Medallion XV Photo Archive & Match Reports
Season 2007-2008
Rainey Medallion London Tour 2007
An early start yielded bleary eyes and unsurprisingly Ultan was the last to arrive.
On the outbound EasyJet flight word had got out about my fear of flying, capitalising upon this the boys and Mr. Johnston sensitively treated me to a number of plane crashing scenarios. The technology department are clearly doing their job as the students aeronautical knowledge of the inability of a plane to fly with missing wings, engine etc. was accurately stated - hilarious stuff.
We arrived at London Luton where I observed the boys reading a number of educational publications. At this stage Mr. Johnston received a text casting doubt over that day’s fixture, at Richmond rugby club, due to prolonged rainfall. From here we transferred to a green line bus which took us to Victoria station. A quick break was enjoyed here as we took in low fat sandwiches and fruit smoothies the boys on the other hand had the first of many McDonalds. Fed and watered we resumed our journey taking the underground to Ravenscourt Park, the location of the Globetrotters Inn, our well-appointed base for the trip. At this point we would have benefited from the Languages department as the place was overrun with Italians, Buon giorno and Aussies, G’day mate.
At this stage, having received confirmation that the fixture was abandoned, Mr. Johnston informed the boys they would not be playing. We hastily arranged a trip to a bowling alley at Park Royal to fill the void. The bowling featured standout performances from Luke ‘twinkle toes’ Steele and Paul ‘stee-rike’ Johnston. Also present were Owen’s sisters who are London residents and had arranged to meet their baby brother.
We used the underground to return to Ravenscourt Park to attend an all you can eat Chinese Buffet, recommended by Mr Simpson and several previous medallion tour groups. Ever mindful of our educational responsibility we engaged in a bit of maths and business studies: 23 fifteen year old boys + all you can eat Chinese banquet = bankruptcy.
Also written into folklore is the Karaoke at the now destitute Chinese restaurant. The music department would have been delighted with Karaoke performances featuring: DC as 50 cent, Ciaran as Beyonce (with disturbing dance moves), Massey as Michael Jackson ‘shamo’ and most impressively Philip as the entire line up of the Village People. This was a stellar performance from a young man (there’s no need to feel down) with a great future in the music industry. A highly recommended video of this event is available from C. Lynch. The meal also featured a splinter cell like stealth performance from Mr. Johnston who snuck off to secure himself an ice-cream leaving us all to starve.
Leaving our X-factor audition we sang our way to the tube and travelled to the Embankment featuring the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben and St. Pauls Cathedral. Surrounded by all of the grandeur and history the boys instead were mesmerised by a large metal wheel (London eye) and a promotional projection of Ricky Hatton onto Big Ben, argh kids! A very weary (tee-hee, yes it was deliberate) collection of boys returned to the hostel via Leicester square and Piccadilly Circus and crashed. An early start the next day was called for as we had planned a packed itinerary including trips to the home of football and the home of rugby.
On Thursday morning, having not listened to Mr Lynch with enough care I guided the party onto the incorrect underground line alighting at Wembley Central rather than Wembley Park. This was most fortuitous for me as on the one mile walk to the stadium I spotted a Greggs bakery. With zero regard for my safety I was drawn across the road, stopping traffic, as the lure of the cheese and onion pasties and sausage rolls proved irresistible. What can I say, it’s a Geordie thing. Having secured my pastry delights, I was delighted to see the support of my colleagues and students as I gazed into the distance barely able to make out their fast disappearing outlines.
We were given a guided tour of Wembley stadium visiting the home changing room, press conference room and photos of the boys with the FA Cup. It is the most expensive stadium ever built with a cost estimated between £800 million and £1billion pounds. It seats 90,000 people and is the largest stadium in the world (where every seat is under cover). Also the number of toilets, 2618, is the largest of any venue in the world – useful information. The gracious words of our tour guide describing the respectful and considerate behaviour of the boys as the best he had seen from a school boy party were valued by Mr. Johnston, Mr. Lynch and I.
We walked down Wembley way receiving a phone call from much missed coach Mr Amos. This received a loud cheer but even this was eclipsed by the euphoria when yet another McDonalds was spotted. The Home Economics department would have been thrilled as we considered the nutritional value of food on offer. Let me think, answer: none!
After a number of underground line changes we arrived at Richmond the closest station to Twickenham. We caught a shuttle bus to the stadium missing the early minutes of the Varsity match between Cambridge and Oxford. To, I am sure, the delight of Cambridge alumni and Varsity match participant, Mr. Simpson, the light blues secured victory by the score Oxford 16 - Cambridge 22. After the game the boys spent a small fortune in the Twickenham rugby store and we set off intending to visit the cinema at Park Royal. Unfortunately rush hour traffic ended that dream and we changed plans, abandoning the shuttle bus, catching instead a train back to Richmond.
