The boys, who are all members of the club’s U16s, made the trip to Japan for a tour, coinciding with the Rugby World Cup.
They arrived in time to see England beat the New Zealand All Blacks in the semi-finals, and then took in the third placed play-off game between New Zealand and Wales, which the All Blacks won. But unbeknown to them, a local businessman from Alnwick, and the parent of one of the boys, had laid on an unexpected treat. Robert Cook, owner of the Cookie Jar and MD of Virgin Active, had arranged tickets for the final between England and South Africa in Yokohama.
A spokesman for the club said: “Just before the bronze final I received a message from Robert, offering tickets for all the kids to the final in Yokohama.
“It obviously didn’t take long to say yes, so after our game at 1pm, the kids plus three chaperones were off to see England take on South Africa.
“We were genuinely shocked at this as it was never part of the plan. It was the icing on what was already a very well decorated cake. Some members of the party genuinely shed a few tears when this happened.”
You can read the full article on the Northumberland Gazette website, here