MY LIFE IN RUGBY
THE FORMER HARLEQUINS, BRISTOL, MOSELEY, NEWBURY, LONDON SCOTTISH, EALING AND ROSSLYN PARK CENTRE
Ithink of myself as a bit of a rugby networker because I have been at so many clubs but, out of all of them, Moseley is probably the one I’d consider to be MY club. Without a doubt, the EDF Energy Trophy win over Leeds at Twickenham was the highlight of a time when we were perennially battling relegation.
We had a few young ringers in our side that day, the likes of Henry Trinder on one wing and Dan Norton on the other, but the rest of the team was made up of stalwarts such as Neil Mason and Adam Caves. One of the Leeds back rowers got so wound up by Neil Mason’s niggling he had to be replaced early in the second half. Neil is one player you were glad to have on your side!
It’s fantastic to win any form of silverware as a player but enjoyment doesn’t always come down to how many medals you have in your possession. While I have nothing but fond memories of my time at Moseley and spent longer there than anywhere else, I’d probably say the season I spent under Simon Amor at London Scottish is the one I look back most fondly on, based on the fact we had such a good laugh and played an enjoyable brand of rugby.
A lot of the lads left their soul in Hong Kong after the squad paid a visit there; it was basically a four-day stag do!
From the outset, I was very laidback about being a professional rugby player; it just sort of happened. I got a deal with Quins while I was at Uni, getting a few bob which helped get me through the week, before breaking through in the 2003/04 season when Will Greenwood was at the World Cup.
I did well that year and got offered a first team contract as well as winning the U21s Grand Slam in 2004 and going to the Junior World Cup with England. I probably peaked a bit too early if I am honest.
The year after, I had a bit of a confidence drop. It was a strange one to explain. I started to get a cauliflower ear, and noone wants one of those, let alone a 20-year-old lad. So I started to wear a scrum cap and it didn’t really agree with me and I had a couple of bad games wearing it. That lack of confidence even ran into my time at Bristol who’d I joined from Quins.
At Quins, they were quite chilled about you putting on a few pounds over the summer as long as you worked hard to get back in shape. But Bristol coach Richard Hill was all about fitness, fitness, fitness so he didn’t take too kindly to my fitness test results when I got back from a three-week holiday in Egypt.
All-in-all, it was a bit of a rough start to my time there. By the start of the second season things were on the up and I made my Premiership debut for the club against Worcester. Sadly, it was my tenth and final Premiership appearance as I busted my shoulder trying to ‘kill’ my good mate Simon Whatling in an early tackle. I just about got through the game but after that I only played a bit of Cup stuff.
I was still living in Bristol throughout my days at Moseley and the season I spent at Newbury, but eventually me and the wife moved back to London, which is where I saw out my rugby career. Winning promotion to the Championship with Ealing was another highlight. We’d travel to away games by train and, as we won most weeks, there would normally be a party atmosphere on the way home. One network operator banned us!
I’d started to do a bit of coaching while at Ealing and that continued when I joined Rosslyn Park, in a S&C capacity. Initially I was a player-coach but last April, I thought ‘what am I doing out here’, and that was that.