Sub-18 ARGENTINA TOUR REPORT

Read the Tour Report and view the official Tour Video here.

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Sub-18 Argentina Tour 2011 Report

First it was the Sub-16s who got the foreign tour ball rolling with their pre-season trip to Rome back in September 2010, then in May 2011 the Sub-8, Sub-10, Sub-12 and Sub-14 teams took things a step further when they too flew to Italy to take part in the extraordinary Topolino Tournament in Treviso, and finally it was the eleven-day Sub-18 visit to Argentina in June/July that pushed us, quite literally, to a higher level, and so put the seal on our hugely successful first season of touring – one that has seen a staggering total of 101 players experience the delights of a St. Julian’s Rugby Club overseas tour.

In the case of the Sub-18 Argentina Tour party, which was comprised of fifteen students from St. Julian’s School, two from the Lycée Français and one from St. Dominic’s, these delights were many and varied, and began with the fantastic hospitality provided by their Argentinean host families from St. George’s College in Buenos Aires, with whom the players were billeted for two nights. The boys had their first taste of the world famous asado argentino, as well as two other novel experiences – watching (from the safety of their flat-screened TVs) River Plate, one of South America’s greatest football clubs, getting relegated for the first time in their 110-year history, and, of course, staying in the house of an opposition player the night before a game. Although many had rapidly formed friendships with their opposite numbers, there was no love lost when the whistle blew for the start of the first tour fixture, which followed a morning spent boating around the amazing Tigre Delta.

It would be stretching things to blame the boat trip for the 28 – 34 loss, as it was clearly more a combination of tactical naivety and a lack of fitness that led to the squandering of the 12-point lead that had been enjoyed with just 5 minutes left to play. At one stage, towards the end of the game, the two month lay-off from training had seen three of our players writhing around on the floor with cramp – a defensive liability substantial enough without Linesh Sriparam taking it upon himself to administer relief to one of his stricken colleagues. In fairness to him, though, he kept one eye on the play and duly dropped the leg in question when he saw that a tackle needed to be made imminently and made it. The gaps were just too large to keep being plugged, however, and St. George’s emerged as victors with the last play of what had been a highly competitive and entertaining opening fixture. In spite of their rustiness, St. Julian’s had defended bravely against a fairly hefty pack and had taken their chances well to build a healthy lead, with Zé Abrantes and Tomás Reid both showing good steps and great pace in scoring fine long-range individual tries. Following the post-match reception, at which Zé was named Man of the Match for his hat-trick of tries, the boys returned for the final night with their host families.

The next day dawned with a sky reminiscent of the Argentine flag and a distinct chill in the calm air - ideal sightseeing and rugby-playing conditions that continued throughout our stay – and, after bidding our hosts farewell, we made our way from the suburbs to the hotel close to the centre of Buenos Aires. That afternoon we had our very own City Bus Tour, which took in some of the Argentine capital’s most famous sights, including the Casa Rosada, where Eva Peron used to address the adoring crowds, and the colourful Calle Caminito district next to the iconic Boca Juniors stadium.

Some early evening shopping on our return to the hotel enabled the Tour Managers (Messrs Mount, Rains and Steele) to purchase the colourful pyjamas that proved to be a key component of their overall strategy to reduce the frequency of the outbreaks of foolishness that inevitably occur on Rugby tours. It was decreed that at the end of each day on tour, the award of “Dumbo of the Day” would go to the person who had suffered the most severe lapse of common sense during the preceding 24 hours. Anticipating stiff competition, it was decided that several nominees could be put before the whole tour party for a vote to be taken to decide which tourist would have the honour of wearing the shocking pink, two-piece, “Bubble Candy” uniform for the rest of that evening and the following day. For believing that the advice to wear an extra layer of clothing for "out on the Tigre Delta water" was intended to keep him warm whilst swimming in the freezing cold water, and also for stating that “Asian” is a four-letter word, Diogo Pinto became the first (and very popular) recipient of the award.

