Whilst the first team were away at Brentwood RFC on Saturday a little bit of magic happened at Nutter Lane, our club played its very first game of mixed ability Rugby.

We hosted the inspirational Bolton Buccaneers RFC who made the journey from the depths of Lancaster to play us. Their ethos is simply Rugby for all. Their team consisted of a player with Downs Syndrome, several deaf players, one who’d previously broken his neck & players who’d only started rugby the week before! When I first thought about putting the fixture together, I wondered if Manor would be able to field a team to play them? I needn’t have worried. We had a player who was 67 (who’d never played rugby before), well done Al!, Rod who hadn’t played for 30 years, retirees Rob Flinter, Paul Bowden, some players back from injury, some of our Colts dads (Clive and Jason). We had Ian Nicholson who proved that one hand doesn’t stop you playing Rugby. It was great to see youngsters Sam Bowden, Jobe Millie , Callum and Harry Bone supporting the older players.

The game itself was tough game and very physical. The winner …. Rugby. Proving once again it’s the most inclusive, brilliant game in the world. Thanks to Luigi and Alex for their help in organising, Natasha and Kelly for sorting the food and to all the brilliant players who turned up to play.

Eton Manor proving once again nobody has more heart than us and there’s no better club. UTM