TOMORROW, Dorchester Rugby Club’s Gladiators will head off on their 26th tour to play a side from Dubrovnik, Croatia.

Their travelling party taken from all three senior sides will head to the historic Adriatic coastal city, with a mix of youth and experience making up the playing squad.

Having started their now much vaunted travels in 1997 to Chablis, often heading to unusual locations such as Hungary, Latvia, Bratislava and Ljubljana, their most famous hour came on the tour to Bucharest in 2000.

The team unwittingly took on a Steaua Bucharest side containing many players from the Romanian national side, including the country’s captain, due to a slight translation error on the hosts’ part.

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This resulted in an appearance on the Richard and Judy show, articles in many national newspapers, a Radio 4 interview and many column inches in the rugby press.

The game is now much fabled in history and is the last chapter of the book ‘Rugby’s Strangest Matches’ by John Griffiths.

The tours initially took place around February time, then moved to the Easter break and now the tour sits as an end-of-season fixture for the club. All involved celebrate the various success the club has had in hearty manner.

With the playing squad containing a number of young first-team players, club chairman Tony Foot, a veteran of many “Glads” tours himself, is hopeful of a second win on the bounce after last year’s successful game in Budva, Montenegro.

One thing is for sure, more sporting memories will be made by all who travel.

Along with the travelling players are numerous former players and the current club president, ready to cheer the team on and impart their much sought-after advice, whether required or not.

These tour specialists will no doubt enjoy the annual event and all it offers to the full.