Visit from Roger Uttley

Inspiring the 2026 South Africa tourists

The 2026 South Africa tourists had a special treat today with a visit from rugby legend Roger Uttley, who played for both England and the British & Irish Lions. Mr Uttley spoke to the pupils about his own experiences of touring South Africa, discussed the importance of fundraising and answered questions from the Year 7 and 8 pupils. He also brought his international and county caps and a photo from the 1974 Lions tour.

Roger, who was the 522^nd Lion, also spoke about the charity work that the tourists have been undertaking and how special it will be when the party land in South Africa. Roger very kindly had his photo taken with some of our sports captains and the mascot Billy the Lion and talked about his own memories of having Lenny the Lion on tour.

He left the tourists with some golden rules for the tour:

• Represent yourself well and remember what you bring to the party
• Be responsible, for yourself, for your friends, for your parents and for the school
• Do your best
• Have fun!

His message was that if you do all of those things, you’ll all be the beneficiaries.

Thank you so much to Roger Uttley for coming in and inspiring the tourists.