Trinity 2015 Japan Rugby Tour

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Tour Diary - Final wrap up and Wally the Wallaby

As you can see from all the blog posts the boys have written, the photo's and video's we have published and the match reports that have been provided, the Trinity Grammar School 2015 Rugby Tour was an enormous success both on and off the field.

Like most sporting tours, particularly Rugby Union, a tour mascot is often synonymous with such occasions. The Trinity Grammar School 2015 Rugby Tour was no different and 'Wally the Wallaby' accompanied us as we travelled around Japan. Call it a tour within a tour !!!

Traditionally the tour mascot is carried by the youngest member of the touring party and it is to be with him 24/7 and never left unattended. The youngest member of our touring party was Thomas Lambert and he started with Wally. Almost everyday we had a 'Kangaroo Court', which established who should be fined for various indiscretions. Generally fines were proposed for things such as late for training, late for breakfast, leaving gear behind, getting lost in the hotel, getting separated from your passport, losing Wally, locking yourself out of hotel rooms etc etc. No proposed fine was not considered and none were successfully defended in court on tour, in fact several aggrieved nominees were outraged when their fines were double upon an unsuccessful defence. From each Kangaroo Court session three individual fine recipients were nominated to have the privilege of carrying Wally for a Day. The tour group then voted, and a new custodian of Wally emerged. You couldn't carry Wally twice on tour and if no Kangaroo court was held or you didn't look after Wally well enough, Wally was yours for at least another 24 hours. By the way staff members were not immune from the process.

At this point it is probably best to introduce you to Wally and show you what he got up to with the Boys whilst on tour:

Wally getting his morning coffee

Wally getting into the Christmas spirit

Wally making friends with some of the locals

OOps sorry Wally !!!

Wally getting some shut eye

Wally getting strapped pre-game

Wally ready for post match massage. Taking good care of the match ball.

Wally car surfing. Children please do not try this at home.

Wally grabbing a snack

Pre-match mental rehearsal for Wally

Wally scoring in the corner after beating Ryan Longville, Jordan Morris, Liam Rasch and James Wayland in an inspired run at training !!!! Go WALLY !!!

Wally getting some extra goal kicking practice in

4 degrees celsius, at night, windy and raining but Wally still keen to support the boys in Game 1

Wally keeping an eye on the boys during the match against Kwansei Gakuin

Wally met some strange people whilst in Japan

Wally doesn't mind flying

Wally loves the window seat on the plane

At the end of the Tour the Coaches gave out several awards for a number of things which are listed below. All the players also voted on the players player for the Tour and this player is given the Tour mascot to keep. Congratulations Paul Orphanides.

Metre-Eater - the player that gained the most metres - Jordan Morris

Defence King - the player that tackled the most on tour - Scott Seeto

Tour Ambassador - the player that epitomises Trinity Rugby on and off the field - Jack Arraj

Most improved - the most improved player on tour - Nick Driessen

Coaches' award - awarded to the player that the coaches deemed the best on tour - Cooper Chambers

Tour players player - awarded to the player that the players deemed the best on tour -

Paul Orphanides

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Tour Diary - Day 15 & 16: Shopping in Tokyo and flight back to Sydney

Day 15 & 16 - 14th & 15th December

The last day in Japan showed the boys a more modernised Japan. We ate a delicious buffet breakfast at the Shinagawa Prince Hotel and departed on our way to see the famous ‘Tokyo Drift’ crossing. This is the renowned crossing where a high speed chase raced through in the movie “Fast and Furious – Tokyo Drift” which is a favourite amongst the boys. After seeing the crossing we headed for Shibuya station where we were told the rendezvous point. The boys went crazy with the shopping as Shibuya station boasts a number of famous brands, such as Adidas, ABC Mart and a 3-storey Nike building. When time was up, we jumped on our bus and headed for Narita international airport. After some last minute shopping at the tax-free stores we boarded flight JL 771 and headed back to beautiful Sydney.

The Trinity Japan Rugby Tour proved to be an extremely beneficial experience for the entire squad, it has helped us develop our rugby to adapt to the fast-paced Japanese brand of footy, it has allowed us to experience a rich and ancient culture first hand, as well as letting our tour group grow closer together as brothers as we aim to bring the Henry Plume Shield back home in 2016.