Mr. Johnston guided us to a fish ‘n’ chip restaurant to partake in yet more cuisine of a highly questionable nutritional value. Over my shoulder I could hear comments such as Kiev is a beautiful city, Nelly I bet you would like to go to Kiev. As it transpired Steven Nelson had ordered chicken Kiev and chips and while Steven McAuley and Clarke Lennox were finishing off their second milk shakes poor Nelly had not even seen his main course.
We returned to the hostel via Tescos where three gallons of Kick, a cheap red bull substitute drink were purchased. I must admit this caused the adults present a moments concern but undaunted we ventured onwards. Back at Globetrotters Mr Johnston distributed quiz sheets featuring rugby players missing their identities. This brought the competitive nature of the squad to the fore with several of the players entering the hostel’s computer room to aid their quest. Congratulations to Owen whose booming voice single-handedly cleared out the computer suite of all other guests. In a suspicious turn of events Chris Lynch was victorious. Why was this suspicious I hear you ask – because his father had the answer sheet!
Next day we returned to the Embankment to permit the squad the opportunity to ride the London Eye. This was a well received activity and photos purchased by Mr. Johnston will soon be available on this website. Due to the extensive travelling around London the squad’s geographical expertise was enhanced especially regarding District, Piccadily, Bakerloo, Metropolitan lines and eastbound and westbound directions. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for Mr. Johnston, who, demonstrating his years of involvement in the Duke of Edinburgh award scheme set off in search of the mythical Victoria shopping centre. We crossed many roads, entered and were thrown out of an office block, that looked like Castlecourt, crossed more roads, ended up back where we started, then crossed more roads and again, ended back up where we started. Eventually having ran out of patience and energy we returned to the collection of shops around Victoria bus/train/tube station.
At this location Captain Damien, having instigated a whip-round, bought a collection of interesting gifts to thank Mr Amos for his organisation of the trip and his expert coaching of the team. From Victoria we took the bus back to the airport where the boys encountered a young lady dressed as Snow white.
They spent so much time ‘chatting’ to her that we had to run to catch the plane. We arrived back at the International airport where a final one to twenty three was called and we transferred back to Rainey on board a coach (no a bus not a rugby coach).
This morning despite horrendous weather, missing players and chronic sleep deprivation the squad rallied to defeat Carrick by 21-0. This victory was never in doubt as Mr. Johnston had placed McDonalds burgers in the opposition in-goal area ensuring the Rainey players would cross the try line.
Many thanks to Mr. E. Lynch who throughout the tour kept a calm and reassuring eye on proceedings mopping up stray bags and stray bodies, duh where is my bag - Paddy? This trip would not have been possible or as enjoyable without you. Congratulations to all the boys they represented the school with distinction and made Mr Johnston, Mr Lynch and I proud to be associated with them.
L. Peggs and P. Johnston
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Wednesday 10th October
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the players on the efforts they have made so far.
We still have a long way to go and lots of work to do so I need every one at training!!!
The team has made a big step and needs to keep on going up, so boys come on, let’s all get fit and get stuck in.
We have won 4 and lost 3, it’s not bad and I was very happy last Saturday - we did very well. I would like us to do the same against R.B.A.I.
I will also like to thank the parents for making their voices heard - it’s great to see them out!
Mr Amos
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Saturday 6th October
Coaches view
Congratulations to all who took part in the Medallion game on Saturday the 6th Oct against Larne. It was a tremendous win scoring 6 tries, kicking 3 conversions and conceding only 12 points. This was the Medallion’s 8th game and 4th win and we boast an unbeaten home record. Rainey had a super start scoring early with a mighty drive from the pack with Luke Steele scoring the first try of the day. It wasn’t long until Rainey registered our second score featuring superb continuity play again with Luke Steele in the thick of the action. Steven McAuley found space and was slipped a pass from which he ran straight under the posts for his first try of the season. Then it had to happen we scored our 3rd try as a superb take from a high ball from Adam porter was followed by a delightful grubber kick through the defensive line. This was gathered by Damien McMurray who drew his defender and set up Michael McCready for his first try of the season. A notable feature of the game was our set piece work; the forwards dominated the scrum and line out with Aaron Laverty demonstrating great accuracy of throw.
The handling in the backs was almost perfect (only 1 knock on all day HINT HINT NELY), also half-back specialist David Currie (playing at 10) produced an exemplary display of accurate tactical kicking. Owen Devlin who has been on form since the start of the season registered his 3rd try of the campaign (GO ON BUTCH). Philip Caulfield has switched between wing and centre this season but has always performed to a consistently high standard. Philip scored a break away try today displaying his footballing skills from the half way line to touch down, he also registered two conversions. The last try to cap an excellent team performance was scored by super sub Mark McErlean who came off the bench in the second half to give a man of the match performance. Mark scored an individual try picking from a ruck and running half the pitch to complete the scoring (WELL DONE MARK). This score was converted by Steven Nelson.
Final Score – 36–12 win
Scorers
Tries - L. Steele (1)
S. McAuley (1)
Michael McCready (1)
O. Devlin (1)
P. Caulfield (1)
Mark McErlean (1)
Conv - P. Caulfield (2)
S. Nelson (1)
Christopher Lynch (team manager)