Great Capes for these Supermen: South Africa 2023 Rugby Tour

At the start of the summer holidays, six staff and 47 Fifth Form and Lower Sixth boys embarked on a 15–day rugby tour to South Africa.

Rugby is like a religion in this warm, friendly nation of rugged natural beauty, so the groups were looking forward to a once-in-a-lifetime tour, which offered the boys a unique experience in terms of the rugby they played, the variety of locations they visited and the people they met. 

The tour started in Johannesburg before steadily working its way through the Drakensberg Mountains, Durban, Mdantsane, Knysna, Kariega Game Reserve, Brenton-on-Sea and Hermanus Bay, before travelling on to Cape Town. Highlights on the journey from Johannesburg included surfing in Durban, seeing a huge variety of wildlife on the game drive and working with local children at the Kariega Foundation.

Cape Town is a spectacular destination and in the short time the group were there they went to the Cape of Good Hope, saw some African penguins, took a boat trip to Seal Island and spent time on Table Mountain. As well as the sights, the city is known for the quality of its restaurants, and the players were able to sample some of the wide variety of dishes the country has to offer.  

We had four rounds of fixtures for the 1st and 2nd XV, which provided the players with some unforgettable moments on and off the pitch. Despite playing teams mid-way through their season, we showed excellent progress on the tour and brought a great deal of excellent rugby onto the pitch.

A highlight for the Second Team came against Mdantsane Hurricanes, where a late try gave us the victory in front of a big crowd. For the First Team, playing one of the top-ranked schools in the country, Wynberg Boys School, was set to be a huge challenge. A fantastic performance, full of energy, finished with a well-deserved draw.

We would like to thank the staff for all the hard work they put into making this a fantastic South Africa tour.

Jonny Mason, Foundation Director of Sport