Initial Publication Date

News Story

Rugby Union to feature on new online video site

Want to show the world that video clip you shot of your son/daughter scoring a great try?  Or what about the clip of the penalty kick that your team claim is the greatest ever?  Maybe even that clip of your friend making a complete fool of him self on the pitch?  

Well a new online video channel aims to air hundreds of video clips from amateur rugby union players and fans.  It’s being launched September 2007 by the commercial broadcaster ITV.

The site called Grassroots will be part of ITV Local the broadcaster’s community website which already includes news, weather, films and documentaries.

Grassroots will focus on just four sports to begin with Rugby Union, Football, Netball and Equestrian events.

Every week a huge amount of amateur footage is shot at local events on video cameras and even mobile phones.  Grassroots will enable people to share that footage.  The team are looking for short clips from each of the four sports.  Any appropriate footage will be welcome. Action such as a fantastic goal being scored or a great rugby tackle will especially help to promote grassroots sports and will bring a wider awareness of their achievements.

Grassroots are also interested in coaching tips and people showing off their skills.  The aim is to raise the profile of local sports and at the same time provide a service that is fun, informative and highly entertaining.

ITV’s other media outlets, including local news programmes will be promoting Grassroots site and will even feature the best of the video clips on air.

Uploading clips will be simple and users have only to log on to itvlocal.com and follow the links to the Grassroots channel.  There will be easy to follow instructions.

Contact:  ITV Local, Forum One, Solent Business Park, Whiteley, Hampshire, PO15 7PA  

This summer saw the launch of the RFU Go Play Rugby initiative which is an adult player recruitment Campaign designed to attract new players into clubs, or players who have left the game for whatever reason to take up the game once more.

As part of the campaign the clubs in the Copeland area decided to run a series of 4 touch rugby tournaments. The competitions were spread over 4 successive weeks as a means of encouraging players both male and female to try the sport.

·        Egremont, Moresby, Whitehaven, St.Benedicts (in that order) offered themselves as hosts for the tournaments.

Due to the nature of touch rugby and the minimal contact involved the tournaments were open to both male and female competitors of all ages.

·        25 teams took part.

·        247 players in total.

·        Ages ranged between 12-51 years.

Points where awarded for success throughout the series, but also for participation in the festivals to recognise the commitment of the teams a couple of which entered all 4 tournaments.

·        Whitehaven RUFC were the overall winners.

·        Egremont, St.Benedicts, and a composite team organised by Alex Price P.E teacher at Wyndham School were given prizes for repeat participation.

The series was run by Gareth Lewis – Community Rugby Coach for Copeland through the Cleaner Safer Greener initiative from Copeland Borough Council.

“I’d like to say a big thank you to all the clubs and the volunteers who helped make the tournaments so successful, also to all the players who took part for showing their support for such an event and for participating with such good spirit throughout.”

If anybody who took part in any of the tournaments or anybody else would perhaps like to give playing another go at whatever level, please contact Gareth Lewis on 07772112822 and he will be more than happy to put you in touch with a club in your local area or alternatively you can visit www.goplayrugby.com  

The Cumbria RU Awards Evening was a big hit this year bringing together the players, officials and administrators of the County to review the season. This year there was much emphasis placed on valuing the Volunteers who have done so much to support the game within Cumbria.

Nominations for these special awards were proposed by clubs, the RDO and committee members for individuals who have worked tirelessly for the game and its development in Cumbria. The awards were generally given for; Outstanding Service to the CB or Club, Prolonged Service to Club or CB and Recognition for Outstanding Achievement.

The individuals each received a polo shirt, volunteer tie and framed certificate in recognition for their achievements. “The volunteers in Cumbria as in every county do an excellent job and all of these people are greatly appreciated, it was nice to award some of the people who have been involved in the CB for a number of years and those who have worked on specific projects with excellent results” said Liam Nicholls, RDO. 

September 2007 

Player Identification Cards – Guidance Note

 Following a letter sent by Steve Farr (RFU Equity, Welfare & Medical Manager) on the 23^rd February 2006, I can confirm that with effect from 1^st January 2007 any person who has regular supervisory contact with young people MUST hold an enhanced RFU CRB disclosure.  Therefore any person wishing to check a young player RFU ID Card must hold and enhanced RFU CRB disclosure. 

