THE recent freezing conditions have led to the postponement of tomorrow's National 1 fixture with Bishop's Stortford, but we wanted to share this message from our Men's First XV captain, Ben Manning. Initially intended for our matchday programme, we felt it was too important to have gone unread and offers an opportunity to reflect on the last few weeks and look ahead to a new chapter.

Sometimes it doesn’t have to take a new year to have a new start.

We welcomed Nick Easter this week as our new Director of Rugby and, as players, we are excited to get to work. As a squad, we will certainly welcome the knowledge and high standards he will bring, as well as the much-needed nous he was renowned for in his playing days.

The past few weeks have certainly been tough for us as a team, but through the continuous support of the Board and the community, the squad is tighter than ever. Being side-lined with injury is always a tough pill to swallow, but seeing how we have moved forward as a team these past few weeks has been great to see. Hamps, Caolan and Daz have been a class act in keeping us moving in the right direction and I have to commend some of our senior players too, in particular Willie Ryan, Luke Carter, Josh McNulty, Kieran Goss and Jason Worrall, for their performances and leadership on and off the field. A big five points was very welcomed at Hull away last week and as poor as a game it was, we will always take five points on the road.

Of course, the most testing of time in the past few weeks was losing our beloved Puddy. The loss to the Club has been a hard one to take and our thoughts are firstly with his family and friends. From a player’s perspective, the support from the Chinnor RFC community is always appreciated and the positive comments, as small or as large as they may be, never go a miss. However, when you received a ‘well played’ from Puddy, it meant that bit more and you knew you must have had a hell of a game. As a player he was renowned, as a supporter he was loyal and as a Chinnor man he was one of a kind. If there’s anyone who wants to know what it means to play for Chinnor, ask any member about Puddy. You’ll be missed mate and I can tell you on behalf of the boys, we’re playing for you big man.

We had been looking forward to the match against Bishop’s Stortford this week as it is always an entertaining and fast paced game. One of my favourite teams to play and old rivals from our National 2 days, the joué would have been plentiful.

Your support is always appreciated and see you at Kingsey Road soon.

Benji