Tours/ Trips/ Events

The tour started with an early departure and staff and pupils were on the road for 5am on a luxury coach bound for Ireland. As the sun came up over Wales pupils were treated to some terrific views of Anglesey in the morning sunshine. Sadly the weather was not to last and year 5 soon learned the less hospitable nature of the Irish Sea, with adverse weather conditions and swell making the crossing extremely taxing , with some pupils and staff quickly learning that nautical travel was not for them! We were lucky to be on the early crossing as the later ones were called off.
Upon arrival the heavens opened and heavy rain saw the rest of the day out. Despite this damp welcoming to the Emerald Isle, pupils were fascinated by the change of the countryside and culture if not the climate.
Having passed by the scene of their forthcoming matches - the ominous and opulent looking Black Rock College, pupils arrived at their plush hotel. The day was spent acclimatizing, unpacking and feasting on burgers and pizzas in preparation for their first games tomorrow.
PJB

U13A v Wesley College, Dublin -Thursday 22nd October, away, DREW 1 – 1

After a very early start and rough ferry crossing we made it to Dublin safe and sound. The girls were eager for an early night and after a good breakfast had a leisurely morning looking around Dublin’s National Museum. The boys were dropped off for their match first and by 3.30pm the girls were ready to play some hockey! Wesley greeted us at the coach and showed us to their sports pavilion, offering us the entire second floor for changing purposes.

Wesley had a choice of four astro-turfs to play on! (Just one would be nice!!) It would be fair to say that after our thorough warm up we did not get off to the best of starts. Wesley were very strong for the first ten minutes, their attacks coming in waves. Their right wing was a skilful player and toyed with our defence. We, however, let them rule the roost and failed to close them down, being a little slow to make the tackle. Fortunately most of Wesley’s shots were very wide, and goalie Grace B was on awesome form, saving the day on a number of occasions.

For the last ten minutes of the first half we regained our form and made several challenges, hassling the Wesley defence. We left it a little too long before making our crosses though and lost the ball at the last moment. Half time arrived 0 – 0.

Half way through the second half a goal was scored, by us! Unfortunately it was disallowed as a Wesley player was injured just prior to it and their defence were either distracted by it or on their way to attending to her. Wesley were the next to score, after sloppy defending and a reluctance to tackle the forwards gave them a golden opportunity to score. With five minutes to full time and off the next pass back our girls attacked ferociously. Georgie H fed the ball through into the D and Freya H was on hand to flick it up into the top right hand corner – a superb move which the goalie had no chance of saving. 1 - 1, GAME ON!

The last four minutes saw us dominating play with several other near misses, which left the supporters biting their nails and hollering with excitement. A fabulous end to our 1st tour game, well played all! Great to have so many supporters too, thanks folks! The stick tunnel at the end proved to be a real icebreaker after such a closely contested, feisty game and our girls and Wesley’s hit it off like old friends. Thanks to them for hosting us so brilliantly! DLB & LRF




1st XV v Black Rock College

Lost 52-0

Not a great opening game. The opposition were far stronger, with over 200 U13 boys to choose from and were playing a squad of 30 players! On top of this Anselm’s depleted side were forced to play a XV man game, with borrowed players.

The game started well with an initial knock on front the opposition. That scrum, uncontested due to the lack of forwards, was the last time we saw the ball in our possession, anywhere in the opposition half.

Sadly the squad were quickly demoralised by the loss of a try within the first 3 minutes and were placed onto the back foot from that point onwards. After successive tries the defence began to look really daunted.

The match was quite a brutal affair, with some rather nefarious activities in the rucks and mauls. Sadly one of the victims of these was David C who received a nasty pair of cuts to his brow, which needed some stitching.

Man of the match was Rufus L for his stupendous tackling. Honourable mention must of David C who was playing some great rugby, until his untimely departure from the field.




U13A v Corinthian Hockey Club, Dublin – Friday 23rd October, Won 6 – 1.

Another day, another fine astro to play on and this match was played under floodlights – a new experience for our girls and one that they relished! We had to adapt to some new rules of play, as this club did not do short corners with under 14s. We were off to a fine start with captain Georgie H scoring the first goal within a minute. Freya’s second goal was scored within five minutes, after a cracking through ball into the D by Nancy J. Millie C quickly followed the form scoring our 3rd goal within 8 minutes. Our final goal in this half came from Freya H again, just before the final whistle for half time. 4 – 0 to us and it would be fair to say that in this half our defence were rarely troubled.

Corinthians came out fighting in the second half and played a lot better as a team. A few of their forwards displayed skilful stick work and they began to challenge in our D. Poppy M worked hard to make her challenges and clear the ball. Our mids – Emily GP, Nancy J and Georgia RS all had a great game, winning the ball, bringing it up the pitch and distributing it very effectively to the forwards.

The next team to score were Corinthians, after some sloppy defending left Poppy on her own at the back. She mistimed her tackle and it was a one on one with the goalie, with the Corinthians forward outwitting a surprised Grace B. We soon added a further two goals to our tally, Freya H setting up our 5th, which was finished off by Georgie H. Freya went on to score our 6th too, ensuring she had scored a hat trick in this game – she has adapted brilliantly to her new position of Left Wing on this tour and has been our highest goal scorer too, well done! A great result for the girls, well played all!

