Staffordshire Uni RFC Tour Blog

Here at Staffordshire University we have recently arrived back from our seventh consecutive rugby tour with Teamlink Sports Tours. This season we went back to traditional values in deciding on a Magical Mystery Tour - appropriately named ‘The Hidden Agenda Tour’ - to Dusseldorf and Leuven.

There is no underestimating the dedication and time needed to plan an event such as this, especially keeping the destination under wraps. Fortunately the help of Teamlink and commitment of our club Committee resulted in a grand success for all 37 members of our touring party, after harassing the numerous ‘frugal’ students for their hard-earned loans.

The build-up and evening of the meet on Thursday 25th March culminated in the most stressful time of my Chairmanship at the University rugby club having organised the fundraising. Thankfully the support of Teamlink Tour Manager James Newby enabled me to enjoy the final moments as we left the tense tourists on tenterhooks in a darkened damp function room of our local pub, guessing at potential destinations and worrying about the prospect of Newport 2010 (my fondly loved hometown in Wales).

Although I am keen believer in ‘what goes on tour stays on tour’, with facebook replacing socialisation nowadays I will attempt to brief you on our successful visit after swapping the chaotic pub for the coach, with the Freshers still excitingly nervous.

The Grand Announcement...

Once en route we revealed the naming of the destination before handing out each prestigious tour polo shirt to the players. But one certain individual managed to scupper the unveiling by proclaiming in a relaxed yet confused voice “Basil, where is Dufflebag and Levi?” added Wrex. The journey was enthralling with Sinbad providing much on-board entertainment for the surviving six tourists from previous missions.

Düsseldorf is a beautiful city more suited to the modern wealthy European than British students on tour. The stretch of bars along the canal led into the party scene of the central square where we set-up camp for the first two nights, although our welcome party must have been on ice as the natives failed to engage in our boyish charms.

After splitting up into smaller groups we sampled many of the local delights before miraculously all ending up in the same club. Congregating on the dance floor we partied the night away in the company of Mr. Ham Burger (an apparent celebrity in Dusseldorf).

The Saturday allowed us to enjoy the pleasantries of the town centre which didn’t disappoint, whilst recovering with a few tasters of German beer ahead of another event-covered night in the ‘dorf’. Sunday meant ‘match-day’ but I’d be lying to say our heads were on it against the Dusseldorf Dragons, who were treating this as a Cup Final.

The post-match social ensued, with Das Boot making its arrival in a scene more common in Beerfest. The comparatively short travel to Leuven comprised of crates full of red bull with a tickle of Jagermiester to boost our needed souls ahead of the Belgium invasion.

The city of Leuven accommodates the largest University in Europe, but Sunday night didn’t seem to be the liveliest in comparison to our former location. Nevertheless, nothing was able to dampen our spirits as we enjoyed our last night out on tour.

The following morning played host to a series of wrestling tournaments and fresher challenges before we headed back to Calais (with bated breath in Sinbad’s case after misplacing his passport in a German alleyway) to return home. The bus journey back was nothing short of eventful and proved the tour had been a great success as we already look forward to touring with Teamlink for the eighth consecutive time next year.