It all started so well with the advanced party arriving at our campsite in the Forest of Dean around lunchtime on the Friday. By 8pm all other tourists had arrived, cabins had been allocated & tents erected. An early night for all, well apart from the usual suspects, who continued to talk total rubbish until the wee small hours.

Saturday dawned far too early for some, however the short coach trip to Drybrook RFC was uneventful & even our resident nappy wearer managed without a toilet break. A three-way between Preston Grasshoppers, Drybrook & ourselves had been organised. The coach from Preston had left at 6am so it was no surprise when the parents emerged bleary eyed & immediately cracked open the beers. Not to be outdone the parents from Redingensians took advantage of a well stocked bar to top up the levels from the previous evening. This is where things began to go downhill. First a round of whiskies were purchased, slid down wonderfully, next a round of Raspberry Sambucas, which slipped down with difficulty…… At this point the parents of Drybrook were heard to comment “Blimey, they’re now drinking the Meths!” Other highlights of the morning include all the Tour Virgins from Grasshoppers being made to wear pink skirts during their matches & the refusal of the Grasshoppers coaches to take our resident Antipodean off of our hands. The lads played well, enjoyed themselves & looked great in their sparkling blue & white kit. Saturday night was the usual Fancy Dress / Court Session. Borat, Madonna & Bruno all made appearances. Fines included being a transsexual (Converting from a back to a forward during the season), claiming that the Court could have “Nothing on me” – a regular visitor to the Bench that evening, the camp Manager who dared to enter our enclave whilst Court was in session & various other trumped up, poorly defended charges. A not so early night followed the revelry & the usual suspects continued to talk total rubbish until the wee small hours…..

Sunday dawned FAR TOO EARLY for the trip to Ledbury RFC, we stopped after around 200 metres to allow our nappy wearer to get more comfortable. About 10 miles into the journey there was a “Huston we have a problem” moment when one of the resident WAGS let on that she’d left our kit back at the camp……… too late to turn back, no shops open to buy a new set of kit (As if that would happen!). The rest of the journey to Ledbury was spent letting her know that she had one thing to remember for the whole tour & she’d forgotten. Her son was so upset he was moving around the coach trying to find someone to adopt him; her husband spent his time moving around the coach to try & find a divorce lawyer. Luckily Ledbury were able to provide us with one of their spare sets of kit. Imagine the scene when we proud parents stood on the side line to see the lads running out in a kit at least three sizes to big, soaking wet & made of heavy duty cotton, oh how we laughed. Needless to say we were stuffed, however the (non alcoholic) drink off & singsong appeared to lift the lads spirit for the journey home. It goes without saying that the miscreant who forgot the kit spent an awful lot of time at the Bench during that evenings Court session. She was last seen crawling away muttering something along the line of “How can it be my fault? – HIC”

We’d just like to advise our readers that no children or animals were hurt in the making of this tour. As far as the rugby goes, we lost narrowly to Drybrook & Preston Grasshoppers. Then got stuffed by Ledbury for reasons that are clear above.