Reds blog is back on.

Reds blog is back on-line after a minor glitch – apologies! 

Monday 22 April

A fresh, crisp morning greeted the touring group as they rose bright and early to join Robbie Wright for a pre-breakfast fitness session. Some then braved the icy waters of the resort swimming pool; others, like me, preferred a hot coffee and muffin to kick-start the day in a more civilized fashion! No real hiccups were encountered on a pleasant 6 hour bus journey south-west as we enjoyed the beautiful coastal and mountain scenery of the Garden Route. We stopped for a photo-shoot at Wilderness, a charming coastal holiday hide-away for the rich and famous! We then ventured off to Riversdale in the hinterland for lunch before a long trip to Strand to meet our first Cape Town hosts.

Tuesday 23 April - Game 3 was played under lights at the local Strand club grounds after a leisurely day at the Canal Walk complex – one of the biggest shopping complexes in the southern hemisphere.

The game against Strand was a block-buster – hard, fast and physical; proving a good encounter for our boys.  An early try from winger Eddie Ellwood-Hall (converted by Harry Jones from touch) gave us an early edge, much against the run of play as Strand, with their big forwards dominated the early exchanges.  However, Strand soon struck back with a try of their own, and the battle was on. In a see-sawing game, the Barker boys gradually gained ascendancy to lead 14-12 at half-time – try to Theo Hanson and converted by Jones. The first half was a scintillating display of Rugby by both teams, setting up an exciting second half. Strand went ahead early with a penalty, but the Barker boys finished strongly with tries by Leon Akopian, Cameron Dove and David Smerdon – two conversions by Jones – for Barker to win 33-15.

Wednesday 24 April – today we experienced the spectacular views from the top of Table Mountain on a picture-perfect day, before heading off for a game of touch, some Maths teaching (ask the boys about this!) and a BBQ at Zimasa township school. This was a very humbling experience and the school was most grateful for the donation from our fund-raising. This will go towards their feeding program for underprivileged children. We also presented a cheque to a young disadvantaged girl to help with her uni fees. She spoke to the boys and was hugely appreciative of what we had done for her. The afternoon ended with a training run at Wynberg College, before an early night in preparation for Game 4 tomorrow against Edgemead.

All the boys are in good spirits – there are no serious injuries – just a few minor bumps and bruises. We are blending superbly as a group and we are having a wonderful experience. All the boys “promise” they have touched base with home – if not, get onto them!

Best wishes from sunny Cape Town!

Along the Garden Route to Cape Town

Night match against Strand

The Strand boys were big!

Happy in victory

A few of the lads on top of Table Mountain

Rugby against Zimasa - quite a unique line out!

Leon Akopian was in his element teaching the children Pythagorus' theorem.

The Zimasa boys loved the game of touch Rugby