Lions cubs find charity a match for touring

THE Lions might be the talk of the town, but a band of Irish rugby players is making a big impression at clubs around Wellington.

While the Ulster junior sevens team’s tour might have been somewhat overshadowed by the British and Irish Lions, the parallel tours are no coincidence.

The touring party of 14 under-11 players and about a dozen coaching staff, parents and supporters touched down in Wellington on Monday for a week of rugby.

As well as playing four matches in Wellington and Lower Hutt – including a match billed as the Mini-Lions against the Mini All Blacks against Wellington RFC – coach Roger Alexander said part of the tour was about the boys experiencing the excitement of a Lions tour, including both matches in the capital this week and being last night’s on-field flag-bearers for the Lions.

Alexander said a tour of New Zealand was the trip of a lifetime for any rugby player, and the boys were excited to be playing and experiencing rugby on the other side of the world.

‘‘If you were to push a pin through the ground here, it would come out somewhere near Ireland. You can’t get any further away. For many of the players, New Zealand is the epitome of rugby. The boys have aspired to be here.’’

They even had their jerseys presented by Willie John McBride, an Ulsterman who was part of the only Lions team to have won a series in New Zealand in 1971.

The players were drawn from the Coleraine, CIYMS and Ballymena clubs and the tour was supported by Ulster Rugby and the Irish Rugby Football Union. They spent six months raising $35,000 for the trip by bagpacking at supermarkets, raffles and corporate sponsorship. The team was also given permission by Richie McCaw to hold the Irish premiere of his documentary, Chasing Great, to help raise funds.

Before leaving Ireland, they raised $2000 towards chair-beds to help parents stay by their child’s side when staying at The Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children and Wellington Regional Children’s Hospital.

The youngsters visited Wellington Hospital during their tour to check out the chair-bed their efforts had bought and Alexander said the boys were humbled by the experience. More in sport For all the action and reaction from last night’s historic test go to Sport, p18-19 or log on to stuff.co.nz