The prospect of standing on a cold & wet Knottingley touchline (no offence
Knottingey) in a bitter north-east wind with possible snow/rain, on Saturday
last was not a pleasant one. Trying to write coherent notes on the game’s
progress in those conditions would not have been the easiest of tasks and so
news of the cancellation was received with some relief.
I could now settle to watch the Twickenham match “live” in warmth and
comfort with beer and sandwich to hand. Surely England would produce a
performance and show what they could really do !
Taller, heavier and faster than ever before, 40% fitter than 3 years ago, these
finely-tuned athletes were intent on restoring pride in the shirt, totally
focussed on this, the final game of the 6 Nations. Alas, at the moment they
are not very good at playing rugby; and worse, they do not look as though
they have the passion and the “umph” we would expect from men
representing their country.
By half time, or perhaps even earlier, Knottingley did not seem to have been
such a bad option; at least I would not have suffered depression and I would
have seen honest-to-goodness commitment and enthusiasm for our precious
Saturday afternoon’s recreation. The higher echelons of rugby football are
operating in a different world to ours and I wonder whether money has taken
the place of the “spirit” of the game?
Perhaps next week will see better weather and allow us important game-time
in moving towards the Vase semi-final. Hosting that match on Easter
Saturday presents challenges for The Club to ensure that we can properly
welcomer our visitors from Eccleshall, organise car-parking, deal with larger
numbers of spectators, provide extra solid & liquid sustenance, etc. etc.
Volunteers are not hard to come by and much work will be cheerfully
undertaken by them. The pitch will be as perfect as “Whitworthly” possible
and we shall relish the occasion.
Still angry and disappointed with last Saturday, we look forward with
excitement and anticipation to the remainder of our season. At the moment,
England Nil: Old Otliensians quite a lot more!
Arthur Bartle