Match report by Mr Elwell in Concepcion

It was a sunny afternoon set amongst the hills above Concepcion as the first team began their South America tour. After spending the morning down a disused mine, the front row were looking forward to getting back to the coal face. We were up against St Johns school who are the best team in Concepcion. With cheers, applause and Coach Handy's words ringing in their ears, the game kicked off. Although Concepcion is a costal town, never before have so many mullets been seen on one pitch.

James Marsden took the kick off well allowing James Conville to kick clear. The early exchanges were committed with play mainly taking place in the middle third. Then an early penalty was conceded allowing the fly-half to kick an early advantage for St Johns 3-0.

After the restart a surging run by Liam Biesty got the confidence levels back up but some good turnover ball gave St Johns another penalty attempt that was fortunately pulled wide. From the restart Chris Loughlin took the ball up positively but an interception led to the opening try for St Johns which was converted to give them a 10-0 lead. The 1st XV knew that rugby in Chile was hot stuff. From a turnover ball at the lineout the backs put together a positive move with Niall Clancy breaking clear but unfortunately Oliver Weir could not take a difficult pass to finish off the move. But the concepcion of a try was not far off. A great set piece lineout allowed Biesty to extend his gadget arms to claim the ball. This allowed Robert Conville to put Pat Taylor away with an inside pass and he sprinted like a Puma to score the first try on tour. Sadly the conversion was missed. 10-5. Now their tails were up and a 50 metre rumble by Peter 'Steamer' O' Connor proved inspirational. A cross-field kick by James Conville allowed Pat Taylor to soar like an Andean Condor and knock the ball down for Oliver Weir to score (10-10) and we were back in the game. The tour had begun.

A great pick up and run by Sam Waterhouse gave Ambrose good pressure in the opposition 22 as the first half came to an end.

The second half started where the first half left off with Ambrose exerting pressure in the opposition 22 but unfortunately the ball was cleared. Both teams were fighting hard for the victory and the passion was clear to see as the tackles flew in. The competition was fierce as both sides were fully committed. An interception by Luke Brown and then a powerful run took play into the 22. Great interplay between Sean Wright and Tom King set up a quick ruck 5 metres out. A long reverse pass by James Conville to Joe Murphy who shipped it inside allowed James Marsden crash over for a well deserved try and Ambrose took the lead 15-10. Sadly the conversion was missed.

Great work up the touchline by Oliver Weir set up another ruck 5 metres out. A crash ball to Steamer took the ball to the 5-metre line but unfortunately the Chilean defence held out. Tempers were starting to fray and a quick tap by Robert Conville and a shipped pass to Steamer set up a quick ruck . The ball moved out to Sean Wright who calmly drew his defender and put in Alex Roche for his first try. Sean Wright converted to make it 22-10. Shortly after the final whistle blew and a hard fought victory was earned and fully deserved.

The man of the match as voted for by the staff was James Marsden. Now we move on to Curico.

Reaction:

Daniel Gwizdek a highly respected referee and old boy who still remains reluctant to leave the school commented. "There was too much kicking and they can't kick. It was frantic"

Mrs Davies said this was a good start and her home town of Barrow was well represented by Peter O' Conner.

Super Coach Nigel Handy was of the opinion that the line outs worked very well but there was still areas to work on.

Mr Davis says "lovely."