When checking a young player RFU ID Card(s) coaches/team managers from both teams participating in the match must be present. The team coach/team manger can ask the young player for his/her RFU ID Card to check the players details, and may ask the player to confirm his/her date of birth, however the coach/team manager must undertake this procedure in a friendly non intimidating manner. It is vital that during this process the player(s) in question feel at ease with the situation and do not feel intimidated in any way. 

If you have any questions regarding this guidance note, please do not hesitate to contact the RFU Tournament and Competitions Department on 0870 143 2446. 

 Youth Registration Update: Please see the following document which replaces Page 39 of the RFU Yearbook.

Kirkby Lonsdale U11's V BAE Barrow U11's Sunday 26th November 2006

On Sunday was BAE u-11’s first ever game, the team travelled with a full 12 players to play a team that had 3 years experience at playing rugby union to our “6 weeks”.  Some of the players representing the club have only recently become members following the successful “Come & Try It Day” that was held at the club by the Cumbria Rugby Union Development Team in October.  The boys and girls were really up for the game and confident they could put up a good show for the travelling parents.

Playing on a very narrow pitch BAE started well with good play from Grady Slater and Peter Matthews driving them forward. Good organised play saw Kirkby score first despite some good tackling by Troy Marks and Rory Sayle.  Conversion kicked. 7-0. In the second quarter BAE carried on in the same way with some excellent tackling from Jake Higgins, Jamie Edgley and Daniel Scott. With the scrum being pushed back Will Tyson and Liam Winfield did very well to take the team forward and create some attacking chances. Under more intense pressure BAE conceded another try through strong Kirkby running, which was converted to increase the lead to14-0.   

Half time 14-0

In the second half BAE came out to prove a point that they could play some good rugby, and that they definitely did with Hollie Fitzgerald running very strongly leaving Kirkby players on the floor behind her. BAE started to win ball at the rucks and mauls which gave Kiaron and Dean Robinson chances to use there pace. As the half went on BAE continued to press, but could not break the Kirkby defence. Peter Matthews had a great tackling game and Grady Slater ripped the ball well in the mauls. Overall the team performed brilliantly and deserved all the credit they got; they never gave up even when Kirkby scored late on, an excellent performance.

Full time 21-0 

Cumbria Rugby Union’s Mark Harper commented, “The Come & Try It day can now be considered a success.  Following on from the day itself BAE Barrow’s Junior Rugby Section gained a further 10 players, most of whom played their first game of rugby for the club in this match.  I’m delighted that our efforts in October have enabled more children to take up the sport, and I look forward to seeing their progress as they develop their game.”

BAE Barrow U11’s next game at home to Kirkby Lonsdale on 17^th Dec 2006 K.O 11.00am

New Appointments

Cumbria Rugby Union have just appointed 5 new Community Rugby Coaches to compliment the 2 already in place. The team have generally been upgraded from part time members of the team to Community Rugby Coaches. The team now consists of: 

• Trevor Richardson - Allerdale
• Mark Harper – Barrow
• Graham Kidd – Carlisle
• Russell Gainford – Copeland Part Time
• Gareth Lewis – Copeland Full Time
• Nigel Beaty – Eden
• Garry Holmes – South Lakeland

Many of the coaches have gained plenty of experience having working within the team for the past 5 years, however new comers include local lads Gareth Lewis a Graduate from the University of Cardiff & Garry Holmes a Graduate from Lancaster University.

The scheme is a huge boost for Rugby in Cumbria and Sport in General and will fetch around £350k of investment into the County over the next 3 years. The funding has been a combination of local, regional and national government funding with the School Sports Network and Cumbria Rugby Union injecting substantial amounts into the programme.

