Our last few days

Well, we are almost on our way home. We have returned from the spectacular waterfalls of Iguacu and played our last matches in BA. You will hopefully be reassured to read that we have booked a new coach company ´Collins´ to collect us from Heathrow in 2 x 53 seater coaches.
The Massey family have offered to copy disks of the best photos from the tour and we will send these out to everyone when we return.

The weather in Iguacu was warm and sub tropical, no mosquitoes in sight as the previous week had been chilly. The visit to the national park will live in our memories for ever. The falls were spectacular and viewed from the Argentinian and Brazilian side. We experienced an amazing speed boat trip through the gorge and they took great delight in taking the boats into the spray from the falls to ensure that we were all thoroughly wet by the end. Some of the pupils bought DVD´s of the whole experience to show you when we return. Everyone experienced the best geography lesson on waterfalls ever!

We had our last night all together in the hotel and the teams and staff gave out a number of prizes for performances and entertaining moments from the previous three weeks. We departed for BA and met our hosts Balmoral School. We received one of the warmest welcomes on the trip and we hope to host them in September when they come to England on a cultural/sports tour. All the teams had time in the city to buy some presents and visit some of the sights.

We played the matches this afternoon in glorious sunshine. The girls played their best hockey of the tour and were only 1 - 0 down at half time. They battled hard in the second half and narrowly missed some good chances. Late in the half they conceded two goals to lose 3 - 0 overall. At the end there were tears, laughter and weary legs as we reflected on a superb series of matches with a team that had grown in stature, skill and passion. Becky was a star in goal and Ellie won the player of the match award. It was great to see the way Sophie´s game has developed as she crunched through some tackles to set up some great chances. The ´Defensive Unit´ led by Philippa, (including Alice, Alice, Jo, Chloe) tackled well, distributed effectively and worked incredibly hard. Cathy and Connie matched the opposition for skill and speed and they will be a formidable midfield trio with Ellie in September. Up front, Nicky, Izzy, Kirsty and Sophie gelled as a team and worked hard together to create chances. There is no doubt that they have all improved individually and come together as a team. DRC, CAE and JMF have really enjoyed coaching the team.

Awards
Players Player: Ellie Herbert
Coaches Player: Connie Crawford
Most Improved: Alice Johnson, Chloe Manchett

The Under 16´s lost 29 - 0

Many of the U16 team had picked up a 24hr bug which affected the team selection for the last game. Kick off was at 9.30am and 15 tired boys got themselves motivated to play. Unfortunately only 10 of the starting team were truly focused. This was a shame as the U16 Squad were improving with every match. Jonny M had another great game as did Angus Frost. The boys work hard in defence but struggled to retain possession in the contact area. A disappointing end to what has been a very successful tour. Man of the Match Jonny M and Best tackler: David Chapman.

The end of tour awards went to:

Player of the tour: Mark Richardson
Players Player: Angus Frost, Moumen Kwaider
Most Improved: Harry Vanner, David Chapman
Best Forward: Henry Phillipson
Best Back: Jonny Martynski


1st XV complete a superb tour with another win!!!

Following a brief tour of the city and a short period of time shopping for gifts, the 1st XV arrived at the Balmoral playing fields, bathed in glorious sunshine. The boys were very tired, and a number were suffering from the flu. However, the squad were determined to win the last game of the tour and complete five wins from five.

The boys completed yet another impressive warm up, highlighting the maturity of the team in understanding the importance of both physical and mental preparation prior to a match. Although the team were somewhat nervous, they began the game incredibly well and once again pulled away to an early lead after 6 minutes with a well taken try, Alex Stafford converting. However, the Perse team were not to have everything their own way, and with a large home crowd watching, the Balmoral inside centre and Captain powered over to bring the score to 10- 7 at half time. Peter Alston spoke impressively at half time, supported by intelligent comments and encouragement from his vice captains and the half time talk appeared to work as the Perse scored again shortly after the interval. Yet once again the Balmoral team began to play with greater continuity and thier expansive, flowing style soon paid off with a well taken try in the corner to bring the scores to 15- 12 with 10 minutes left on the clock.

The pressure was now really on and all of the boys looked tired and bruised following an arduous few weeks of tough rugby and long periods of travel. However, Mr Gostling was incredibly proud of the attitude and determination displayed by every member of the squad as the Perse team mounted several assaults on the Balmoral line before Peter Alston scored a crucial try to secure a 20 - 12 win. The boys response to the final whistle was superb, with every member of the team running in to congratulate their team mates and the songs that followed truly demonstrated how much the tour had meant to the boys, and also how much the team had gelled together in such a short space of time.

The Man of the Match award went to the entire pack who worked tirelessly in order to quash numerous Argentine attacks and in their work to secure excellent attacking ball for the dynamic back line to exploit.

Both the squad and the coaching staff now look forward to beginning the season following the three day pre-season training camp which begins on Wednesday 29th August. The camp culminating in a tournament at St Albans School on Sunday 2nd September.

Mr Gostling would also like to thank James Grabowski for his support with both the U16 and 1st XV coaching and Sam Powell and Jake Jones who played their last game for the Perse School before they leave to attend University and Hills Road Sixth Form College respectively.

