By David Wilkinson
There is something of a feeling of revenge, in this fixture, or at least payback; as this time it is the students that will have to make the 448-mile round-trip! The teams are separated by a couple of positions in the league, as such, on paper it should be a very competitive contest. Emotionally, many will see this as a must-win game, if we are to stay in the fourth tier of rugby, which is not an unreasonable expectation.
Head Coach, Rhys Davies, was in an optimistic mood, after training: “The boys trained very well tonight, they are really up for the game on Saturday. They played some very good rugby last week, against a strong side, they were leading for most of the game, but the penalties and yellow-cards gave Clifton the edge in the last 20.”
Entering the changing rooms after training, I was met by the sizeable figure of Nathan Rushton, Loose-Head Prop. Rushton has played most of his rugby with Sale FC and Caldy. He told me that the highlights of his career were playing at Twickenham with Ollie Longmore, on several occasions, and winning National Division One with Caldy, against Sale FC, who Longmore was still playing for at the time. Nathan will be with us for a short loan period. The squad is also bolstered by the return of George Boughey, back from injury. And last, but not least, the return of the Prodigal Son, yes, Charlie Attis is back at Macc. I, for one, was very sorry to see him go to Caldy; but as a competitive player, you have to try and play to the highest standard that you can achieve. Charlie is also back for a loan spell.
There will be a minute’s silence before kick-off, in memory of Club legend John Taylor, who sadly passed away earlier this week. The team for Saturday is: 1. Nathan Rushton, 2.Ollie Longmore, 3. Andrew Darlington, 4.Ben Blackburn, 5.Harry Harding, 6. Harry Hughes, 7. Phil Laing, 8. James Oliver (Captain), 9.Mason Winterburn, 10. Tom Farrell, 11.Jamie Harrison, 12. Harry Oliver, 13. Sam Adu, 14. Tom Jennings, 15. Billy Birkett, 16. Ted Broadley, 17. Theo Hulbert, 18. Eliot Alston, 19.George Boughey, 20. Charlie Attis.
