The tourists at Lourdes on Monday

Day 1: Twenty-three bleary eyed boys and four brave tour leaders set off at 4.45am on Friday morning for the annual Farleigh Rugby Tour to France.

They arrived to six inches of snow which, although not enough to impact their first stop (a tour of the Airbus Factory in Toulouse), caused the cancellation of the first match at L'Isle Jourdain, 40km west of Toulouse. The hosts however were undeterred and promptly transferred the entire tour party to a large local sports hall where the Farleigh boys trained with the French team and played several games of tag rugby. Two groups played two games concurrently for over an hour. Our unbiased tour leader claims the English scored more tries!

Dinner back at the stadium followed with a visit from the President of the Rugby Club, a local Press Officer and the town Mayor, who was happy to pose for a picture in his gift of a Farleigh fleece hat. The tourists were treated to a delicious three course meal (including baguettes, foie gras, pasta and home made gateaux) with a French boy seated between each of the Farleigh boys. A happy and successful evening ended with each team singing their National Anthem to each other.

Day 2: France beat Ireland at the weekend, and they beat Farleigh too. In Morlaas the team faced huge boys, but nevertheless enjoyed the rugby. Six quarters were played with the French producing 16 tries to Farleigh's ten. Again, there was great cameraderie shown between the teams and the Farleigh players were each presented with a French beret. Mr Whithear is very proud of the way the Farleigh boys have been trying out their French.

Day 3: The tour party trained with Union Riviere Basse Rugby Club and were then treated to lunch with their hosts. The match in the afternoon resulted in an eight tries all draw. After each match the National Anthem has been sung to the opposition followed by a post match reception. 

Day 4: After a very late bruch, the tour party set off for Lourdes where they looked around the Basilica, grotto and chapel. They had some time to do a bit of shopping before heading off to a large Le Clerc supermarket to buy food for Andy's famous tour dinner. Simon and Paulette and their two sons at Le Prielle were included in the tour dinner as a thank you for their hospitality. After dinner, they played games and made the tour presentations:

Best Forward - Charlie Betton
Best Back - Henry Braithwaite
Best Player - Jamie Atkinson, Captain
Top Tourist - Ned Marriott
Players' Player - Henry Braithwaite

Day 5: Today the tourists have visited a local market in Maubourguet where, in groups, they have bought their own lunches for the picnic competition (pictured below). The stall holders were fantastic with the boys and encouraged them to speak French, which the boys did "really well", says Andy.

16th February 2010