Rest taken-now I’m raring for Doncaster!

NOTTINGHAM Rugby are one step closer to Twickenham after a nail biting win against Blaydon at the weekend in the 4th round of the EDF Energy National Trophy at Meadow Lane.

The draw on Monday has been reasonably kind and we will now be playing Cornish Pirates at home on the weekend of the 7th of February. It certainly is a lot better than an away tie!!!

I was lucky enough to be rested this weekend for which I was very grateful to the management. National Division One rugby is relentless, especially when you have a small squad such as ours and I am a big believer in gaining suitable rest when possible.

Having experienced life as a full time and part time rugby player I think that rest is probably the biggest difference between the two. The training at Nottingham is well structured and has to be well planned in order to fit around the guys that work as well as play.

We don’t necessarily train any less than a full time side but in the time that those players would be resting and recovering we tend to be at work. The fixture list doesn’t really allow for any free weekends and I have played nearly every minute of every game this season and my body was crying out for a rest.

Now I am raring to go for the big game this weekend against local rivals Doncaster Knights. It is a top four battle between two good clubs and I can’t wait for Saturday to come round.

There will be a large contingent of Nottingham fans there to cheer us on too – I am told the official Green Army trip is a sell out but they are hoping more fans will make their own way there. Should be a great atmosphere and I am sure we can deliver them a win.

We can all learn from the KP captaincy episode

I have written in the past about the English trait of the tall poppy syndrome and chopping down our greatest talents having built them up in to super stars and it appears to have happened again with the England Cricket team in the last week.

Now I am not suggesting for one minute that Kevin Pietersen is an easy character to deal with but the majority of the media have delighted in taking a told you so approach to appointing the breath taking but volatile batsmen as England captain.

Pietersen was as direct as a captain as he was as a player and that doesn’t appear to have sat particularly well with the ECB, who have now turned to the calmer and more understated Strauss.

Pietersen is not the first, it has certain shades of the Botham era about it, and he certainly won’t be the last in any of the English sports. My immediate thoughts turn to the legendary Martin Johnson, who selects his England squad for the Six Nations this week.

How long will the hero of English Rugby be given to turn around the fortunes of the National Team? And who will be the first in the media to say I told you so, he has never even coached before?

Our road to Twickenham starts this Saturday at Meadow Lane, kick off 2pm, with a 4th round fixture against Blaydon from National Division Two. Tickets prices have been reduced to thank the supporters for all their efforts during a tough time for the club and are priced at £10 adults, £5 concession and £1 children.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all of the Nottingham Journal readers and welcome to the first column of 2009!!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and have kicked off the New Year on the right foot and more importantly wrapped up warm during what has been a very chilly couple of weeks.

Christmas is always a funny time in professional sport, but I had a fantastic time during the festive period. The coaches at Nottingham are very cautious about the amount of training that we do, due to the fact that we have such a small squad, so despite training on Boxing day in preparation for our game against Esher on the 28th we had a fairly normal Christmas training regime and plenty of time to relax and recover from what is a relentless season in National Division One.

I do love Christmas and the traditional things that happen around this time of the year. The time spent with the family, the lovely British fayre that is served at every meal and of course the Darts World Championship.

It is amazing to watch a master at work and that is exactly how I spent last weekend, after the game against Sedgley Park had been cancelled due to the weather. The Power is a genius on the oche and a true legend of sport. I am always amazed by the accuracy of his darts and the way that he can dominate the opposition and apply so much pressure just by his presence.

We will need precision and accuracy in our play at Meadow Lane on Sunday against the Cornish Pirates, kick off 3pm, and I hope the presence of another good crowd will put them off their game.

Get Behind Us As Part Of The Leeds 5000

COVENTRY got more of frosty reception than even we would have bargained for at the weekend and sadly the pitch was far too hard to play on and the game had to be cancelled.

 

We had obviously prepared ourselves mentally and physically for the game and to turn up and find out that you can’t play is disappointing.  Add that to the fact that we will now have to fit that game in later in an already busy season.  But these things are meant to test us and we blew away any doom and gloom in the camp with a fitness session at Lady Bay.

 

If we are truly honest everyone has had an eye on this weekend’s clash since we lost to Leeds on the first weekend of the season.

 

Since then we have lost just once, to Exeter, and we have been waiting for a chance of revenge against the league leaders.  Leeds are a good team but we did not play to our best on that first outing and we can’t wait to put it right on Sunday at Meadow Lane 3pm.