An early but eager start was made on Wednesday morning, for what proved to be an unforgettable visit to Estancia Los Dos Hermanos, an old cattle ranch located an hour or so out of the city. Ana Peña and her children provided us with wonderfully warm hosting and another gastronomic extravaganza, whilst her husband Pancho and resident goucho Don Juan saddled up 21 of his finest steeds for us to ride around their beautiful estate. There was a bit of a tussle, and some fairly pointless macho posturing in evidence, when it came to deciding who would get to use the very cool leather half chaps, rather than the poorer linen versions, but the prevailing mood was one of a guarded sense of caution, as this would be the first time that many of us had mounted a horse in anger. Not so for the five self-proclaimed cowboys amongst us (Tomás Reid, Salvador Torres, Marc Rodrigues, Mr Mount and Mr Rains), who insisted on being given the friskiest of mounts, and were all chomping at the bit for a chance to compete with Don Juan in the cantering stakes. The only sad note in an otherwise magical day on the Pampas came when Mr Mount, just as his charge was bursting into the lead, became unseated and was dumped unceremoniously into a barbed wire fence. Having ripped his tour fleece and dislocated the little finger on his left hand in the process, there then followed a touching moment of general concern for his wellbeing, soon to be eclipsed, though, by a prolonged outburst of mass hysterics and the ritual passing of the pink pyjamas, unopposed on this occasion, and with majority opinion quite unmoved by the vehemence of his claims of saddle strap sabotage.

With bruised egos and buttocks having had a chance to recover overnight, there was a spirit of optimism amongst the squad as they headed off across town to St. Andrew’s Scots School, founded in 1838 and one of the finest of Buenos Aires’s private schools. As with St. George’s, the pupils at St. Andrew’s are predominantly Argentines, in spite of the school's Scottish roots, and now include in their number Augusto Nuñez, who was playing rugby at St. Julian’s before moving home to Argentina in February. Augusto was in the sizeable crowd that gathered to watch the game and, with St. Julian’s having had a good training session before lunch, there was a real sense of anticipation as the opening exchanges got underway on a superb grass pitch in perfect overhead conditions. It soon became clear, however, that this was by far and away the strongest opposition that the boys had faced all season, and that we had a real fight on our hands just to stay afloat. In the first 20 minutes of the game, the home side utterly dominated both possession and territory, and revealed a level of skills that enabled them to both retain the ball and to switch the focus of the attack, almost at will. This called for the most sustained period of backs-to-the-wall defence that the Sub-18s had been required to produce all season, and it was testimony to their own collective organisation and individual skills that they limited the hosts to just two scores before the break. Attacking opportunities were still limited in the second period, as our scrum malfunctioned and penalty kicks to touch were missed, and St. Andrew’s ran in some more fine team tries to put the result beyond doubt.

It would have been quite understandable for a tired team that had been under the cosh from the start to have sunk without trace in the final 20 minutes, especially since the opposition were in no mood to show any mercy, but coach Steele found that his rallying cry was answered emphatically, as our boys dug ever deeper and found a rich vein of team spirit that saw them finish the game the stronger of the two sides, with excellent tries for Francesco Bernardo, following a clever grubber kick from Tomás Reid, Salvador Torres, burrowing over from short range, and a superb long-range effort started by Salvador Taylor and completed by Zé Abrantes.

Overall, this was a really valuable exercise in pulling together against very strong opponents, reflected by the fact that the Man of the Match Award, given to João Vaz Guedes for his heroic and tireless defence, could quite easily have gone to several other of his team mates on identical grounds. Some of the flying tackles put in by the likes of Rui Pacheco and Linesh Sriparam had to be seen to be believed, but the hard graft epitomised by André Miguel and Jaime Almeida was no less worthy of admiration. The day itself also finished on a high with a mammoth steak at a local restaurant in Belgrano, and the Dumbo of the Day Award going to Mr Rains, for earlier having laughed at Mr Mount as he sat in the street dressed in his Bubble Candy suit, before turning away and immediately smacking straight into an advertising hoarding. This time, there was to be no touching moment of general concern.

