During the April holidays 25 boys and 3 staff members, led by Director of Rugby Mr Manion, left for a 10 day tour of Japan. It was an amazing cultural experience with the boys having the opportunity to explore the different sights, smells, sounds and tastes of Japan. A real highlight of the tour were the wonderful welcoming ceremonies that the schools put on prior to our matches. Here the boys got a chance to interact with the local students, learn a little of the language and watch performances of dancing and karate.

The boys were able to get an understanding of the Buddhist and Shinto religions with visits to numerous shrines and temples. The most memorable were the Kinkakuji Temple which is completely roofed in gold leaf and Miyajima Island with its famous floating Tori gate. It was a far more somber experience visiting the Hiroshima Peace Memorial and Atomic Bomb Dome and it was clear that everyone was visibly moved by what they saw and heard that day.

From a rugby perspective there were lots of new experiences for the players as well. Three of our four games were played on synthetic all-weather pitches and the other was played on a sand & gravel mix that even the coaches had never seen before. There were a few grazes and a few carpet burns to be had but our boys were always willing and finished the tour with 4 pretty convincing performances. The unity and tight friendships developed by traveling together will hopefully be a positive point of difference between Newington and our GPS rivals as we look to chase back to back premierships.