Gym Lions' tour of Japan a roaring success

Windhoek Gymnasium’s rugby team, the King Price Lions, embarked on an unforgettable journey to the Japanese city of Fukuoka for the prestigious Sanix World Youth Rugby tournament, where they concluded three pool matches in the last week, as well as two play-offs that resulted in their 13th placing out of the 16 teams.



Participation is by invitation only, and the overseas schools selected by their respective unions to represent their country are expected to be of a high standard and among the top five in each country. New Zealand, Australia, England, Fiji and USA each had one representative school for the special 25th celebration of the tournament.



Matches were played in halves of 30 minutes each.



As joint national schools champion of the 2023 Standard Bank U19 Super League, the Lions played their first tour match against the strong team of Oita Tomei from Japan. In a fast-paced and entertaining game, Oita Tomei were victorious with 42-26.



Pool match 2 was against Osaka Toin – the reigning Japanese schools rugby champion that eventually won the tournament final on Sunday (17-15 against their countrymen Toin Gakuen).



In rainy conditions on a drenched field, the powerful Osaka Toin ran out 50-5 winners against the Namibians.



Windhoek Gymnasium then took on another tough challenge against Truro College from England that resulted in a 22-7 loss. Despite a promising start and a commendable first-half performance that saw them leading 7-3, Truro College’s resilience ultimately tilted the scales.



“Truro had played in this tournament a few times before. This was a very hard match, but our boys delivered one of our best performances of the tour,” Windhoek Gymnasium head coach Mauritz Thirion said.



In the first of their playoff matches after finishing fourth in their pool, the Lions rallied well against Chien Kuo High School from Chinese Taipei. Their 29-17 victory showcased their skill and unwavering spirit, after holding a 19-5 lead at half time.



Finishing off their tour on a high, the Lions squared off against Jesuit High School from the USA, securing a resounding 71-17 triumph (half time 40-7).



Summarising the tour, head coach Mauritz Thirion said: “This tour has been an unbelievable learning curve for all of us. It is clear that rugby in Japan is very strong and that players are very well conditioned and well coached – including their low body positioning going into tackles.



“Watching the other matches of the Australian and New Zealand schools were also a big part of the insights we gained. All the school boys were housed at the Global Arena, a sports village out of town in the Olympic village style.



“The rugby performance of our two loose forwards Zack von Wielligh and number eight and captain Ruan Agenbag, as well as the lock Vincent Scholtz during the past week were outstanding. In certain backline positions we fielded rather young combinations, due to the tournament’s restriction to the age group under-18, rather than our Namibian league which is under-19.



“On one of our off days we visited the city of Nagasaki and the memorial at the epicentre of where the Americans dropped an atomic bomb (to end World War Two in 1945). It’s actually difficult putting words to do justice to how special the overall experience and exposure has been.



“Coming back to Namibia, we are looking forward to a great season.”