IT is a pleasure to welcome Bury St Edmunds to Old Bath Road for this afternoon’s National One fixture.
We’ve had some fantastic battles with these guys and the one I remember the most is going there in March 2016 to keep our National Two South survival chances high.
They’ve got fantastic facilities, it’s a club with ambition and a fine set-up, and the sort you want at a higher level.
It’s been nice to see them kick on and they have a former Ram in their ranks.
I text Samir (Kharbouch) – one of my favourite players of the past couple of decades – when they won the league and he called me back; we had a lovely chat.
He captained the Berkshire Under 20s side who beat Cheshire in a Twickenham final, an amazing achievement, and he’s a thoroughly decent lad who we’ll look forward to catching up with today.
Any team coached by Shanners (James Shanahan) is generally a good one, as he showed last year when he got them up.
A chance to bounce back
They’re going to be interesting to host as we come off the back of probably the worst loss since we got too National One in 2019.
But in life what matters most is how you come back from a disappointment.
Dealing with the ups is easy, dealing with the downs is tough.
I use the phrase ‘it separates the men from the boys’ – the guys this week have the chance to put Birmingham right.
We’ll need to drop our tackle height, complete a few more of them and sort out a few things at the line-out, and then it will come good.
In the early stages of this season everyone is beating each other, but I’d hesitate to say it’s definitely the most competitive National One we’ve encountered.
And the reason is generally when I look back, an outstanding side emerges.
Richmond in 2019/20, again in 24/25, Caldy in 21/22 after Covid, Cambridge had one of the most effective gameplans the year after.
They were a classic example of the old saying ‘a fox has many tricks, a hedgehog has one very good one’, and Chinnor were very good in 23/24, likewise Rotherham last year.
So, I’d be hesitant to say this year is more competitive than ever, mainly so not to take away from those sides.
But it is competitive all the way through and it’s what makes it such a fantastic league.
Matchday sponsor Chris ‘a superstar’
I’m delighted to thank Chris and Stillman Insurance brokers for their extremely generous backing of Rams both as matchday and as an ongoing sponsor.
And of course, for all the work he does as a coach, manager, main board director and youth chairman. He is a superstar.
Superb from the Colts
Elsewhere, it was nice to see the Colts progress to round two of the National Cup, and also to see two good sides with Marlow.
They stayed in the game very well despite us probably having the edge in the set-piece and maybe a couple of fine handling tries, but we move on.
Coxy (Dave Cox) developed a reputation in taking sides deep into the competition in the past three years (semi-final, last 16, last 16), so Graham (Oakley) and the other coaches have a challenge!
Equally, though, it was nice to see the Extra As also get a good win and it’s good to see a strong Colts section.
There are some other clubs struggling a little but hopefully they can build back up because what Berkshire wants is as many good sides as we can possibly get.
There’s a rich history in this county of great youth sections and hopefully it returns.
Finally, I know how frustrated the supporters are. I can feel their pain – I get as upset as them on a matchday, but it’s not for a lack of trying.
But we need to understand this is an incredibly young team which will need time to find its mojo.
Having said that, there are a plenty of good signs.
Matt (Wickham) and Ross (McKay) have been outstanding at half-back – the whole crowd can see how much (the latter) gives you with the boot.
The centre combination of Ellis (Jones) and Matt (Blee) has been outstanding and if we can iron out a couple of issues, I’ve no doubt we’ll come on strong.
Hopefully that will start today, and you can help cheer the boys onto victory.
