Ask any coach about their proudest moment and there’s a fair chance it won’t be a trophy. It’ll be a tour. The quiet kid who came out of his shell on a coach to Galway. The forwards and backs who finally became one squad somewhere between the pitch and the team dinner. The tries, yes – but mostly the bits in between.
That’s the magic of a rugby tour.
The tricky part is everything that has to happen before the magic: the planning, the budgeting, the permissions, the fundraising and the small mountain of admin. So if you’re wondering how to organise a rugby tour without losing your weekends to spreadsheets, this is your guide.
And whoever you are, you’re covered here. Whether you’re a teacher, a Director of Rugby or a club secretary – and whether you call it a school tour, a high school tour (as our friends in the US and Canada do), a college tour or a club tour – the plan below works the same way.
We’ve run thousands of these trips since 1997, and we’ve put everything we know into one honest, start-to-finish guide.
Grab a cup of tea. Here we go.
First, why bother? What a rugby tour actually does for a team
Before the logistics, a quick reminder of why you’re doing this – because you’ll need it when the deposit deadlines loom.
A good tour does things a season of training simply can’t. It throws players together in unfamiliar surroundings and asks them to rely on each other. It exposes them to different styles of rugby and different cultures. And it builds the kind of bonds that turn a group of individuals into a team that would run through a wall for one another. That’s true for a U14 school side and a senior club XV alike.
We’ve written before about how rugby tours shape young athletes, and the short version is this: the rugby gets better, but the people get better too. Keep that in your back pocket for the parents’ evening or the club AGM.
Your 12-month rugby tour countdown
The single biggest mistake teams make is starting too late. The best fixtures, the best accommodation and the best flight prices all go to the organised. Here’s the timeline we’d recommend.
12 months out – dream and decide
Pick your window, your rough group size and your ambition. Are you after a short, sharp European trip or a once-in-a-career long-haul adventure? Get the idea in front of your senior leadership team (schools) or your committee (clubs) early, so it’s on the radar, and in the diary – before anyone else’s trip is.
9–10 months out – choose a destination and lock a tour operator
This is when you firm up where and who with. Securing your operator now means you get first pick of dates, fixtures and hotels rather than the leftovers.
6–8 months out – confirm numbers and start fundraising
Send the letters home (or the club-wide email), take the expressions of interest, and get the fundraising engine running. The earlier you start, the smaller each family’s or member’s final bill.
3–4 months out – sort the admin
Travel insurance, risk assessments, permissions, passports, dietary and medical needs, ratios. Tedious, but this is the stuff that keeps everyone safe and the trip legal. More on all of it below.
1 month out – the final push
Final payments, rooming lists, kit, the itinerary briefing for players and parents, and a calm read-through of the plan. By now the heavy lifting should be done – this week is about details, not decisions.
Choosing the right destination for your squad
The right destination depends on three things: your budget, your players’ ages and what you want the trip to be. Broadly, tours fall into two camps.
Short-haul tours (2–5 days)
Perfect for younger squads, first-time tourers and tighter budgets. You’re looking at Ireland, the UK and nearer Europe – Spain, Portugal, France, Italy and Holland all make brilliant, accessible trips with short flight times and big experiences.
If you want competitive rugby wrapped in serious culture, a rugby tour to Ireland is hard to beat – passionate local clubs, welcoming opposition and a country that treats touring teams like family.
Long-haul tours (6–14+ days)
The trip of a lifetime: New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Fiji. These take more planning and more budget, but for an older school, college or club squad – or a milestone year – nothing compares to testing yourselves on the other side of the world.
Not sure where to point the squad? Our guide to the best European rugby tour destinations is a good place to start, or browse all our tour destinations to see the full spread.
Building the itinerary: rugby, culture and the right balance
A great tour itinerary is a balancing act between three things:
- Training — sessions to sharpen the squad, sometimes at top facilities or with guest coaches.
- Fixtures — competitive, well-matched games against suitable local opposition (the operative word being well-matched – more on that next).
- Culture and downtime — the sightseeing, the activities and the team time that players actually remember years later.
Get the mix right for the age group and you’ve got a tour. Tip the balance too far towards rugby and younger players burn out; too far towards sightseeing and the squad feels like it’s on holiday rather than tour. We build itineraries around your objectives so the days have rhythm – train, play, explore, recover, repeat.