Players of the match = Georgia RS & Freya H.
DLB & LRF

U13A Netball v Notre Dam A, Dublin – Saturday 24th October, Won 22 – 2.

This was an experiment, as we have not played netball for a good few months, but thought we would give it a go! Notre Dam were a tall, solid side, but lacked the same match experience as us. Our shooters – Poppy M and Georgie H soon regained their form, shooting impressively and working well together in the D. Nancy J and Georgia RS passed the ball effectively, with some superb passes into the D. The entire team marked superbly and worked hard to win possession of the ball. Emily GP, Millie C and Charlotte P timed their interceptions well in defence and switched from defence to attack mode quickly. By half time we were totally dominating play and were 12 – 0 up.

Mrs B swapped everyone around at half time and it is testament to the skill, determination and game confidence of these girls that they played just as well in these new, alien positions as their usual ones. Things are looking good for next term Mrs Northcott!) Millie C and Emily GP soon got their scoring heads on, as our new shooters and moved around the D impressively. Our final score was 22-2, with Notre Dam scoring a couple in this half too. A great atmosphere and fun game enjoyed by lots and lots of spectators. Thanks for all your support touring parents!
Player of the Match = Nancy John, well played! DLB & LRF



Under 13B Netball v Notre Dam B, Dublin – Saturday 24th October, Won 13 – 0.

After watching the As game, the Bs were ready for some netball action too and got off to a fine start. We had borrowed Annie GP (an under 11) to make up numbers and she relished the opportunity to play. Freya H shot well, Jemima W showed good fitness as Centre and her passing was super. Lydia F timed her interceptions superbly and marked her opponent very tightly. Grace B also made good interceptions, not allowing the Notre Dam attack anywhere near the D. At half time we were 9 – 0 up, so once again we swapped the positions. The mix up made for entertaining watching and the girls had a giggle, but still our goals kept coming, with us finishing off 13 – 0 up.
Well played everyone! Player of the match = Lydia Fitzsimons.

DLB & LRF



Visit to Croke Park

We were lucky enough to be given a tour of Croke Park, home of Hurling, Gaelic Football and temporarily Irish Rugby. The 4th largest stadium in Europe, seating upwards of 83000 people provided an opportunity for the pupils to see the changing rooms where the England rugby team were on their last visit and where the Australian team will be in the next couple of weeks. They learned some of the history of Gaelic sport and had the chance to try their hand at kicking a Gaelic football and hitting a sluiter (hurling ball) with a Hurley – some with more success than others!




U13 XV v Seapoint Won 17-0

This was a phoenix style rise from the ashes of the previous days demoralising capitulation. This the first experience of the team under a floodlit pitch, which added to the atmosphere. The boys started slowly and rebutted all early attempts to batter through our defences with excellent coordinated tackling.

Alfred H began our attack by making some excellent sorties through the opposition pack. The whole team had managed to lift their defensive capabilities and Dominic A made some thumping tackles on the opposition forwards.

Although we struggled to ruck efficiently and secure tidy ball, when successful Charles B used it to good effect. Rufus L was the first to successfully break through the line gaining some massive ground. Celebrity centre, Seth A, enjoyed his outing as a back and really began to flourish, hitting the ball at full speed. With pupils completing successive phases to put us well into the opposition half, Rufus was finally able to slip batter through our first try, although the angle of this proved to challenging for the boot of Ollie N in conversion.

Serious defence was now required as Seapoint sought to retaliate in kind and the tackle count accelerated and numerous penalties made an equaliser seem ever more likely. Anselm’s players responded to this, by plunging themselves into their tackling, with some legendary work from Rufus. Seth A put down a try, which was sadly disallowed.

As the second half began Anselms’s began to exert their superior power and Ollie N made a blinding run to put in a 60m try. The boys were now fairly ahead of the game and camped out the remaining minutes in the opposition 22, eventually providing the opportunity for Rufus to put over a try which Ollie smartly converted.

Everyone rounded off the evening at ‘The Hard Rock Café’, where delicious food was accompanied with great food. Dublin on a Friday night was an eye opening experience for the S. Anselm’s pupils and several of the boys enjoyed some of the sights!



U13 XV v Ashbourne Rugby Club

Won 36-17

Tries: 5 x Harry R-S, 1 x Monty

The final match of the tour was a tremendous outing despite the testing weather conditions. With Anselm’s gaining an early lead, with successive tries from Harry. Alfred was fully fired up and really battering beyond his weight at his feisty best.

It was a troublesome game for kicking, with the rules of Irish rugby prohibiting kicking except from your own 22. It proved to be far safer to run the ball to safety and this was achieved with great success on a number of occasions with the likes of Freddie and Rufus consistently breaking the gain line. Defence in the first half was truly awesome, with Toby S dealing out some crunching tackles at try saving moments.

Harry was clearly having the game of his life, putting over a series of 5 tries. Monty was the lucky recipient of a failure to clear from the opposition try line which he cleanly placed beneath the posts.

The end result was a well earned, legendary victory. The hosting club were extremely hospitable and made both the boys and girls teams very welcome, finishing the sporting side of the tour on a real high note.

The players then adjourned for a visit to ‘Gourmet Burger’, where they enjoyed a great atmosphere and a superb supper.