Rugby TTL Season 2 Episode 14 Grassroots Rugby Stories from Village Fields to the Best Scran

Rugby TTL: Grassroots, Tough Grounds, and Memorable Matches

In this episode of the Rugby through the Leagues podcast, host Carl is joined by Keith from Ireland and Polly, a returning guest. Keith introduces himself and shares his experiences in grassroots rugby, while Polly and Carl discuss their passion for the game and the importance of bringing more people into rugby clubs. The conversation takes a humorous turn as they recount their worst weather conditions during matches, share stories of the best food they've had post-game, and debate the most hostile grounds they've played at. From reminiscing about school matches to discussing the vital role of referees, this episode covers it all. Tune in to hear about Carl's future plans for the podcast and exciting collaborations in the rugby community.

00:00 Welcome and Introductions
00:33 Keith's Rugby Journey
01:51 Polly's Perspective on Rugby
02:52 Grassroots Rugby and Weather Woes
04:48 Memorable Matches and Tough Conditions
08:55 Best and Worst Rugby Experiences
14:53 Hostile Grounds and Referee Challenges
23:29 Upcoming Season and Future Plans
24:07 Closing Remarks and Call to Action

Transcript

Carl: [00:00:00] Hello and welcome back to Rugby through the Leagues podcast. Hello. As you can see, I've got a couple of gentlemen with us. Now, obviously Polly's, a previous attendee of rugby through the leagues and obviously done a recent grassroots day. It's not a mirror. There is another one out there that looks a little bit like me, but better looking as Keith are Irish contingent.

So Keith, for those that don't know you mate, a little intro. Um, and. Then obviously we'll get back to Polly. Everyone knows him unfortunately, so 

Keith: yeah. Perfect. Thanks Carl for having me. It's a absolute pleasure to, uh, be brought onto the team for the coming season. As, uh, Carl said, I'll try and do my best to highlight some of the Irish grassroots rugby that goes on.

There's, uh, a lot of great clubs that don't get as much exposure as the, the sters and, uh, everyone else on, on the team. So, uh. Previously. Look, I've been playing rugby since I was a little nipper, and I know what they're saying little when, when this fella . Ever [00:01:00] been little, but it is true back in the day, uh, started off playing with boy rugby club up and, uh, from the age of like seven.

And, uh, played there for a good 10 years on and off. Uh, then played up until, um, I mainly played as a, uh. As a eight and, uh, I put on a bit more weight since then, so they're trying to push me more forward into the pack. But, uh, I'm still trying to keep that eight position, um, in school at the same time.

Play played, uh, all across the board and, uh, into college as well. Played up into dock on the rugby team there once again. You know, solidifying that kind of eight position. And, uh, yeah, just love rugby, love the analysis of it. Love, uh, the camaraderie and everything that comes with it. Awesome. 

Carl: And obviously Polly, uh, now you are this side of the, the fence.

Obviously. We, uh, I used to keep you on your toes every time we caught, [00:02:00] caught, caught each other on the other side of it, uh, microphone. But now. You, you're part of this side and get royally stitched up this side as well, mate. It's up to you, isn't it? So, 

Polly: yeah, I, I, I think, yeah, you know, um, like Keith said, I love talking about rugby.

I love the analysis of it. Um, but actually it's, it's trying to find those people that tell the story, and that's the key thing. And that's what we sort of discussed in those grassroots days, is where we're gonna move forward. So, you know, just. Just, let's talk about rugby. You know, we, we wanna get more people playing a game.

We want to get more people at rugby clubs. The heart and soul of it, you know, and, and, and I'm sure Keith will agree that, you know, the more people are, the better the club is. And it, it's about the people around it that are the most important thing. So that's what we wanna look to towards, to do this year and, and we can make that happen.

Um, if we can expose it a little bit more over the internet, then that's even better. 

Carl: It all started last weekend in England. We, we sort of had one lined up but didn't quite come to fruition, um, to, to [00:03:00] get under underway with the grassroots rugby days, but it was probably perfectly timed because obviously you've probably still not dried out from your trip to Cardiff probably.