A word on fixtures
This is where experience earns its keep. A fixture that’s a 60-point mismatch helps nobody. The art is in matching your team to opposition of a genuinely similar standard – whether that’s a high school side, a university programme or a senior club – and that takes a local network built over decades. It’s the difference between a game your players talk about for years and one they’d rather forget.
What does a school or club rugby tour cost?
The honest answer: it depends – on destination, duration, group size, time of year and standard of accommodation. A short European tour will sit at one end of the scale; a fortnight in New Zealand at the other.
Rather than guess, the smart move is to set your per-player budget first and work backwards. Tell your operator the number you’re aiming for and let them build a tour to fit it, rather than falling in love with an itinerary you then can’t fund. A good operator will be upfront about exactly what’s included – flights, transfers, accommodation, fixtures, activities – so there are no nasty surprises on the final invoice.
And remember: the headline cost is rarely what each family or member actually pays, because of the next bit.
Fundraising: getting the whole squad there
Cost is the single biggest reason tours don’t happen – and the single most fixable one. Start early and fundraise as a team, and you can take a serious chunk off everyone’s bill (and make sure no player misses out for the wrong reasons).
Quiz nights, sponsored events, club-sponsor packages, online campaigns, a bit of business backing – there’s more in the tank than most teams realise.
The admin nobody warns you about
Here’s the part the brochures skip. None of it is glamorous, but all of it matters.
- Travel insurance — comprehensive cover for the whole party, including the rugby itself. Don’t assume a standard policy covers contact sport; check.
- Risk assessments — your school or club will need them, and a good operator will hand you most of what you need to complete them.
- Permission to tour — schools and clubs touring to another Rugby Union (for example from England, Wales or Scotland into Ireland, or a US/Canada side travelling over) may need formal approval from their governing body before they travel. Build time in for it, and ask your operator what’s required for your group.
- Ratios, passports and consent — staff-to-player ratios, in-date passports for everyone, signed parental consent and medical forms (and for adult club tours, the equivalent contact and medical details).
- Dietary, medical and religious needs — gather these early so accommodation, meals and the schedule can be built around them rather than retrofitted.
It’s a lot. It’s also exactly the kind of thing the right operator quietly takes off your plate.
You’re protected: safety, bonding and accreditation
When you’re responsible for other people’s children – or for a travelling club party – “trust me” isn’t good enough, and it shouldn’t be. So here’s the bit worth checking with any operator before you hand over a deposit, and where we’re happy to be held to account.
Irish Rugby Tours is a fully accredited, bonded tour operator. We’re a member of the Irish Travel Agents Association (ITAA) and licensed by the Irish Aviation Authority (TA0760), which means the money you pay is financially protected. You’ll have a dedicated point of contact through the whole process and genuine 24/7 support while you’re on tour – not a voicemail, an actual person.
Ask every operator you talk to three questions: Are my payments financially protected? Are you properly accredited and licensed? Who do I call at 2am if something goes wrong? If they can’t answer all three cleanly, keep looking.
Do it yourself, or use a tour operator?
You can organise a rugby tour yourself. Plenty of teachers and club organisers have. But booking flights for forty, negotiating hotel rates, sourcing well-matched fixtures abroad, handling transfers, building risk-assessment packs and being on call throughout is, in effect, a second full-time job – on top of the one you already have.
A specialist operator does all of that daily. We handle the logistics, the fixtures, the protected payments and the on-the-ground support, so you can do the part only you can do: be there for your players and enjoy the tour you’ve earned.
Ready to start planning your rugby tour?
If you’ve read this far, you’re already further ahead than most. The next step is the easy one.
Tell us your squad, your rough dates and the budget you’re working towards, and we’ll build you a no-obligation draft itinerary to react to. No pressure, no jargon, just a clear plan from people who’ve been doing this since 1997.
- Primary: Start planning your tour
- Secondary: School & youth rugby tours Senior & club rugby tours · College rugby tours · Read what other teams say
Get in touch with Irish Rugby Tours → Europe: +353 1 685 6277 · USA / Canada toll-free: 1-800-590-3615