John Bechara

Shibuya intersection ( Tokyo Drift !! )

Staff selfie oh Dear !!!!

Bye Bye Tokyo, on way to airport.

Not far to Sydney now boys

Tour Diary- Day 14: Ashiya to the Lights of Tokyo

Day 14- 13th December

With the last game of the 2015 Trinity Grammar School Japanese Rugby Tour completed, the boys arrived at Takezomo Hotel bright and early Sunday morning. The coaches did a head count, all the Boys said a final thanks and farewell to their billet families, we boarded the coach and headed for Shin-Kobe station. We departed Ashiya on the 9.42 Bullet Train and few short hours later we were in the middle of Tokyo. Once we had checked in to the Shinagawa Prince Hotel, the boys were herded into the subway and we headed off to the Akihabara district ( famous for it's hundreds of electronics stores ) for a few hours to have a look around, be amazed and perhaps pick up a couple of bargains or gifts for family.

That evening around 6pm, we were dropped off in the Ueno area and the Boys were treated to a meal. This was a special meal and our final dinner of the tour arranged by Sunny ( our all knowing and unflappable tour organizer/guide and host in Japan, not to mention Mr Ikeuchi's dad !!! ) at a Yakiniku ( Japanese bbq at your table ) restaurant. It was as much as you could eat and all of the boys did not hold back !!! Once we had stuffed ourselves silly, presented a few tour awards and said some thankyou's, everybody jumped back into the coach and we returned to our Hotel for the evening.

The coaches had us in bed by 10pm ready for tomorrow's day of shopping in the Shibuya district and a late afternoon flight to Sydney.

Travelling on the subway together, not the easiest of tasks !!

A small part of the electronics district

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Tour Diary- Day 13: Match Day versus Kwansei Gakuin High School

Day 13 - 12th December

We woke up from a comfortable sleep after spending our first night at our billets house from Kwansei Gakuin. After arriving at Kwansei school, we suddenly turned our game heads on and prepared for our final match in Japan. We headed down to the playing field where we would warm up and motivate ourselves for a big match ahead.

The 1st XV played the first game in the afternoon and in the first 20 minutes, they were shocked with the speed of rugby played by the opposing side and were down by three tries ( 0 - 19 ). Closing into half time, Trinity had more possession and this resulted in scoring twice through the centres. Half time score ( 14 - 19 ). The second half was a much more dominant showing from Trinity, scoring two more tries and a penalty goal. Kwansei put in a spirited performance, however Trinity proved they were the stronger side on the field finishing with a 31-24 win.

The 2nd XV faced an extremely strong team and was also shocked by the pace of rugby in the first half. They struggled as they were down by more than 50 points to nil at half time. Similar to the 1st XV, the 2nd XV stepped up and played a better style of rugby in the second half, with Avery Freeman scoring the opening try of the second half. This gave the 2nd XV a significant amount of confidence as they were able to hold out and only allow three tries in the second half. Trinity fell to a very strong Kwansei and the final score was 86-7.

The day concluded with a nice BBQ hosted by Kwansei Gakuin which lead to a sing off after dinner, which was another great experience for all the boys. We then departed the Kwansei school with our billets to spend our last night in Ashiya.

Lachlan Ilias

Monday, December 14, 2015

Match Report and Photo's: Game 4 verus Kwansei Gakuin High School

Match report v Kwansei Gakuin

1st XV

The final fixture of Tour was against Prefecture Champions, Kwansei Gakuin. Given the relatively quick turn around from the game against Kobe SciTech HS, it was no surprise the Trinity 1st XV were slow starters. Kwansei Gakuin played an extremely high tempo brand of rugby that required adjustments by the Trinity players and coaches. A nicely worked play down the short side saw Kwansei Gakuin open the scoring early. Two further Kwansei Gakuin tries followed quickly off the back of Trinity mistakes. Within 15 minutes Kwansei Gakuin were leading 0-19. With plenty of time left, the 1st XV regrouped and went to work on executing their pre-game focus areas. Remaining square in contact, holding their defensive shape and metres gained after contact were areas of focus that began to pay dividends the longer the game went on. The new centre pairing payed off with Harry McLennan crashing over on a second effort from 20 metres out and Jordan Morris cutting the line from 50 metres out and having the legs to cross for Trinity's second try. Halftime Trinity 14 Kwansei Gakuin 19.

