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