Our U15s and U18s got a real taste of rugby coaching and life as as a professional sportsman on Harrodian's annual rugby tour to Manchester.
A rigorous, nurturing mindset has always underpinned Harrodian's sports tours and the four-day trip to Manchester undertaken by 37 pupils in our senior boys’ squads epitomised the approach.
In the tour's big matches Harrodian's U18s and U15s were edged out by tough opponents in the form of Stockport Rugby Club, the under 18s in a ding-dong match that they lost by 46 points to 45. But according to Coach, Mr Alastair Lydon, match results are not really the big point of the tour experience. ‘Winning or losing by a point may be crucial when it’s England v France,’ he says. ‘But on a tour like this the focus is on different things: strengthening individual skills and team ethos for example, and giving the boys a real sense of what top level professional training and facilities feel like.’
On a tour like this the focus is on different things: strengthening individual skills and team ethos for example, and giving the boys a real sense of what top level professional training and facilities feel like.
Mr Alastair Lydon, Rugby 1st XV Team Coach and PE teacher
For Mr Lydon, the real highlight of the tour was the day the squads spent at Sale Sharks training ground, where students took part in ‘inspiring and challenging’ sessions in The Sharks’ top coaches Matt, Ben, and Fergus. The group also got first-hand insights into the life of a pro rugby player from two of the Sharks players, towering South African lock Le Roux Roets and Raffi Quirke (who scored a match-winning try against the Springboks for England in 2018) who both shared personal stories of their professional rugby journey.
To watch a compilation video of footage made by Mr Lydon
On their return to Barnes, the U18s took part in an intriguing trial game this week which may signal a different new direction for schools rugby in the future. In recent years, concern about concussion in the game has led the Rugby Football Union to initiate trials of an alternative brand of rugby in schools called 3rd Game which adjusts the rules with the aim of lessening the danger of blows to the head that the full-contact game can sometimes present. while maintaining the essence of this exciting sport.