After 2024's tour to the infamous Butlins Costa Rica, aka Bognor Regis, we decided to see how far we could push friendships by driving a million miles away to Somerset.

Once settled in our accommodation, our core coaches gathered for the pre-tour brief. It was to be a contest of fair rugby, rules to be obeyed, manners to be observed, and to focus on playing some great rugby, and of course, scoring tries. The Leicester Tigers’ presenter laid out the vision of fair play, ‘if a player displays a great passage of rugby, defeats four defenders then just knocks the ball forward by an inch on the try-line, the ref will award the try’. Awesome, let’s do this.

As the coaches retired to the bar for some last-minute planning, the boys headed off on their own adventures around the site. Thankfully and unlike the previous year, the first night passed without any serious injuries so we rolled into Saturday morning ready to take on the world.

Our two teams, the Chevrons and the Lions, had been perfectly balanced with pace, power, and pazazz, to give them both equally good chances to bring home some silverware! And the tour proved to be a tale of valour, victory, defeat, a well-fought draw, and clairvoyance.

After our joint training session at Butlins on Saturday morning, with the sun above our heads, both teams headed off to the pitches to see who wanted to go head-to-head with our U11s! With good, dry conditions, and nice wide pitches, it looked perfect for our style of rugby.

The Chevrons’ matches on day one started earlier than those of the Lions, and boosted by a rousing team talk, they took to the pitch where they faced new old rivals, Windsor, the opposition drawing the first points with a cheeky little try. This was quickly equaled as our captain put in an audible crunching tackle on one player, which took the sails out of the whole of Windsor. The boys then got to work, running in try after try and at 6-1, the ref asked the Windsor team if they'd had enough, but valiantly they shook their heads and promptly let in another try. Whistle gone, game over.

Up next was Chosen Hill, a little-known team from Gloucester, and still no idea why the hill was chosen. They too started off brightly, but pretty quickly, it was evident that the TJ firepower was too strong for the Chosen ones, their task to bring balance back to the force failed and the Chevrons won 6-1.

Up next came our first Northern Irish opposition of the weekend and determined to get maximum value out of their €9,00 flights over, the boys from Ballymena stepped up. It was a brutal contest with the lead switching between the teams. We thought we had won the game as we went 3-2 up, but in the last gasps of the game, they broke our line, and it ended 3-3. Thankfully, the abundance of charm and good will from the boys, the coaches, and the parents ensured we gained the extra “fair play” points to win the pool.

The Lions’ first match was against Wolverhampton, and ahead of the game a few nerves kicked in, and the boys seemed on edge. No need, as we started the first half confidently, running in tries at a rate of one per minute, and at 6-0, the referee asked the opposition if they wanted to continue, just before half time, which they did; Wolves rallied thereafter, only conceding a further 4 tries. With none conceded, 10-0 we gained the match points, and strong points based on the fair play rule; our coaches, parents, and most of all, our players, had done us proud.

With renewed confidence, the boys went into the second match with heads held high, against St Clear from Wales. The question of ‘who would win between a Lion and a Dragon’ is often pondered, and with that existential thought, up went the ball for all to find out. In the first 2-3 mins, the Lions ran a line that brought a tear to the coaches’ eyes. Coast to coast, brilliant handling, smooth passing, ending in one of vice captains getting over the line to get the first try. The valleys, however, produce tough, well drilled players, and they started to play their own game, which neutralised the Lions ability to run it out. After the second or third try over our line, our heads went down a little and an element of panic set in, despite the best of efforts of our captain. Defeat was inevitable in the final minutes, as the match ended 1-4. That answered the Lion/Dragon question, for now, at least.

Off the field, into the war tent, some tears of frustration and the agony of defeat (‘You lied to me’ led to Rassie Erasmus tactics kicking in; ‘you promised you were going to give your all’. It worked, as we headed into our next game, the last of the day against Huntington Stags; who would win between a Lion and a Stag? It was a good contest with some great early play from the Stags. This is what it’s all about, how you come back from defeat. The Lions were superb, picking themselves up, playing some fantastic, flowing rugby, leading to a great end to the day with a 6-1 victory.

With two strong wins, one defeat, and some great fair play from all parties, the Lions ended up as a close runner up in their day one pool.