And, uh, I probably, the, the, the, the camera and the camera and the microphone is still underwater somewhere. Probably still sailing back as well. 'cause, uh. That was bloody horrendous, wasn't it? 

Polly: Yeah, it was. I mean, it, the, the thing is, is that I think if you go to a rugby game, you go and prep, you know, go, oh, it's gonna be wet.

And, and Adam and me, both of us just went, all right, okay, it's gonna be wet, but it's still the summer. So we had shorts, we had t-shirts, and we pitched up and like, fortunately, Adam had two brawley in his, in his car. Yeah. Back. You have his, like, works broy, so he's got one big blue one and you know, one of those little girly ones that you can sort of see through and pull it over.

What I mean, um, and uh, he, he, he insisted that I have the blue broy most of the time because he did, he felt bad that he didn't have a proper one. I said, look, I'm, I'm just here to have a good time. Yeah. And even though it, it was, it was wet. [00:04:00] Um, it kind of, it was one of those days I wish I'd rather been playing than watching.

Yeah. No matter what happens. Oh, a hundred percent. Yeah, once you're, once you're standing around, it's worse. Yeah. And I think you can probably, we can all pitch back to that one day and go, right, which is the worst day, which is the wettest day. You've played rugby in, you know, and, and, and what are the worst conditions that you've ever played in?

And I think, um, you know. That weekend, although it was wet, it was the start of the summer, so the pitch was absolutely perfect. Yeah, it was like exactly what everyone does. You know, just before the start of the first season, everyone's like, can it just rain for about like a week and a half? Just so the grass is green and not brown, and the ground is not like concrete.

And I think it was exactly what everybody would've wanted apart from anybody gonna watch. Um, so yeah. I think if you, uh, you know, Keith, what's the worst conditions you've ever played in? 

Keith: Oh, Polly. As soon as you mentioned it, mate, I instantly thought of a game playing with boy at the home ground, [00:05:00] and it was absolutely tendering down with.

Rain and you won't believe that the score of the match was only three points to zero at the end of it. Where, where we won due to a penalty. But it was, you couldn't, the ball was flying everywhere. You can't, you couldn't hold it. You couldn't see it half the time and yeah, absolutely horrendous. Stuck out like a sore Tom when you were talking about it, 

Carl: I think.

I think mine's gotta be down Gospel Park that has got. Its own weather climate, the, like, the wind, the rain, because the wind sort of comes in and then the rain turns in about four different directions as well. It's not even horizontal. It doesn't come straight. It goes in like it's, it's just literally its own weather, climate, gospel park.

And everyone would be like, ah, it's, it's, it's, it's not, it's just fucking not, it's horrendous. Yeah. 

Polly: I've been, so I remember a game I was coaching. It was one of my, my first season coaching. So it would've been 2019, I think it would've [00:06:00] been. Yeah. And, um, we were, the golf ones were playing eastly ones and I was coaching the twos and gospel twos were playing eastly twos on the, on the other pitch.

And, um, the, the rain was horizontal. Yeah. Visibility was down minute. Um. Uh, it, and it was freezing as well. So I think it was like three degrees and that. And at half time, at half time, like both rests are right, everyone in the changing room to the lads in the shower trying to warm up. 'cause the wingers have just been stood out in a freezing cold.

And everyone goes in, like, everyone's waiting to go out on the pitch in like in the, after the halftime. And we all stood there. You can see the referees having a conversation with the captains and they're like. Genuinely. I think this is kind of, we got to that point. It was like, this is now breaching on the health and safety and it was like, nah, nobody wants to walk off the pitch because the referee makes that decision.

Everyone's like, yep, happy. Yeah, let the referee make this decision. Don't make the, you know, it didn't matter what the score was at that point. Everyone had just like, and then as [00:07:00] soon as the referee just like blew the whistle in the, you know, in the corridor for like, there's four. Four teams in there, there's, there's like 60 odd people, just little crowd in the little corridors.

He blows the whistle and goes, it's all off and everyone's just cheering. Yeah. So I think there's possibly the worst like weather conditions I played in, but you know, um. But those, those are also some of the best. 'cause you just sort of sit there and just go, you know, as a forward, you go, right, let's have another scrum, shall we?

