Lupiac Tour, France May 2019

Lupiac Tour, France May 2019

Saturday 11 May 2019, 12:31
Monday 13 May 2019, 13:31
Philip Huckin
Share via
FacebookTwitter
https://www.ohrfc.co.uk/calend

What a tour. Tip of the hat has to go to Skip Petherick for pulling off another masterclass of tour organization!

From the first OH Tour I embarked on last summer to Argentina & Uruguay, I knew this club was exceptionally proud of its touring pedigree. Glad this one lived up to expectations and more!

Off we embarked on a tour to a part of France the majority of us wouldn't have heard of before. Toulouse? Toulon? Castres? All household names as far as French rugby goes.
Lupiac? Sounds more like a made up name for a wine someone may throw a gamblers investment on. Nonetheless the images we had seen of 'Le Chateau et Le Lac' had wet the appetite sufficiently to heighten excitement.

So... Coffees chinned, through Gatwick we went. Naturally some keen 'Tour Freshers' made the schoolboy error of going through security solo, missing the ceremonious distribution of tour jerseys/stash happened - not sure about you guys, but this made me feel like a kid before Christmas day. This years jersey certainly didn't disappoint - a classic collar with old fashioned maroon and white stripes, which to some would evoke memories of classic OH kits through the years that you see on the clubhouse walls.
On arrival in Toulouse, and after a classic game of pitch Hominic Diggins’s phone, we were told Chateau Lacoste was apprx an hour off. A recurring theme starts here - over 2 hours later, we arrived at said destination.

Now to commence our 'warm weather' training camp, I think quite a few set their sights in the lake early. Off we went down the steep hill, past the horses that would have likely ended up either on someones dinner plate later on or on the shelves at Tesco. Upon arrival at the lake, Aussie Tim laid down the instructions for swim races... Off the 'Tour Freshers' went first, Matt “Snacks” Williamson storming ahead to win at a canter. Just need him running that fast again on the field? As for the 'seasoned tourists' race, Sean Davies seemed to enjoy it so much he went for another length of the lake... Not quite as spectacular as the swan dive out in Argentina straight into the puddle under the posts. Dare say we could say we used said swim as a gentle session in preparation for the game Friday.

Further game prep & training took place in the adopted cricket nets otherwise called the marquee out the back. A deck chair becoming a make-shift wicket, with a stick out the woods acting as a bat. Improvisation at its finest. Figgy Pudding reminded us for the umpteenth time that he played cricket with someone famous, before sending said ball into the woods. Otherwise there were more ducks than what we saw around the dinner table later on in the weekend… needless to say we are a better rugby players than we are cricketers, "who would have thunk it".

Onto game day. Amid the tense wait all day on selection news, we assembled under the marquee outside. Almost a bit like the scene on the Lions documentary... Team announced, expectations set as we were aptly reminded that this tour is about putting the club on the map in the best possible manner as well as knowing full well that the oppo would be very up for a game against a British touring team. Not to mention that Toulouse, as we all know is a rugby hot-bed, reinforced by driving past Top-14 outfits stadium en route.
"This is a tour, not a holiday". Peter Clarke, May 2nd 2019.

Through to the dressing rooms, where TUC greeted us with EU flags sellotaped to the wall to 'welcome’ us (At this rate to be fair the UK will still be a part of the EU by the time OH embarks on our next tour). Out to our warm ups and the backs were guided through some of Clarkey's ever creative ideas for set play moves, whilst Higgins drilled the forwards line-out. Could hear plenty of the works 'mate, get f......g excited'. Meanwhile the backs motto was simply 'Joue'.
Our team runs were slick, directed by Aussie Tim from the cockpit. As I mentioned in my previous report, I think that despite a few new combinations coming together for the game people know our patterns and calls. This is indicative both of the 'one club' mentality that Jevs, as skip personifies, as well as the smart rugby the club prides itself on. Everyone (who was fit) got fair game time as well, another part of how this club is special.

As we kicked off, OH had plenty of half breaks with a few notable hard carries from Potter making notable yardage. The likes of Reaksey, Max KH and James Boden in particular were constantly putting their hands up to get us over the gain line from our 'white' and 'black' plays. Fair play the opposition, they were a handy outfit. Very quick over the ground at breakdown situations, well worked line-outs (even compared to JB's laser guided darts) and some genuine flair in their backs. Some strong defensive work from Jack Brown, Felix & Aussie Tim in particular stopped their main runners getting going. Something I think we can be particularly pleased with was the balls to attack from deep, Wiwl & Sammy Hyne putting our 'speedsters' such as the Davies twins, Parker & Ed Boden into space to really test them. OK some chances may have gone begging, but we were definitely in control for the majority of the game.
First points to OH from try machine Nick Van Lierde, using his explosive pace to race over.

