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Rugby Union Six Nations: England keen to tap in to northern soul
GROUNDED: England caretaker coach Stuart Lancaster at West Park Leeds.
Rumours about the death of rugby union in the north are greatly exaggerated.
Listen to anyone at West Park Leeds and other glass-is-half-full individuals such as Leeds Carnegie skipper and adopted northerner Andy Titterrell and that message reverberates loud and clear.
With Yorkshire and the north afforded the welcome glare of positive publicity following interim England head coach Stuart Lancaster’s decision to decamp the elite squad to West Park Leeds RUFC ahead of their Six Nations campaign, a perfect platform is available for a traditional union powerhouse to start roaring defiantly again – and fighting back.
Anyone who doesn’t think so need only recall the names of Headingley, Roundhay, Wakefield, Gosforth, Sale, Orrell and Waterloo – all big union forces in the seventies. Or star-name northern players such as Ian McGreechan, Fran Cotton, Roger Uttley, Tony Neary, Steve Smith and Mike Slemen.
Any further doubters? Just rewind the clock to the North’s famous 21-9 win over mighty New Zealand at Otley in 1979!
Those heady days may be a fading memory but ex-Leeds Carnegie director of rugby Lancaster has done his bit to showcase West Park Leeds and Yorkshire rugby, and his move re-iterates there remains a stirring heartbeat for the game in the region.
It’s a timely vote of faith, given recent talk of the game dying ‘up north’ and the likelihood of Newcastle following Carnegie out of the Premiership.
Though Lancaster’s mind is firmly focused on Six Nations business with England, he hasn’t forgotten his roots.
Lancaster will hold a community session on Thursday, with eight clubs from the Leeds area invited and senior England players expected to be in attendance.
On Friday, an open training session will be held, though not at the Sycamores while Cumbria-born Lancaster – who coaches under-11s mini rugby at the club every Sunday morning with his children both members – will put on a coaching session with Level Two and Three coaches within Yorkshire in the evening.
The big beneficiaries are West Park Leeds and while the club are delighted to see their profile increase, England’s presence also has big spin-offs for the northern game, according to club secretary Rob Storey.
Storey, hopeful that a successful week could lead to future England visits, said: “It was clearly something Stuart wanted to do. As far as the squad were concerned, I think he wants a different approach and to bring the players back to the community grassroots, to a degree.
Boost
”For us, it puts the club on the map – I suppose we’re high profile now! Before all this, on our Pitchero website, we were the 84th highest as far as hits are concerned. Now we’re about the third highest in terms of ranking. People are suddenly looking at the club.
“Obviously, we’ll look after England and give them everything they require. It will be different to Pennyhill Park (England’s usual training base) and our facilities are second to none within Yorkshire – some professional clubs would wish they had facilities like ours.
“It raises rugby’s profile up north and shows it’s not just a southern sport. It’s an excellent boost for Yorkshire rugby, quite frankly.
“Rugby is alive and kicking here; look at the number of clubs in Yorkshire and the number alone in Leeds and surrounding areas. There is rugby union north of the Watford gap.”
Carnegie’s Dartford-born captain Titterrell, who his spent most of his successful career almost exclusively in the north with Sale Sharks and Leeds, said: “I think it’s great for rugby in general that England are in Leeds.
“It’s a shame there are no internationals played up here; I know there have been a couple at Old Trafford, but there’s some great sporting venues in the north.
“England have been dragged out of their comfort zone and I think it will do many of the players good to get out of the ‘rat race’ that is London, while showing the game is healthy in the north.”
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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