For the third consecutive year Lindisfarne has taken a team to New Caledonia to take part in the Griffins Rugby Sevens Tournament which is becoming increasingly well-known and hotly contested by teams from all over the Pacific and beyond. The team was ably coached and managed by Laurent Simutoga, Robbie Dunlop and Turbo and the benefits for our boys go far beyond the sporting aspect as outlined by Robbie Dunlop: “These boys are pushed outside their comfort zone and embrace this challenge as normal. These young men return as mentors, role models and ambassadors for the values that our school holds dear.”

The team headed off during the school holidays for Noumea and were comfortably settled in the Nautical Base before embarking on a grueling schedule of training which included sessions with the New Caledonian U18 team and the Pacific Rugby Academy. In between the training, boys enjoyed a New Caledonian barbecue feast and a visit to the New Zealand consulate in Noumea.

Over a couple of days, the boys played numerous testing games and had well-deserved wins against Futuna, Wallis and Vanuatu and a draw against a very strong, well-trained New Caledonian Selection team. On the second day, a loss to the powerful Pau Selection team from France, meant that we faced Futuna in the quarter finals and a return match against New Caledonia in the semis. This time the hard, physical game went against us and we lost by two points to finish third in the competition which was taken out by Pau Selection. The Lindisfarne team scored 35 tries in total with nine of those going to Grayson Hesketh and eight to George Newman.

After the tournament, the team were fortunate enough to spend some time with Laurent’s family including his aunt who had supported us on previous trips and is sadly very ill with cancer. The team sang a waiata for her and attended a family church service. The last day was spent exploring some of the islands around Noumea and having dinner with Hugo Quiro’s family as well as other local families who had supported us so well. The team would like to thank all the supporting families in New Zealand and New Caledonia, the College Council, the Vikings Rugby Club, Best Travel in Hastings, our naming sponsor, Britten Builders and especially Laurent Simutoga, Robbie Dunlop and Turbo without whom the trip would not have been possible.