Yeah. Um, you know, and as a second row or a front rower, you're like, this is the best place to be on in, in the park. You know? And I, I think as an adult, those are the games you remember, but you also, you've gotta remember those as the young nipper as well. You know, so your parents are staring, staring at you.

What on earth am I doing? But you know, it's, they've 

Carl: just, just got the carrier bag ready to put you in the carrier bag. In the boot. 'cause you're just that covered in mud. It's not even worry about getting the clothes off. We'll just [00:08:00] deal with that when we get home. Just get in the carrier bag. Just, uh, just you, you are there.

Don't get on my seats. Don't ruin my car. 

Keith: Now, in fairness to my dad, he always had a flaska soup that he distributed afterwards. Like you talk about those days when you're a kid and, uh, going and you're doing those tournaments, you're doing those blitzes, and as you say, you come out, you're absolutely covered head to toe, but it was at the end of it, you go back to the car and the parents had.

The sambos and the hot soup that they just gave to everyone because that, that's what it was. It must be an Irish thing because you don't, 

Carl: you don't get that fucking hospitality, do 

Keith: you not? No. A bit different. You get, you 

Carl: get a fucking cold hose, like Right. Get yourself in the garden. You ain't allowed in the house until that's all off you.

Polly: Yeah. Don't you come to my house. You make a mess of my house. I'm making a mess of you. That's what 

Carl: it was. That's it. Uh, God good times. If you managed to get soup and a, and a sandwich at the end of that, what's the, what's the best [00:09:00] place you've ever had? Scran? Where's the, when you've gone to a, uh, gone to a game or anything like that, where's the best place you've ever had?

Cra Well, one 

Keith: that pops out to me after, um, uh. A match over in Navin Rugby Club. Now Navin would be very over here, kind of on the, the upper end of the, the East Coast kind team. And so North Norfolk Goldway isn't, it's north, it's long there. Northern Orange? 

Polly: Yeah. 

Keith: Yeah. It's somewhere up there. And, uh, yeah, their, their clubhouse is on a, like slanted.

Stand of their like main pitch. And I just remember getting like a lovely feed after, after our match there. And that's the one that kind of you go. Right. Okay. Yeah, they, they're, they're getting paid well and they're, they're getting enough and being able to put this on for us. Paul, you, you must have done a few tours of decent ground.

Polly: Yeah, well, I've never shied away from a meal. Um, [00:10:00] I dunno, I guess it, it's really tough. The, the, I suppose the best place I, and it wasn't grassroots though. It was one us playing, playing Navy vets. And, uh, we played at, um, older shot. Uh, I think I was co I think because it's food, whether I was playing. I was definitely coaching.

And, uh, afterwards we went into the bar afterwards and it was a free course meal. The food was immense. It was just, but it was done properly, if you know what I mean. Um, uh, because it was a, a, a capped event and, and everything else we, there was presentation and speeches and done everything afterwards as well.

So, you know, and I think part of it then led into what happened afterwards. Made the food even better, if you know what I mean. So part of the atmosphere in that clubhouse. And then we all jumped on a coach and we ended up in the Army's, um, hotel bar. Like, like flour or whatever it was the night before Army Navy game.

I, I know for a fact that some of the lads at across sport now, they reckon Chin at the moment is the best food, is it? Yeah, they currently go, they're currently are catered by a Greek restaurant, which is like, [00:11:00] sort of almost next door. So they have like full-on chicken, ros and gyros after dinner and you know, after the match it's absolutely.

Carl: Adam actually went and did a grassroots stay there and they packed him up afterwards with a, a whole sort of giros box to send home to for him and the kids and that, um, because I think he took his boys along. But jumping back to that, the best one that I had again is after doing this effectively, not actually playing.

'cause it's hard to pick between. Tomato pasta and curry from the same fucking pot and maybe occasional bit of fucking garlic bread. Like it literally like, um. What can I figure out? How can I cook a meal really quick for lots of rugby men, uh, garlic bread, some pasta, and some tomatoes and maybe a curry occasionally after you've had one.

