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Monday 20 April, 2009
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Postcards from the Cape
Diary of the Senior Training Camp in South Africa
Season 2008-2009
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Bula to you all - Apo Satala, Kenasi Maritiro, Maciu Saulailai, Jack
Prasad, Malakai Magnus, Gus Qasevakatini (a Fijian farewell)
Ni sa bula vinaka na taci keitou vakacakacaka ni veiqaravi tiko ena buca ni valu kei na vevanua tale eso. Keitou via talanoataka ga yani vakalekaleka na bula ni qito rakavi e na mataivalu ni bolatagane.
Keimami lewe ruasagavulu ka walu kece tiko na lewena tikko na timi oqo, ka keitou lewe ono tiko na na gone ni viti. Taucoko sara vakalevu na neimami veimaliwai, veikauwaitaki, kei na duavata ena loma ni timi oqo.
E na gauna oqo e toso vinaka sara tiko na neimami vakaukuwa yago e South Africa, ka ratou nanuma tu kina nai vakalesilesi me bau bau dua nai talanoa ka me volai e na noda vosa. Toso vinaka sara na na neitou qito ka keitou qaqa kece ena neitou qito sa oti.
Keimami sa vakanamata tu ena vo ni qito sat u e matada ka vakabibi na Inter-service, ni na qaravi sara vaka vinaka, ka keitou kerea kina na nomuni veinanumi ena masu kei na veitokoni ena loma ni rara ni qito. Keimami sa vakanuinui vinaka tale tuga yani ni na qaravi vinaka tiko nai tavi ena veivanua ni cakacaka ni veiqaravi voli kina. Me qai noda vata na veivakalougatataki ni tamada sa tiko mai lomalagi. Ni tei moce mada.
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Tuesday 8th April - Andy Price
After a relaxing few days off, it was back to hard training for the squad on Saturday 4th April. We have managed to get in 3 sessions a day in glorious weather, using world class facilities.
The coaching staff have been pleased with the progress of the team and their will and want to learn and improve. The players have done lots of analysis in their own time (on themselves and our opposition) with analyst Marty Carrahar. The sessions have been constructive and technical, but as we approach crunch time for the Inter-Service team selection, the sessions have become more tense and physical. Competition for places has been fierce, which makes selection difficult.
We believe we have got it right to beat a strong Villager RFC team and we are all looking forward the challenge.
Final selection for the first Inter-Services game against
the RAF will be done on Thursday and announced on Friday.
That team will then get 2 sessions in on Friday before
flying back to the UK on Friday night.
I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank all of our followers and supporters all over the world (especially our colleagues on Operations) for all the messages I have received whilst we have been in South Africa. They are very much appreciated by us all.
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| Thursday 2nd April - Spier Vineyard and Cheetah Sanctuary - Will Gough
Spier on the way to Stellenbosch provided the setting for the squad's cultural day trip after beating Stellenbosch the night before. The beautifully manicured grounds are set around a stunning lake with restaurant and picnic areas on the banks. |
The first and most important matter to solve was the team’s hunger
and so we sat down to feast on local fish, meats and all
manner of wonderful fruits and vegetables. It was cooked
in front of you and served with a backdrop of live music
and singing providing a pleasant and relaxing atmosphere.
The staff also painted the teams faces with local tribal
designs though Kenasi Maritiro probably wishes they hadn’t
bothered as he spent the rest of the day with a white
goaty beard, looking less than menacing! |
 The boys with painted faces |
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Once stomachs had been sufficiently filled and thirsts quenched the boys moved on to look at some of the cheetahs that are bred there. For a small fee you could go into the enclosures and have your picture taken with the cheetahs and pat the cubs. A few of the lads took the opportunity to strike their best poses and attempt to look tough in front of the wild cats but failed miserably, notably Ian (guns) Martin!
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Ian Martin is so interesting, he even put the cheetah
to sleep |
The boys relaxing, enjoying the African scenery |
It was a beautiful day and a fine day for wine tasting. From posing with cheetahs it was on to sampling the local vino. Mark Lee, our squad sommelier slurped and spat and came to the conclusion that the local pinotage was easiest on the palate. This education in wine and wild animals provided the team with a well deserved respite from rugby after Wednesday nights great victory over Stellenbosch and maybe the Wine Society will get a few more members on our return to the UK!. |
Wednesday 1st April - After the Stellenbosch match
The Army remain unbeaten this season when they beat Stellenbosch University
34 pts to 29 pts.
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 A happy dressing room - L to R - Chris Scarf, Ben Hughes and Mal Roberts |
The boys celebrating - L to R - Malakai Magnus and Jack
Prasad (Malakai scored two tries and Jack one) |
Tuesday 31st March - Tom Chennell
The sun was blazing again for another good days training. We arrived at the Cricket Club, where the forwards then went away to do lineout work on the training park, whilst the backs did video analysis and a whiteboard session. This took us up to our first recovery session with an hour break.
