Easter Tour

An intrepid party of 23 adventurous young men from the ODs first headed west in search of rugby fellowship and fun, back in 1927. Little did they know then what a fine tradition they were initiating. The official account of this inaugural tour records played 3, won 1, lost 2, and summarises that "while the primary object is to play football, the social side is also most important..... sailing parties, boarding parties, and all sorts of parties were undertaken - all of which proved most successful". An observation that holds true to this day, and still serves as an apt philosophy for Easter tour. Surely, had our primary reason for touring been to win matches our visits to the Duchy would have ended long ago.

In 1927 matches were played against Redruth, Hayle and Falmouth and in the ensuing years the club have played against a further eight clubs in West Cornwall. The first match against Penryn was in 1930, and in the years since it has comfortably been the principle fixture on the tour, contested on some sixty eight occasions. Of these, the home side have prevailed fifty four times, and the visitors just eleven, with three drawn. Facing the formidable Borough sides of thirty or forty years ago did nothing to diminish the ODs' enthusiasm for the fixture, in fact this only made us cherish the opportunity even more. Encouragingly for Dunstonians, the trend in the last twenty years is towards redressing the balance somewhat. It is still however a treasured experience when we manage to get our hands on the bell.

Our other Principal Easter ports of call have been Falmouth and Truro. Falmouth were hosts on our first tour, and Truro we first played in 1950. As the relative fortunes of the clubs, both ourselves and our opponents, have fluctuated, we have formidable opposition over the years, as the match statistics verify, bet every year we hope these can be improved.

Other clubs who have provided opposition and hospitality over the years include Newlyn, Penzance, St Day, St Ives Camborne and Camborne School of Mines. The current format of Penryn, Falmouth, Truro (in that order) has been in place in since 1976, and is almost set in stone, becoming a steady and reassuring constant in the fixture list of these four clubs, despite the many changes and challenges to the season's calendar that league rugby has brought with it.

Mention must also be made here of St Agnes RFC, founded 1972, and whom, through OD connections on the north coast, we first played in 1974. These Sunday fixtures against our A team continued for many years and senior ODs on tour will have played in one or more of these matches. Unfortunately, lack of players, logistical problems associated with four games in a five day weekend, along with our Sunday lunches proved insurmountable for us to continue. However, we played St Agnes before the Falmouth match as part of the 75th celebrations in 2009.

Certainly tour has changed - it has had to in order to survive. Tour hotels and favourite pubs have come and gone. In recent years a formal Sunday Lunch has regrettably had to be shelved, and the Monday fixture moved to Sunday, the format becoming an even more demanding three games in three days. However we retain the Sunday Lunch for landmark occasions. Be it on Sunday or Monday, the Truro clubhouse never fails to provide a wonderful setting for the conclusion to festivities, with emotions invariably running high.

But the essential spirit remains undimmed. The kindness and mutual support between the clubs remains strong. On our 75th tour, we saluted our host clubs for the sincerity of the welcome we have been privileged to receive year after year. We are rightfully proud of the fact that of the dozens of clubs who, years ago, headed west at the end of the season, we are the ones who have upheld the tradition and continue to make the annual pilgrimage. That we have done so is as much, if not more so, a tribute to the warmth and hospitality of our hosts, as to the character of the ODs who have faithfully kept on touring.

It is pleasing to report that, on Tour 78 (2012), the playing squad achieved three wins out of three, never an easy task especially nowadays considering that the games are played on consecutive days.In 2019 the Club embarked on its 85th tour to the Duchy with three matches against Penryn (Good Friday, 5.30pm), Falmouth (Easter Saturday, 3pm) and Truro (Easter Monday, 3pm).
On Easter Sunday we held a celebration lunch at The Falmouth Hotel to mark the occasion. In 2022 we go again for the 86th time, the tour having been cancelled in 2020 and 2021. We hope that RFU League commitments do not take the edge off this great tour moving forward!