OORUFC Match Report
17th March 2018


England 0 vs lots OORUFC

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