OswesTRY Line - Issue 2

Ke le R atu rok o

OSWES TRY LINE ISSUE 2 PRESEASON

Presidents Note

Martin Ord

Contents Sponsors

3

Covid-19 & RFU Info.

4

Club News & Events

5

GMS (Must Read)

6

DBS (Must Read)

7

New Signing

8

Seniors & Girls

9

The THJ Blog

10

Minis & Juniors

11

Spotlights

12

Summer Camp

13

Senior Fixtures

14

Club Contacts

15

The Bar

16

Sponsors These sponsors have given very generously to Oswestry Rugby Club, their support is hugely appreciated and of great help to our club and community.

Please reciprocate and support them wherever possible.

Oswestry Agency

To make a sponsorship or advertisment enquiry, please email: join-in@oswestryrugby.co.uk

Covid-19 & RFU Info

News & Events PRESIDENTS NOTE

MARTIN ORD

Presidents eye view of our superb club and its future.

First of all congratulations to everyone who put in time and energy to achieve around the world miles. Outstanding performance, led by our dedicated Chairman Wazzer, now it’s time to reap the rewards by getting sponsors to donate to our great club.

With Doddy as our new coach providing energy, encouragement enthusiasm and fun with our team Captain Gaz leading the way..with players asking to join us we are on our way to win both 1st and 2nd team leagues..also with stage 2 COVID RFU directions training starting ..it bodes good for the future The Juniors are also showing us what true rugby is all about.. well done for your amazing efforts over these hard days ..

Jas Lee and their under 18’s squad have already started the quest to win their league and are training hard ..There are too many names to mention with all our SUPERB volunteers but without you all our club would not exist, fact.

The Friday evening training and bar with excellent food is a winner winner .. so please keep coming down and enjoying the company of friends and Os rugby ..

ORDY

ALL

GAME MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

On Wednesday 15th July the GMS System underwent an update providing an upgrade to your personal profile and improvements to the registration process for Players, Parents, and Club Registrars.

Oswestry RFC will arrange training sessions intended for all Team Managers to attend once a season start date has been confirmed by the RFU, following the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions.

Please keep an eye out for this future date.

COACHES

DBS CHECKS

Following discussions with the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), the RFU has decided that it will re-open the DBS system, effective immediately.

Like many sports and physical activities are resuming, as well as educational settings, the RFU believes we should provide members, as well as the Disclosure and Barring Service, with notice of a restart date in order to manage an anticipated increase in applications.

Phil McKechnie - Data Officer

PLAYER, PARENT, COACH OR VOLUNTEER? CHECK OUT THE NEXT 2 PAGES Want your say in next weeks magazine? email your ideas to: media@oswestryrugby.co.uk

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GMS WHAT ARE THE NEW CHANGES?

The changes are intended to improve the GMS interface for Parents/ Guardians, Players, and Rugby club Registrars, improving the member registration process in the following ways:

WILL THE NEW PERSONAL PROFILE BE AVAILABLE ON A MOBILE DEVICE?

Yes, the Personal Profile module and associated key tasks such as purchasing a membership, creating, and updating an age grade registration have now been optimised for mobile devices.

WILL MY LOGIN/ACCOUNT STAY THE SAME?

Yes, there are no changes to your username or account details.

CAN AGE GRADE PLAYERS REGISTER AT MULTIPLE CLUBS?

The regulation permits Age Grade Players to be registered at multiple clubs. In GMS the parent can add this to a Personal Profile which reduces the need to de-register and transfer players. Please note, this doesn’t apply in the Adult game.

Regulations still require players to be registered at one club at a time (unless they fall into the regulated categories of dual reg which include the student and military pass). The reason for this change has been primarily driven by family units whereby children perhaps have multiple homes with Mum and Dad which are not the same location. Intended to help keep children in the game.

WHY ARE THESE UPDATES COMING NOW?

We have listened to your feedback and wanted to ensure that these enhancements are delivered in time for the key wave of administrative activity.

WHAT DO PARENTS NEED TO DO AHEAD OF THE NEW SEASON?

