“Twenty two players and four rugby coaches left Colwyn Bay for their 2010 Tour to Mid and South Wales on an action packed three day tour which included three games of rugby in addition to attending the RBS Six Nations Wales v Italy International Rugby match at the Millennium stadium in Cardiff.

Friday morning 19^th March 2010

As usual the team left promptly at 08.30 am with many parents wondering why their children can get out of bed so easy on this one day and struggle on all other days such was the excitement that had built up over the months. The trip was a culmination of 8 months planning and fund raising where most of the players had bag packed, completed sponsored walks, or secured raised ad-hoc financial donations, to raise the funds for the event. It should be noted that Adam Smith Second Row was this year’s financial big hitter on the fundraising stakes, raising a colossal £170.00 on the sponsored walk which was duly and tangibly recognised by the tour manager on the bus with an impromptu presentation. The journey to Brecon Youth Hostel passed quickly with the party overdosing on their packed lunches (it was now only 09.15 am)and Macho films and sporting DVDs to get us in the mood for the games. Also part of the time passing was the completion of the Under 13s outward journey quiz on rugby (see attached) and the annual free entry tour  Sweepstake on the outcomes of the tour games i.e. Rougemount Independent School in Newport Gwent, Penarth RFC in Cardiff, Wales v Italy also in Cardiff and Brecon RFC in Powys on Sunday. For those with  a  quiz background please note the result of the quiz was tied, with the winners scoring 21/28 and they were the teams of Daniel Rhys Lloyd Prop/Remy Sheil Number 8 and Scott Kane Scrum Half/Jordan Edwards Prop who beat the coaches of Aiden Sheil, Mark Mansfield and Ian Roberts in the quiz. After arriving at Brecon Youth Hostel and off loading the overnight gear at the Youth Hostel in Brecon the team then progressed by our ABACAB battle bus, wonderfully driven by Mike the bus driver to Newport to play Rougemount Independent School.

Our first game at 16.15pm  was played in torrential rain against a top class Independent South Wales school who in November 2008 had put over forty five points past the Bay in an evening match when they were on tour, so this was a big challenge. For this game the Bay who are often slow starters came out of the blocks and totally dominated the first half and started with a great side stepping try by Winger Oscar Astbury in the corner after five minutes. The forwards were not to be out done an in spite of being up against a bigger pack competed well in the set piece and the loose and the bay were leading five nil until the last period of play in the first half. However a break out by Rougemount got them to the Bay 5 metre line and unfortunately the unsighted referee missed the knock forward which resulted in a try to Rougemount which was then converted. Although disappointed to concede a try in this manner the boys accepted the Rougemount referee decision without question, hence is the discipline of the team and compliance to the laws of this great game.  

The second half was complete role reversal with Bay now playing “up hill” and  tackling manfully for all their worth to stop the Rougemount forwards scoring tries. The boys held out until five minutes from the end until Nathan, the Rougemount School power house number 8 second row was bundled over in the corner to clinch the game. The welcome at this school was very warm and in particular thanks go to the much admired Mr Anwar Akram the Head of Chemistry who is the Ex Eirias Chemistry teacher and CBRFC Front Row Prop who is missed greatly by both organisations. The Bay Man of the Match was Remy Sheil and Rougemount  are now making plans for a rematch in November 2010 when they come to North Wales on tour and tickets just like the touring All Blacks who are also on tour then, are in likely to be in high demand!!.      

After the game the team returned to the Youth Hostel for a team post match dinner, followed by the traditional early bed, Cocoa and reading of the literary classics that is strictly adhered to by all touring rugby teams the world over !!.

Saturday morning 20^th March 2010.

After having a long and peaceful night sleep  the alarms went off at 06.45 am to a rousing reception similar to what was seen on the TV ”Bad Lads Army”. The  players jumped out of their beds full of the joys of spring (not) for the early trip to Penarth RFC who are one of the top sides in South Wales for a 10.00am kick off. The welcome by the Junior Section Leaders Matt Savary and his team was excellent and their players showed what outstanding talent there is in the Cardiff Blues set up with some of their players being in the Cardiff Blues Under 13s team. The boys battled manfully and at 37:nil at half time this might of been the only time that this team had a game stopped before the full fifty minutes as the team were being given a free rugby lesson by a much bigger pack and lighting quick backs. However after a rousing half time team talk by Aiden Sheil the boys clawed their way back into the game and scored a great driving forwards try led by Jordan Edwards Prop Forwards. On the final insurgence into the Penarth half Winger Oscar Astbury decided the only way to beat the Penarth defence was to drop a goal which he duly did from 30 metres and the game finished Penarth 55 Colwyn Bay 8. Both sets of boys were magnanimous in victory and defeat and post match hospitality was wonderful with the best meat balls in Wales (some even in oval shapes) being served up for the boys. The Bay Man of the Match was Jordan Edwards Prop for his outstanding efforts against a much bigger pack. Our thanks were extended to Penarth junior section and in particular to Matt Savary for an wonderful warm welcome and to Jeff their resident junior referee for adjudicating in a sporting manner. An invitation was extended for rematch at CBRFC however the standard of Penarth is so high that it would be better from them to play the North Wales regional team at this age, which contains some Bay player so as to make it a closer game.

