Coleg Gwent's tour within a tour

A school rugby tour is an opportunity to make memories of a lifetime with your best friends while playing the sport you love and experiencing a different culture. A Lions Tour is the pinnacle of all rugby tours where fans of four nations come together once every four years. Now, can you imagine being able to combine the both? Well, that’s exactly what Coleg Gwent will be doing when they venture to South Africa for their rugby tour – all while the Lions have their own little tour there!

Coleg Gwent tour alongside the Lions

With a helping hand from the MSG team, the current Welsh Schools and College champions get to experience the culture of the Rainbow Nation and take on the finest teams the country has to offer. And, they get the unique opportunity to follow Warren Gatland’s men during the opening warm-up games ahead of the 3-test series against the reigning World Champions, the Springboks.

For just over two weeks, 24 students from Coleg Gwent tour South Africa spending time in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Durban. They will test themselves in four matches against local opposition while also having the opportunity to support the Lions. While the students are in South Africa, the Lions play matches against the DHL Stormers, a South African Invitational and the Cell C Sharks.

Rugby aside, Coleg Gwent will experience all South Africa has to offer by climbing Table Mountain, exploring the Cape Peninsula and, of course, going on a safari.

MSG Tours specialise in sports tours for rugby clubs and schools to create unique experiences. But we continue to deliver the unexpected by co-ordinating Coleg Gwent’s sports tour of South Africa alongside the highly anticipated Lions tour.

Steven Llewelyn, the Tour Manager said: “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to travel South Africa; combining playing rugby with your mates and watching the Lions on tour. Not many people have the chance to do something like this. This will never happen again for these boys -they will create memories and have experiences that they will remember for the rest of their lives.”

When building this adventurous tour for Coleg Gwent, there was a little bit of sentiment with our very own Managing Director, Mark Gardner, having been a student there himself.

Mark said: ”As a Coleg Gwent alumni, I had the pleasure of touring South Africa in 1996 when studying at this excellent institution, led by the current Hong Kong Rugby Chief Executive, David (Dai) Rees and the inimitable Colin Saunders. It’s a huge honour to be taking my alma mater back to South Africa, after their hugely successful playing tour to Australia in 2017.”

You can check out our rugby tours or other sports tours for yourself. Or, find out more about our Supporters’ Tours or our big trip for the Lions in 2021.