Thanks to Stone Real Estate for the support of this tour
Day 7
It was an early start for us with a 6am breakfast before heading off to Durban Airport for our flight to Cape Town. Thankfully this time the flight was just over 2 hours and was much more tame than the flight over here. Arriving into Cape Town CBD from the airport was once again rather eye opening as you could see the evident symbols of wealth however also see the struggles from most in the townships, however despite this all properties still seemed to have an antenna.
After a day of travelling we arrived at our accommodation for the next 5 nights being Never at Home on Kloof Street which after a quick walk around definitely seemed to be the nicer end of town. Our first night in Cape Town and we decided to have a braai before hitting the town and seeing what the local nightlife had to offer. On this particular night the popular drinking spot was aptly named The Village Idiot.
Day 8
Beautiful blue skies greeted us this morning and it was decided to be our touristy day where we would get on the big red tourist buses to sightsee all around Cape Town. This started with a 15-20 minute walk to Long Street to get the Red Bus. The writer of this blog had definitely heard Long Street is a must on visiting Cape Town however was warned ‘you better hope you don’t get a red light when walking’. From our walk though there were lots of security presence on every block.
After getting on the big red bus we headed to Table Mountain which is once again a must do for anyone visiting Cape Town. Luckily for us the maintenance on the cable cars had recently finished which allowed us to get them to the top and explore around. Up the top of the mountain it was interesting to see some local wildlife with hyrax’s lounging about taking in the sun.
Following this we all jumped back on the big red bus and continued along through Camps Beach before getting off at VA Waterfront for lunch. Along here is Cape Town Stadium which is home to Western Province and The Stormers. However just a block away is an apartment block using broken glass glued down on top of the wall to keep people out. Across the road from the stadium some people have started setting up housing comprised of garbage bags and plastic.
For dinner we headed to Hudson’s which was also a club upstairs which a number of boys frequented after dinner. One of the highlights of Cape Town are also some of the bars adopting over 22 age limits which the writer of this blog believes could be something that could be brought to Sydney.
Day 9
Our third and final game day of the tour and we started the day off by heading to the picturesque Camps Bay for a quick stretch and dip in the ocean before heading to VA Waterfront for lunch. With a 7pm kick-off it was a slightly different preparation as used too however the boys prepared well and we headed to Hamilton Sea Point Rugby Club just after 5pm.
The club was located just behind Cape Town Stadium and we were greeted by eager locals as well as some African Geese setting up in our warm up area. Hamilton Sea Point is the oldest club in South Africa and have won the Under 20s competition for the past 3 seasons so we knew it was going to be our toughest game on tour.
The game started with a lot of intent and physicality as emotions were running high and lots of banter between players from both teams. Hamilton started the better of the two sides scoring the opening 3 tries to race out to a 21-0 lead after 25 minutes. However the boys hit back just before half-time with a Sam Pickard try and Mackenzie Munro conversion bringing it back to 21-7.
The second half we started very well with each player emptying the tank with it being the last game on tour and Jack Tierney racing away to score to bring it to 21-14. This was followed up by another try and suddenly it was 21-21 with 15 minutes to play. Unfortunately a mistake off the kick-off resulted in an intercept which they pounced on to take the game out to a 28-21 score which remained that way.
Overall a tough physical game to finish the tour but the side can hold their heads up as they showed good character to fight back and put ourselves in with a chance to beat a quality side. Shout-out to Jamie Donovan who well and truly led from the front and went all game playing his best footy I have seen all season.
Following the game we were treated to some post-match refreshments and a braai before exchanging some gifts. Once again it was good to see the traditions of rugby extend around the world with players following one another on social media as well as organising the best places to go out in the next couple of days. For dinner we headed up to the club house and were treated to some steak on a stick which was cooked in front of us with garlic butter which the boys thoroughly enjoyed.
Footage from the game can be found at:
1st Half Part 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ptd-Xslx2CE
1st Half Part 2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQDuWErKE7Q
2nd Half Part 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSVdE7_HrK0
2nd Half Part 2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjAHth5yjiE
Day 10
A well earned day off in beautiful sunny Cape Town and majority of the group decided to spend it going shark cage diving in Gans Bay a couple of hours drive away. The writer of this blog was not one of those and instead went to Camps Bay for some cocktails by the beach with the other wiser members of the touring party.
Positively everyone made it back from shark diving and we kicked off the evening with our Kangaroo Court session which got things rolling for the night with lots of fines being brought up from the tour so far. Following this the group decided to jump in Ubers to Stellenbosch for the night where a number of Hamilton Rugby Club players were out and to enjoy the student nightlife.
Previous reports of the tour:
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