance to win the game but Duchess hung on to leave the game drawn at 22 all. It was a fitting result for what has been our toughest game so far.
The hospitality was again outstanding and we were well looked after. Alnwick is certainly a destination we will put onto any future tours.
Off to Galashiels for the last game of the tour.

Alnwick

Monday 20th April
We left Perth Academy yesterday with tears and cuddles from the hosting families! After having to drag the boys away, we were finally on our way 15 minutes after we should have been.
We went to St Andrews, the home of golf for a short lunch stop and a wander through the town and photo opportunities on the 18th hole and on the bridge over the ‘Swilkern Burn’. It lived up to its reputation of being very windy and cold although the sun was out.
Next stop was Berwick upon Tweed, not to be confused with North Berwick, which is the most northern town in England. Sean Bale was smiling more than he has done all tour so far!
We arrived at Alnwick spot on 5pm, it is a beautiful town with a magnificent Castle and gardens, Aaron the bus driver had to take the long way round to avoid the narrow roads through the Town walls. The boys were all in pairs for these billets, the hosts were very well organised and welcoming, and we have had great reports on the boys behaviour and manners.

Today, we met at 9am at the school and went to the Castle, where some scenes from Harry Potter were filmed. It is inhabited by the Duke of Northumberland shire and his family and was restored in the late 1800s after 500 years of battles and sieges. We had a walk through the town over lunchtime before heading back to school for a game of rounders, and then to the Rugby ground where we play tomorrow for our training session.
The boys trained very well, and are in good shape for tomorrow’s game. After training the boys were picked up by their billets.
Tomorrow, we visit The Holy Isle (also known as Lindisfarne), where we have to cross a causeway before we return to Alnwick for a 4.30pm Kick Off.

Saturday 19th April

Dundee - Birth place of Leslie!


Leslie points out landmarks!

Saturday 19th April 2008
It is now 4pm Saturday afternoon and we have just played our third game of the tour against Perth Academy. More about the game in a moment.
Yesterday we had a very good training session at Perth Academy in the morning. The wind chill made it a little unpleasant but the sun has been out and we have been able to enjoy the clear skies. Out of the 10 days of the tour eight have been sunny. What amazing Scottish weather we have been having.
After training the boys were treated to a tour of Dundee the home town of our own Scottish Master Fergus Leslie. We even had a drive past his old home and were given two boxes of sweeties from Mrs Leslie. The boys had lunch in the town centre and we know some of you even saw our performance on the web cam. It certainly stopped the midday shoppers and hopefully any worried parents saw that we had twenty boys with us and no casts to speak of.....
On the trip back to Perth the boys were able to watch the highlights of our game against Lochaber.
Now on to the game!
The boys can be very proud of their efforts today. They took the field against a well fed Scottish forward pack and dominated early. The work the boys have done in training on their forward play has allowed them to mix it with that type of opposition and certainly hold their own. Today was very satisfying as coaches to see the genuine improvements made across the park by the boys.
The boys scored two early tries and had a 14-12 lead at the half time break.
The second half was a game of strong mauling from the opposition which we found hard to control. They scored a couple of quick tries. The boys then regathered their composure and fought back hard to score two of their own tries to be pipped 29-26 when the full time whistle went.
The boys have shown definite improvement from game to game and we are looking forward to the next game against Alnwick.
Off to Saint Andrews tomorrow!