It is one with an extra family feel as my cousin’s son has coached in the junior section at Moseley for a long time and we’ve got a lot of family down – so there’ll be a lot of Brummie accents in the crowd, but thankfully most will be supporting Rams!
I think he’s the black sheep and the only one supporting Birmingham.
Joking aside, Moseley are one of the friendliest clubs you can go to – though maybe not always on the pitch with their spectators who get behind their team – and while they’ve not had the best of starts, which has been a big surprise, it shows how good this league is.
National One as tough as ever
Leeds showed that when we visited them last week and anyone can beat anyone on the day.
What got us across the line was a very good set-piece, and a shout-out to Harry Stone for stepping up with his line-out calls.
The scrum was also rock-solid whatever prop combination we had and it emphasises how important platforms are.
We look forward to Birmingham arriving and hopefully they don’t make the same mistake in going to the wrong ground like we did last time when we ended up in Sutton Coldfield!
Games between the two sides have always been hard-fought. The first time they visited was was our first home game in National One and we just got across the line in a fiercely contested battle – they’ve all followed that course.
You could argue the 19-0 last time was the most comfortable either side has had, so we need to try and turn that back round.
‘Breath-taking rugby’
Our two home games so far have been highly entertaining, and I hope our supporters have enjoyed the 113 points we’ve scored.
We’re playing a completely different style to last season. It’s more open, faster and designed to suit some of the dangerous players we have in the side.
We’ve got a lot of pace and guys capable of beating their opponents one-on-one both in the backs and forwards, so while we started last season playing a controlled, territory game, we’re now going down a different path.
It’s produced some breath-taking rugby and some incredible frustration for both the players and fans.
The support we’ve had from the crowd in the first two games at Old Bath Road has been fantastic, and I appreciate at times they’ll be thinking ‘why has he done that?!’
But please be patient because something’s coming! We’re pushing the boundaries and when it comes off its sublime – when it doesn’t everyone knows it, but that’s life.
‘I can’t speak highly enough of Chris’
We are very lucky to have Stillman Insurance Brokers as our matchday sponsor today.
There’s an old saying ‘if you want something done, ask a busy man.’
And there’s no busier man than Chris Stillman – he runs his own business, the youth section, coaches his age group, sits on the Rams Board of Directors, makes great contributions everywhere and he’s just outstanding.
We’re so fortunate to have him. I’ve said before ‘an Army marches on its stomach, and a club on its volunteers’ – and beyond giving his time freely, Chris also puts money into the club as a big sponsor.
That commitment allows us to do what we do in the community with junior coaching in schools and I can’t speak highly enough of him.
‘Ant an incredible character’
Next I’d like to pay tribute to Ant Marris who reached 100 first-team caps at Leeds last week.
He is an incredible character – if you have a chance to sit down for a couple of beers with him he’s got some fantastic stories!
I remember in his first pre-season at Macclesfield he was smashing everything who moved, but when I pointed him out to Mike Tewkesbury, he replied ‘great, but can he effin scrum?’
We’re a club where it’s very difficult to make it in the front row because the standards are so high, but thankfully Ant’s proved he can be very dynamic around the park while also scrummaging to the highest level.
This goes back a long time through props like Brendan Baker, John Rumble and plenty more who’ve given us such a base – we’re known as a side who play, but you can only do it off a strong set-piece.
Ant has dedicated so much time because not only is he phenomenally strong, he’s worked on his technique.
You could bring in a world-class power-lifter but without the nous and knowledge of where to put your shoulder, it doesn’t work.
For him to overcome injury and reach 100 caps was a phenomenal achievement. Full marks to him.
Classy Colts
Finally, after spending Saturday in a wind-swept Leeds, it was brilliant to watch the Colts turn on the style at a sunny Old Bath Road with a 50-5 victory in the first round of the National Cup against Marlow.
It was great afternoon of rugby from both teams and the first try we scored was the best I’ve seen this season, which is a high compliment considering some of the ones the 1st XV have.
It went from end-to-end, plenty of phases, pick-and-goes, superb decisions from the half-backs and some great running rugby finished in the corner. It was outstanding.
A shout-out to Marlow as well who stuck at things to the end, but we showed ourselves off with some terrific stuff.
It was great to see some incredible young talent coming through – some were only 16 and that bodes well for the future. If they commit and keep going, who knows what we might see?
