Bicentennial Rugby Tour of New Zealand

This was the first ever tour we had made to New Zealand. ‘The Island of the long white cloud’ would soon find itself inhabited by 27 strapping Millhillians taking on rugby teams from a country renowned for its skill with the rugby ball. On a sunny afternoon after 18 months of tough preparation (both with fundraising and training), the Mill Hill boys were ready to begin their whirlwind Bicentennial Tour of New Zealand and The Cook Islands.

After a stop over in Hong Kong, a three day training camp in Auckland and a once in a-lifetime opportunity to spend the evening watching New Zealand take on The Aussies we were ready to begin.

Our first warm up match against Takapuna Grammar was a good chance to boost our confidence. The game was won with ease and almost everyone in the tour-party managed to get a chance to show their skills on the pitch. After this short stop on the North Island we travelled by plane and train to come face-to-face with the boys from Westland High School in Hokitika. It was the first side that we had faced the Haka and it turned out to be quite an emotional yet nerve racking experience for the boys and staff. It didn’t, however, affect our performance as we went on to win 33-0.

We had three days R ‘n’ R then it was on to Logan Park High School in Dunedin which turned out to be an interesting one! The boys were left to sleep on mattresses in a cold classroom floor by the hosts. They woke with dripping noses and gravely voices. It was time to get our own back. This we did by beating them convincingly on the rugby pitch before departing once again with a ship-load of man-size tissues. 27 men with colds is not a pretty site!

A few hours up the east coast and we found ourselves in back in Christchurch. Our game against an unbeaten St Bedes team was the toughest yet and despite putting on our best performance we were still beaten by a mere five points.

Marton is a tiny town about an hour north of Palmerston North and this was to be our next stop for a few days with Rangitikei College. The Maori greeting we received was incredible; both the singing and dancing was a sight to behold and our response of singing Jerusalem was the only thing that seemed to put a dampener on things. We enjoyed our time here and this was also made better by the drubbing we gave them on the rugby pitch.

John Paul College was our final match and this was always going to be tough. We did manage to beat them but we certainly had to fight for it. The game marked the end of our tour on the pitch and with only one night in Auckland, we were soon on the plane to the Cook Islands for a bit of well deserved time to relax.

This will certainly be a tour to remember and I have no doubt that great memories will be instilled in our heads for years to come. The 2007/8 season looks set to be an exciting one.

Graeme Turner