Seniors and Sixth Form
1st XV Rugby tour to the Isle of Man
On Friday of last week the 1st XV squad embarked on a two night, two match tour of the Isle of Man. Hosting them were King William’s College, a boarding school based in Castletown in the south of the island. They took the ferry from Heysham and the crossing was fairly calm, something that could not be said about the weather once they arrived.
After arrival and food on Friday evening, the players relaxed and prepared for the very early 9.30am kick-off against fellow visitors Liverpool College. Due to injuries, the NSB squad was bolstered by two King William’s boarders, Cornelius from Germany and Ozzy from Nigeria. The game was played in testing rain and wind and NSB had to defend stoutly from the outset. Liverpool had a much larger pack but despite this, the NSB forwards gave as good as they got. In particular the tackling of Elsender and Austin in the back row was excellent. Add to this the outstanding stealing work of Richie W and NSB were a constant threat from turnovers. Liverpool scored first to go ahead but NSB were getting a foothold in the game due to their superior fitness and handling. Centres Crosse and McFarland were a constant threat whilst fly half, Burke was kicking for territory well. Despite some excellent breaks NSB were foiled and the half ended 7-0. In the second half, NSB had a huge amount of territory and possession. Lawton, Gosling and Jones were running hard and, with Crosse moving to scrum half he added some real French flair. NSB had a try chalked off due to a knock on shortly before Burke crashed over for the try. This set up a great finale as both teams strived for victory. NSB once again had Liverpool camped on their own line and looked good to score again before a loose pass was picked up by the Liverpool centre who raced 80 metres to score. A hard fought game, played in competitive spirit ended 14-5 to Liverpool.
Following the much loved ice baths the boys enjoyed lunch before heading into Douglas for the day. The team enjoyed the afternoon, visiting the shops, attractions and learning about the unique history of the island and in particular the TT races. The evening was a team building challenge, with the boys split into four teams to compete over two disciplines; front room cricket and the quiz game Linkee. Following the semi-finals and final it was Richie W’s team that came out on top, largely thanks to their superior cricket skills. However, there were some notable quizzing performances from Benedict G, Cameron B and Ian P.
It was at this point that the team discovered that their ferry the following afternoon had been brought forward to 7am due to the impending storms in the Irish sea. Therefore, the second fixture versus our hosts had to be cancelled and was replaced with a 5am wake up call and a particularly wobbly ferry crossing. The boys targeted much of their frustration at the Tebay services farm shop pie counter before arriving back early on Sunday afternoon.
Despite the change of plans, all of the boys represented NSB superbly both on and off the pitch and were recognised with a short prize giving ceremony.
Best Forward- James S Best Back- Thomas C Best overall player- Richie W Best contribution to the tour- Matteo A