There must be one uniform, uh, like menu for every rugby club. Like is, there is some [00:12:00] really shit food out there, but there is an upside. Petersfield and Newbury have got a phenomenal, uh, captain Corporate. Both of their scra was next level. Again, as you said, three courses fully spot on Bob on no problems.

Uh, great ground, great accommodation there as well. Rigg Top Club. So if you're bored of eating. Pastor, get yourself to a league lunch. Apart from, there's probably one place. I wouldn't go for a league lunch, but We'll, um, we'll not keep shooting in the dark 

Polly: on that one, shall we? I think league lunches are slightly different though, aren't they?

I think, you know, food before a match is like, and, and then during a match, you know, if you go, there's a bit of an ika do and it's completely different. But you are right though. I think, um, I've definitely eaten some poor, uh, chili, uh, with no flavor. Yeah, some pasta, which is just, you know. Uh, got [00:13:00] threaded tricking somewhere in there, or one person gets the whole chicken breast at the bottom.

Another winner. You know, but hey, it, it, like we said, is, is, that's part of it though. It kind of brings the lads together, isn't it? You know, it is one of those things that Lud can talk about. 

Carl: The thing is, over here we can't, we get, we get the perfect mix. So there's, sometimes you get the pasta, but it's got flavor in it.

Somebody's realized how to put flavor in it, so that's, that helps. But then you get the occasional pie there or you get like a bit of a. Uh, sort of a meat dish. So there's a, there's a good mix over here, but again, it's a case of the lads are roped in. You gotta prep it all the night, a couple of nights before.

Then you, you sort of, you work in groups of fours and fives over here to try and get it all dished out, and then you just banging beer bottles down, everyone's, and then like literally 30 minutes later, the away team are on the bus and gone. So you are left with. All of Theran and then all the beers that they haven't been able to smuggle away.

'cause most of them had to drive [00:14:00] like two hours. So. It's, it's a winner over here 'cause you get extra beer, extra cra and then, um, carry on and get pissed up. So, yeah, it's not too bad. At Easter. Easter. And they know how to use flavor over here as well. So that's always the start. 

Keith: Uh, when do you play your matches?

I, I might sign up on to want the local team then, uh, take part in this, uh, extracurricular activity after the match. 

Carl: Yeah. Five five o'clock's on, uh, on Saturdays. So we, we get a nice little evening kickoff. I say a nice evening kickoff. It's still. Fucking high twenties at the minute. Um, so I was at training last night at eight o'clock till 10, roughly, and I was, I looked wetter than Adam did on his day in gra in, in Garden.

Going on that, then obviously we, I know we've been to places where with the best scran, where's the toughest away ground you've ever been to? What's the. Was the most hostile place you've ever dragged up and played a bit of [00:15:00] rugby. 

Polly: Bogner, Bogner in the mid two thousands, I guess. You know, sort of 2008, post 2008, it was possibly one of the worst places.

It's such a hard place to go. They always just wanna have a scrap at that point. And, you know, I remember three of their supports coming on and, and whacking the prop in the face. And, you know, we had a big bust up in a fight. But they, their supporters are, are just, you know, like I would class as a gospel player or an away player as vile, however.

If I was a Bogner player, I'd pass him as Absolutely. Class. Yeah. So I think it's really tough and, and I know, you know, it, it's kind of, I'm not trying to be detrimental to him 'cause I think that's just one of those things. But you go back sort of 10, 15 years where, you know, rugby was, you know, a little bit more violent, I'd say.

Uh, not much more violent, you know, but yeah, those are, those are some horrible places to go. Uh, you know. Just, I, I just remember 'em just as [00:16:00] horrible places to go and, you know, I think it's, um, crowns are getting better. Not much, but they are, some of them are getting better. So Yeah. Gonna boman knowing in full well that at some point we're gonna have a fight is, um, um, a, a pretty tough place to go.

Carl: Oh, 

Polly: Keith, where's, where's your, um. 

