New Zealand Days Seven and Eight

We arrived at Wesley College on Thursday morning and went straight into our Powhiri in the chapel. This being our third welcome (after two at the Marae), we thought we knew what was ahead and so were quite relaxed - a bit of singing, some speeches, followed by some nose to nose action (officially known as the 'hongi'!). However, what we got was unanimously agreed to be the most incredible experience of the tour so far, and which is probably something that we will all never forget for the rest of our lives. Wesley College put on the most powerful, emotional, and incredibly loud, demonstration of singing and chanting that any of us have ever heard. The chapel was filled to the brim with boys and girls singing their absolute hearts out, and they are obviously extremely proud of their traditions and culture. We listened with amazement, and a certain amount of shock, at what we were witnessing. There were certainly a few teary eyes (from the staff at least), by the end. We treated them to our own version of 'Swing Low', which they were kind enough to say was the best singing performance of any of the three schools they have recently hosted. When Wesley then did their own version of Swing Low, the Reverend announced that although we did well, we definitely took second place in this particular contest! This has really been the theme of our stay here - everyone is incredibly warm and friendly, and they could not have done anymore to make us feel at home, but at the end of the day, Wesley are hugely competitive and they want to win!

Cultural Exchange
Tonight we had a Cultural Exchange and Presentation in the Chapel. To try to put into words the atmosphere is really impossible - I am sure one of the first things you will here about it the singing and chanting that went on tonight, even from our very own students! Plenty of filming was done so you MUST all make sure you see some of the footage. Below are some photos - unfortunately videos will not upload but we will make sure what we filmed tonight is available when we get back! Once again our students did Caterham very proud!

Awards
The following player of the match awards were decided by the Wesley College players:

Lacrosse - Lucy Blackwell

Rugby - 1st XV: Henry Mundell
             2nd XV : Kenji Kinoshita

Hockey - Tom Chatfield

Netball - 1st VII: Helena Buckles
              2nd VII: Emily Murphy

Here are the match reports for yesterday and today's sport, which have been written by the players themselves.

Cats On Tour
Lacrosse v Diocesan School
On arrival, we were amazed by the facilities Diocesan school had to offer, accommodating for an impressive range of sports including skiing and waterpolo. Despite arriving whilst the girls were in lessons, were we greeted to great hospitality, which was much appreciated. Although the team were noticeably tired from previous matches and the hectic travel schedule, we managed to pick ourselves back up to full strength. We returned to Wesley feeling very proud of our 18-2 win!
Special mention must go to Issie McMillan and Francie Payne, whose aggression and speed ensured that the ball was continuously turned over in the defence. Moreover, the passing between attackers Bethan Sanderson and Jess Davidson around goal contributed greatly to the impressive scoreline. Overall, the girls played a great game and fully deserved the high score achieved.
Georgia Feldmanis and Bethan Morgan

Rugby - 2nd XV v Wesley College U15/3rds/some 2nds!

This fixture was approached with much trepidation as the Wesley boys are, no kidding, the size of mountains! Their smiles are as wide as most Caterham boys waists, but there is a glint in the eye that says "if I want to, I can".

These nerves were not helped by our first taste of the Wesley Haka. Quite a sight.
This was reflected in a gutsy but sporadic first five minutes in which we Cats conceded just the one try. However, with a couple of line breaks from the Cats back line, confidence grew that we might be able to compete.
A compelling 10 minutes followed with the Wesley boys attacking with their expansive game and large, powerful players, whilst Caterham braved the onslaught, but held defensive form.
Unfortunately, the composure could not last the test of time and despite brave tackling, special mention here to Greg Kite, the gaps appeared and in true New Zealand style the ball winged its way in that direction and a few more tried followed before the end of the half.
The second half saw even larger players walk onto the field! Some of the 2nd XV fancied a piece of the action. With size and skill, the Wesley attack was even more formidable and the Ctas defense could not predict, pre-empt or prevent the scragged, broken down, fast and furious rugby that this nation is famous for.
The final scoreline must have been approaching 60-0, but the Cats boys were able to walk away proud in that they didn't give up, they did have half chances and they had done so against players the size of which they would not expect to see in the UK.

Mr Ware and Mr King with 15yr old Zac (who unfortunately for him, but fortunately for our boys, is injured!)