The coaches will be offering free sessions to clubs and schools in order to develop their Rugby this incorporates Tag Rugby, 15 a side Rugby and Other forms of the Sport. We will also be running a comprehensive Coach Development Programme to support the work of the coaches and details can be found on www.cumbria.rfu.co.uk

If you have any questions or queries please get in touch with your local Rugby Development Officer – Liam Nicholls – liamnicholls@rfu.com  

May 5 2007 Northumberland  v Cumbria -- N.L. & Derby v Warwickshire

May 12 2007 Cumbria v Warwickshire -- N.L.& Derby v Northumberland

May 19 2007 Cumbria v N.L. & Derby -- Warwickshire v Northumberland

The North East and Cumbria RDOs swapped their coaching kit recently for Mountain Bikes as they set off in a bid to do the Coast 2 Coast Bike Ride in aid of Amyloidosis. Amyloidosis is a condition that has affected the father of Cumbria RDO Liam Nicholls for the past few years and is a deposit of abnormal proteins in the body that attack various organs. The money being raised was in aid of The Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead in London, which is the only centre in the UK that deals with the condition.

 The Bike Ride was a mixture of terrain over around 140 Miles and was completed by Alan Moses – Northumberland, Liam Nicholls – Cumbria and Philip Harvey – Teesside. The ride took 3 days averaging a grueling 46-mile stretch per day starting in Tynemouth on the East Coast and finishing in Whitehaven on the West Coast. Usually the course is ridden from West to East as there is a tailwind and the gradients are with the riders, by doing it the other way it was the converse. The ride was also completed without a support vehicle with the RDO’s carrying all their supplies in their panniers. 

There was a small arrival party when the team arrived back in Whitehaven and the lads were treated to a 32oz T-Bone steak for their troubles.

 To date the event has raised around £1800 for the Royal Free Hospital and the money is still coming in daily. “It was a very worthwhile experience and I would like to thank my two co-riders and the generosity of everyone who has raised money for the cause” said Cumbria RDO Liam Nicholls. “I was at the Royal Free Hospital at the beginning of August and presented the Cheque for the final amount to Professor Philip Hawkins – Head of The Amyloidosis Unit at the Royal Free Hospital, the hospital were delighted with the effort and the money raised for the unit” He added.  

Story Cumbria Cup - Round 1

Match 1  Carlilse v Wigton

Match 2  Upper Eden v St. Benedicts

Match 3  Whitehaven v Kendal

Match 4  Aspatria v Penrith

Story Cumbria Plate

Workington v Ambleside

Egremont v Gosforth

Bye v Millom

Cockermouth v Silloth

Furness v Keswick

Windermere v Creighton

Kirkby Lonsdale v Moresby

Netherhall v BAE

The Cumbria Rugby Awards night was held on Friday 7 July at the new Creighton Rugby Club, and the following awards were handed out:

Valued Volunteer Award:Keith Davis (Penrith) and Archie Spence (Upper Eden)

Senior County Caps: Paul Newton (Fylde), Jonathan Lowden (Manchester) and Gavin Beasley (Tynedale)

Young Player of the Year: Robert Miller and Grant Beasley

Referees' Award: Dan Shovelton

Player of the Year: Billy Coxon (Kendal)

Team of the Year: Whitehaven 1st XV squad

Club of the Year: Carlisle and Penrith

Services to Cumbria Rugby: Jim Burnell

U18 Northern Clubs Championship Final 2006

The Northern Clubs Championship Finale this season saw two teams meet who were no strangers to the final, Carlisle RFC from Cumbria (Beaten Finalists in 2004) and Percy Park from Northumberland (Defending Champions from 2005).

The heavy downpours at Carlisle’s Warwick Road were looking reminiscent of the horrific weather which saw the club closed for business in January 2005, however the day was brightened up with some excellent rugby from two very well organised sides.

Carlisle opened the scoring inside the first few minutes with a try from centre James Clark which was converted by Fly Half Darren Nicholls. The game was end to end before Carlisle once again broke free and scored a try through the outstanding Alex Margierson which Nicholls failed to convert.

Percy Park broke back with a try from Stephen Baskerville who converted it himself and this reduced the deficit before ‘Park’ scored again through Ian Bradley to bring the game level at 12 points apiece. Some excellent interplay between backs and forwards resulted in a further try for ‘Park’ scored by Liam Blackburn thus swinging the game in their favour for the first time by 17-12 this is how the game finished at the half time interval.