Keith: Well, I, I, as I said, like I, I played on the, the college team up in Dun Doc and that was a, uh, blissful experience compared to when I was playing schools, rugby for St. Mary's against Dundas, uh, rugby football club in the school, because they're both. Space in the same jurisdiction.

They're both based in, uh, county load. So you have that kind of, you once, it was the one fixture that you'd put in the calendar when the, the school rounds came out that you go, oh, DD League, when, when we place playing against Dun Dock, and they would bring. The [00:17:00] whole school out to give you shit. Like you, you arrive there on the bus and you're greeted by everyone there just hurling abuse at you.

Yeah, and I couldn't believe it the first time that that I played there, I was like, this is. Like her mentality, um, piece and yeah, they just gave you a towered time. Be it if you are on the pitch, be it, if you're standing on the sidelines, you were getting a worse because you were closer to them. Uh, but yeah, it was, um, hostile territory for, for the local clubs.

Nice. Uh, 

Carl: um, you see that one where that. Mum was heckling that kid that was taking a, taking a conversion from like the byline. Oh. Like they'd all chased him round to the other side. He was like under fourteens or something like that. And he was trying to take his conversion. Well, well it wasn't that rugby league match though.

I'm not sure. But either way it was, that's not quite cricket is it? There's um. [00:18:00] There's a lot of hostile crowds out here, to be honest, and a lot of them are valentia based. There's a lot of them that think they run the show. Um, there's one. Team over here that are horrendous for it. Um, constantly shouting at kids, screaming at kids saying stuff, and yeah, it's, it's the only downside to some, some of it out here.

To be fair, I've never really come across majorly hostile crow crowds back in England, but probably ham Heaths away was probably as hostile as it got. There was a little bit of, uh, to-dos and people got broken shoulders and stuff like that. But nothing really. But over here, some of it's, it is still sort of like a football mentality in some of it.

Over here it's, it's a, it's a bit weird, but everyone sort of knows someone that knows someone in a certain level and they think they can get away with just talking to kids like shit. And, um, that's the, that's the only negative I'll call on some of the Spanish rugby over here is some people are a little [00:19:00] bit too close to the federation and think they can do whatever they want.

Um, so yeah, there's me putting me, me head on the line, but it just, it doesn't need to be done with kids. Like do it as adults. I don't care about that. Like if, if you're big enough and ugly enough to deal with it, you can, uh, you can deal with it when you get it back in your face. But when you're trying to do it to kids, it's, um, it's a little bit different, I think.

Um, so yeah. 

Keith: That's, that's my side of it, we're they're, we're bringing them and trying to get them introduced into the next generation to make it an enjoyable experience for them, uh, to hope that they carry it on and carry the legacy of the game on and bring it forward and everything. So don't, like, just don't, don't leave the kids out.

It like, 

Polly: I think it's really difficult. 'cause I, I know, I know some people will say, um. Uh, you know, gospel park's really difficult and, you know, as a coach over the last sort of four years is, um, referees are the ones that usually, I don't mind, you know, supporters giving players a bit of [00:20:00] stick and, you know, opposition players and uh, uh, um.

It, it's all, it's all done as long as it's done in lightheartedness. But, you know, I, I've had to pull up a crowd a couple of times and when they're screaming at the referee and it's like, you know, that's for me, that's the only one thing that I, I would say is that, yeah, you know, um, the referees get a raw deal of it.

Especially over here. Um, you know, and, and we've gotta really be careful of that. So, you know, if we think it's a hostile crowd to go to referees, can you, you know, that's one of those questions you've gotta ask the referees is, where's the worst place you wanna referee a game? And, you know, um. Well, that leads us, that leads us 

Carl: pert perfectly onto the next one.

What's the worst referee you've come across?

Polly: Uh, well, actually I Great.

Carl: No, without, without, without. Um, obviously we wouldn't have a game. I wouldn't do it. It is not for me. I couldn't do it. Um, I'm more than happy to back my own decisions if I go right or wrong. [00:21:00] Fuck being a ref fair play to? Um, yeah, a hundred percent. There are some ones that are very questionable, but we've got no hope of a game without 'em.