We returned to Butlins on Saturday evening, buoyed by the efforts of all our players, and after showers, we dressed up as cops and robbers, with some interesting variations, including some old school beat bobbies, some George Michael-NYPD cops, a fair few prisoners, and a pirate, who tend to “rob”, even though some thought he was Poldark, from not so far away in Cornwall! The boys unwound in the arcade, returning to their parents when they were hungry or for a top-up of cash, with the exception of those who had been “gifted” their parents’ debit cards for the evening!

Sunday morning was a little cooler – and probably better for rugby – and after our (now usual) training session in the morning, it was the Lions’ turn to start the day, kicking off against unknown competition from Leicestershire, Oadby Wyggs. Even after a late night, the Lions’ roared, running in 8 tries, with a notable cross-kick to our captain for one of the tries, and some excellent displays of running rugby, our flying wingers showing the world how tackles should be made. This was against good opposition and with some periods of scrappy play, we conceded too many ‘free kicks’, six in total (noted by our top statistical coach), but our defence never faulted, and we finished the match without conceding. The day had started well, first points to the Lions.

Next up was another Welsh team, Carau Ely, and our nerves kicked in again, mostly amongst the coaches, but surely the team is more mature now after 4 matches? The captain looked strong, and marshalled his pride into starting positions, the growl of anticipation virtually audible. The game started, with some scrappy handling on our side, and another spate of free kicks going against us, but the Lions’ resolve was strong, as they ran in five tries, and conceded only one. The war wounds were starting to show, but the boys were ready for their final game of the day, and of their time in TJs’ minis!

Our last game saw us face Northern Irish competition, Dungannon, who also finished
a close runner-up in their day one pool, and we expected would be a strong team. The Lions were carrying some injuries but looked strong; some final, inspirational words from the coaches and off they go. A tough start, some missed tackles and a forward
pass, and we looked a little scrappy again. Too many free kicks conceded, decisions
seemingly going against us, but we managed to contain the opposition to go in at half-
time at 1-1, with a great try down the wing. The second half saw a great forward’s run,
beating four defenders only for a slight drop and knock forward just before the line; did
the presenter have a crystal ball? The whistle blown, scrum to the opposition and play
resumes. At 1-2 down, the Lions put up a strong defence against a good, well drilled
team. Pinned against our try line, the Lions defended well but a ruck formed with a few
metres to go, and we aimed for the first receiver, he has to catch it, but the scrumhalf
ran it from the back of the ruck, and the try was awarded! A tough 1-3 defeat in the
match left us feeling a little disgruntled but delighted with the effort we had put in!

The afternoon progressed and it was time for the Chevrons to start their second day. The benefit of winning their pool on day one meant that they would meet all the other pool winners, and with the boys battered and bruised from the final game of day 1, they were heartened to learn that our three games were all against teams from Northern Ireland, Portadown, Ballyclare and Belfast CIYMs!

These games did not disappoint, the first two games being 18-minute arm wrestles, the Chevrons rolling out two 1-0 victories, which saw two of the best try-saving tackles made anywhere in a TJs shirt, and a winning try at last play in the 2nd game. The attrition rate was high, but the heads were higher and encouraged by the guard of honour as they left the pitch for the second time that day, the Chevrons took to their last game of the day, of the tour and of their 7-years in the Minis, cheered on by their parents, coaches, and team-mates!

The work rate was immense. An early try from Belfast put our boys on the back foot and they needed to step up. Each and every one of them played out of their skins, but when we went 2-0 down and had 2 potential tries held up, things were looking grim.

However, the boys were winning the attrition war, with Belfast losing players one after another, and then we got one try back, to restore hope and a final push for victory was at hand, the boys making one last daring raid, but alas, time ran out! Another minute may have seen us achieve a well-deserved draw, but it never came. Battered and bruised but not unbowed, the boys and coaches from both clubs hugged and congratulated each other before walking the spontaneous guard of honour that had formed by all supporters of both sides for the last match of the festival, recognising that rugby had won the day!

All of our boys left everything on the field, they all stood up and were counted. They were heroes on the day and will all be better people and players for it. For the fans of statistics, it was great to register 50 tries over the weekend, spread across 17 different players, but equally as important, was the fact that we only conceded 16 tries, a testament to the boys’ focus and teamwork.

It's hard to put into writing how fantastic, and important, this tour was. By far the most significant part is the team spirit, the esprit de core, and the friendships forged amongst the challenges, defeats and victories shared over the weekend. The coaching team could not be prouder of how far everyone has come, and we head onwards and upwards to the juniors, with some great memories!