Rugby Tour 2022

After being postponed since 2020, the senior rugby tour finally were able to go to Canada in the summer.

We began sightseeing in Toronto, before playing fixtures against Balmy Beach RFC. Both the U17s and U18s recorded good wins followed by our first taste of the amazingly friendly Canadian hospitality.

We then took a coach journey up to Ottawa for a couple days camping by the Ottawa River and some water sports, the highlight of which was our incredible White Water Rafting experience. We enjoyed some traditional Canadian campfire cooking by the lakeside followed by some solo karaoke – an initiation that started on the last tour and would be completed by almost every tourist by the end of the tour!

Our second game was against Ottawa Scottish RFC; a tougher opposition than Balmy Beach. It was an early kick off and a very hot day – neither of which ideally suited us but both teams got into their stride in the second halves and secured two wins. We enjoyed a post-match BBQ and awards before jumping on the coach and heading back to Toronto for our last few days of tour. 

The next day we enjoyed a morning on Toronto Island. The afternoon brought our final fixtures of tour against Oakfield Crusaders U18s and Guelph RFC U17s, the toughest matches we faced on tour. We both won our last matches of the tour. 

A massive thank you needs to go to the staff for firstly putting up with 52 rugby players for 11 days but also making a massive effort to make the trip as memorable as possible. It could not have been a better way to sign off rugby at QEH for the leavers and kick off the next season for the upcoming year 12s and 13s.  

Benji Wagstaffe