There was no clear advantage with the conditions and ‘Park’ extended their lead through the boot of Stephen Baskerville just after the half time break to take the score to 20-12. However the tenacity of the young Carlisle outfit paid off as they broke away to score a converted try through Aaron Murray taking the score to 20-19 to the visitors.

Considering the conditions the handling was very good by both teams and the Carlisle team were in confident mood and mounted an attack from their own 22, with excellent pace from the impressive Chris Kellock the ball was spun wide to man of the match James Clark who used excellent footwork to score the try of the match having too much pace for the ‘Park’ cover defence and scorched in from 60 metres, Nicholls failed to convert but this again swung the game in Carlisle’s favour 24-20.

The arm wrestle continued with strong running and tackling from both sets of forwards, the tense final moments of the game again saw ‘Park’ break free through the outstanding Liam Blackburn who was very close to man of the match award, his solo effort seen him run in for a try under the posts which Baskerville duly converted, 27-24 to ‘Park’.

With around 1 minute to go Carlisle hurried the kick off and got a good chase on which allowed them to exert pressure on the ‘Park’ defence, this pressure eventually told and offered Nicholls the opportunity to draw the game level with a penalty which he stepped up and slotted through the uprights.

At 27-27 no extra time can be played at this level and with Tries, Conversions and Penalties all square the coaches felt that such a spectacle should not be settled on a drop goal shoot out. The teams agreed that out of respect for the game that they had seen they would share the trophy as the effort, commitment and outstanding rugby from both sides did not deserve a loser.

Competition Organiser and RFU Development Officer Liam Nicholls was on hand for the presentations and commended both teams on their mature approach to put the winning second and the performance of the players first. He said “I am not sure if this has happened before, but I think it was the ideal scenario for such a well contested final, both sets of coaches deserve a special mention for the great rugby which was played by their respective teams and their attitude towards the eventual outcome” 

Special thanks to Carlisle RFC, the officials on the day and Andrea Pettitt from Cumbria Rugby Union for all her hard work on the programme and organisation of the day.

Carlisle Scorers

Tries: James Clark (2), Aaron Murray & Alex Margierson

Convs: Darren Nicholls (2)

Pens: Darren Nicholls (1)

Percy Park Scorers

Tries: Liam Blackburn (2), Ian Bradley & Stephen Baskerville

Convs: Stephen Baskerville (2)

Pens: Stephen Baskerville (1)

Match Officials

Referee: Dan Shovelton (Furness)

TJ’s: Paul Sharman (Cumbria) & Alan Jenkinson (Cumbria)  

BAE Sports Club - 16th May 2006

On a nice day at BAE Rugby Union Club, 200 children from schools from all around the District took part in a TAG Rugby Festival to determine who would represent the area in the up and coming Cumbria Youth Games in Whitehaven.

Schools taking part included Greengate Juniors, George Romney, Dane Ghyll, St George’s, St Pius X, St Columbus, Askam Village School, Victoria Juniors, Roose, St James and Holy Family.   All participating schools were invited to enter a maximum of two squads of ten players for the seven-a-side game, with a minimum of three from either sex, and a minimum of two on the field at any time.  The format for the competition was 3 Pools of 6 teams, with the winners of each group and the best placed runner-up to make up the semi-finals.

Great rugby was seen from all schools with Greengate A winning group A, Roose winning group B and Askam winning group C which was a very close fought league as Dane Ghyll also went through from this league as the next best placed runner-up, losing out on tries scored by 1 in a high scoring group.

In the semi-finals Askam A played Roose in a very close game in which Roose came out on top winning 3-2 against a very strong Askam A team.  The second semi-final an even closer affair was taking place with Dane Ghyll A facing Greengate A. This game was finally balanced at 2-2 at Full time so extra time was played to only have the score still at 2-2 so a golden try was announced were both team play until one of them score a try. Dane Ghyll A came out on top after a huge effort from a talented Greengate A team.

So the Final, and the honour of representing Barrow & District in the upcoming Youth Games, was contested for by Roose School and Dane Ghyll A, who were last years champions.

The game started well for the defending champions with an early try but Roose were not a team to stand back and take it and replied almost straight away. This see-saw battle continued with Dane Ghyll taking the lead and Roose once again coming back levelling the scores at 2-2 at full time. Extra time loomed with both teams making every effort to score and with seconds left on the clock Dane Ghyll came up trumps with the winning try which meant they retained their title and went forward to represent the District in the up and coming Youth Games.

Mark Harper (Community Sports Coach for Rugby Union) commented “My thanks go to the Schools for entering their children, enabling them to participate in a fantastic afternoons sport.  When you see children express themselves in such a positive manner, exhibiting skills as the children today did with huge smiles on their faces, it makes all the preparation work by myself, Jason Meadows and BAE Rugby Club worth while.”  

Jason Meadows (BAE Junior Head Coach and Schools Youth Liaison Officer) said” This was a great day attended by a lot of very talented children who all enjoyed the day a great deal. It’s wonderful to see the kids throw a rugby ball around with big smiles on their faces enjoying what they are doing. We have run this event for the last 4 years at the club but this year’s event was an absolute belter with the highest attendances to date being achieved. A big thank you has to go to the ground staff at the club who made sure we had the best facilities around on the day, and to Mark Harper who liaised with the schools, and ensured that the Festival ran as smoothly as it did.”

The Youth Games Qualification TAG Festival has become an annual event at the club which has a youth section of it’s own running U11,U12, U13, U15,U16,U17 and now colts, and any one wishing to take part in Rugby Union can either call Jason Meadows on 811856 for more information or turn up an a training night at Bae Sports Club on  Hawcoat Lane Monday’s for U11,U12 and U13 at 6:00 and Wednesday night at 6:30 for all other age groups.   

The Rugby Football Union has decided that the allocation notice for tickets for the Autumn Internationals will be sent to Constituent Bodies and Clubs on the 1^stMay  2006 with a closing date at the beginning of June 2006. The Ticket Office wants to know about ticket demand early in light of the fact that we are playing South Africa on two consecutive Saturdays; there is a possibility of that the tickets for one of those two matches will be going on sale to the general public, and they need to offer C.B.’s and Clubs first priority on all tickets.

Please note, that if Constituent Bodies and Clubs take up the full allocation, and they find that they have excess tickets, the R.F.U. will not accept any unsold tickets. 

Update

Applications for tickets to the matches below should be sent to Roger Hackney, International Ticket Secretary before 30 June.

Prices £70,£65,£55,£50,£40 v New Zealand 5 November

Prices £70,£60,£30,£45,£35 v South Africa 18 & 25 November

Prices £45,£40,£35,£25 v Argentina 11 November

Please send SAE for each match applied for, together with a blank cheque and preference ticket price.

Roger Hackney

Cumbria Rugby Football Union Limited International Ticket Secretary

Rugby Successes

Penrith beat Keswick 5-0 with a try from Jon Fell in a tense final of the county under 16s - 10 a side competition held on Wednesday night at Penrith RUFC.  Penrith took an early lead and managed to hang on against an excellent Keswick side, who showed tremendous commitment and were inches away from a win, when Mark Ireland was unlucky not to touchdown as he dived on a chip ahead.  The Penrith under-16 academy squad added the silver ware to show for an outstanding unbeaten season that they hope to complete with a win at the Darlington festival next week.  In their group, Penrith beat Wigton 25-7 with tries from Jon Wills, Phil Fell, Matt Sutton, Jon Fell and Jonti Ward, and Keswick 2 by 46-0 tries from Mike Ellery 2, Jon Fell 2, Phil Fell 2, Sutton 2 and 3 conversions from Jon Hemingway.  In the semi, Penrith beat Carlisle 25-0 with 5 tries from Rick Farren 2, Joe Ellis, Mike Ellery, Jon Fell.

Keswick defeated Carlisle 31-0 and Workington 39 -0 before beating Wigton 24-7 in the semi.  The organiser, Penrith’s Rugby Development Manager Nigel Beaty, and club president John Siddle, who thanked the referees John Rodgers and Mike Woolaghan, presented the trophy and medals for the finalists.

Penrith Runners up in Northern Clubs Final

The Under 15’s travelled to Newcastle to play in the RFU Northern Clubs Festival. Penrith and Wigton were the only clubs taking part from Cumbria and Penrith were grouped with favourites Middlesboro, Ryton and Gosforth. Penrith played Middlesboro first and were unlucky to loose by one score in a very close game. Penrith then followed on to play Ryton winning 29 – 0 with scores for Hugh Adddison, Richard Armstrong, Phil Gardham, Dan Coleman and James Ellar who also kicked two conversions. The final group game was against Gosforth which turned out to be a scrappy battle with Penrith winning 7-0. the try being scored by Scott Davidson and Converted by James Ellar. In the Semi final the winning team from the other group; Guisborough played Penrith; this was a team with a lot of big heavy players, who showed poor discipline and Penrith took advantage of this winning the game with 2 excellent penalties from James Ellar.  Penrith then had to defend their lines until the whistle with the final score at 6-0. The other semi final was won by Middlesboro leaving Penrith with a rerun of the group match in the final.

This was a fantastic competitive encounter with both sides working hard in defence, Middlesboro got a lucky break and an overlap which gave them the try to win the tournament, although Penrith came close on a couple of occasions the final score was 5-0 to Middlesboro.   

Penrith played some great rugby in this tournament and all the squad worked really hard as a unit producing some creative play that was really enjoyable to watch with some great compliments coming from our hosts in the North East. 

A glorious Sunday afternoon in Netherhall on the 5^th March 2006 saw 16 candidates undertake the National Foundation 15 a Side Referees Award. Representatives from clubs across Cumbria took part in the 5 hour qualification tutored by RFU Referee Trainer Malcolm Shorney of Durham.

Malcolm used a combination of theory and practical to deliver the course and was very pleased with the input from an excellent group. After all the modules were completed the candidates sat the compulsory end of course examination.

The course was a huge success and was enjoyed by all the candidates, many of those taking part were also coaches and they are using this qualification as a means of improving their coaching.

Liam Nicholls RFU Development Officer for Cumbria said “Hopefully we will be able to utilise these ‘new’ referees to take up the whistle at our junior festival, this will give them some practical experience of refereeing and build their confidence, which is essential to progressing up the referee ladder.”

Special thanks must go to Netherhall RUFC who hosted the event in particular Jim Edmondson and the Ladies Committee. The club showed excellent hospitality which was commented on by all the candidates and the tutor. The club are very proactive now and are making huge strides both on and off the pitch. They were promoted last season and apart from a few injuries would be riding high in the North Lancs Cumbria League. Off the field the Club are working hard towards the RFU Seal of Approval and Sport England Clubmark Award and are fairly close to completion after some outstanding efforts.

On Wednesday 1^st March 2006 Cumbria RU were fortunate enough to secure the services of ex England Record Holding Full Back Simon Hodgkinson.

Simon agreed to deliver 2 sessions which were ran at Kendal Rugby Club. Session 1 was for school players plus teachers and coaches and session 2 was aimed predominantly at coaches and looked at the how to coach skills of kicking. This is a very under-coached area of the game and is down to the technical nature of the skill. Simon delivered 2 excellent sessions which were enjoyed by all the participants.

Session 1 involved around 25 players and 20 coaches from across the County and looked at the practical delivery of the sessions which gave the attendees some key areas to focus on. The session looked at the punt kick, spiral kick, drop kick and goal kicking. Simon passed on his vast amount of experience and acknowledged that there were some very talented players in attendance.

Session 2 was delivered to a few coaches who gained an enormous amount of technical detail on the kicking area and the ‘How’ to Coach skills of this area. The session was an in depth look at the correct and incorrect coaching of kicking. Simon used working examples to illustrate and back up his delivery. 

Overall the session was very successful and a great follow up to the Front Row Clinic in which 22 Coaches Referees and Players enjoyed an excellent session delivered by RFU RDO for Cheshire Steve Peters.