We encourage all parents of players to log in to GMS and ensure their details are up to date. Please ensure you have an up to date contact email address. This is encouraged across all age groups this season as we transition to an online selfregistration process that will see auto de-registration of players annually from 2021/22. New 2020/21 season pricing will soon be updated in GMS,

DOES THE REST OF THE GMS FUNCTION THE SAME?

Yes, for club administrators you will still be able to navigate to your other organisations/clubs and access modules of GMS that you have permission to view.

WHAT IS THE SUPPORT PORTAL AND WHEN WILL IT GO LIVE?

The support portal has been created to provide users with a central place to access help materials for GMS tasks and functionality. Additionally, users will be able to submit a ‘help request’ via a form within the portal. You can access this via a link on the GMS homepage with navigation also available via englandrugby.com. Users also have the ability to provide onpage feedback which will guide further additions required. The portal will be available in mid-July.

WILL THE NEW SEASON 20/21 NOW BE ENABLED? WILL COACHES MOVE UP AGE BANDS AS WELL?

Yes although we can not currently confirm a start date for the new season, we will move the current season in GMS to 2020/21 to align with this deployment. All Age Grade players will now move up to the appropriate Age Band based on their DOB. Those who are playing up or down will need to submit new forms as per the annual requirement and submitted via the Support Portal to action. Coaches have not moved automatically as all clubs differ, so any that wish to be moved up an Age Band will need to be manually assigned. Please see the guide on the Support Portal on this.

DBS & Core Values OSWESTRY RUGBY CLUB CAN NOW PREPARE FOR THIS RE-OPENING IN A NUMBER OF WAYS:

CORE VALUES OF RUGBY

Everyone involved in rugby in England whether as a player, coach, referee, administrator, parent, or spectator is expected to uphold the Core Values of our sport:

• We can prioritise those in the children’s workforce whose applications have expired, or who are new applicants ready for ID verification, and applications can be submitted.

• Clubs should carry out a safer recruitment process for new applicants including the use of the volunteer forms to assess their suitability to work/ volunteering with children. The volunteer form can be found here.

• Club Safeguarding Officers and other ID verifiers should ensure that they have ready access to the DBS E Bulk system i.e. their account is active and password is known. If not, please contact dbseapp@rfu.com

PLEASE NOTE:

Please note that Regulation 21 remains in force and clubs must not engage anyone, or appoint a volunteer, to work with children on a paid or voluntary basis who is not DBS cleared.

While following social distancing guidelines, ID verification must take place in person.

AWAITING YOUR DBS?

While awaiting their DBS disclosure certificate, a person may temporarily work on a paid or voluntary basis with children provided that they are actively supervised at all times by a person who is DBS cleared by the RFU. This will apply to those who submitted applications prior to the cessation of the DBS process and who are still awaiting a certificate, as well as those applications submitted on and after Wednesday 1 July.

Play to win but not at all cost Win with dignity, lose with grace Observe the Laws and regulations of the game Respect opponents, referees and all participants Reject cheating, racism, violence, and drugs Value volunteers and paid officials alike Enjoy the game THIS IS RUGBY

RFU

Any activity with children must follow the Return to Community Rugby Roadmap and comply with Regulation 15.8 ‘Season and Out of Season Activity’.

We expect all those involved in Age Grade Rugby to respect the principles in the Age Grade Codes of Practice and to comply with RFU Safeguarding Policy.

The welfare of children is paramount at all times. For any further help or support, please contact safeguarding@oswestryrugby.co.uk.

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Seniors & Girls EAGLES

THE ATOMS

It's great to see our seniors back up and grafting ahead of their move to the Midlands leagues. Training on Fridays and Tuesdays, Jordan has been driving standards around Granville Park.

With 45 lads regularly turning up to training, he hasn't been short of lads to pick from. Jordan mentioned how he's been impressed by the squads reaction to training saying "the boys have been working really hard fair play". Training has been focused around individual attack, with Doddy's meticulous detail being drilled into the boys early, and team attack, incorporating mobile and skilful players across the board.

To add to the mental strain, Fitness Sec Dan Smart has been putting the boys through some gruelling efforts. The response from the lads has been great with front runner James Roberts eager to fight back for his place with Dan running a tight ship!

