UNDER 11’s LILLE TOUR REPORT
28th – 29th April 2001
Bright and early on the morn of the 28th a fine collection of prime British youth gathered at the Rugby club to embark on a voyage of discovery to foreign climes, unfortunately the car park was locked, so we had to relocate to Withdean. We were soon underway heading for Lille, on a fine chartered Brighton and Hove coach nineteen players supported by a motley crew of parents, coaches and booze cruisers bemoaning the passing of duty free shopping.
The ferry crossing provided an interesting diversion the kids off to the onboard amusement arcade the adults to the bar for a "well earned" spot of refreshment. A cleverly worked plan by Jeff Miles to leave his son Bob on the ferry was foiled when the brave Mr Wicks stormed the vessel and returned with the missing youth in tow. Steve Dunnill was spotted carrying a large case of lager onto the bus; well it would be nearly an hour before we reached Lille.
Due to the enormity of the task ahead and the dedication of the U11 coaches, it was decided the boys’ skills could be honed with some educational rugby videos. We were then treated to Micky Skinner extolling the virtues of "Fat Boys" and the irrepressible Brian Moore on the finer points of "quick hands", both of these superb tapes were lapped up by the players.
Finally we arrived at our destination the fantastic facilities of LUC (Lille Universite Club) where we were treated by our hosts to some fantastic French Cuisine, Jambon et Pomme Frites I think it was called - I must write off for the recipe.
After lunch and check in at the Ibis Hotel we were off for our training session. So, suitably attired in club tracksuits and full kit and carrying boots we were led by our hosts to a square in the centre of Lille. Where France Telecom had carpeted the entire squares in green and
erected a bouncy castle school of rugby. (click here to see) Not quite what we were expecting!! In the middle of the square was a very small pitch where teams of 3 were playing tag rugby. Once the shock of the total lack of grass had worn off the boys took to these unusual facilities with gusto and spent an enjoyable couple of hours of fairground rugby (click here to see). This was then supplemented by some leggy lovelies dancing on stage which proved a big hit with the dads but prompted some of the ladies to suggest that we adjourn to an adjacent bar to contemplate the levels of British corporate involvement in youth rugby. Many of the dads were torn, as it was not possible to view the stage from the bar selected!!Later that afternoon missing the smell of real grass a proper training session was organised to help the team acclimatise to the local conditions. Others chose to go on a cultural diversion and take in the sights of the city and found themselves in the middle of a local wedding reception! One further intrepid party of adventurers took 3 hours (courtesy of B & H coaches) to reach supermarket which was in fact only 5 minutes away, where some fine examples of local agriculture was purchased by Lou Turner.
That night it was back to our hosts club for more refreshment and an excellent buffet supper.
An early start on Sunday took us back to the Lille Universite Rugby Club for our games. The tournament we had set out for had in fact been rained off the previous Thursday (so we are not alone with weather problems) but it was a gloriously sunny day we found ourselves enjoying at LUC. We were to be playing a round robin against Lille and Tourcoin
and true to style because of the extra boys available a Barbarians team was formed.The boys started well in their first match against Lille although it took a little while to adapt to the local rules. At half time it was all square thanks to some resolute defending by Brighton. The boys were delighted to discover, that under French rules hand offs were allowed, although this enthusiasm was tempered when it was highlighted that in order to hand off you needed to be in possession first, a feature noticeable by its absence in the first half! Again the second half started well until a penalty was conceded and a try scored from the ensuing play. Interestingly, after scoring the team who score restart with the kick thereby handing possession back to the opponents. Ultimately we lost this opener 2 - 0 basically because of a couple of silly errors and our inability to catch the high ball.
The subsequent matches followed a similar pattern with our lads gradually coming more into their own and displaying some fine skills and good aggression but with little reward, losing the remainder of our games. If only these tournaments included a few more games we would really come into our own as we always save the best until last. One small highlight came in the form of a superb individual try scored by Brighton’s Steve Dean whilst playing for the Barbarian side, well done Steve let’s see more of that next year for the right team!
The mornings play was rounded off by more hospitality from our hosts at the club house where short thank you addresses were made by Gerry and our host Andre (Dede) Thevenon
who promised to return the compliment with a visit to Brighton. The players thanked the coaches with 3 rousing cheers for their efforts and due to the cancelled tournament we were able to wend our weary way home a little earlier than planned.The Journey home was punctuated by more entertaining videos and the boys were pressed ganged into some fine renditions of some old favourites which they rounded off with there own classic "Who let the Frogs Out". Steve Dunnill made a presentation to the "Top Tourist" this went to Lou Turner for her undoubted devotion to the cause she was presented with an "Organic Trophy" which had to be seen to be believed.
All in all a very successful first outing and we look forward to more adventures in the future. Many thanks to all those people who gave of their time and efforts to ensure the success of this trip.
More pictures in the team Gallery