 

We are billing this weekend as the Leeds 5000 and we are hoping that 5000 passionate Nottingham fans will descend on Meadow Lane to watch us knock Leeds Carnegie off the top of the league.

 

I promise a great day out for all the family so please come along and show your support to the club.  We are a long way from financial security but a good crowd and a win on Sunday would go some way to helping the situation.

 

See you at Meadow Lane……………………………….

The fine line between hero and zero

THE sporting world revolves around very small margins, on one side of that line you are a hero and the other a villain or scapegoat.

 

I am pleased to say that last weekend we were the heroes at London Welsh with another five point victory that cemented our place in third in National Division One. 

 

It wasn’t a guaranteed victory as the game went back and forth between two good sides.  After the game I was sat in the changing room and I was happy to be in the winning changing room but I started to think how things would have changed if we had lost that game.

 

I find sport such an amazing phenomenon!  Results and performances on the field, in the pool or on the track, for example, have the ability to affect how the rest of the day, week, year or even life pans out.

 

In my case at the weekend a loss would have meant a sombre mood in the dressing room, followed by a couple of days reflection of what went wrong and then a tough week on the training ground, no doubt!  That is not to say that we won’t reflect on the performance and train hard this week but somehow it is always different when you lose.

 

I can only imagine what that feels like on the World stage, what would have happened to the life of Johnny Wilkinson if he hadn’t kicked that drop goal 5 years ago or Rebecca Adlington had missed a turn in the Olympics?

 

It is a fine line between winning and losing and we have been on the right side more than most this season but that must continue this weekend against Manchester at Meadow Lane, 6pm kick off. 

 

Hopefully I will be having another good week next week!!!

 

 

Let’s give Johnno time to find the magic formula

BIG games don’t come around very often and this weekend is potentially one of the biggest games in the club’s history.

 

To travel down to Exeter and their fantastic new stadium at Sandy Park and win is a big ask but that is the task ahead this Saturday. 

Second place Exeter against third place Nottingham, the winner moving into second and catching Leeds Carnegie in the promotion race- it is going to be huge!

 

This weekend also sees the start of Martin Johnson’s reign as England head coach and I am sure there will be a baptism of fire waiting for him and his new charges take on the players from the Pacific Islands of Fiji, Tonga and Samoa.

 

It is an exciting time for English rugby and I am sure Martin Johnson is the best man for the job but the public and media must give him time to settle in and mould the team around him.

 

Let’s not forget that it took Clive Woodward a few years to find the best formula and ultimately a world class side. 

 

Things have slipped since then and Johnson will bring a new lease of life to the England team.  But he must be allowed to make mistakes and lose games and risk a little to hopefully gain a lot more.

 

Whether it is football, rugby or cricket we always expect perfect performances and winning teams on every occasion but does it really matter if we lose a friendly here or there? 

 

Let’s look at the wider picture and give our teams a chance to grow and gel together.  English sport has a habit of being a little bit short sighted, winning the major Championships are obviously the aim so let’s trust those in charge to be building for the future.  Martin Johnson will have a game plan and I look forward to seeing that evolve.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A big thank you!

THANK you for your support last weekend the people of Nottingham really made a difference.

 

I can safely say that the Nottingham crowd went home satisfied on Sunday after an outstanding game of rugby at Meadow Lane.  In last week’s column I called for the support of the Nottingham crowd and you certainly delivered.

 

To run out in front of our biggest crowd of the season was a great feeling.  It was a huge game for us against Bedford, they were above us by a point and by all accounts had been the in form side in the league.  It promised to be a fantastic game and it didn’t fail to deliver.

 

Sunday was, by far, some of the most entertaining rugby that we have seen this season and the game had everything for the full 80 minutes. 

 

I was certainly feeling the effects on Monday morning, but somehow those bumps, bruises and ruck marks don’t feel quite as bad when you have won and moved up to third in the league!

 

The atmosphere at Meadow Lane was amazing and I can’t thank the fans enough.  Over 2000 people came down to watch us take on our East Midlands rivals and I just hope that they will keep coming back, there can’t be much better value for money on a Sunday afternoon and we haven’t lost at home for nearly a year now!

 

So Bedford dealt with and we move on to another tough test away at Otley this weekend.  They may not have won a game yet but we haven’t got a great record in Yorkshire. 

 

After such a high it is the test of a really great team to build yourself up again for another challenge, our focus will be on bring home 5 points.  The big games don’t come along unless you win these ones!!