Friday’s trip to Calle Florida at the heart of the Buenos Aires shopping district was thus made all the more enjoyable by being led by an all-pink Mr Rains, but he was to laugh last and loudest following his extraordinary luck in being singled out from the audience to participate in the Tango Show later that evening by the show’s glamorous leading lady, Veronica. Although we had all benefitted from a Tango lesson before dinner, Mr Rains revealed a talent that even those who know him well could hardly have suspected him of possessing, as he proceeded to play his part of the caddish suitor to perfection, adding genuine pique to the consequent display of injured Latin pride by the leading man. The rest of the boys played a passive, but very focused, rôle throughout the evening’s entertainment, before retiring to sleep, at best, only fitfully, by all accounts.

Afonso Simões had been gamely wearing the pyjamas at the Tango Show (for a variety of offences) and he was to be followed into the dreaded nightwear by: Tomás Flora da Silva (repeatedly stepping in dog mess, as if on purpose); Francesco Bernardo (for causing great offence by saying “Vê se tens a carteira, pá” after an accidental collision with a Brazilian tourist, who understood him perfectly); Jaime Almeida (for repeatedly falling over for no apparent reason); and Filip Socko (for over-sleeping and missing the bus to Madrid airport).

Another tour tradition that served to keep the troops alert and disciplined at all times was that of the “Grenade Call". When this call was made by any one of the Tour Managers, all tourists were required to hit the deck instantaneously and take cover in the manner of U.S. Marines out on foot patrol, with the last to do so suffering a 20 press-up penalty. There were several grenade calls that stick in the memory, but perhaps the best was called in the immediate aftermath of a bird scarer going off close to the boat on the Tigre Delta trip, and which resulted in Diogo Pinto causing a foot injury to Diogo Fernandes an hour before the start of the first game of the tour, as well as general panic aboard ship.

The final weekend was spent walking around Recoleta cemetery and market, watching a first division club rugby game (and girls’ hockey) at Club Atletico de San Isidro, eating more cows and frantically snapping up presents for parents at the phenomenal San Telmo flea market, with its buskers and a chance meeting with Captain Jack Sparrow.

Although it is no exaggeration to say that all of our players made valuable contributions to the success of the tour, several stand out as deserving of special mention. Filip “One Sock” Socko, whose broken foot kept him out of the games but not off the tour, became our official cameraman and an excellent Grenade Call adjudicator. Bartolomé “El Barto” Bauza, our only Spaniard and St. Dominic’s School pupil, who was superb value throughout, although slightly disappointing in his role as official interpreter where he seemed, bizarrely, to slow things down most of the time. João “Red” Vaz Guedes, who was not only outstanding on the rugby pitch, but also showed a great sense of camaraderie and leadership skills, as did team captain Salvador “Big Mac” Torres, who was exemplary during the whole tour and unanimously voted Best Value Tourist.

Apart from providing ample opportunity to have fun and experience new rugby cultures, one of the oft-stated reasons for touring is that it helps with team bonding, and it was indeed very pleasing to witness the way in which a relatively eclectic group of individuals came together and managed to maintain both good relations and good humour throughout. It is certainly true that the Argentina Tour 2011 was a tremendous experience for all involved, and there is no doubt that it will have forged closer ties of loyalty and friendship for our Sub-18 squad, that will serve them well next season and beyond.

In the words of Francesco Bernardo “It was a unique experience - something none of us will ever forget. We had the chance to learn more about the Argentine culture and way of life, and at the same time to play the sport we love. Although we lost both matches, this tour helped us to grow, not only as players but also as individuals.”

Many thanks go to all those who helped in the fund-raising effort that subsidised the tour costs to the tune of 70%, especially to our main sponsor On-Media, to our host schools and families in Buenos Aires, to the players’ parents for entrusting us with their sons, to the management at St. Julian’s School, St. Dominic’s School and the Lycée Français for releasing teachers and students, and last, but not least, to Tom Rains for producing such an excellent itinerary that also helped us to further keep costs down by keeping agents out.

Simon Mount

July 2011