In 2006 and 2010 I travelled to South Africa with the Pencoed Senior Rugby Team, as a player in 2006 and as a coach in 2010. I have visited Cape Town, Pretoria (staying at the University of Pretoria High Performance Centre), Johanessburg and even taken part in a coaching session with one of the local townships in Cape Town (run by coaches from Western Province). As part of the 2010 tour the University of Worcester provided me with a fund which went towards my expenses. I played two games in South Africa against the Hamiltons Youth team (Cape Town - the oldest club team in South Africa) and afainst the Stellanbosch High School. I have also attended Tri Nations games and Curry Cup games whilst in South Africa.
In 2008 I travelled to Canada with the same squad as a senior player when we stayed in Toronto and Niagara playing one game against a local youth team in Toronto.
These tours have given me a wider presepctive of playing rugby in other countries and the visits to South Africa in particular opened my eyes up to the different cultures and how they come together to play rugby and support the Springboks
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