When the man from Medway Rugby Club mentioned a playing field at Priestfields for last night’s training session he obviously meant the Borstal end of Rochester. I headed for Medway’s League Two cathedral of the rounded-ball.
The ancient (30-something) tracking skill of winding down window and shouting ‘Oi!’ at pedestrians produced excellent results and I arrived at the right place on the other side of the Towns a mere 15 minutes late and halfway through the last stanza of Delilah.
The club have been running the Touch form of rugby for only six weeks, launched partly as an out-of-season warm-up for its senior players but also as a way of getting more people – men and women – into the sport. It is one of only a handful of clubs in this corner of the country that are adopting the non-contact code. But it is growing fast in popularity.
Many of the people here – and there are at least 50 at a guess - hadn’t picked up a rugby ball until three months ago. Now many of them of are expert at the swerve and dash loved by fans of the oval ball, particularly Mexi-Apache Welshmen like me in Grand Slam year. The only difference is the absence of the ground shaking thud each time a player is tackled. It’s a bit like British Bulldog with a polite dash of English tag.
Turning up in my Welsh rugby jersey I make my presence known and join three ladies practicing a running manoeuvre which involved advancing a few yards, putting the ball down, walking over it and rolling it back then getting into position to pick it up again. It quickly becomes apparent that I am hopeless and Eddy, the most patient coach available, takes me aside for a crash course one-to-one introduction to the game.
Within 20 minutes I am taking part in a pitch battle against a four strong team, shortly reduced to three after a bright future prospect pulls up with a suspected hamstring injury. For the first phase I keep forgetting my yards and positions and other niceties of touch etiquette as I struggle to cope with the burst of sudden exertion.
But by the end I’m hooked and leave the pitch promising to return the following week by which time I hope to have gemmed up on the rules and remembered to bring a calculator and ruler to ensure I don’t concede too many penalties or too much dignity. I might even take a map.
It’s good to do a team sport for once, rather than the lonely monotony of a run. It could only have been of benefit for my overall fitness to get the heart racing and the adrenalin flowing. The fast paced tempo forcing me to think quickly and tactically in seconds to get across the line certainly appealed. I’m definitely including this in my routine for the coming weeks. I just hope that it’s not another fad and I can maintain the will power to stay late after a long 10 hour shift and do it.