A Happy Rugby Easter as Players Return in their Thousands
Would the long lockdown have dampened enthusiasm for rugby?
Would Easter weekend, traditionally a quiet time for the sport, see more egg hunts than egg chasers?
Oh no, from the minis to the Vets, across the entire nation kit was donned, boots were laced, Covid measures were in place, and rugby was back – with a passion.
With organised outdoor sports given the greenlight to return, and Easter Sunday sunny weather in most areas, there was a celebratory atmosphere and huge grins as youngsters saw many of their team mates again for the first time in months. Far from losing players, clubs were reporting full attendance at training and even welcomed new players after huge efforts made to help the community during the pandemic.
Barnsley RUFC 1st XV captain Tom Bagnall counted them in at the Shaw Lane ground and said: “This is a very exciting time, with many considering it a fresh start towards the 2021/2022 season. There’s been excitement, enthusiasm and exemplary attendance at training sessions. We’ve had a minimum of 20 to 25 at each training session. All the men are absolutely thrilled to be allowed back to training and even more so to play in competitive games from 26 April. It’s excellent timing as many players were starting to feel the constraints of the national lockdown both mentally and physically.”
First back on Chester RUFC’s pitch were the senior women, 32 signing up for the first session and numbers approaching 30 for later training sessions. This continued throughout with almost every squad returning at around full capacity, although missing their Welsh players due to border restrictions. The week ended with more than 500 youngsters at the club on Easter Sunday. Every age group had 25-50 players from the youngest through to Senior Colts. They also saw a welcome return for Chester Cheetahs touch team, the Walking Rugby Group and Old Farts Touch.
COMMUNITY RUGBY RETURNS
Sabrina McGill, Club Coaching Coordinator at Chester said: "It was great to finally see some life around our pitches again, to hear the noise of chattering children catching up with friends, and to see lots of smiling faces."
At Cockermouth RUFC in Cumbria they were averaging 35 at training sessions and returned to their Saturday fitness conditioning programmes. They’ve been well organised with signage and sanitiser stations, a club coaches evening making sure this was consistent across all age groups in the club.
Novocastrians RFC saw players flocking in, despite bitter Northumberland winds, with 585 players across the club, even before all sections were back training. Said James Forbes club Chairman: “Credit to our Director of Rugby Graeme Cooper and other club members who put in lots of effort to make this happen and for people to feel safe. It’s great to see so many people back, smiling and enjoying their rugby at Novos.”
Numbers were also high in nearby Percy Park, where Head Coach Ash Smith said: “The return to rugby has been fantastic with just over 470 players all back training at Percy Park. We have had fantastic attendance to all mini and juniors, women’s, men’s and touch teams.
“The enthusiasm to play rugby has been brilliant and we are taking all of the sensible and safe steps recommended by the RFU to ensure no one is put at risk and we uphold our duty to social distancing and hygiene to allow us to continue to offer rugby for all.”
At Oadby Wyggestonian RFC in Leicestershire the senior players wasted no time in turning out in force for the first night’s training after the long lay-off. With the Colts, Juniors and Oadby Wyggs Girls all returning in the same week, Oval Park was bursting back to life. The younger players were out on the pitches on Easter Sunday and the club is intending to extend the playing season to include other activities - an initiative led by Head Coach, Jon Lowden.
Jon said: “We had phenomenal numbers at our first session back. Originally planning for around 30 players for the session, it was brilliant that more than double that number turned out. It was great that as well as 1st XV players, we also had a number of others including some social players, together with a lot of Colts players too, which was brilliant. The last 12 months have been hard times for many rugby clubs, but this shows that the heartbeat is strong here at The Wyggs and it was fantastic to see so many happy smiling faces again.”
Medway Rugby Club in Kent were back at evening training in gusty winds and snow which didn’t deter more than 30 of the senior men’s squad turning up, more than 35 of their men’s development squad and around 25 of the Crusaders men’s social and 4th XV who played touch rugby late into the evening.
Medway’s Women, who are celebrating their 30th Season, saw around 18 return to training including five who moved up from the girls’ section, which on a chilly Tuesday night had no less than 75 training. Youth sides from U12s to U18s were back in force enjoying their rugby with the minis raring to go and the first O2 touch session on Easter Saturday.
A lot of community effort has kept Medway Rugby Club visible with projects including support to the local hospital, laptop donations to help tackle the digital divide, the girls section “stepping up for the paramedics” which raised £5,800, the youth, minis and seniors zoom fitness sessions and club historian, Brian Wolfe, sharing weekly posts. The club is now planning an exciting and fantastic 90th Season celebration for 2021-2022.
In the South West, Penryn RFC, at 150 the oldest club in Cornwall, were back in force. There was a big welcome for the returning women’s players and newbies for the first night’s training. The senior men and Colts were back out too and on Easter Sunday the minis and juniors were on the pitches enjoying the Cornish sunshine.
Said club Secretary Julia Roberts: “It’s fantastic to have everyone back and the youngsters in particular were absolutely delighted. This is the next step in bringing sport back into their lives and I’m sure they will really benefit. Our 150th anniversary celebrations kick off in the summer. We’ll have new branding, a new logo and are working with the local community, with great support from the town Council, local schools and other clubs. Rugby is the sport to play and watch in Cornwall and lots of people in the West Country follow Exeter Chiefs, with young players benefitting from the Chiefs Academy. We also have very strong links with Truro College. The support from the RFU during the pandemic has been brilliant and the financial support has kept us afloat, putting us in good stead for next season.”
At Kingsbridge RFC in South Devon their groundsman was pictured putting the finishing touches to a beautifully cared for pitch, with the club declaring: “First cut of the year and High House is looking mighty fine in the sunshine. Love the smell of freshly cut grass, can’t wait to see people back on the pitch with the ball in their hands.
Said club Secretary Martin Newman: “ It was overwhelming, normally we wouldn’t have minis and juniors training over the Easter weekend but they had been out for so long that all age groups were back and had virtually full squads from the youngest minis up to the senior men. Our U13, U15 and U18 girls were also back out in force and I’ve been getting lots of enquiries about youngsters, who’ve been cooped up for so long, joining us - which is great. To see the youngsters out on the pitch running around was just amazing. The younger ones come from a variety of primary schools and it was great for them to see many team mates for the first time since the end of last year.”
At Walsall RFC in the West Midlands U15s coach Gavin Jones was delighted to see 35 of his players back at training and said: “It has been fantastic. The lads were doing really well up to Christmas but were getting increasingly bored and tired in lockdown. They were really buzzing to be back and I knew we’d have a good turnout from the messages on our WhatsApp group. We’ve had big numbers returning at the club from our Baby Bears to our seniors and the girls’ teams have been keen to return too. The club forums and pages have shown how excited everyone is to be back out on the pitches and the kids and their parents are really glad to see summer activities, which will help to make up for all the time lost. They are absolutely thrilled.”
The RFU has launched the Age Grade Summer Activity Overview to enable age grade players to return to rugby and help a safe progression towards full contact.
