Stonyhurst are wizards in Oz! (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Stonyhurst are wizards in Oz!

5:23pm Tuesday 7th August 2007 in Sport By Steve Tinniswood, Sports reporter

STONYHURST College have returned from a 10-match tour of Singapore and Australia with a near perfect record.

The college's two touring teams won all but one game with the First XV blotted their copy book by losing their final game of the tour.

The teams made the most of their Singapore stop-over with comfortable victories over St Andrew's Junior College - last season's schools champions at 1st and 2nd XV level.

Stonyhurst Firsts ran out 57-0 winners with tries from Dane Cimpoias (2), Daniel Layzell, Phil Leonard, Adam Morgan, Robert Plumbridge, Matthew Richardson, Peter Small and Greg Wood. Adam Morgan also converted six times.

The Seconds virtually matched the Firsts, winning 57-7 thanks to a hat-trick of tries from Harrison Collins and Freddie Eaves while Charlie Cruz (2) and Albert Isola both touched down and Max Fullalove slotted over six conversions.

There was a much sterner test in store for the Stonyhurst boys when they touched down in Cairns to play the aggressive and physical St Mary's Catholic College.

The Firsts kept the cool in an ugly contest that boiled over after the break to clinch a hard fought for 22-7 win with tries from Plumbridge (2), Tom Capstick and Layzell and a conversion from Morgan. The Seconds also stood up to the challenge and won 26-0 with tries from James Cathcart (2), Matt Pickles and Toby Weighman. Fullalove converted three times.

Next up was Brisbane and a rematch with the boys from Toowoomba Grammar School who visited Stonyhurst last December.

The Seconds secured a solid 19-0 win over a well-drilled, organised and motivated Toowoomba side thanks to tries by Cathcart, Pickles and James Garlington with Max Fullalove converting twice.

The Firsts trailed 19-14 at the break but stormed back to win 45-19 with Woods scoring two tries and Eaves, Morgan, Plumbridge and Luke Copping also getting on the scoresheet. Morgan slotted over six conversions and a penalty.

The school then moved on to take on club side Helensvale Hogs in Brisbane not really knowing what to expect.

In a floodlit contest, the Seconds clinched a hard but fair encounter, winning 24-12 thanks to tries from Isola (2), Collins and Pickles with Fullalove converting twice.

The Firsts really clicked in their game and showed that they had really got to grips with the Antipodean style of play as they ran out 33-0 winners.

Andrew Barr, Duncan Edmondson, Eaves, Plumbridge and Wood all crossed the line with Adam Morgan again achieving with the boot, kicking four conversions.

The final matches brought the Stonyhurst boys to arguably the strongest rugby-playing school in Australia, St Joseph's College in Sydney.

The Seconds rose to the challenge as they produced their best rugby of the tour. Leading 10-0 at the break, they sealed an unbeaten tour with a 25-0 win thanks to tries from Eaves, Albert Isola, Nick Isola, Morgan and O'Donnell.

The Firsts looked to follow suit but came up against a very good side. The record will show a 28-0 defeat but this was no disgrace against one of the best rugby school in Australia and possibly the world.

Away from the rugby, the players got the chance to go on a night safari, toured the rain forest and snorkel off the Great Barrier Reef.

They also went white water rafting down the Tully River, surfed off Australia's Gold Coast and cruised around Sydney Harbour - memories more than matched by their heroics on the pitch.