 

Thank you again for your support last weekend!!! 

Why do we always chop down our greatest talents?

DANNY Cipriani is a both a talented and lucky man but I do fear for him at the moment.

 

He is an immense rugby talent and I have no doubt that he will be starring for England and Wasps this season and who wouldn’t want to be seen out and about with Kelly Brook, never mind what they do behind closed doors!  But I just hope he is being managed well.

 

The media in the UK have a habit of setting people up for a fall and they are hardly being subtle about this with Cipriani. 

 

He is everywhere you turn at the moment making headlines on the front and back pages, the darling of the media at the moment but how long will it be before it goes the other way?

 

A classic case of tall Poppy syndrome – why do we always want to chop down our greatest talents having built them up and up and seemingly enjoy doing it at the same time? 

 

I suppose it sells papers but surely creating a winning team would be better for all concerned?

 

This week was a perfect example, Cipriani and Lewsey had a head to head in training, so what!!! 

 

Anyone who has been to a rugby training session will know that confrontation is common place.  Honesty is the name of the game in any top level rugby team and if one of the players isn’t pulling his weight he gets told.  If you have to tell him forcefully then so be it. 

 

What happens on the field stays on the field and as soon as the game ends or training finishes the matter is closed and lesson learnt.  Cipriani and Lewsey showed that with the try celebration on Sunday.

 

Let’s leave Cipriani to play World Class rugby and good luck to him with his World Class girlfriend.

 

 

 

14 Hours on a coach journey-but another five points

I had a lot of time to think and reflect over the last weekend.  On Saturday morning at 11am I boarded the coach with the rest of the team and embarked on the long trip to Cornwall.

 

I am not going to say that being a rugby player doesn’t have its perks but having to sit on a coach for 14 hours over a weekend is not really one of them.  However, when you are sat on a bus with nowhere else to go you do find time to relax, switch off, people watch and engage in some weird and wonderful conversations.

 

The trip was definitely worthwhile we picked up another 5 points and moved nicely into joint second in the league but it is on these trips that you find out more than how good you are at rugby.  From 11am Saturday until 1:30am Monday morning we were totally immersed in each others worlds. 

 

True you have time to relax and be alone in the hotel but for the rest of the time you are together.  I tend to sleep a lot on the bus but for a few hours, and there were plenty of them, I just studied what people were doing.  A group at the front were whiling away the time watching DVD’s, some people read books, others read rugby reports and papers, a small group played on their PSPs and the crazy gang at the back held a card school.

 

What intrigued me the most was that within one team we have so many different characters, who all prepare differently for the game and enjoy spending their leisure time doing lots of different things.  But come 3pm on game day we all have the same focus goal and drive to deliver one thing and for the fourth consecutive game we have done that this season and long may it continue.

 

Every player will have a very different week in the build up to the game on Sunday against Doncaster but we will all arrive at 3pm ready to deliver as a team.

 

See you there……………………….

 

 

Fighting through for each other

What a weekend!!

 

Granted our display on Sunday was not a vintage performance but it was another 5 points at home against a determined Sedgley Park and we have now gone 13 consecutive games unbeaten at Meadow Lane. 

 

Obviously I took enjoyment from completing our task but we know we have plenty to work on.

 

It was, however, the wider sporting world that gripped me this weekend.  I am a very keen golfer but even to those who don’t really like the sport, the Ryder Cup just has something that sparks interest.

 

The rugby slotted in perfectly to the time scheduling for the Ryder Cup and most of my weekend was spent watching it all unfold at Valhalla and although Europe couldn’t quite keep hold of the cup it was another intriguing encounter.

 

You can see and almost feel the buzz that the Americans and Europeans get from being part of a team. 

 

Most of these guys are multi millionaires who operate in their own sphere for the rest of the year but on this one occasion they are a team. 

 

They are there the whole way through fighting for each other, encouraging each other, taking the highs and lows with each other and sharing every experience as one and there is no greater feeling. 

 

When you are part of a team you sometimes forget your surroundings and don’t fully appreciate what it is to be a part of a team. 

 

But more than anything this weekend the Ryder Cup highlighted to me than win or lose it is being part of the team that counts and the team ethic is one thing we definitely have at Nottingham Rugby.

 

It is not just Rugby for us, it is our lives, we are in each other’s company a lot and have the time to share the laughs, the hard times, the wins and the losses, so many characters all with individual quirks, different routines, varying styles; it is the people that make the sport and I am proud to be a part of that team!