YOUNG rugby players from Devonport High School for Boys will

today embark on the school's first major sporting overseas tour

to South Africa.

Members of the school's under-15s rugby team will play five

matches in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Pretoria during their

15-day visit.

The children will be coached by two former Plymouth Albion

players, Nick Burt and Kevin Norris.

Burt is head of Year 12 at DHSOB and the school's rugby

coach, while Norris – who captained Albion's unbeaten promotion

winning side of 1988-89 – is the head teacher at St Peter's

Primary.

Aside from the DHS youngsters, the tour squad is also made

up of guest players from Kelly College, Plymouth College and St

Boniface's College.

“This is the first time that DHS has toured overseas in a

sporting sense, so it will be something new for everyone,” said

Burt.

“But the whole experience should enhance the boys'

appreciation of sport, history and culture in another

continent.

“In many ways, it could change them as they will experience

a lot of new places and people.

“The boys' are very excited about going on tour, visiting

another country and playing some rugby against some new teams.

Hopefully, everyone will enjoy the experience and return with a

lot of happy memories.”

The tour schedule means that the DHS pupils face a

challenging series of five matches within the space of 10

days.

Burt admits the schedule is quite challenging with the

fixtures being played every two to three days

But he is hoping that the boys will improve as rugby players

because of it.

“With a relatively small squad, the players will have to

work hard and be prepared to play out of position if injuries

prevail,” said Burt.

“They are going to have to be real team players and be

prepared to help out where necessary. “I can't have any one

telling me 'I can't play here and I can't play there' – we do

not have that luxury.

“The rugby will be challenging, but that is good. I am

hoping that by playing games against some good teams, the boys'

will return better players.”

Burt added: “The tour has taken the best part of 18 months

to plan and I would like to thank our sponsors who have helped

make the trip possible.”

They include Midas Construction, Wiseman Dairies, Foot

Anstey Solicitors, DOCWRA Bros, REB and DHS Old Boys

Association.