Colerne side tackle stars
The Bath Rugby Old Boys squad that took on Colerne
He may be 46 years old, but Todd Blackadder has had the honour of making his Bath Rugby debut. The director of rugby joined some familiar faces from years gone by and members of his backroom staff on Sunday to celebrate the opening of Colerne RFC’S new changing rooms and remember their former player, Paul Mcquillan. Ex-all Blacks captain Blackadder came off the bench to join the likes of Mark Gabey, Russell Earnshaw, Kevin Yates, Ryan Davis, Ollie Hayes and Chris Lilley in a Bath Old Boys XV. And Chris, who selected and captained the side, wasn’t the only Lilley in action as sons Mark and Sean also had a runout. Chris is a co-founder of Colerne RFC and Bath’s elite player development coach. Colerne youngster Lewis Mcfarlane had the challenge of tackling Blackadder – who won 12 caps for New Zealand – and got a hand-off for his troubles. “What a fantastic day today,” he tweeted. “Facing an all star @bathrugby XV, we came out as the losing side, but I’m very proud of our efforts and the cause of this event. Todd Blackadder may only be the manager of Bath Rugby, but his hand offs are something else!!!” The match was also held in memory of Mcquillan and a minute’s applause was held before the game in his honour. The 41-year-old, who also played for Melksham RFC, collapsed and died after a second-team game against Alfred’s Nomads in Marlborough last year. He was a popular prop who joined Melksham from Colerne in the 1990s and also coached the under-8s. Colerne’s changing room project has cost £130,000 and has finished before the new Dorset & Wilts 2 North season starts next month. The changing rooms were officially opened by Bath Rugby president David Trick.