Next Rugby Club

After a couple of years playing for Sevenoaks i made the decision to move over to local rivals Tonbridge Juddians this was mainly due to the fact that my brother was playing there in the younger age groups and it took less pressure off my parents to travel to to different places every Sunday.

I joined Tonbridge in the 17 year age group , i started playing for them on the wing but quickly got asked to move to fullback to cover injuries over the squad, i settled into the position and by mid way though my first season i had managed to get regular game time either starting or from the bench.

The season for the team went very well and we managed to get though to a semi final of the county cup.

This game for me changed my rugby life from that point, from a playing point of view.

I arrived at the ground that we where playing at that week, it was neutral ground but it was only down the round from where i lived so i walked to the ground.

When i arrived there was a handful of players already in the changing room, i found the number 15 Jersey and sat in front of it. The rest of the squad started to filter in and the team where getting ready to go out for the warm up.

The coach came in just before we where about to head for the warm up and said that they had tried to get hold of our fly half for the last hour or so but no luck, it was only then i noticed that he was not in the changing room.

So at that moment they said that due to injuries in other positions i was going to be covering the 10 role in the semi final.

Well that would of been ok if i had ever played there at club rugby level, i had played there at school but that was very different, slower and less physical and although playing at fullback can leave you exposed at times, it is a position you can really make your own and have to rely on your own skill set to get out of trouble.

Fly half is a different role completely. More pressure as the team are relying on you to control the game and create scoring opportunities. The only thing i could do was kick both out of hand and off the ground.

Plus with about an hour to go before kick off i had to run though the set moves and also learn how to play the position with the players around me.

Safe to say i was more nervous than normal before a game.

The warm up went as well as could be expected. The game did not start that well. We received the kick off and formed the ruck the ball was passed to me to make the clearing kick. I dropped the ball and knocked giving the opposition the scrum in our 22. Luckily for me they where not able to capitalise on my mistake and we won a penalty at the scrum and i was able to take a moment to collect myself and clear for touch.

The longer the game went on the more i settles into the role and was able to control the game with my boot and field position. One of the hardest things for me to learn was the defensive set up from that position, although that seems like it should be more simple than playing at full back it is not.

The reason being is that at full back you cover a larger area in broken play or you tend to take the last me in the attacking line so you always know where you stand position wise. As a fly half you have to stay flat and level with your line and not drift to early or jump out the line to soon, You also cover a lot more big ball runners as they like to target you. I also found that the tackle technique had to better than at full back, mainly because you are making more front on tackles but at full back i threw myself at the ball carrier with little care of technique just wanted to get the player onto the ground.

The game was tough and physical. We where not able to create to many chances due to some solid defence and lack of game management by myself. We ended up loosing the game by about 9 points. That was it for me then i could not get back to full back for the rest of the season and the next season we played as colts in the 18 year age group.

Playing in the colts if you where part of the back line meant that you where able to be selected for the men's sides and you could play for the 1st 15 all the way to the 4th 15.

I played the first few games of the new season jumping between full back and fly half before being asked to play for the second 15.

That was a new experience for me. Playing senior rugby was a step up in all parts of the game, from physicality, to the banter, all the way though to the speed of the game. I started the game at full back and played for about 60mins, my first carry was quickly stopped in a physical tackle by a big back row forward. I soon learnt that space was quickly closed at that level of rugby.

I was peppered with high balls all day and hit late a number of times off the ball. But it was great fun and coming off at 60mins i was glad to have played for that long and to come off in one peace.

The next few weeks i started again at full back and this time had a better game getting more and more used to the type of game that was being played each week. Through the rest of that first half of the season i played for both the colts and the 2nd 15, playing mainly at fullback for the men and fly half for the colts.

When the second half of the season game around i was asked by the first 15 coach to attend first team training and start to play just for the men's teams.

I decided to take them up on that offer. I started training with the first team and playing with the second team each week. After a few more games i was asked to bench for the first team. I arrived at the ground for the first time as a first team player. It was very different set up to anything i had been involved with before even from the second team set up.

I turned up and the changing rooms where set up with training kit and match day kit as well as drinks and snacks. I got changed into the training kit and went out for the warm up. The warm up was more focused of your position so i did a lot of kicking and catching of high balls before going into a team run and then back into the changing room to put on game tops and last team talk.

The game was all a bit of a blur, i remember every so often going for runs and warm up with the other replacements.

Half time came and went and still no call to get ready to go on. About 10 minutes into the second half i was called to warm up and get ready to go on, I was going on at full back.

I remember feeling very nervous and was hoping that the first thing i had to do was a simple skill like passing the ball.

It was not to bad, i covered a clearing kick that i caught on the full in the 22 and was able to clear the ball back to the oppositions half and get the ball of the park for some good field position.

I was happy with the way i was playing, i got my hands on the ball and made a few good runs, defended well and was able to command the back field in the short time i was on the field.

I went on to play another game off the bench at full back and then got moved to fly half for the rest of the season but this was still mainly off the bench with some starts in some less important games.

The season in itself was not brilliant as a team finishing mid table and not doing well in the cup competition. Personally the season was great for me and my development as a rugby player and i really enjoyed playing.

The following season was another good season for me and i found another position that i was able to play well and that was inside centre.

I had moved into a more regular starting position at fly half but due to injuries i was able to get the opportunity to move to inside centre. This did mean that a number of games that year i played 80mins because i moved positions during the game.

Towards the back end of the season the team found itself suffering a lot with injuries and that meant that i was now starting at 12 and it was a brilliant move. i found that i was able to be more physical in defence but also being able to play as a play maker it was the perfect balance that i needed in my game. Again the season was poor from a team perspective but i had grown more as a player and had finally established myself as a first team.