Playing for Yorkshire Carnegie is a dream come true for local lad Ben Sowrey

FOR SOMEONE who has played Premiership rugby, it seems bizarre that Ben Sowrey describes playing for cash-strapped part-timers Yorkshire Carnegie as a “dream come true.”

However, that is the hooker’s exact sentiment as he seeks to help them navigate their way through the club’s current difficult period.

The former Newcastle Falcons player was named co-captain after arriving at Emerald Headingley in the summer.

Leeds-born Sowrey, 28, started out at nearby Moortown RUFC before playing for Doncaster Knights, Rotherham Titans, Worcester Warriors and Newcastle before eventually joining Wharfedale last season.

Carnegie head to Ampthill in the Championship today still looking for a first win after entering a CVA a few months ago.

They heavily lost all three Championship Cup games but showed more promise when falling 34-14 at home to Bedford Blues in Sunday’s league opener.

Sowrey admitted: “From where we’ve come from in pre-season - and the first three Cup games - we’ve come on leaps and bounds.

“There’s a real good vibe around the boys. We’ve a lot to work on but also there’s a lot to hang our hat on as well.

“Moving forward we have to take each week as it comes and build some confidence but I do think it will come. I really do.

“We just have to keep at it and we’ll look to show that on Saturday.”

On playing for Carnegie, he added: “It’s fantastic.

“As corny as it sounds, I watched Leeds as a kid and was at the Powergen Cup final when we won it (in 2005). To go out and lead the side now and be part of this amazing facility and part of the history it’s great.

“It’s a bit of a dream come true in some ways. I know I’ve gone on and done stuff in my career but in a roundabout way this is brilliant.

“I know it’s Yorkshire but to represent the city (Leeds) it is great.”

Sowrey knows Carnegie must improve their set-piece if they are to have any chance of winning today given, at one point, they lost five successive line-outs on their own throw against Bedford.

“A lot of that is on my shoulders being a hooker,” he said.

“But the nature of coming together in such a short space of time and only training Tuesdays and Thursdays it could take a while.

“The more time we spend together, though, and the more time we get with each other it will just click and we’ll get that right and we’ll have a platform.

“If we’d have got that right against Bedford we’d have been more than in the game.

“Some of our mauling looked pretty handy going forward and we probably took it out a little bit early at times.

“It actually functioned alright in the pre-season games and we’ll look to improve at Ampthill.”

Today’s opponents are newly-promoted and probably seen as relegation rivals with Carnegie.

But Sowrey insisted: “We’re not taking them lightly at all and it’s on their home patch.

“We’re just concentrating on ourselves at the moment and we have to do as if we start looking at other teams and we’ve not even got ourselves right as a collective, it’s fruitless.

“It won’t give us any joy. We need to improve our basics and they try to impose ourselves on them.”

Carnegie make just one change to their starting line-up with ex-Bradford Bulls and Hull KR star Ryan Shaw gaining his first start after impressing off the bench against Bedford.

He comes in on the wing.