Spring arrived on Saturday 8th March as 70 merry travellers departed from Bangor RFC. The P6 squad hit the road to play Lansdowne FC (not RFC as Lansdowne was formed before the IRFU) and then watch the mighty men in green take on the French from the comfort of the Lansdowne clubhouse beside the Aviva Stadium.

Although there was a slight blip on the road where one bus had to pull over and receive some TLC, fortunately one of the parents on board was a mechanic and got us back up and running in no time (many thanks to Thomas Maguire).

We arrived just before noon on a stunning day in Dublin, where we enjoyed super hospitality and a plethora of matches against Lansdowne U10’s. Some superb running rugby and great commitment was shown by all the kids. The opposition coaches gave a great speech to the Bangor boys and thanked them for setting the standard, and they would love an opportunity to meet that standard in a return fixture in the future.

It was then on to the Lansdowne clubhouse to watch the Ireland v France match and savour the atmosphere of Dublin on a 6 Nations day – and even bump into an ex Irish international centre. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be for the Ireland team but Bangor's team made memories that will last a lifetime.

Thanks to Lansdowne for hosting and to our generous club sponsor Copeland Distillery for a bottle of their award-winning gin that coach Ian McBurney presented along with a Bangor jersey to our opponents.

Thanks to all the coaches, players and parents who made it happen and came along to support.

A grand slam of a day out for all.