Opening Whistle

Welcome to the Monday Morning Ruck! It’s time for a new feature at Bottom of the Ruck. Over the course of a week, I see so many great things from Clubland and it pains me to not be able to report on them all. Unfortunately, BOTR is a passion project and I have a full time job that takes up most of my time, so I often have to pass on some stories that I’d really like to cover. 

So, I’m going to take a stab at a quick hit Monday morning piece that allows me to share some of these great stories in a short format. I’ll also share some short observations on the game.

BOTR Weekly Recap

Here’s what was posted to Bottom of the Ruck this past week. I’m currently on a two per week cadence, but hoping to increase that to three per week with the new Monday Morning Ruck feature adding to that total. We have a bunch of great stories in the pipeline and new leads almost weekly. 

Feeding Clubland

My Visit to Our Rugby Club

From the Touchline 

• Congratulations to the Wolfhounds on claiming their 3rd consecutive Celtic Challenge title with a 50–29 win over the Clovers. The cross-border women’s championship that brings together squads from Ireland, Scotland, and Wales aims to bridge the gap between the grassroots and international rugby. 
• On Saturday, Aberdare RFC Vice Captain Ethan Wynne made his 100th Senior appearance for the club. Congratulations on this great achievement!
• We’re all about recognizing volunteers at Bottom of the Ruck. Havant RFC named Bruce Neil their Volunteer of the Month for March. Bruce puts in a big effort helping their 1st XV, setting up, breaking down, and making sure the squad has everything they need on match days. When not tied up, he even pitches in to help the 2nd XV. A true hero of the grassroots!
• Congratulations go out to Trowbridge RFC Men’s 1st XV squad that earned promotion to Level 5 for the first time in club history. To celebrate, they are throwing a Promotion Party this coming weekend with great food, family friendly fun, music, and the opening round of the Women’s Six Nations! 
• Malolo Rugby Union in Fiji hosted their 2nd Annual Malolo 10s this past weekend with Yaro taking home the championship!
• Congratulations to Randalstown RFC Women who won the Suzanne Fleming Shield after defeating Carrickfergus.
• Crippled Crows Masters Rugby South Australia, an over-35 rugby community organization, opened up their new season this past Saturday with a minute of silence to honor a passing player Big Al McCarthy. The Crippled Crows reported no major injuries, in their first bash of the season, which is always great news for us older folks. 
• Old Bedians Vets took on Toc H Vets in the inaugural Gander Cup in memory of Jonathan Gander of Old Bedians RFC who passed away in the fall a few days after playing against Toc H. 

Laying the Foundations 

• Royal Wooten Bassett RFC has started a fundraising campaign to build new pitchside dugouts complete with equipment storage. To learn more about their campaign, follow this link. 
• Our friends at Spikers RFC are working hard to raise funds to purchase a van to help with transportation of players to games and events. They have branding opportunities available on the van for businesses. If you’re interested in learning more, contact us and we’ll get you in touch with the Spikers Head Coach. 

Grassroots Realities

• As the clock begins to wind down on the Northern Hemisphere club season, it has been great seeing the action in the Southern Hemisphere get started. That’s one of the great things about rugby. It never has to end unless you want it to. I have only followed Southern Hemisphere club rugby passively over the years, but I look forward to digging in more this season. 
• Along those same lines, I’m looking to explore and learn more about other rugby cultures in the coming year. We’re part of a world wide sport, so I’d like the content here to reflect that more. 
• I saw a heartwarming, but increasingly rare moment in a U18 match this weekend. It was part of our four team, three match day. One of the sides turned up with low numbers and players from other sides jumped in to help them play rugby. This is an important piece of rugby culture that sadly is becoming more and more rare. Too much emphasis is being placed on results and standings. There is a time and place for that, but it certainly isn’t when you’re faced with a team of only 8-9 players. Play rugby and have fun. That is what we’re here for. All of the kids played their hearts out and in the spirit of the game. 

Something We Missed?

Weekly features, like this, only work because of Clubland. Just like your favorite grassroots referee, we also don’t have eyes everywhere. If your club had a moment this weekend, big or small, tag us on Facebook and/or Instagram. We’ll share the news and it just may be included in next week’s Monday Morning Ruck.

You tag. We share. Let’s grow the game together.

Closing

I hope that you enjoyed the first edition of the Monday Morning Ruck. It will most certainly evolve in the coming weeks and months. If there are other things that you’d like to see covered, reach out and let me know or as mentioned above… tag us on social media!

The grassroots of the sport continues to amaze and inspire me. Yes, we all struggle at times, but there’s something special about a collective group that keeps showing up despite the odds. Rugby is alive, well, and rooted in the grassroots.

Keep rugby grassy!