Saturday afternoon 20^th March 2010

A quick trip across the City to the Millennium  Stadium then followed to watch Wales v Italy and wonderful spectacle and a thrilling match produced tries galore in front of most the boys to end up 33:10.This was a great moment on the tour as for many of the boys it was their first visit to the Capital City, the first visit to the  Millennium Stadium and for many the first time to see Wales play and indeed win. Many of the team also encountered for the first time the Millennium  Stadium  “foot long hot dog” to which some were intent on eating at least a yard, before the 80 minutes were up.

Saturday Evening 20^th March 2010

A return to Brecon Youth Hostel and after getting rid of our CBRFC ties, white shirts and black trousers it was into our favourite rugby tops, jeans and  trainers and off for a walk to The Three Horseshoes Inn at Groesffordd for a fabulous two course meal with drinks. This excellent country pub/restaurant provided wonderful food and as the Chef played for Brecon RFC, all tummies including Adam Smith and “Big D” were filled up to the top for the game against Brecon the following morning. Indeed it may have been the quantity of the food that brought on a massive dose of team insomnia which was not entirely contained “to the boys from room nine” who after a coaching pep talk at 02.30 am were out to prove that lack of sleep does not entirely correlate with lack of tries, but please read on.

Sunday Morning 21^st March 2010

The short trip down to Brecon RFC was met with a very warm welcome on arrival by “Murph” the Under 13s Team Manager and Alan the Referee who was only just back from Cardiff. This was a match that the boys really looked forward to as both clubs on paper and on the field of play looked evenly matched and that was the case.

Brecon RFC opened the scoring and went into a quick two  converted try lead from Tom Wardell and pace man Edward Lewis and the lack of sleep at this point was only matched by the lack of tries for the Bay. However the Bay hit back with a long range run in by Remy  Sheil and this was quickly followed up a further opportunist try from Winger Oscar Astbury who chased his own kick through and out pacing his winger to make the score 14: 10 at half time. Brecon then piled on the pressure and scored a further two tries their Alex Bush and Owain Williams and  got to 26 points. However the Bay did not give up and Matty Humphries scored a great solo try to make it 26.17 with ten minutes to go. From the Brecon restart which ended on the Bay 5 metre line, the Bay went the full  length of the field with forwards and backs linking together .Indeed the ball went through 9 pairs of separate Bay hands (backs and forwards)and as the Bay were about to score under the posts, virtually unopposed the last pass was knocked on to which the large local crowd heaved a sigh of relief, followed by a tremendous round of applause for such quality rugby played by the Bay. In the final five minutes the Bay could not get the ball over the line and the very sporting Brecon RFC  referee Alan who had enjoyed extensive post match Italian hospitality (and was now fluent in Peroni,) blew the whistle with what breath he had left, to make the final score Brecon 26 Colwyn Bay 17. Oscar Astbury was the Bay Man of the Match and “the boys from room number nine” all delivered their personal game of the season. The game was followed again by some great post match hot dogs and the CBRFC team mathematicians noticed that they were 4 inches long, so you had to have at least three to keep up with the previous day consumption at Cardiff. Brecon RFC are hoping to tour North Wales next year and Colwyn Bay RFC will hopefully be their first stop. 

Sunday afternoon 21^st March 2010 and the long journey home

This was made at on a bright Sunday afternoon at 14.30 pm but for some of the team this was in total darkness, as when the top eyelid reaches the bottom eyelid, it is usually dark!!.The return rugby quiz (see attached)was a jovial hands up- hands down for those who could keep awake. 

Conclusion 

This was one of the best tours that we have ever completed and built on the tour to the Republic of Ireland in 2008 and to Edinburgh in 2009.The Man of the Tour award will be made a the annual presentation awards night and that will be based on the player who played consistently well over the three matches not just one match.

Planning for next year begins in April 2010 and this year’s tour party was a great bunch of players and coaches and the memories of the following players and coaches will last for many years: