I make no apologies for how much I love rugby. That's the whole point of this blog. But the last few weeks, in the middle of the off season, have reminded me how much I love and respect the game, and those who play it.
I start with a realisation I made during the Women's World Cup. We live in times when rugby is one of the fastest growing sports worldwide, and the evidence follows. Every year, since last summer, there is a major rugby event. Starting from 2013, there is a Lions tour, then the Commonwealth 7's and Women's World Cup in 2014. 2015 gives us the World Cup, something we all should be looking forward to, and finally in 2016, we see rugby return to the Olympic Games. Thus the four year wheel of rugby is set in motion. Who could ask for more?
Well now that you mention it, yes, we could ask for more, but let's not be greedy! These men and women give us so much entertainment throughout the year and then you meet them. And they are just brilliant. I've written before about my meeting with Chris Robshaw, and getting his autograph after a knockout defeat whilst I'm wearing the winning teams shirt. That is just class from anyone you meet. The pessimists amongst you would say "well that's the England captain. Of course he's going to be polite, and not tell you to sod off." I'd accept that, and counter with the same circumstances, thought later in the evening, and asking Joe Marler and Connor O'Shea for their autographs, and getting a very friendly (though surprisingly gruff voice from Marler) reply of "Yes of course mate." Wonderful. Truly wonderful. All through the season, I got little glimpses of how players interact with their supporters and their community.
All through the season, the Saints were working hard, supporting a young man, Luis, who was battling cancer. Tom Wood spoke how Luis inspired the team through the later stages of the season, including the two Amlin and Premiership finals. In turn, Alex Corbisiero talked about how Luis helped him recover from his injuries by inspiring him to carry on. One of the events they held back in April was a cinema takeover. The idea being the players would, whilst being supervised, take on the jobs of the cinema staff, then all go and see The Amazing Spider-Man 2. I turned up and spent the next two hours before the film wandering about and watching the players. The first obscure sight was watching Alex Corbisiero and George North sat behind the ticketing desk. Corbs was being instructed on the computers, but North was left to his own devices, not aloud to touch anything. So he pulled out, and to this day, I don't know where from, a duster and started dusting away merrily. Ethan Waller and George Pisi wondered about, offering free samples of chocolate coolers from the Starbucks upstairs, and Cam Dolan, in his first outing out with the Saints, was acting the tradition baseball snack vendor at the ice cream stand. He acted the part well, giving out free samples. Much to the distress of the two regular staff members, since it wasn't so much the traditional small plastic spoonful and more the whole scoop. Delicious by the way! Shortly afterwards, and rather contradictory, I decided I needed dinner, and ambled over to Callum Clark and Alex Day for a hot dog. I think the best way to describe what happened was mild comedic bullying into getting the large meal instead of the regular size, not that I was particularly bothered. I happily munched away when a quiet "excuse me, is anyone sitting there?" wafted over from in front of me.
I looked up, and was surprised to see Khan Fotuali'i with his own hot dog in hand. I of course invited him to sit down and we proceeded to chat about the season, Samoan duty, his move and family, the return to the Ospreys and where was good for a walk when he had some time off. It remains one of my highlights of the season, to see such a genuine human side to someone who is heralded as one of the best players in the world. When it came to time to watch the film, I had the joy of watching whilst sitting with Samu Manoa, and again, we chatted about family life (his wife was pregnant at the time), his time at Saints, the USA qualification for the World Cup and the Pacific nations cup. Again, just lovely to chat to someone who dominates on the field and find his personality to be so cool and relaxed.
Two weeks ago, I went to the Premiership 7's at Franklins Gardens and promptly sat myself down next to where I was told the players would be sitting, and shortly found myself surrounded by Wasps, Harlequins and Saracens supporters. It took about three minutes before the final was brought up and cheerfully bantered about. That's something we have to embrace about our sport. We can happily drink, chat and mock the opposition supporters. We can clap and cheer when they score a brilliantly worked try, and groan with them as a massive tackle comes in, flooring the key man. What's not to love? And whilst all this was going on, the players and coaching staff of the Saints were sitting pretty close by, and it was unusual to see them not in playing kit, or what Ben Foden and Christian Day have dubbed "match day tweed." But this brings back the humanity of these men, and for people who are such large parts of our lives, it's wonderful to see them family men with girlfriends and in Foden's case, dad duty. Whilst I'm at it, thanks to Ben, Luther Burrell, and James Wilson for taking the time to autograph my ball. As I was headed home after an evening of fantastic rugby, which incidentally got me out of a family BBQ, I looked up and spotted a now bearded Cam Dolan, who recognised me and we chatted like mates about the new season.
Most recently, I went to Loughborough to take part in the O2 Ultimate Fan finals with the England squad. Ten players, five competitors, and Alex Payne, plus a film crew and some representatives from the organisers. This was a completely different day out, since it was a selection of players from around the country, Ben Morgan, Freddie Burns, Foden, George Ford, Dave Attwood, Billy Vunipola, Jack Nowell, Matt Kvesic, Dave Wilson and Christian Wade. I can now happily say that I've received passes from Wade and Vunipola and made a smoothie with Ford that beat one made with Burn's help. He used to work in a smoothie shop, don't you know? The whole day was incredible and I cannot thank the players enough for their time and effort to making the day. They let us into their world and we listened intently to their horror stories of initiations, pre season training, their trips with the team and general background of each player. We heard about the general feeling in the clubs, particularly for Gloucester with all the new players and coaching staff.
It's nice to think that we are part of a sport where the players are perfectly happy to pose for a selfie (god, I hate that word, but there's no alternate when you're photographing yourself and the player), sign an autograph, and actually will remember you if you take the time and decide to say hello. From what I've seen, they really appreciate it. They get generous too. I have a friend, Megan, who has been raising money for the Young Minds Anxiety charity by auctioning memorabilia from players, generously donated for her. (If anyone is interested in donating, please feel free to tweet me for details.) The fans are true fans of not just their team, but the game. I once chatted tactics for Owen Williams vs Toby Flood in Leicester's starting line up with a true blue Tigers supporter, and we actually agreed. You go to the Premiership Final, and there are fans from everywhere. You could point at twelve different people and find they support eight of the premiership clubs. Generally, they gang up one way or the other, and it's fun to watch which way the supporters lean.
And before anyone says I'm biased towards Northampton and England, yes I am. However, I am completely aware that other clubs do do charity and community work that is phenomenal, but this post is based on personal experience, and I'm yet to experience those clubs myself. But I seriously look forward to it.
Coming soon. Preseason friendlies.
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