U16s tour to Italy

February 2005

Last week 16 boys and 9 adults represented Maidenhead's U16 Rugby team on a 4 day tour of the Venice area of Italy.

The trip was sponsored by Imperial Litho, printers of Bourne End, without whom it would not have been possible. Tour T-shirts were kindly supplied by M-real Italia.

The tour consisted of two days of sightseeing/travelling and two matches against local teams.

Based at Jesolo Lido, Venezia just outside Venice the party soon started to enjoy the full range of Pasta offered by local restaurants.

The first Italian opposition, Benetton, who are National Champions proved simply too strong for our brave hearted boys. Yet Maidenhead worked as one focused unit, right until the final whistle with a score line of 67 -3. It was only after the match that we discovered that four of the boys playing were Under 16 Italian internationals, and their fellow players couldn't have been that far behind! We probably played some of our most determined rugby and still got hammered!

After a day looking around the picturesque sights of Venice, (even if the Gondoliers were on strike) we travelled to our second game against Venezia on an island on the Venice Lagoon. This team proved to be more our standard and played tough but fair rugby. Maidenhead slipped behind after just 4 minutes with a penalty try, but through a magnificent try from Michael Skelton, which was converted by Chris Ellis soon re-captured the lead. Further tries and convertions by Chris Ellis and a try from James Henley, both at speed down the wing, meant the final score finished at 23 - 12 to Maidenhead.

Honours even at one game each, meant we could leave Italy with our heads held high.. One of the coaches wrote in the end of tour e-mail "You went as boys but came back as men". Throughout the tour we were escorted by Laurence Wilson our guide from iTS Italian Tour System. Despite bitterly cold weather, the reception we received from both clubs and supporters was always very warm. The players, coaches and parents seemed to enjoy this tour so much, that we are already planning next years trip to Northern Spain - and are looking for sponsors!