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 Training gets physical |
 Lineout practice in the cool of the day |
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For the second session we were all back out, with a game of rugby quick cricket for our warm up. Conditioner Chris Williams keeps us on our toes and we have lots of fun games, even if the umpire (Byron Cordy) shows his forwards loyalty!! We then moved on to a kicking game, refereed by head coach Andy Price, oh what a laugh!! This was more of a relaxing session for the lads and well deserved too.
The afternoon was straight back into the serious stuff, with our final training session before our match on Wednesday, a good warm up lead us into our last team run. All the lads performed well and it was all looking good for the game on Wednesday night.
After a good break from the days training, we all then met up later on in the evening to go out for a team meal. The food here in SA is great and Team Manager Eddie Cullen ensures we are well looked after, after Price, Brown and Fanning have had their fun with us. Morale is high, even if we are all a bit tense as competition for places grows and we all are a bit anxious.
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Team meal - the night before the first game
 The food in SA is full of protein - an anonymous squad member tucks into a kilo of beef fillet!!
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Monday 30th March - Tom Chennell
Another good night sleep at the Vineyard Hotel meant we were all fresh and recovered for day two of training. Breakfast as usual which was amazing; fruit, cooked breakfast, meats, croissants, you name, you can have it, before we left to travel to the Western Province Cricket Club for training.
 Vineyard Hotel
On arriving to the club we had 30 mins to prep ourselves for training.
The first session started at 09.30. The backs and the
forwards split down, forwards did some live scrumaging
work while the backs worked on return kick and attack
options. After a 45min session we were back up to the
pool for recovery and relaxation and a massage.
Head Coach - Andy Price - Gives words of wisdom
 Jack Prasad - Enjoying the SA sunshine
 Reaching great heights - Line out in the shadow of the mountain - Cape Town
We were then back on the training field at 11.30 where
the team rejoined to work on the return kick and attack
options obviously this time having the whole team meant
it was more realistic and gave us the opportunity to work
on this as well as the defensive chase. Then it was lunch,
a nice meal in the Cricket Club gave us all plenty of
energy to recover from the two morning sessions and perform
well in the afternoon session.
14.30 arrived and we were back out, after a good warm up we went straight in to a full contact team run, incorporating all the learning points from the last two days. Head Coach (Andy Price) was happy (which is a rare occurrence) and this put a smile on all the players' faces, things were going well. After a good days training, we were back to the pool for recovery in the 30 degree heat before getting on the bus, having a well deserved ice cream for the journey back to the hotel.
 Relaxing in the pool |
Second day of training
 Training HQ - Western Province Cricket Club |
Even the warm up is physical
 Defence Coach - Sean Fanning explains to the boys
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 'The Brains Trust' - Coaches - Sean Fanning and Chris Brown |
 Its not all hard work - The valley boys find their local (Byron Cordy and Chris Scarf) |
First day of training - Army Skipper - Mark Lee
The Army Rugby team set off from Heathrow to Cape Town SA, on the back of a morale boosting 18 - 12 victory over Worcester.
 Mark Lee - Recovering between sessions at WPCC
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The difficulties of 11 hour flight were overcame by the use of the SKINS provided by one of the team's sponsors and top quality advice from Chris Williams (Strength & Conditioning Coach) and the very experienced, well travelled physio team (Gareth Thomas & Sue Fowler).
With 40 members of the travelling team here, one of the key aspects was getting the rooming list right. The wylie team of Andy Price (head coach) and Eddie Cullen (team manager) kept the boys sweating for several hours before announcing who we would spend the next 2 weeks with. The joy of avoiding assistant manager, Daz Percy's snoring was shared by all the players and taken firmly on the chin by his colleague and biggest member of the team, Byron Cordy!!
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A well planned structured training programme began with a teal cool down in the Vineyard Hotel pool, followed by a good nights sleep. With one eye firmly open from Tom Hughes who is sharing with Chris Budgen.
The new hotel offers a great environment to recover from the rigours of a hard days training and the veranda coffee club, lead by Ben Hughes has allowed for several hours of tactical planning off the pitch!!
The weather allows for good training environment and coupled with the facilities at Western Province Cricket Club and the attitude of the players the first match Vs Stellenbosch University is firmly in our sights.
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 Ceri Cummings - Goal kicking practice |
 Melvyn Lewis wants the ball - Anne Marie Birmingham, Sue Fowler, Byron Cordy and the Coach look on |
 Ian Martin, taking in some Twenty-20 cricket at the foot of Table Mountain - Relaxing after training at Western Province Cricket Club |
The Boys around the the pool |
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