Firstly apologies for no notes last week, I was in Germany on business and just did not have the time to get anything down on paper, plus my laptop decided to crash and left me in all sorts of trouble ….. but you are not really interested in all that crap so I’ll crack on …..
A good afternoon all round on Saturday I think! Blaydon contributed fully to a rip roaring game and it was pretty physical stuff out there. Lots of good things to build on for our run in and hopeful survival at this level.
It was good to see a number of players returning following injuries and also the arrival of Jim McKay to help and advise Nigel for the rest of the season. I was asked many leading questions by numerous people on Saturday about this……the bottom line is that Jim brings a wealth of experience, knowledge and know how and how can we not benefit from that …. a bloody good catch I say!!!
Also I would like to mention Nathan Pedley. As you all know Peds is currently under suspension following the dangerous tackle he committed at Blaydon back in October. Peds has been helping on match days since but felt, on this occassion, that it was appropraite not to be involved. I take my hat of to him, since the incident he has been devastated by what has happened and is still full of remorse. No one asked or told him not to be involved, he made the decision himself …. hopefully he will be back with the team this week. All of us here at Redruth hope that Cameron is and will continue to make a full recovery.
From all the players and Management Team, plus the Officials and others, we offer our sincere condolences and sympathy to Gordon Dodds on the loss of his wife Christine following illness. Gordon is a vital member of our team and the skill and expertise he shows in producing his DVDs for us is second to none.
I would also like to say thank you to Blaydon for agreeing to the mark of respect. I hope Nick and his team had a safe trip home and that they enjoyed their first visit to Redruth. There is a strong possibility that they could be coming this way on 3 occassions next year if we stay where we are, Mounts Bay come and The Cornish All Blacks drop out of National 1 …. mind you we face 2 trips to the North East with Tynedale now virtually sure of promotion from National 3 North.
There has been lots of talk going around about The Cornish All Blacks switching their home fixture against Northampton Saints to Franklin Gardens … I can understand the safety aspects etc with the ground and the lack of adequate lighting and the fear that the playing lights are not up to the standard required for such a prestigous match, but I think FDR may have set a dangerous precedent ….. As far as the Blacks are concerned, they should do quite nicely out of it with the Saints regularly pulling in 5 figure crowds ….. wherever the game is played it will be a very tough challenge …..
Well England certainly turned things around on Saturday night didn’t they …..
I must be honest I thought France would win by 20 points, but how wrong I was and, to be honest, I was delighted that I was wrong! I thought every player gave their all especially up front. Mark Regan was his usual nuisance self and managed to aggrivate Mark Lievremont to the point where he called him a “Provocative Clown” … alledgedly!
Jonny Wilkinson was back to his best and the 2 props destroyed the French scrum …. the backs looked really sharp and Wigglesworth, at 9, brought a lot to the game …. can they go on and win the championship …. well I think they have a real chance now…Wales have to go to Ireland and the entertain France, Scotland are out of it as are the Italians … so it looks like a ding dong battle right to the end! I’m off to Edinburgh to watch the England v Scotland game so that should be good and no doubt I will try a beer or two ….
We have a real big game again this week up at Westcombe Park. For those of you who are travelling please be reminded that it is a 2:00pm kick off. I know there was a coach planned but it has been cancelled owing to a lack of numbers. This is a real shame as it means so much to the boys to have supporters there … for those who are making the effort, and I know there are some of you maybe in a minibus, thank you!
There was another good evening in the club after the game on Saturday with Mark Bryant and Martin Weekes taking centre stage with their 2 hour act leading up to the France v England game …. a first for the club this week was the “Rugbyette” competition won by “Avo’s” daughter. She is now the proud owner of the first ever Redruth Rugbyette T shirt …. no doubt more of these will be taking place over the next few weeks …. i must say Weeksey was awesome and threw himself around the floor like a teenage break dancer … well done mate you are a star!
In National 2, it looks like Otley are just about there now and favourites to join them must be Stourbridge. At the other end Halifax look doomed but its a dog fight for the other 2 spots and we are still very much in the mix!
We have to play all 3 of the current bottom 3 in the next few week, Halifax and Nuneaton at home and Henley away … in between we have Otley away ( full supporters coach for that one already) and Manchester at home and Westcombe Park this weekend …. it’s still a tough call!
A rather bizarre incident occurred at Stourbridge on Saturday, it seems that 2 Stourbridge players collided with each other in the first minute of the game and both ended up being stretchered off …. hope they didn’t suffer too bad an injury unlike the footballer Eduardo who had his leg broken in a horrific tackle at the weekend …. it looked deliberate and the guy who did it should face a lengthy ban! Some of the pictures being posted on websites show the mess he was in …… bloody awful!
There are new regulations being issued shortly about registering Non EU players for next season. This will have quite an effect on a number of clubs playing in National 2 and 3. The proposal being put forward for approval is: From the 1st June 2008, clubs playing at Level 3 (National 2) and Level 4 (National 3 North & South) will no longer be considered predominantly amateur and therefore no club may have registered a player who holds a visa that restricts his employment in sport. Examples are Visitor Visas, Working Holiday Visas and Student Visas. The consequences of breaking this new ruling will be severe on clubs with point deductions to the fore.
So that’s about it this week, no real quotes to talk about this time round, although I did hear some rumblings about a Wizards Sleeve and it being likened to …. well I can’t really say!!!!!!!!!!
More about the Pirates decision to stay at Camborne next time….
If you are in Birmingham at anytime there is a real good Chinese just off Broad Street …. its called Me n Chew! …. PA … Am wi choo my old friend!!!!
Hopefully some of you will be at Westcombe Park, Orpington, Kent, on Saturday ….. and don’t forget it’s Mothers Day this Sunday – call the Club for the fantastic lunch offer at