Hyde Rugby Week 2 update from New Zealand

on Aug 15 in Hyde Rugby, News tagged by Max

This is a quick news update from the fantastic Hyde Rugby Squad who are currently in NZ – please checkout their website at hyderugby.com for more great stories.

Anthony “Ant” Lewis- Week two was just as great as week 1. I played in my first two rugby games. One against a school called Massey and another against a school called Rossmini. They were good teams but unfortunately we lost both games. I played well and had the “hit of the game” in both games!

During the week, I visited North Harbour stadium and watched them practice. We took a tour of the offices and learned how their game analysis works. It was great! The fact that NO ONE can hide is amazing as there are four different angles at which the game is recorded. We also went to an after game party with a teammate who plays on the “1st fifteen.”

We also had a newspaper interview. It was cool. We sat and talked with the reporter for about 45 minutes about the people that made this trip possible and the main differences from our school and Rangitoto!

Afterwards we had a “photoshoot”. Well at least that’s what it felt like. The photographer took soooo many pictures. I also got to see my homestay mom play net ball! Boy was she awesome! That’s about it for week two. Looking forward to week three. More activities are planned which means more fun.

Tony Rogers- Week 2 brought along with it a heavy dose of rugby, rugby, and more rugby with a side of newspaper interviews and classic video games. We played two games against teams called Messy and Rosmini. Unfortunately we weren’t able to come away with the victory but you could see that the three Americans were making a huge difference on and off the field.

Later on in the week, we were interviewed by the North Shore Times and they also had us do a photo shoot for them. That night after the interview was by far my favorite because after school we all went over to Ant’s house and we found a Nintendo 64 just sitting in a box in the basement. We spent hours playing Mario, 007, and Star Wars. That night brought back so many childhood memories! Week two down, 3 more to go! I’m ready for some more rugby!

Antoine Johnson- With week 1 having gone by so fast, we took on week two of our trip at a slower pace enjoying the scenery of the landscape and the cordial welcomes by literally everyone we meet. We have all “settled down” more as you would expect by now.

We been playing rugby with the school; Rangitoto College, and the only one that plays their original position is Ant, Tony and I seemed to be more useful at wing! We recently had a game against Massey University and lost in a close one!

Taff from AUT gave us a camera to take pictures but the batteries were dead but we did take a lot of pictures. While on a tour around North Harbour stadium and we were actually allowed to run through the game tunnel. The trip is still fun and we’re still seeing new things everyday as well as new people.

Rangitoto College is huge! I don’t see the same person more than three times a day. This week will be the most memorable week for many reasons. One is the fact I lost my headphones for my iPod prior to the game. Two is the fact that we lost that game obviously. Last but not least is three, me losing my iPod after I found the headphones for the iPod! My friends told me to report it but the only problem is that I don’t know where I lost it at, and if I knew where then I’ll have it by now!

Either way, we’re having a great time. Taff acknowledged us about our “recovery packs” after training sessions and our new favourite snack; squiggle biscuits, Saleem and Pettiford (Hyde players who came last year) know about them. Some of the best parts about the experience thus far are listening to some of the local kids trying to talk like us, with our accent. It’s funny because I don’t think we sound like the way they say we sound but I can’t be the one to judge how we sound. It’s also funny when I have regular conversations with them, and you can see them misunderstanding everything you say but try to follow along. They’ll get it sooner or later, I’ll keep you updated!