From the 21st to the 25th of September, Earl Cacho attended the NZ Barbarians Area Schools Rugby Camp in Palmerston North. He shares some of the highlights from his trip:

The Barbarians Area School Rugby was a great five days experience. On the day I got on the plane, it felt like it was like a dream, like I was playing for a professional rugby team. As we arrived at Massey University, we got ourselves ready for our first training. This training was to test our fitness level and see who deserves time on the field by doing a bronco. Bronco is a way to test your fitness level and as an outside back we have a time limit of 5 minutes. When I finished the bronco my time was 5 minutes and 23 seconds. I was so relieved I made it through.

The next day, we had breakfast and then suddenly Aaron Smith just came through the door and all the boys were just shocked. We did a Q&A with Aaron Smith for a bit and had a group photo. Later on that day, we had a rugby match with Palmerston North Boys School U16. It was a pretty tight game as we just won by 4 points. After the match the coaches made us do cold and hot water recovery so our body won’t be too sore for the next couple of days.

Thursday and Friday were just a light training session as we had a game on the last day versus Hato Pāora College 1st XV. On Thursday morning another special guest came in and it was Nehe Milner-Skudder, 2015 World Rugby breakthrough player and we did a Q&A and another group photo. Friday night came, it was the main highlight - our jersey presentation. When it was time for the presentation a couple of former All Blacks players and managers came in and it was Mike Brewer, Mike Banks and Clive Aitken respectively.

Saturday, the final day, our last game. We had physically and mentally prepared ourselves for the game against Hato Pāora College. When we finished warming up and heading back to the shed to put on our jersey, our brotherhood connection over the last 4 days was so strong. As we head into the match we kept on fighting in the game as it was really close. Seconds left in the game the opponent scored and was up by 1 point. We kicked off again and tried contesting for the ball but we knocked it on as the referee blew the final whistle. It was a tough loss since we only lost by 1 point. But win or lose, once a baabaa always a baabaa.

To sum it up, wherever you go don’t be intimidated if you’ll not be selected now. It just leads you to keep on training, don’t lose hope and never stop dreaming. 

Thank you 

Earl Cacho