Seniors and Sixth Form
U13 Sports Tour to Oxford
29 boys from Year 7 and 8 enjoyed a thrilling tour to Oxford last weekend. The tour started on Friday and following the journey down and checking in to the hotel, the boys departed for the first fixture against Oxford RFC. Supported by a keen team of NSB parents who travelled to watch, the boys looked superb in their tour kit, kindly sponsored by Brims Construction and Orion Teamwear. Oxford proved a very tough test and despite some encouraging performances the hosts were too strong and ran out comfortable winners. After the game, the opposition coach spoke glowingly about the attitude of the NSB boys and awarded man of the match prizes to Oliver Fletcher and Alex Ling. The following morning, a football fixture was organised against Highmoor Ibis FC in Reading. Despite a false start due to us arriving at the wrong ground the hosts were superb and despite another defeat the boys had a great match. Alex Ling, Oliver Mullarkey, Will Varley and Joe Wood were the stand out performers.
After this, the boys visited the Madejski Stadium to watch the Aviva Premiership match between London Irish and the Newcastle Falcons. In an exciting encounter, London Irish won by a single point. Following the game, Falcons players Andy Davies and Mark Wilson spent some time chatting to the NSB boys, as did Andy Fenby, former Blaydon player and scorer of Irish’s winning try. Then it was back to the hotel for food and to prepare for the final tour match.
On Sunday, the boys’ final match was versus Chipping Norton RFC which involved a beautiful journey through the Oxfordshire countryside taking them past Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of Winston Churchill. In testing conditions the boys played very well to record a 19-7 victory with superb tries from Ling, Joshua Leslie and Robbie Redman. Following the game the boys visited the beautiful city of Oxford, looking at the stunning architecture and spending some time shopping for presents.
The following morning, the boys packed and we departed for Newcastle. The tour was finished with an awards ceremony with boys being given prizes for playing and improving, as well as our core tour values of being respectful, supportive and positive. Winners were George Dalkin, Oliver Fletcher, Joshua Leslie, Alex Ling, Oliver Mullarkey, Robbie Redman, Alex Rye, Jake Shepherd-McLean and Joe Wood. The staff were extremely proud of the behaviour and performance of the boys throughout the tour.