There will be more Coach Information sessions coming up in the future and we are hoping to secure other top names to come to the County. Future sessions include Steve Lander about Refereeing Youth Rugby on 27^th March 2006 this again is open to all and starts at 7pm until 8:30pm and is FREE.

Thanks must go to Simon Mulholland and Neil Rollings from Kendal Rugby Development who organised the sessions in conjunction with Cumbria Rugby Union.

Aspatria crowned champions

By John Walsh

ASPATRIA are the new Under-23’s champions of Cumbria after the floodlit 10-a-side finals on their own Bower Park pitch.

Six teams took part in the competition and Aspatria clinched the title after winning all five of their games.

Penrith finished runners-up while Whitehaven, the first-ever winners of the trophy in 2003, finished in third place. Cockermouth, who have been champions for the last two years, did not enter this time.

Organiser Liam Nicholls, the rugby development officer for Cumbria, said: “It was an excellent night’s rugby with some exciting games and quality play.

“One of the thoughts behind starting the competition and playing it under lights and in midweek was to try to encourage people who perhaps don’t play the game on a regular basis.

“As a result we have seen players who are more at home on the soccer pitch or playing rugby league, or perhaps neither of those, and they have enjoyed playing union.”

Nicholls’ own club, St. Benedict’s, finished bottom of the table with five straight defeats to show for their efforts – 24-5 to Whitehaven; 21-0 against Wigton; 20-0 by winners Aspatria; 31-0 by runners-up Penrith and 29-0 to a Broughton side which included several regular rugby league players.

Broughton had been involved in a 0-0 draw with Wigton with the games all played over 14 minutes – seven minutes each way.

The rugby league lads beat Penrith 15-12 but lost 14-0 to Aspatria and went down 10-0 to Whitehaven.

The match that virtually decided the outcome of the trophy was the clash between Whitehaven and Aspatria which finally went to the Black Reds 7-0.

Aspatria also beat Penrith 19-7 and were successful 7-0 in their derby game against Wigton.

The other results were: Whitehaven 5, Penrith 15; Whitehaven 7, Wigton 0; Wigton 14, Penrith 19. 

The final table looked like this;

The bp in brackets refers to Bonus Points which were awarded for teams scoring 4 tries or more and for teams losing by less than 7 points. If this had not been the case the final table would have looked a bit different.

Front Row Clinic Report – 22^nd Feb 2006

Penrith RUFC were the hosts of a Front Row and Building the Scrummage Clinic on a chilly Wednesday night in Cumbria. The event organised by RFU Rugby Development Officer Liam Nicholls was a very informative and interesting look at this technical area of set piece play.

The session was ran by Steve Peters RFU RDO for Cheshire. Steve is an ex North of England and Waterloo Prop and also a member of the RFU Front Row in Union Delivery Team. The benefit of both his practical experience and the theoretical knowledge was passed on to the candidates in attendance.

The evening was attended by 22 candidates in total with a good cross section of the game including; Coaches, Players and Referees. By having the referees in attendance the group was able to clarify any laws, ascertain what referees were looking for and how to minimise penalties on match day.

The players represented were from the County U17 Squad who are currently making the transition into Senior Rugby where the game becomes slightly different for them. They were able to pick up tips on foot position, binding and driving all small aspects of the scrum which can make a huge difference overall.

The delivery included all the basics of forming an effective scrum including, front, second and back row and Steve explained the roles of each of the players in the stability and control of this vital set piece play.

The evening was wrapped up with a final question and answer session indoors as the coaches thawed out gradually!

Thanks go to Penrith Rugby Club for hosting the event, Steve Peters for an excellent session and all the coaches, players and referees in attendance who made the event a success.

The next Coach Information Session is Wednesday 1^st March 2006 at Kendal RUFC – for a kicking clinic with Simon Hodgkinson ex England Full Back. The 4:30 – 6 slot is for players and coaches and the 7 – 8:30 slot is for coaches and players however everyone is welcome to attend either. (All Coach Info Sessions are FREE)  

Please find below the new address for Creighton Rugby Club:

Creighton RUFC, Parkland, Carlisle, CA1 3SR Tel:  01228 521169  

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