So you're gonna get the good, the bad, the ugly. Um. And yeah, we've just gotta embrace it. And when you have, and most of the time when you have a conversation with them afterwards, they're like, yeah, I didn't, I saw it this way. And like, okay, fair enough. I saw it this way. And they, most of them all right, there's the, there are a couple that just don't want to listen, which makes it harder for them to develop as well as players to understand what they're seeing.

So there's a lot of good, a lot of good reps out there that want to actually sort of work with you as well. So big kudos to, to them. Definitely not something I'll be doing. Oh, grassroots, back in England got started the weekend just gone. So we're recording this on the 10th of September, mate, obviously.

Yeah, few, few local clubs got back out there, cut the clubs away. Obviously Gosport went away as well and managed [00:22:00] to. Get a result in ey, which is not an easier way day to start the, start the one off. No, they got the proper pitch this time though, didn't they? Rather than the farmers field? 

Polly: Yeah, they did.

Yeah. Rather than the farmer field caked in mud and six, six tons of sand. Yeah. No, um, uh, speaking to that, I've. You know, and Keith, you'd appreciate this. Their first game of the season was, um, a, a flight and an overnight stay away in Guernsey. So, oh God, God, it's, it's the kind of the, it's, you know, the kind of the game you want in the middle of the season to bit of bit team building, bit bonding, all that sort of stuff.

But, you know, um, yeah, so they, they went away to Guernsey overnight and they got a result 32 29, which is good. Um, you know, it, it's a horrible place. It's a tough place. That's a tough place to go as well. But yeah. Um. We went there last year, me and Carl. We had a good night out. Well, I had a good night out.

Carl went home to bed early 'cause he had too much to do. Apparently the podcast comes first. Um, but yeah, then looking around the, looking around the county really. We have some really good results. [00:23:00] Uh, you know, for some other clubs and, and that county's one team, the, that county one's gonna be really tough this year.

And I, I think it's not gonna be easy to sort of see who, who's gonna get results from there. You know, um, uh, Pompe went away to Chichester and they were winning at half time, and then Chichester run away with it and scored at 50 points and total in the, towards to, you know, 50 points in total. But, you know, they were, you know, pompy were in the ascendancy.

And then just to, just running 20 odd points in the second half. And ran away with it. So 

Carl: Keith, obviously over in Ireland, I know you, you sort of mentioned earlier you had a, you've had a little break and this is, is this your kind of comeback season? Is this the one where you get 20 tries from number eight?

Is this, is this the one that you get spotted and called up? 

Keith: Well here, here's Hope. And Carl now at the, uh, given the division that the team are playing in, which is, uh, a good few divisions down from a pro league, there might be a chance that I not quite get [00:24:00] 20, may, maybe like five or six, and then we, we'll go from there.

That's the, that's what I'm going to set the goal as. Obviously, 

Carl: Keith Polly, really appreciate your time again, Jensen. Hopefully we can keep probably doing this on a, on a monthly basis and change it, uh, change the format of how we do the podcast. We've obviously got a few other bits planned. Uh, obviously grassroots days in whatever name or format they'll come out.

Obviously, Irish content, the Spanish content's growing. We're gonna start doing. A lot more with, uh, division Diona, so I'll be sort of taking that as well. So we've got Division Diona, we've got the Elite League in, uh, in Spain, the Copper Dale Ray, and Division Diona B. So we're gonna do some watch alongs.

We've got some Rugby Europe Super Cup coming up as well, which is, I said is gonna jump back to, to where tier, tier two nations. So yeah, we've got some exciting bits planned for the, for the season. Obviously just come along for the journey and we just want to give that exposure back to the game, and [00:25:00] we're sponsoring grassroots opportunities as well.

So if there's any of them opportunities that we can help push it further, just, just reach out and see if it fits into, into our ethos and how we can do it. And let's, uh, let's make sure grassroots rugby gets that, that light shined upon it. So for everyone that's joined, make sure you, uh, follow, like, subscribe, all that sort of gobbins.

We're on Instagram, YouTube pretty much every channel. Get over there, follow it, make sure you keep abreast of everything we're doing, and uh, thank you and goodbye.