With the RFU setting targets to start league games on the final week of September (See Results/Leagues/Fixtures page), Coach Davies has set his own date for an in-house, Nomads style game. The annual free spirited match will be played in a more serious manner, with lads playing for their shirt in the season opener against Rugeley. Doddy said from the current squad he could pick "two very equal teams" but not a starting team as yet. "There are too many head to head clashes to mention really, it's becoming very competitive and the boys know it which is good".

With foundations being put in place, the introduction of new faces and a new gameplan, it very much is a clean slate for Jordan. It is already great to see the bar busy with lads trying to get to know one another after scouting out their competitors during training!

Oswestry girls started their preseason fun and fitness sessions on the 28th June. Attendance at the Monday evening sessions has been fantastic. We have had 7 crazy coaches and on average 24 ‘fun fitness fanatics’, each week and not to forget some wonderfully supportive parents. Simply awesome!

The fun sessions consist of jaw stretches (otherwise technically known as a chin wag), a ‘fitness fanatic’ led warm up (we believe that this gives our youngsters who want to, a chance to learn some leadership skills in a supported environment), then 4 or 5 different exercise stations which we rotate around, and finally a warm down which invariably includes further jaw stretches.

The exercise stations focus on speed, strength, agility, endurance and none contact ‘skills drills” There is absolutely something for everyone, the sessions suit all abilities. Each talented team member challenges themselves to improve each week whilst being supported by their teammates and the coaching crew – the results have been amazing. The whole session gives off positive motivating vibes, everyone goes away feeling like they have achieved something – I know I certainly do, we have a lot of fun, it’s a great stress reliever just to go and blast everything out on the field. We would love to see more women and girls come and give it a ‘try’.

We aim to keep the sessions going until the season begins – then who knows, it may be something that there is a desire for to keep going, maybe the wider club may put on a similar session.

SENIORS

The seniors will train this Tuesdays (6:30-8:30pm) and Fridays (6:30-8:30pm) with the bar open after training each Friday . Come down and earn your pints!

PRESEASON

WANT TO PLAY? EVERY MONDAY 7:15-8:30PM OSWESTRY RUGBY CLUB Scan on your phone camera for twitter updates

The THJ Blog HOME NATIONS WELCOME FIJI AND JAPAN

THOMAS-HENRY JONES

Grass is being cut, studs are being sharpened and set play moves are being perfected; rugby in the Northern Hemisphere is on the horizon. Pre-season is now in full swing as many clubs prepare to a return to playing after a lengthy, enforced break.

The first moves for a unified international playing calendar are being set into motion with the introduction of the 8 Nations.

Once the four remaining games of the 2020 6 Nations are completed in October, seeing Owen Farrell lift the trophy for England, after probable victory against Italy, the home nations will enter the newly designed, one off 8 Nations Championship.

Designed to increase revenue for struggling home unions, the competition will also give a chance to broaden the games appeal with the inclusion of Japan and Fiji.

Beginning on the 14th November, the eight-team tournament is set to replace this year’s Autumn Internationals. The competition features two pools. England will face Wales, Ireland and Fiji in one group. In the other pool, Scotland will host Japan and France at Murrayfield and face Italy in Rome.

The new additions to the championship should add a new competitive edge. Japan were the bogey team to both Ireland and Scotland at the 2019 RWC with two thrilling victories, while Wales vs Fiji always throws up a tasty contest.

Meanwhile Manu Tuilagi’s move to Sale Sharks was confirmed a few weeks ago. Sale Head Coach Steve Diamond completed the masterstroke move in what could be a season winning signing for the Manchester club. Just 4 points off leaders Exeter Chiefs, the new powerful addition could provide the final push Sale need to claim their first title in 13 years. The combination of a fit, in-form Tuilagi, a huge pack, and World Cup winner Faf de Klerk, Sale will be hoping they have finally found the winning formula.

The opening game of the Premiership season on the 14th August sees them face ex Sale star Chris Ashton, potentially debuting for his new club Harlequins after abruptly signing for them back in March. The final nine rounds of the Premiership season will almost definitely provide a spark with most teams boasting fully fit squads excited to hit the ground running.

