Over the half term break, thirty-six senior rugby players and four staff travelled to Portugal for a senior rugby tour combining some warm weather training, cultural experiences and competitive rugby. The touring group started at Brown’s Sports Resort in Vilamora, Algarve, a facility that has previously been used by both the senior England and Ireland rugby squads ahead of major tournaments.
The three day camp combined pitch sessions, strength and conditioning, team meetings and analysis and provided precious time for team and player development ahead of their matches in Lisbon and the second half of the regular season back in the UK.
The touring party then moved onto Lisbon where the boys went on a number of excursions and activities in the city centre and surrounding areas including a tour of the famous Benfica FC, surfing, and golf.
As well as being able to taste the famous Portuguese custard tarts, there was, of course, time for some fixtures and both the 1st XV and 2nd XV played two matches against local clubs. The first match, against CR Setubal, saw both teams play some great rugby and it provided a wonderful touring experience with the players mixing with the opposition and experiencing Portuguese rugby culture and hospitality post-match. The second fixture was far tougher against a team ranked second in the country, GD Direito. The 1st XV surprised a confident opponent with a combination of physicality and flair to win the match 49-12. This was only the second time this side had lost to an English touring team.
We hope that the boys involved were able to learn from the many experiences they had during a busy week away and are able to take lots of these into the second half of the season. They will have made memories for life and we look forward to returning in two years’ time.
There’s a great overview video on our sports Instagram account here.
