Thomas Van Poucke sent us the following from Mauritius:

"It’s been a while since I reported in, so thought I’d send a brief update as to ongoings in the Indian Ocean. We are currently 11 strong on the OD front in Mauritius, although I am certain there are a few more lurking in the shade of some palm trees."

"In terms of recent activity from our tropical outpost, on Sunday the 3rd of May, 10 ODs jumped aboard Pierre Joubert’s boat for an afternoon of tales and nostalgia."

"Pierre Joubert, catered wonderfully for the crew while Dom Ferszt supplied a wonderful array of French Champagnes and some of South Africa’s finest wines."

"It was a splendid day out on calm waters."

"I have attached a photo of the ODs present on the day:

From left to right, David Axten (S1985),  Dominic Ferszt (W1984), Dan Romburgh (B1999), Pierre Joubert (front F1983), Antony Benetar (K1985), Thomas Van Poucke (front O1999), Meyrick Griffiths (G1993), Renier Horne(G2005), Jan Roux (F2012) and Bruce Strover(O1991)."

"A few other titbits of news from this end, we had the great pleasure of having former Blitzboks Captain James Murphy (F2013) on the island for a week last year."

"Mauritius was hosting the Africa 7s rugby championship and James was attending in an ambassadorial role whilst recovering from a knee injury."

Attached is a photo of James Murphy (F2013), Thomas Van Poucke (O1999) and David Axten(S1985).

"One final item, in March of 2026, the local Grand Baie cricket club, Northfields Cricket Club (NCC) team came on tour to the Western Cape for an action-packed itinerary including 5 games against some of the finest clubs about.

One of the games was held at Elgin Cricket Club where 2 of our opponents were ODs, namely Chris Rawbone Viljoen (F2001) in the middle, and George Eadie (K2001) to the right (see photo below) - Thomas van Poucke on the left, Chris and George.

The mighty NCC took the win but it certainly didn’t put a dampener on the post-match festivities, it was wonderful to see and catch up with these two fine gentlemen."

"The final match was held at Reddam 1st Cricket Field and the opposition was made up of no less than 7 ODs, including, Alex McGee (W1999), Rob Watson (F2004), David Nel (F1999), Shaun Kark (K1999), Warren Owen (W1998), John Catlin (G1999) and myself, a motley crew of cricketers but a finer group of gentlemen would be hard to find (see the photo below).

In the coming months, we plan on taking on a group of Old Rondebosch Boys in a grudge golf match as well as host them for a braai to watch the live streaming of BishBosh 1st XV rugby games.

Should be a lot of fun.

Cheers.

Tom".