There was a period they looked particularly dangerous after they broke not only Tim Parkers tooth but also through the middle to score. This was a game where I thought our collective game management came through. There was one particular dangerous wide break they made when Tim “Black" McCarthy & Tim “Irish” Rozier covered across well.
Whole thing about 15 leaders on the pitch at any time, thats what we showed. OK the ref (who I thought had a good game BTW) allowed leniency in terms of higher tackles, breakdown disruption ( which made hard work for Hammer and Figgy), overall we reacted well. Second half saw further nice breaks notably from Brawny and Todders from nice offloading where we were unlucky not to capitalize, whilst Henry Davies made a notable break from Hammers standard 'white' option. Didn't score 2 tries though. Must have been politics stopping him crossing the white-wash.
Jevs scored an opportunistic force-over try showing his raw strength, cheekily slotting the conversion himself a swell. 3rd try was Sammy Hyne dancing his way over with characteristic elusive running to add to a strong game with making the right decisions of when to give and when to straighten and give us a 'go forward' platform. Its a shame, but after the TUC forwards took a look at our formidable front row, they opted for uncontested scrums. I'd have liked to have seen how their scrum would handle our Rob Airdrie, Max KH, Dom Higgins, Jevs and Joey Botwright, with some strong second rows supporting.

OH held on for a memorable 21-7 win to bring home.

Hats off to Bison & Luke Davies playing through injury worries ankle & foot (possibly back this time as well…) respectively, and great to see Hugo Lough back from long term injury!

Hats off to TUC for their hospitality after the game, cracking company in a great clubhouse. Nice cold frothy jars, and their food was by far the best we had on tour. They didn't even frown at me making myself a sausage & chip butty. Our late comers also joined the party, sadly with no further games to play as our opposition for Sunday unfortunately pulled out.

Saturday, whilst still feeling the generous post game hospitality from TUC we ventured off on a wine tour. Come on, its nigh on impossible to tour South France without doing a wine tour ? In the scenic surrounds, we wandered around the vineyard then ventured back up to the cellars. After Cpt Higgins engaged in a lengthly conversation and numerous questions with our tour guide, Francois proving to be our ever-reliable interpreter we finally moved on to some actual wine tasting. Think all I gathered is that I should really start investing in fine wines! The 3 course lunch wasn't bad either. After an afternoon of quite literally getting a taste for the culture of Southern France fresh from the vineyard in eye-shot, thanks to our generous hosts who's family business likely thanked us for our custom that afternoon before we ventured off to the local town Bassoues. Francois claimed this was a 20 odd minute walk? Pfffft. Thankfully he came scooting over in his nice sexy Audi to do lift shuttles as we walked through the woods. Think his sense of geography & travel logistics proved similar to Diane Abbott's grasp of mathematics. Lovely bloke though, and I envy his pad in a picturesque part of the world as Bassoues. Think unspoiled medieval town centre, set in beautiful rolling hills. Only instagram without a filter could do it semi-justice. Think I may invest in a holiday home out there in me and Skips joint-venture.

Without a game on the Sunday, we went off to watch Bassoues in a regional play-off game. We were told this was “about an hour" up the road, well after we traversed the French country side for several hours (no fewer than 4.5 hours) we finally reached our destination. We watched what was an exciting game with a very excitable local crowd. The sound was literally defining (i.e the horns). Not to mention an idyllic location for a rugby club, set in the shadows of the Pyrenees with a grandstand and ample outdoor bar space to boot. The owners of the vineyards son was also playing, handy back row forward in the line outs and round the park. Francois seemed delighted to see us again, and was obviously pleased as his beloved club ran out comfortable winners. As in the spirit of touring, Bassoues were more than happy to welcome us to join their on-pitch celebrations and post match photo which you can find on instagram @ohrfc. Putting the club on the map, making freinds on tour and all...
Whilst Bassoues deservedly all went straight to the bar, we proceeded to run a 'drop kick' competition. If anything, it should have been recorded for Soccer AM purely for comic purposes based on most of our efforts. This has the notable exception of Sammy Hyne though, who strolled 35-40 yards out, pint in hand and casually slotted it over. If only we were all so good at rugby...

In my post game discussion with Francois, this gave me a real education to the rugby culture we went across to experience. The fact that they train twice a week, despite not paying players is testament to their commitment and passion for their club. Interestingly the majority of the team are either farmers or vineyard workers, hence training only commences once the sun goes down as most their players need every daylight minute for their livelihoods. Definitely raised an eyebrow, and hats off to them.
Interesting verdict on the post game fracas we witnessed, handbags flying from Francois to come. "Yeah, I like it that our guys get stuck in"... Love it.

Great relationships were forged celebrating the Bassoues victory at the local club pub, luckily it was only “about an hour” from the grounds. The celebrations and local pub meal were a wonderful way to round out the final evening of the tour.

As a concluding note, I think Davey Taylor / Taylor David would be very proud of how we all put the club on the map.
Who wants to pay Francois a surprise visit some stage? I'm in. Lets get back out there double time. I am sure Chateau Lacoste would welcome us back with open arms...

Tour memories & OH love,

El Hamero

Further reading
This is a past event