North Bay Rugby Youth and High School

"The best trip of our player's lives..."

We can't ever fully express how grateful we are to Irish Rugby Tours for giving us the best trip of our player's lives.

Our tour was an overwhelming success in every aspect.

The most critical aspect of any tour has got to be the bus driver and we were blessed with a knowledgeable, affable, and patient driver when we were assigned Dick. He was perfect in every detail right down to supplying us with bottled water when Galway's public water supply was off-limits.

We also want to thank Paula for the very early welcome at the airport. Having her meet us at 5:00 a.m. was truly above and beyond the call of duty.

Rugby Training Sessions
Our first training session at Trinity College was extremely appreciated. A top notch coach from the Trinity team gave our players a great deal of instruction and guidance. We were thrilled to see our boys applying their new skills almost immediately.

Our team thoroughly enjoyed our first match with the Longford RFC U19's and it was a memorable event for everyone. Despite losing 24-5, we were delighted to have scored and very appreciative of the wonderful get together that occurred afterwards. Together our two young teams sang, chatted, and shared many laughs that served to extinguish any cultural boundaries. That was perhaps our most favorite match, as their team's enthusiasm at meeting us was equal to our own at meeting them.

Our next two matches were with "select" sides and we were humbled with playing such skilled and experienced players to say the least. We learned an enormous amount in a very short time, due to the very professional training session we had in Galway. The select side coach who worked with us was full of information and our boys soaked it up like a sponge. A very enjoyable and instructional session was appreciated and our boys did demonstrate all they had l earned in their next two matches.

Though somewhat outmatched in our first meeting with the Connacht U18 select team, our boys were praised for showing heart and guts and never giving up. The coach presented us with a CD of the match and we've found that to be something we can go back to again and again. Though the score was 55-5, it's hard to believe how thrilled we were with our one lucky try.

Additional Coaching
Our final match with a second Connacht select side of players from around the province, was surprisingly close and in no small part due to the lessons our players learned. Although we lost 26-18, we were delighted with how well our boys played. Both of the select side teams were considerably more "business-like" than the Longford team, but the coach stayed after talking to our team and providing our boys with additional coaching, guidance, and individualized instruction.

Our players measureably improved as a result of our training sessions, what they learned in the games, and the way in which the unique rugby atmosphere of Ireland energized and inspired them.

We were very happy with our accomodations. The hotels we stayed at in Dublin and Galway were comfortable, beautifully appointed, and centrally located. The service in both establishments was top-notch! We couldn't have hoped for better and all our participants were happy with the schedule of touring and rugby-related activities.

Highlights
The highlights of our trip were the Abbey Tavern in Howth and the bicycle tour of the Aran islands. We were blessed with great weather for our entire tour and everything went smoothly. We wouldn't think of another rugby tour to Ireland without consulting George Hook and his staff at Irish Rugby Tours.

Ellen Hickey
North Bay Rugby Youth and High School Commissioner

Click here for tour pics