A PARTY of 21 boys and four staff from Mount House School departed Tavistock last Saturday for a seven match rugby tour in Australia.

Based at the Sydney Academy of Sport at Narabeen, the boys spent the first three days training in the centre?s excellent facilities, while also finding time to visit the famous sights of Sydney.

The opening match was played in ideal conditions against Mosman Prep School. The ground was firm, but with sufficient give to make tackling safe; ideal for the running game that is the side?s hallmark.

The match began with Mosman dominating. The Mount House defence tackled well under this onslaught and turned the tables when Henry Manning broke away to score a try with the first ball secured by the forwards.

This setback seemed to knock the stuffing out of the Mosman side and the Mount House pack slowly gained parity with its opposite number. In the three-quarter battle Mount House backs enjoyed considerable superiority over their opponents. Running the ball wide at every opportunity right wing Henry Manning soon completed his hat-trick, while left wing Tom Painter added a couple of his own. George Day-Robinson and captain Rory Oxenham added tries to make the half time score 45-0.

Half time changes considerably reduced the fire power of the side. But those players given their chance competed well and centre Harry Cousens extended the lead to score near the posts. The final try came from Rory Oxenham who scored in front of numerous Australian relatives who had come to support him in his first match as captain.

The final score of 55-0 was perhaps a little harsh on a solid Mosman side that never stopped competing and tackling.

The second match of the tour was against a top Australian school, St Ignatius, Riverview, whose seniors are currently Sydney schools champions and currently unbeaten this year. With 320 boys aged 12 and 13 in the school, St. Ignatius are able to run 10 XVs.

Mount House found themselves pitched against the St Ignatius D XV. Subsequent to the match, the D team coach assessed the Mount House three-quarters at A/B level, but pointed out that their A team pack had no player under 6 foot and all weighed over 10 stones!

This match was played in less clement conditions than the previous fixture. No sun and occasional spits of rain meant conditions which any Devon inhabitant would understand.

Mount House started in sensational fashion with four tries in the opening fifteen minutes. Scrums were shared equally, but the Mount House line out was particularly efficient and the rucking much improved on the pack?s previous outing. Harry Cousens opened the scoring with a splendid run from within his own half and Tom Painter (2) and Henry Manning added further tries with aggressive running and well worked breaks. Half time came after 30 minutes of excellent rugby with Mount House comfortably ahead 28-0.

Changes in personel in the second half meant a much more even game and Riverview came back into the game. They had performed well defensively in the first half, but did not become a more telling threat in attack.

A well worked move from a line out produced their first try and the remainder of the half was an evenly fought contest with little to divide the sides. A breakaway try by Henry Manning relieved the siege, but the final try was deservedly scored by the home side to leave the final score 33-10.