Down in New Zealand, the Super Rugby competition is nearing the end after an explosive last few matches. The Crusaders look set to win yet another title, while Warren Gatland’s Chiefs have failed to notch a single win on the board. The ex-Welsh Head Coach will hope to regain his ‘magic touch’ when he returns to coach the British and Irish Lions for the third time in a row next summer against the World Champions South Africa.

Since the Tour was confirmed last week, the rumour mill is beginning the turn as speculation for the captaincy grows.

Currently, superstar Fly-Half Owen Farrell is favourite to be named captain but Gatland might just go with the wise old man Alun-Wyn Jones, 34, who is vying for a record fourth British and Irish Lions Tour appearance.

Ultimately the big news this month is the birth of the 8 Nations Championship. Showing off their flexibility and positivity, the move marks a new-exciting future for World Rugby.

Check out Tom's latest political blog "Terrified Trump" by following this link: https://thjpolitics.wordpress.com/2020/08/03/t errified-trump/

Photos from Skysports and SArugbymag

Minis & Juniors TRAINING

THE PLAN

With preseason starting back up again under strict COVID regulations, our Minis and Juniors are in 'full flight'!

Sundays are back to normal, allowing parents to put their feet up and have a swift one in the club bar while the kids tear through their energy!

Here is a training schedule for each team. This is subject to change with weather and availability so please liaise with your coaches.

This year each week you can find out where and when your child is playing and training in our weekly magazine.

A simple table as seen below, accompanied by a fixtures table, will be produced to make it as easy as possible to structure your week around the hectic rugby calendar!

Of course this is subject to change as teams drop out and weather dictates location and possibility of play, however this will be communicated by team managers and coaches.

The secondary aim of this is to show all members of the club when each team is playing. With the seniors becoming more present in coaching, it would be great to have more members supporting their club on a Saturday and Sunday.

PRESEASON

ALL TEAMS

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Woodhead Spotlights PLAYER

TEAM

Salvo is one the clubs international members. The Philippino has travelled to Os from Italy, following previous club members Niko and Fab. Domingo started playing rugby aged 15 playing for ASD Pythagoras in Reggio Calabria, Italy, before moving to CAS rugby at the age of 18. It was at CAS where he found his place in the front row. The short but strong hooker impressed in club performances which led to a call up from the Philippenes Under 19s side. Due to the poor timing of a shoulder injury, Salv was unable to make his debut unfortunately.

The chop tackling fanatic then moved over to Italy for two seasons reaching the Italian second tier playoffs at 21 before deciding his efforts were best placed elsewhere.

In pursuit of his dream to play for his national senior side, he took his rugby to a higher level and travelled over to Oswestry.

In search of playing regular rugby and being noticed by his country, Salv experimented with positions, filling roles in the front row and in the centres. With a similar stature to his idol, Ngani Laumapi, the Blues fan enjoyed his time in the centre also. Following his first season at the club, the Philippino was awarded Best Newcomer at the end of season BBQ. Having found the speed of the game in England a lot quicker than in Italy and with the weather creating difficult handing conditions, Salvo mentioned how lucky he was to have teammates who allowed him to improve. Sal loves the team spirit around the Os side and believes this is what helped overcome Market Drayton in the cup when the side were down by 21 points, his favourite memory in the black and red. .

Salvo is grafting in the preseason to earn a starting position in the first team. From here he wants to push on and be selected for the Philippines national team for the next Asian Championship stating he wishes to "make Oswestry proud". .

The Under 17 Junior Colts proved again that they are a force to be reckoned with, taking on League and Cup fixtures against somewhat unknown opposition including some clubs which are sleeping giants from the amateur era, such as Lymm, Liverpool St Helens and Broughton Park. A daunting set of clubs to play, along with equally daunting travel times to games!

Nevertheless, confidence was high and the team showed what they could do against quality opposition.

As with all clubs, the awful weather made the season stutter, however prior to the Covid-19 imposed cancellation of the season, the Junior Colts were afforded the chance to use neighbouring Rhos RFC's excellent facilities to ensure games went ahead convincingly winning both games played at Rhos and a midweek friendly fixture at Wrexham meant that the team were unbeaten in Wales last season!

The final League position is unknown as the league was concluded early with the Under 17s having 2 games in hand, a win from each of those would have probably seen the team in 2nd place. In the 11 games played, the colts won 8 and lost 3 , with 2 of the 3 losses against eventual league winners.

