2025 High Impact Tour
Dates: Feb 6- 9, 2025
Location: London
Pint of Choice – Guinness
Weather – Wet...but that is London in February!
Tour By the Numbers:
Privateers 40
Crowd 78,685
Collective Steps by group – 1,387,500
Pints – Many!
Points 51 (26-25)
Number of Rookies – 17 (a record!)
Memories – Too many to count.
Touring Party:
* Denotes For the Love of the Game Rookie (Had almost 50% Rookies!)
Mark el Baroudi
Shelly el Baroudi
Dana Lougheed
Chris Mitchell
Izzy Mitchell
Kim Coupland*
Spencer Coupland*
Ron Panchuk*
Jamie Darroch*
Cam Webster
Craig Smith
James Cole
Sandra Cole
Sarah Vann*
Jon Vann*
Paul Beck
Phil Beck
Liz Beck
Dean Kittleson*
Judy Kittleson*
Jimmy Smith
Dave Lougheed
Mark Burgess
John Amis*
Gary Morse*
Gregg Delcourt
Richard Stone
Tom Caulfield*
Dave Spence
Martin Lundie*
Dave DeJong
John Davos*
Julian Loveday*
Theo Loveday*
Frank Herrera*
Julia Omokuale
Tess Feury*
Thursday Feb 6th - Arrived from various ports and assembled a core of the group in/around Kew Gardens with Kew Garden's Hotel serving once again as our Club House. Some of the Lead scouts had made their way to pave new ground a the Coach and Horses where the group further assembled before heading to the Prince's Head (AKA known as the Bar where Ted Lasso hangs out). It had been a long day/night of travel for most and we made our way back to get ready for Tour de London on Friday.
Friday February 7th - with a Large group and a short window of opportunity smaller groups spread across the city on their own time to hit up the sights. Buckingham Palace, Canadian War Memorial, Harrods, Fortnum and Mason (Craig Need's Tea for Kari!), Churchill War Rooms, Soho, Picadilly, Covent Garden, Trafalgar Square. A small group gathered for an impromptu meeting at the Horse and Guardsman to escape the Rain for an afternoon Pint. The evening turned out to be a great night. Our Man on the Ground Dave DeJong put together a great Friendraiser and it was a great blend of old friends and new. Thank you Dave for organizing. Much appreciated and Very Generous of you.
Saturday February 8th - Game Day! What we all had been waiting for. The most anticipated match of the year with England playing host to France and it didn’t disappoint. We gathered at the Kew until we had a Quorum and then made our way to the Sunn Inn where Elbo and Shelbo had commandeered a great table location for us. Off to Twickenham with the masses leaving Jimmy, Spence and Paul behind at the sun to suffer the agony of another Wales loss to Italy. En-route to the Grounds the Value of the Orange Toques once again proving their worth as we marched along with 80,000 of our friends. Match wasn’t the prettiest rugby at times but it had everything you needed for a great battle. Final result - England 26 France 25 courtesy of a 79th Minute try by Elliot Daly who will remember that one for a long time. Post match we made out way back via various routes to the Q Verde Restaurant for a fantastic meal to close out the 2025 High Impact Tour.
Parting Shots and Shout Outs
Rookie of the tour – Tom Caulfield for travelling to his first ever rugby game and spending less that 30 hours on the ground in London. Congrats and Well done Tom!!
Special Guests – Thank you to current professional players and Rugby Internationals Julia Omokuale and Tess Feury for joining us and sharing your time. All the best as your Leicester season comes to a close and all the best for the Women’s Rugby World Cup this Fall!!
Thank You – Thank you to everyone for joining us on the tour and we look forward to seeing you again soon!
Hope to see you all on another tour!
For the Love of the Game