Richmond 49 – Bedford Blues 26

This looks like a regular score line from a rugby union game where it is obvious who the dominant team is, although they lacked a little in defence. There were quite a few tries for both teams so the Richmond supporters and the non-partisan rugby fans enjoyed a ‘decent’ game. What is astonishing about this score line is that Richmond are an amateur outfit and Bedford professional.

The Monday following this game the Bedford players would have dragged themselves to the training ground to be shown a video outlining failures in defence, set piece and decision making by a furious coach. This is in direct contrast to the Richmond players who hit the gym at 6.00am so as to be at their desks in the City of London before 8am. They never encountered their coach before Tuesday evening.

So how did Richmond beat the odds this season? They secured 5/20 wins in  a professional league with a squad of talented brokers, surveyors, teachers, accountants and a builder (who drove up from Bournemouth 3 times a week) whose thirst for a post training and match beer never dwindled. A team that trained 2 evenings a week and were given a weights program to complete in their own time (of which there was very little).

It probably took 3 months for the newly promoted players to understand the intensity involved in playing a level up which is a remarkably short time. Aided by 2 ex professional players who had joined plus some extra set piece coaching of scrum and lineout, it was understood that we would struggle with size and condition so would need to be tactical with what we could do and play a clever game.

It was a pretty torrid start until finally a game was won towards the end of November. A particularly sweet victory against our professional stable mates London Scottish who had scheduled the match for a Friday evening requiring the Richmond team to leave work early and rush to West London to make the warm-up.  The jubilation replicated the winning of the league at the end of the previous season. The backroom staff had shiny eyes and one unnamed physiotherapist even accidentally joined the player’s tunnel shaking the hands of bemused opposition. The beer was plentiful and a late night was had by all. Two weeks later another epiphany as Richmond beat Cornish Pirates in Penzance on a windy Sunday. A gruelling 8hr trip back and straight into work with little sleep for the players ensued. At this stage all at Richmond were still riding high on plaudits and disbelief but there was a seismic change within the 1^st XV around December. No external pressure from the supporters, coaches or directors was forthcoming but intrinsically the players began to expect.

On Christmas Eve Richmond lost 20 -26 to London Irish league leaders who had been parachuted out of the Premiership the previous season. Ordinarily the players would have been pleased with an excellent gutsy performance and have pint in hand, barely waiting until after the final whistle, but the disappointment in the changing room was palpable. Players sat heads down staring at their boots. The stereo was off. Out of an amateur club trying their luck and hoping just to avoid serious maiming on the pitch (who had been known to divert the team bus to the nearest Waitrose pre-game to avoid an empty glass on the long bus journey home) had emerged a taste for ambition and a belief that they could not just compete but could acquire a few scalps on the way.

This change actually lead to some of the worst play over the season. The intrinsic pressure forced terrible decisions and a paralysis of play that lead to heavy loss. The lack of regular fixtures blighted the team as the players who used games for some of their fitness sustained injuries and became deconditioned. There was some soul searching, hard training and a masquerade ball and suddenly there were some wins.

So what set us apart from our professional counterparts?

There is no doubt the professional league disadvantaged us. Games could be played on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday with fixtures being rescheduled for inclement weather. This can be at odds with a career that expects not only 9-5 daily hours but travel and client entertaining. Fortunately most of the players have been lucky in this respect and some have even brought bosses to fixtures, but many games have seen key players missing as they attend conferences, meetings abroad and take professional exams.

So what went well?

Richmond had several players gain 100 caps this season to join others with 100 caps. The average length of a professional Championship contract is 12 months during which you can gain a maximum of 22 caps. There were only 3 new players involved in the 1^st xv initially this season and this meant that the team was effectively the same that had won the national leagues and had consequently been rewarded with a heavily subsidised tour to South Africa.

• There is a longevity at Richmond that is not apparent elsewhere. This is rewarded.
• Richmond players all enjoyed the same appearance fee and win bonus throughout the season.
• There is a feeling of equality which enhances the ‘team’ and ensures players work beyond their capabilities for each other.
• The players were more than team mates over the years they became friends who had spent many weekends and evenings socialising together in and out of the club.
• The players choose to spend their leisure time together.

Richmond is  a club in a league where many Championship outfits are just a 1^st xv team funded by sponsorship and investors. Richmond is self-sufficient and considers player welfare and medical support paramount.  There are 6 senior men’s teams with the veteran side (The Heavies) proudly dubbing the 1^st XV ‘The Heavies Academy’.  The heavy drinking socials have also given Richmond an identity with fancy dressed antics, beer pong tournaments and Heavies cocktail parties.

•        Richmond 1^stXV are encouraged to socialise with the rest of the club (non-elitist)

 

•        Richmond players do not depend on the club financially.

 

Finally teams would come and score one or 2 tries very quickly and assume they would win. As in true underdog style Richmond were very good at switching on late and having strong second halves despite the inherent problems with conditioning an amateur outfit.

Richmond is probably underestimated by the opposition leaving a gap for hard work. “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard” (Tim Nokke).

I would love to say ‘we then won all of our games and the league’ but of course Cinderella stories only last until midnight. What did happen is we didn’t finish bottom in the league and we were not relegated which gives us an opportunity to continue with our steep learning curve. We have lost a player to a premiership side, one has gone on to other things and 2 have retired. We are probably a fly in the ointment of the RFU and the league and other coaches and commentators have tried to belittle our approach by calling us ‘just a pub team’ and attempting to embarrass our players. This short-sighted slur has strengthened our unit and we delight in being the underdog whilst sadly watching other teams in financial disarray become more disparate. We believe our model works in an increasingly underfunded league and we hope to improve again next season but only after our (club subsidised) 10 day tour to Texas…Yee haa.

 

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