However, the team was getting better and better as the season progressed, and having cruised to the Semi Final of the cup, it would be a brave man to have bet against the Junior Colts taking home some silverware!

With a squad assembled at mini rugby, the colts have never had huge numbers. Therefore, to flaunt 3 Worcester DPP. 1 Welsh Exiles, 9 Shropshire, 3 North Midlands players pays testament to the spirit, coachability and talent this group of players have.

We move into U18 Senior Colts this coming season bolstered by some U17s players who have joined the squad. Training has started at the club on Tuesdays between 6pm and 7pm and Thursdays between 7.30pm and 8.30pm. We are seeing good numbers which may be boosted soon with interest being shown to join this talented squad from a few established U18 players in the county. The squad have embraced our Player Charter which embodies the rugby ethos, maturity of the squad and a code of conduct set for all players.

Confidence is high that we can build on last year's successes and develop players to compete at the highest standard.

Jason Munro (Colts coach)

SALVATORE DOMINGO

This weeks Spotlights are sponsored by:

COLTS

d e k o o B y l l Fu

Results/Leagues/Fixtures With the start of the season up in the air, the RFU have put a plan in place which we can all dig our teeth into. In a league of 11, as our first team are, the structure of the league will go as follows: Two groups comprising five teams.

Group games will take 10 rounds.

If rugby cannot return to play until Round 6, the first game will be the fixture listed for Round 6 NOT Round 1.

After Round 10, the scheduled fixtures for Rounds 1-5 would then be played in order, completing Window 1.

Please note: It is not yet confirmed when the season will start – the dates shown may change as outlined above.

If the first window is successfully completed, teams will then move to the second, which will see clubs compete against clubs from the other group in their league, once – either home OR away.

If there is still time before the end of the scheduled league season, the third window will be played – where the reversed fixtures of window 2 will take place.

Club Contacts CLUB OFFICERS

MINIS & JUNIORS

Chairman - Warren Howell chairman@oswestryrugby.co.uk Vice-Chairman - Rich Hughes richard@hughes-bros.co.uk Treasurer - Nicola Jebb nicolajebb@yahoo.co.uk Honorary Secretary - Kelly Mansell kelly.mansell@abchr.co.ukÂ

Head of Mini's (Under 6's to Under 8's) Neil Holmes Head of Midi's (Under 9's to Under 11's) Ben Wilson Head of Juniors (Under 12's to Under 15's) T.B.C. Head of Colts (Under 16's to Under 18's) Mike Owen Mini & Junior Manager Rep - Jane Jones Mini & Junior Fixtures - Lisa Williams lisapotts1803@hotmail.co.uk Schools Liaison - Mark Fosbrook fossy@fossy.co.uk Coach Development - Mark Durham mark.n.durham@btinternet.com

COMMITTEE Safeguarding & Welfare Officer - Sandra Wynn wynn.sandra@googlemail.com Data Officer - Phil MacKechnie phil.mackechnie@gmail.com

SENIOR & VETS Senior Chairman (and 1st Team Manager) - John Gibbs johngibbs4@aol.com Club Captain - Gaz Ellis gaza25@hotmail.com Head Coach - Jordan Davies heartofwales7s@gmail.com Fixtures & Refs - Martin Ord martin.ord@hotmail.co.uk 2nd Team Captain - Tudor Jones tudorwynjones@hotmail.co.uk; Vets - Gaggs Marriott gm1801@outlook.com Treatment - Becky Ashurst treatment@oswestryrugby.co.uk Magazine & Media - Fintan Grogan media@oswestryrugby.co.uk

LADIES & GIRLS Ladies & Girls Chairman - Robert Kershaw Girls Manager - Clare Hann girls@oswestryrugby.co.uk Ladies & Girls Fixtures Secretary - Sam/Steph

CLUBHOUSE House Manager - Lisa Richards leezerr@googlemail.com Sponsorship - Alex join-in@oswestryrugby.co.uk

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BAR OPEN AT OSWESTRY RUGBY CLUB

PIZZA ON FROM AMBER'S WOOD FIRED KITCHEN

FRIDAYS 5:30-10PM