It is always interesting at a club when you throw together a range of people from different rugby backgrounds. You learn new skills, how priorities vary for each individual depending on level of rugby played, personal life etc. And from this, everybody can learn from each other.
A case in point occurred after the home league fixture against Barking shortly before Christmas. I was at Clapham Junction on my way home when I saw a lady in front of me carrying a Rugbytech kitbag emblazoned with the London Scottish logo. Curious, I approached said lady and asked her of her connection to the club. She informed me that she was carrying her boyfriend’s bag home while he had a few post-match beers at the club. On enquiry, I discovered that the boyfriend in question was none other than James Brown. On the back of this, he has been elevated to the status of personal idol. It is one thing persuading the other half to drive your bag home, quite another to get her to lug it across London’s public transport system. It must have involved the elevation of sweet-talk and persuasion to a perfect art form. Truly admirable.
On the flipside, we discovered that a certain squad member could probably do with some lessons from his teammates. The team Christmas party was held after the Henley game upstairs in the Bedford in Balham where we were all to be found donning comedy Christmas jumpers and apprehensive facial expressions as we waited to see what the evening had in store. As the mandatory court session commenced, our esteemed captain, Gary Truman was conspicuous by his absence. When he finally arrived, he was quite rightly punished with a couple of glugs from a spirits bottle administered by Matt Heeks. Gary made a beeline for the nearest bin and it was some hours before he summoned up the courage to stray from its side again. Lessons may be required here.
The end of the first half of the season was celebrated with suitable gusto as the payers let their hair down and rightly so. Plenty of banter flew around, only occasionally looking like bubbling over, particularly between Paul Volley and Willie Lipp (the only squad member to be named after 2 body parts) who had some good niggling aggro going on.
After a frustrating month of alternately frozen and waterlogged pitches, we are back down to the tough stuff and ready to push on for the rest of the season. |
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The advent of professional rugby caused many problems, plenty of turmoil and claimed some significant victims. One of the biggest victims was a club with a proud history dating back to 1878; a club which despite being based in London has provided more Scottish internationals than any other; a club which counts among its playing alumni such giants as Gavin Hastings, Paul Burnell, Derek White and Alasdair McHarg. Well after several years in the doldrums, London Scottish are back. Two seasons ago, just 8 years after bankruptcy sent them from the higher echelons of English league rugby to the very foot of the pile, London Scottish earned promotion back into the National Leagues. After a solid first season back last year, Scottish sit unbeaten in National League 3 South, just one draw spoiling their 100% record. And last Saturday, they defeated Manchester of National League 1 away from home in the National Trophy to truly announce their resurgence.
It has been a long road back. Bankrolled by a wealthy backer in the late 1990s, London Scottish were one of the biggest clubs in the country, albeit one who fluctuated regularly between the top 2 divisions. But when said backer proved to be not quite as reliable as he was wealthy, Scottish found themselves up a well-known and less than desirable creek with no means of paddling back. Richmond, co-tenants at Richmond Athletic Ground, found themselves in a similar boat and, after a short-lived three-way merger with London Irish, both clubs were demoted to the very bottom of the English league structure.
As Scottish look to re-establish themselves at the top end, there is a resolve to not forget the travails of the recent past. The club’s resurgence may one day lead to a return to fixtures at some of the country’s well-known stadia, but it has been built upon afternoons passed at some of the south of England’s more obscure rugby outlets, in rundown training sheds and on grassless mudbath pitches. And all future players will owe a debt to the men who turned out every week to haul the club back up again by its bootlaces. |
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The 1st team result on Saturday was the first slip of the season so far and, while disappointing for all at the club to lose the 100% record, it was an unmitigated disaster for those of us who had played in the 2nds. On top of the fact that, as we’re all one squad each person feels the emotion of any result as keenly as the next person, we realised that despite having achieved a comprehensive victory over Rosslyn Park, we were likely to take something of a beasting in training on Monday.
And so it came to pass. The enjoyment of a training session can be measured as inversely proportional to the level of involvement of Deano and Tappers, the fitness coaches. As we emerged from the changing rooms, the sight of them standing there with a twinkle in their eyes and layers of cones and rucking bags strewn all over the pitch made us realise that our suspicions were correct. That was fun. No more slip ups, we promise.
Since I decided to return to England and let South America fend for itself for a bit, I have played games for both the Development Team and the Second XV. I can therefore reliably inform you that the depth in the club is something else. This is very important. My previous 2 clubs both rocketed up the leagues but pumped so much cash into the 1st XV that within about 2 years of hitting their peak, the clubs were unable to field a 2nd team. This was because established club men felt ill-treated and because a lot of the guys who came in didn’t really give two hoots about the club and would play for the 1sts or nobody. Attendances fell, the money went and both clubs went into freefall.
After this I thought I might be a bit of a curse and that clubs should steer clear of me at all costs. But here, I’ve realised that excellent players can play a great standard of rugby every week in a variety of different teams if supported appropriately by the club. Last week in the 2nds, our backline had no fewer than 5 first team regulars from last year with 4 more in the pack, and in the Development Team the previous week every single player would have been more than capable of stepping up to the 2nds if necessary. Both teams completely carved up their opponents.
This as much as anything is crucial for the club to keep going in the right direction. All the new guys have bought in massively to what the club is trying to do and everybody knows that if their standards fall down one notch, there are plenty of people capable of stepping in.
On a sadder note, I know the London Scottish faithful will join me in lamenting the demise of the England rugby team in recent weeks. I was at Murrayfield earlier this year, and had the misfortune to go to both the Australia and the South Africa games. Yet another example of me being a curse – not good for the old self-esteem. I was so traumatised by it all that I turned down the chance to see the All Blacks game. Having been surrounded by Saffas the previous week I couldn’t face being cornered by Kiwis celebrating wildly under the delusion that this game actually mattered and that their team won’t die of it’s quadrennial choking fit in 2011. Bless ‘em. |
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