Rugby Colts Tour to
Hereford, 1975

The Colts' tour in 1975 was to Herefordshire, and a doughty squad of 17 boys, much strengthened by the inclusion of Searle and Hill from the 3rd Year, set out on a Sunday morning in mini-bus and staff car.

The party was accommodated in a private hotel in Hereford city, which was well-appointed and proved to be a useful centre for developing team spirit as well as proving to be a useful base from which to launch evening "strolls".

The first match was played agains the Bishop of Bluecoat's School, Tupsley. The team walked to the school from the Hotel, ate a superb school lunch, and narrowly lost the game 14-11 after Grossman had been injured and left the field. The walk back to the Hotel was a glum affair.

On Tuesday morning, after spending some free time in the city centre, we set off in the mini-bus on a much shorter journey to Hereford High School, who had soundly beaten our previous opponents. After a warm reception, excellent school meal and more free time in the city, the boys set out for the rugby pitches bordering the River Wye.

The match was played in an excellent spirit, neither side gaining any clear advantage, until a penalty in the last minute was converted by Hereford High School to make the score 8-11 in their favour. There was just time to kick-off, and from the ensuing ruck, the ball was moved to the three-quarter line where Hicks, covered by three men, cleverly chipped the ball through for Wignall to score in the corner. This try was converted and St. Nicholas had won by 14-11.

Wednesday was a rest-day (from Rugby) and the morning was spent on an "educational visit" to a local factory. It was generally agreed that the visit was very boring indeed, and that the boredom was best relieved by anticipating the scheduled visit to Newent Falconry in the afternoon.

The journey to Newent was broken by a walk at Symonds Yat and lunch at Ross-on-Wye. When the group finally arrived at Newent, it was agreed that the visit was a great success despite the freezing weather. A demonstration of Falcon hunting was mounted on our behalf, and it was amusing to see certain larger members of the party falling from the grandstand seats when falcons swooped to within inches of their heads.

The last day of the tour was to be spent travelling to Leominster, playing the Minster School and returning to Northwood. This was all done in grand style, in that St. Nicholas chalked up their finest win of the season, 29-7, played in a gale-force wind. Hicks kept the team in the game with intelligent positioning against the wind in the first half, and in the second half the superior strength of the forwards, and fine attacking play by the backs won the game, and wound up the tour very successfully. Colours ties were exchanged with the opposition at the start of every match, and these were awarded to the best St. Nicholas player on each occasion. Hicks was awarded the Bishop's tie, Hudspeth the High School tie, and Searle the Minster School tie. Having won 2 out of 3 of their tour matches, the Colts team 1975 can be well pleased with themselves, and credit must go to the team captain, Hudspeth, for his determination and qualities of leadership.

Tour party: Hudspeth, Solis, Darrell, Wignall, Jackson, Grossman, Hicks, Phillips, Searle, Hill, Jackson, Hoare, Burdett, Kendall, Talbott, Yuill, Hills. Staff: Mr. Taylor and Mr. Hawley.

I. D. Hudspeth A. R. Taylor