Excitement built and built until the big day arrived. Parents brought their little ‘angels’ to The Bay to find the coach waiting for their onward transfer to one of the most established cities on the rugby map – Bath.

The lads all arrived in specially made tour hoodies and everyone was on time for the long-awaited start of a weekend of fun and rugby. Well, everyone bar one. Eventually, he turned up and off the coach went. As the coach departed and the lads waved to their obviously ecstatic parents, who were looking forward to a weekend without rugby and getting up early on a Sunday, Harry R’s beat box sparked into action with an eclectic mix of music from Thunderstruck by AC/DC to Dancing Queen by ABBA. (Yes – the author didn’t expect that one!).

Not long after the journey started, the tour rules and forfeits were read out and the Corsairs were allocated their tour pirate scarves for the weekend, along with a pirate captain’s hat for the skipper, George, that would have made Jack Sparrow proud. The coaches didn’t get off Scot free either as they were forced to wear some jaunty sailor hats (as the Navy were meant to keep the Corsairs in check) and the head coach, Nigel, seemed particularly fond of his captain’s hat.

The team arrived at the beautiful Youth Hostel, with a commanding view of the city at about eight o’clock and were quickly allocated to their rooms. Dinner was interesting but not half as interesting as the breakfast on the Saturday morning, before the boys were all taken for a spot of caving in Cheddar Gorge. On the way to the caves, the author warned them about the killer on the run, Jimmy, who was known to hide in the caves but told them not to worry, because he hasn’t done anything for years. Just a little story there to put them at ease and take their mind off the dark.

The caves were a challenge but one that most of the lads relished despite a string of expletives from one particular player who found it an effective coping mechanism. After about three hours, all of them emerged from the caves alive – phew. First trial over for the coaches.
From Cheddar it was straight back to Bath for an afternoon of Zorb Football at Bath Rugby’s training ground. Well, it’s called Zorb Football but that is a figurative term only as no-one was interested in the ball. The whole game revolved around how many of your mates you could send flying across the pitch.

The coaches spent most of the time laughing at the comedy unfolding in front of them and the whole exercise successfully exhausted many of the boys, which would hopefully lead to a less lively night for the adults who spent much of the first night trying to get the excited lads to go to sleep in preparation for the long Saturday ahead.

Getting back to the hostel in the late afternoon, everyone had just enough time to get showered before heading into the city for a fantastic meal at one of Bath’s best pizza restaurants. Off back to the hostel afterwards for a quick introduction to a rugby club game, a boat race, which the lads all stepped up to and thoroughly enjoyed. The only disappointment for the lads was the use of Coca-Cola rather than beer. Afterwards a quick team rendition of Sweet Caroline and a ‘relatively’ early night in preparation for Sunday’s rugby. Well, there were some unsubstantiated complaints about snoring in the coaches’ dorm but a strange sounding alarm clock woke all the coaches on the Sunday morning with its raspberry chime.

The team Corsairs were originally scheduled to play were Cleve RUFC, but they withdrew at the last moment. Luckily, Hungerford RUFC stepped up and invited us to play in a round robin at their club, involving Royal Wootton Bassett also. It was a great opportunity for the lads to play teams they wouldn’t otherwise ever meet and the club were model hosts. They really went to every length to welcome and accommodate Corsairs from the moment of arrival.

Despite a pretty ‘full-on’ weekend, the lads still found enough gas in the tank to give a good account of themselves and a terrace rousing rendition of ‘Country Roads’ from the changing room prior to the match. Proud as they donned their personalised sponsored shirts acquired by coach Mark, they only lost the first game against Royal Wootton Bassett 7-0 and staged an amazing comeback in the second game to give hosts Hungerford a scare as the came back from 17-0 down to finish the game just three points behind after tries and conversions from Jay, Giles and Adam.

The singing was more subdued on the trip home as half the bus slept (once they were told that the forfeits were over by rigorous enforcer, coach Nathan). A great weekend was had by all and links were quickly forged with Hungerford, who we may be hosting at the Bay next season as a result. The first tour for most of the boys but now looking forward to next year’s tour, which is looking increasingly likely to be in Holland for the Hilversum International Youth Rugby Festival.

Nottingham Corsairs RFC

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