Match reports from St Matthew´s College

We arrived in Buenos Aires and met our hosts St Matthews College on one of the coldest and wettest days of the tour so far. The sports pitches are on the fringes of the city and we travelled by coach, to the grounds from the school. The highways are impressive, in places 10 lanes across.

The U16s played the first match of the day at 2.45p.m. The rain had relented but the wind was cold and bitter and Perse started well, putting their hosts under great pressure. St Matthew's 2nd XV had a large pack and managed to absorb all Perse could throw at them in the first 5 minutes. St Matthew's started to dominate and scored twice in the first half and went in to half-time 10-0 up. After a rousing half-time talk Perse seemed a different team and were strong and aggressive in the second half. A move of many phases resulted in a try from JP - one of the best team tries of the tour so far. Perse piled on the pressure but failed to capitalise on some well deserved chances. The final score was a loss 5-10, but Perse felt they had showed some real grit and determination against an older and larger side. Man of the match was Lol M. for some outstanding work in the rucks and open play.

The girls played on an uneven grass pitch with Nicky making her debut in goal which allowed Kirtsy a chance to play upfront. The team worked hard in the first 20 mins and some superb saves from Nicky ensured the scores remained level. Just before half time the St Matthews pressure told and we conceded two quick goals. On the second half we tackled well and started to build some attacks through the constantly improving Izzie.

The score finished 4 - 0 to St Matthews. On balance it was probably not our best performance on a difficult surface with tired players. The girls were committed throughout and everyone worked hard but we were a little jaded. Chloe and Ellie were excellent in defence and strong on the ball and they pushed hard throughout. The Alice J and Izzie had their best games of the tour. They have worked hard to improve and they showed skill and commitment throughout. In goal Nicky was sensational. She has never played in goal before, but she was superb making spectacular saves with her feet and hands.

Player of the match: Nicky and Izzie
Duracell Award: Alice J

1st XV - On a very cold, wet and windy afternoon, the Perse 1st XV arrived at the St Matthew´s playing fields to the north of Buenos Aires determined to maintain their 100% winning record. After watching a valiant display from the U16 squad the 1st XV completed a superb warm-up led by Captain, Peter A.

The boys began the game very well, playing at an intensity and energy which the St Matthews team could simply not cope with. The sustained pressure finally resulted in a well taken try from Nick Ma. to open the scoring. With the ever impressive Harry J and Max controlling the set piece, Owen and Harry W made huge inroads into the defence. Tom and Peter competed very well at the break down and with Jim and Jo both returning from injury with impressive performances, the selection for places in the final game will cause Mr Gostling some headaches!

Josh W, Josh S, and Max added to the earlier try, with Peter converting to round off a very impressive team performance. Man of the Match went to Owen and Max and Bosh of the Match to Harry J and Will, whose try saving tackle typified the fighting spirit of the team. The squad responded well to the challenge given to them following an under-par performance against the Grange school. They are all looking forward to the final game of the tour following a short break at the spectacular Iguazu Falls.

Estancia La Concepcion

We have arrived in an Estancia, the home of an impressive polo ranch and beef estate. We have enjoyed some rest and relaxation, horse riding, cycling, treking, sports and wide games. The past few days have enabled all of us to catch up on some sleep and prepare for the challenges ahead in Argentina. Tomorrow we leave for Beunos Aires to meet up with our hosts St Matthews College.

First Goal Fiesta

The match against the Grange School brought the girls team their strongest hockey performance to date and our first goal. With a new and improved monkey balloon mascot and the incentive to play one of the best schools in Chile we were raring to go. We had spent the morning working on new and improved moves and we hoped to put these into action. The match started well with several breaks from the Perse. The D-unit were out in force with Ali J working her new skills to move the the ball up the pitch. However, The Grange scored some excellent goals - their international training and experience was evident. The Perse never let their heads fall with continuous encouragement and a dominant presence from their captain Ellie. A breakthrough in the second half led to the first goal of the tour. After a great through ball from Connie, Nicky was able to smash the ball into the goal. With large amounts of screaming from both the girls and the supporting boys the game ended with high spirits all around.

Player of the match: Cathy
Duracell Award: Alice J
Final score: 9-1.

Shots on goal: 7
Number of saves: 12
Number of injuries: Sophie - sore knee from pre match dancing in the shopping mall
Enjoyment: Estupendo

Hat-Trick Whittle steals the show

1st XV vs The Grange

The 1st XV were presented with their first test match by Mr Gostling. Knowing that The Grange are renowned for their sport everyone was looking forward to giving them a good match. Unfortunately for us The Grange 1st XV has been away on tour in New Zealand. This meant that their team were depleted of their key players. Nevertheless they fielded a good team and when the game started it took some of us by surprise at how good their 2nd/3rd team could be. It took a frustrating amount of time for the Perse team to get into the game. Fortunately we began to gain more continuity to our play and this stretched the opposition defence in the second half.

After half time we started quickly and as they tired we started to exploit the space out wide. This led to three tries for Harry and at last we looked like a dangerous team. The teams pace was significant and the score finished at 42-0.

Man of the match was shared by Harry and Harry. Bosh of the match went to Toby for a big hit on his opposite number. The team has learnt a lot from the game and we are hopefully now ready to face the Argentinians, who are now ranked higher than England in World rankings. The hosting and the match were thoroughly enjoyable and we are looking forward to facing the next team.

Tries from Alex S, Nic, Harry W., Max.