The second half started well with Lachlan Ilias using good footwork to beat three or four defenders and put Trinity in front for the first time in the game. A territorial kicking game ensued with Ryan Longville doing superbly well to release the pressure when needed. Cooper chambers had his best game on Tour supplying great service and getting himself into the backfield with sniping runs from half back. John Bechara broke the line to create front foot ball, while Charlie Howard worked hard to pressure the Kwansei Gakuin first receiver. A penalty from in front put the margin out to five before James Wayland crashed over to extend Trinity's lead to 12. A late try from Kwansei Gakuin with five minutes left made for a tense final to a tightly contested game. Full time Trinity 31 Kwansei Gakuin 24.

2nd XV

The second game against Kwansei Gakuin pull prove to be a difficult encounter. It demonstrated the need for the continual development of the Trinity 2nd XV, to ensure inter squad competition and holistic development. It was clear from the outset that a contributing factor to Kwansei Gakuin's success in the prefecture championship was due to the competitive nature of their 2nd XV. In a game that Trinity struggled to match the speed and agility of their Japanese opponents, many positives came out of the fixture. Defensively, the 2nd XV struggled in one on one contact, however the defensive system and shape was pleasing. Our attack in close was pleasing with Avery Freeman scoring a great try, receiving the ball at depth before putting some useful footwork on before contact.

The scramble and cover defence of Paul Orphanides and Scott Seeto, once again was outstanding. On more than one occasion Paul and Scott would make try saving tackles in cover. Paddy Venables and Paddy Harris worked hard all game, whilst James Makarkis and James Haddad made outstaning line breaks but were unable to cross the paint and score. Final score Trinity 7 Kwansei Gakuin 86

Final Results:

1st XV Trinity Grammar School 31 Kwansei Gakuin 24

Tries: Ilias, McLennan, Morris, Wayland

Con: Longville (4)

Pen: Longville

2nd XV Trinity Grammar School 7 Kwansei Gakuin 86

Tries: Freeman

Con: Karvountzis

Pre-Game match strip versus Kwansai Gakuin High School

Pre-Game warm-up strip versus Kwansai Gakuin High School

Some of the Boys running out for the Kwansai Gakuin High School game

Pre-Game Bow, a Japanese Rugby tradition

During the 2nd XV fixture versus Kwansai Gakuin High School

2nd XV leave the field after a tough day at the office !!!!

1st XV leave the field after a well deserved win against Kwansai Gakuin High School

The entire Tour Squad and both teams from Kwansai Gakuin High School

Tour Diary - Day 12: Training Day

Day 12- 11th December

To start off the day an extra 30 minute sleep in was popular amongst the boys. With bacon and eggs for breakfast the day was looking good. After breakfast we went up to our rooms, packed our daypack and hopped on the bus to Kwansai Gakuin High School where we left our suitcases and got on another bus to go to a shopping centre called Nishinomiya Gardens. With an hour and 45 minutes of shopping and lunch everyone had a good time eating and looking at clothes. After the shopping we got onto a public bus back to Kwansai Gakuin High School for a training session before the final game of the tour. After training we went home with our billets for the evening.

Sam Halmarick

Wally watches on as the boys train.

Christmas tree in the shopping mall

Sunday, December 13, 2015

Tour Diary - Day 11: Day Trip to Kyoto and Osaka

Day 11- 10th December

We started the day with breakfast, followed by kangaroo court, in which Joe Chamoun received Wally. We got a coach to Kiyomizu, where we visited the front of a temple. Kiyomizu is in Kyoto which was once the Capital of Japan and the designs of its buildings are quite ancient. We got pictures with some Japanese people outside the temple and discovered our popularity as tourists. There were many shops down from the temple, and we managed to buy some souvenirs. After another bus ride we arrived at King Kinkaku-Ji (golden temple). We wandered around the gardens where the temple was located, taking pictures and observing the gardens around where the temple is located. We took the bus to lunch, where we enjoyed a traditional Japanese meal. After that we travelled to Osaka castle. Osaka was a very strategically valuable castle in Ancient Japanese times, due to its great defences, including large walls and moats, which were very difficult to scale and move around. We then went to Shinsaibashi-suji and Dotonbori, where we went shopping for two hours. In the end it was a very eventful day, and quite relaxing.

Lachlan Gai