This caps it all

I trawl through E-bay every now and then. it's a great insomnia cure. Generally I am looking for something to do with the house genealogy, works of art which have been incorrectly attributed  or Twickenham RFC memorabilia. In the last few weeks I have had a couple of good results.

Firstly I picked up a little limited edition sketch book by Northern artist Harry Riley.  Riley was a contemporary of L S Lowry and they knew each other well. Where as Lowry was renowned for his matchstick me, Riley was, and still is, a unique golf scene painter and commentator. The book I brought tracked Jack Nicklaus through his final two rounds at the Open championship at St Andrews. The commentary charts Jack's  thinking as he decided that missing the cut at his final Open was the best thing to do as he could not face two more days of high drama and emotion, nor did he want to deflect from the actual winner and the reception he should get. Typical Jack Nicklaus to the end, every bit the gentleman.

That's two of Harold Rileys sketch books I now own.

Things then got a whole lot better when I noticed what looked like a Twickenham RFC honours cap from 1926 in the rugby memorabilia section. I did a bit of checking and found that indeed it was a genuine article. I contacted the lady to see if she would sell outside the auction, but she was keen to let it run. I contacted the club treasurer to see what price he would fund up to and then played a waiting game. I won it at about ten percent of the price it could have fetched and it is now in the clubhouse collection with its fellow cap's.

Two were awarded each year to first XV players who had an outstanding season, and that tradition still goes to this very day albeit the designs are slightly different. One such cap is the oldest relic the club has dated as 1897-98

The cap I obtained had the name Bishop inked in the label and a study of the team photograph for that year shows a gentleman of that name sitting in the front row. I love it when a plan comes together.

Jones the coach

I spent last night in the company of Eddie Jones, the England rugby coach. He is on a book signing tour and was booked into Thornton Hall Hotel for the evening. So very few people seemed to be aware that he was appearing and yet nearly 700 people turned, word of mouth seemed to do the trick for this one.

Lingans book shop in Heswall were the promoter of the event and they must have been very pleased with the turn-out, and the books that were sold.

Eddie had a stooge as his interview partner and he was walked through his life in Japan and Australia, his early rugby career and then his extensive coaching roles, most notably with Australia, Japan and England. He was also part of the South African coaching staff when they won the 'Mandella'  World Cup in 1995..

He gave some interesting insights into modern coaching challenges, not least the varied and conflicting backgrounds which reside in the England camp.

All in all it was a very enjoyable evening, and if you get a chance to hear him speak, then take advantage of it

St Andrew

It was  a big weekend for me, just past, as I had been asked by the current Wallasey Golf Club captain to speak at the St Andrews Dinner and propose the toast to him.

The St Andrews dinner is one of the most popular dinners on the circuit. It is attended exclusively by members of the golf club, is a black tie event, and signals the last formal dinner hosted by the 2019 captain. People have lived or died by the speech they have given.

The Spring dinner in April is the main externally focused event. The Captain invites fellow captains from other golf clubs, the Captain of the Royal Liverpool Golf Club (Hoylake) traditionally proposes a toast to Wallasey Golf Club, and a Wallasey member will then tell stories concerning the other invited guests.

The St Andrews is a lot more relaxed, until that is, one has to get up and speak. Many ex-speakers came over to me to offer advise, and I was invited into the pre-match drinks reception, so to speak, where ex-Captains also offered words of comfort.

Nothing prepares you though for the moment when you stand on your feet and the room goes hushed, except the work you have done yourself beforehand.

Now I was not first choice, but the original speaker got his availability wrong. He was courteous enough though to give me a copy of his speech, from which I was able to get an idea of the flow and timing. I wrote down ideas as I thought of them for many weeks prior to the event, and had some brutal editing sessions along the way. That said, the start of the speech only came to me in the car driving to the Club, and several chunks were removed as I sought shelter in the 'little room' during the evening meal.

I am pleased to report that the speech went down pretty well. There was a constant hum of amusement during it with several raucous moments.when I made some pointed remarks about the Club infrastructure. All in all the Captain and past Captains liked it, and many members came up afterwards to congratulate me.

So job done and onto 2020 to see what entertainment is in store at the Hot Pot supper. 

Keeping up with the Joneses

Well the Rugby World Cup is over for another 4 years. A disappointing end for England but everybody seems to think its great for the country of South Africa that they have won it. We will see if there are any political alterations in that Country or not.

Similarly the RFU are convinced they re better prepared to benefit from the expected upturn in interest in the game here in England. I have always maintained that mini and junior rugby do not produce the players of tomorrow, they produce the spectators of tomorrow. As they play their rugby on a Sunday, Saturday is free for them to watch their hero's be it at the Stoop, The Allienz, The JJ Bell stadium or somewhere in the Midlands. when they are older and senior rugby beckons, will they sacrifice their Saturday jolly for the opportunity to be beefed by older bigger people? Time will tell.

The final itself was not the sort of spectacle to be attracting spectators through he turnstiles. A psychological blow for   England when Sinkler was forced off so early was compounded by a 'park the bus'  approach from South Africa which was hugely effective but a bit dull. So it is now up to the other rugby nations to work out how to bypass the bus and create some chances to break through. Did they plan to lose to New Zealand in their first game so giving themselves an easier route tot the final? I suspect that we will never know.

So we now move into the 6 Nations championship build-up with trains and hotels booked, we just need news of tickets!!

Also in the news today was a massive fine handed out to Saracens for allegedly breaking the salary cap in the English Premiership. If upheld, they could struggle to avoid relegation to the Championship which would make for some very interesting fixtures next season.
Away at Cornish Pirates and Ealing Trailfinders would be a really eye opener.

Eddie Jones is doing a talk and book signing here on the Wirral in the middle of November, so i am going along to that and will be interested to see what he has to say about all things rugby. I on the  other hand am  just off to read the latest on VAR and how football has made so difficult what rugby, cricket and tennis seem to find routine. It must be a culture thing!