Hockey v Wesley College
As Wesley College do not really have a hockey team, we arrived at the sports/assembly hall uncertain of what we would face. We were greeted by the 1st XV rugby team! They held in their hands plastic ice-hockey sticks, and with no actual knowledge of hockey they nevertheless prepared for two 6 aside matches against us. With a few minutes practise and rule-learning, we took to the 'pitch'. The first match ended 5-3 to Caterham, with lots of skill, and some luck, from all of the players, in particular Charlie Hammond with a sharp hat-trick. The second match was another victory for Caterham, this time the score was 2-1, with Kenji scoring both. Although it was a surreal experience, the atmosphere and morale of the teams and the crowd was second to none and I doubt that the boys will ever forget it!
Harry Hopkins

                                    

Netball - 2nd VII v Wesley College
After watching the rugby yesterday and with the whole of Wesley College allowed out of lessons to come and watch the netball games, the team were feeling pretty nervous! The Wesley girls are an undefeated rugby team and so we knew it was going to be a very tough match. After a tense start, the Caterham girls relaxed and settled into the flow of the game, with some excellent mid-court play from Ellie Scott-Smith, who fought back strongly after having been pushed to the floor (and helped up again by her opponent!). Lauren Newland and Emily Murphy stepped up their defence to challenge both the Wesley shooters. Lucy Blackwell, Rachel Wright, Zoe Webb and Sophie Rennison were very quick in bringing the ball through the court to give the shooters opportunities to shoot. Charlotte Bradley and Georgia Sturm scored a goal each, and the final score was 2-14 to Wesley College. This final score does not fully reflect the game play and determination of all of the girls. They deserve a big well done for their superb efforts in what was a very tough match.
Zoe Webb

Netball - 1st VII v Wesley College
The 1st team walked into the sports hall with the whole of Wesley College filling one side of the hall, opposite a less full side of our Caterham supporters. As the starting whistle went off, the noise filled the hall and the match began - the atmosphere was unbelievable! After the first quarter, the Caterham girls had fought hard, however were down by three. During the second quarter, some excellent pressure from the defence (including some kangaroo-like jumps) and with not one shot missing by Jess and Helena, we managed to finish the quarter 15-13 up. The Wesley girls then fought back, with their extremely physical and feisty nature, to bring the game back into their favour. There were many strong challenges from both sides, with Issie McMillan especially stepping up to the Wesley girls' tough play. Some impressive long balls brought the ball down the court fast between Francie and Alayna, and the teamwork improved throughout the match. The final score of 22-31 toWesley shows how well the Caterham girls played, against a team who are at the end of their season when ours is only just beginning. This match has certainly made myself and the rest of the team excited for what we can achieve next season!
Daisy Hopkins

Rugby - 1st XV v Wesley College 3rds
After the previous day's game, this encounter had been billed as the showpiece. Referred to nearly 7 times so far as "The Wesley Premier Team", our boys were still had half a mind that the so-called "3rd XV" might actually be the best Wesley had!
However, true to their word, the 3rd XV did take to the field, and the stage was set for a good game.

Giving away a little less on the size front, but still with a considerable weight disadvantage Caterham aplied early pressure by the bucket load. In fact, Cats were camped in the Wesley half for the first ten minutes and winger Deji Ibuoye had two hald chances that the team couldn't quite finish off. A break away try after 10 minutes was a gut punch for the team who had been so dominant.
What followed was a close game for the next 70minutes. Caterham responded with yet more pressure, some promising line breaks and organised defensive patterns. This latter tactic, learnt from the match yesterday, meant that Caterham did not over commit in the rucks and enabled the midfield to put in the much needed two -man tackles. As a result of this strength, Caterham turned over a lot of ball, on one occasion allowing James Turner to make a break from just inside the opposition 22 and streak away to score a try under the posts. Henry Mundell did the conversion honours and the score was 7-5. Wesley don't do losing very well on the field and the tempo of the game upped itself once again. Scrummaging was tough work for the Caterham forwards, though the referee was true to the laws of the game and Caterham benefitted from several technical penalites (early hit or shove before the ball). Henry Mundell coninued to use this territory advantage to pin Wesley back.
The game was well balanced. Wesley scored another try to take the lead 10-7, unable to convert their tries.
A penalty kicked again by Hewnry Mundell pulled the scores level.
The pace of the game didn't let up and when Harvey New brushed off two tackles at fly-half to make a break in the Wesley defence the Caterham supporters held their breath to see from which direction the next hit may come. Harvey had other ideas and put his foot on the pedal, stretching out to score the try. 15-10 Caterham. Unfortunately, the conversion was deemed not to have gone over, leaving hearts in mouths.
Wesley are not rugby folk lore for nothing, and they managed to put in two more tries before the end of the game, bcutting it fine however, scoring the last with only a few minutes left on the clock.
The game ended at Wesley 20 Caterham 15.

A fantastic game of rugby in which the boys proved so much to themselves and their hosts. Another performance to be proud of, to remember and to learn from.