Travels with Dinno: Huddersfield – A Sort of Homecoming

A glorious autumnal day greeted our journey north. We were travelling back to where our rugby experience began – Huddersfield RUFC at Lockwood Park. I took the decision to leave Huddersfield, the town, nearly two years ago and I don’t regret it for one instant. I do, however, miss the friendship and camaraderie of my fellow travellers at the club. We shared, joy and agony, ecstasy and heartbreak. It was the best of times it was the worst of times. Leaving HRUFC was emotional fo me as a coach and a parent. Tom missed his friends but moved on and is still working his way into the Dinno experience. He feels a lot more out of place than I do as Huddersfield is all he ever knew.

We arrived early so that we could catch up with some old friends and get the feel of the place into our bones again. It is a breathtakingly beautiful ground nestled in the hills of Huddersfield with the Penistone line crossing overhead on the viaduct. The weather added to the beauty of the place. The rushing waters of the River Colne were an assault on the senses which few grounds I have visited have been able to capture.

We watched the u9s for a bit and chatted with their coach who was Tom’s first coach. Thirty plus players have joined his ranks this season and he has the luxury of putting out three teams. We then went over to watch the u15s who Tom trained with occasionally. Their rugby was stunning and they destroyed Driffield. Their weakness, if they have one, is that they are a bit cocky and can tend to coast. Then we watched one of Tom’s school friends and playing pals from u7s referee an u11s game.

We went for some food and I am pleased to say that the bacon sandwiches have improved since we left and as I understand it plans are afoot to improve the facilities further in coming months. Slowly the players, coaches and parents of our old club started to appear. There were lots of handshakes, smiles and hugs. But, despite all this bonhomie, I felt a little unsure of where to be and so I sat alone, an island unto myself lost in my thoughts and memories.

The boy started the match at No 8 and for the first ten minutes Huddersfield held back Dinno. Dinno built on a platform laid by their pack and it was a matter of time before an opportunity would present itself. The match was played over three periods. By the end of the first period Dinnington were 17-0 up. Huddersfield didn’t know what hit them and even if they did they didn’t appear to be able to counteract it. Their star players in the backs couldn’t do anything to stop the flow of the Dinnington pack who were aggressive in the tackle, the ruck and at set pieces.

The second period continued in much the same vane and ended 4 tries to 1. Huddersfield have the players who given the space and the ball can do damage. Whenever they made a mistake the ball was handed to the Dinno pack. Some words about this group of players. There are two full packs available to Dinnington. They can select any 8 of these and put them in any formation in the pack and they will dominate. They are far from the finished article and can dominate opponents for years to come if they choose to.

The final period saw Huddersfield grab another try but Dinnington pile on further pressure. The final score was 58-12 to Dinnington. If we had had a better kicker the margin would have been greater. The Huddersfield coach remarked that we have an outstanding side and that he has not seen forward play like that for years. After it was all over we retired to the bar to swap stories and to catch up. They are due to visit us in February . They tend to start slowly and then find consistency later on. It was heartbreaking for me to watch my old team be demolished like that.  The Dinnington coaches and parents enjoyed the day and hopefully it will be the first of many visits.

Next up Castleford in the cup.

A sporting update - Travels with Dinno

Well apologies to regular readers for not updating sooner but I have a life you know. Since my last post on my rugby tour of Britain The Dinno Express has marched on. First up we visited Sheffield. This was always going to be a tense affair and not just because it is always something of a derby match. Last season the first team of Sheffield had the edge on Dinnington overall but in the 'second' team Dinnington had the upper hand. This suggests that whilst Sheffield may have better players (and more of them) but that we had better depth.

The extra edge this season was that three of our former players were in the team for Sheffield. I have no intention of going over well trodden ground as to the whys and wherefores behind it all. We arrived at Abbeydale Park indecently early according to the boy but this meant that I could get a hot chocolate and a bacon sandwich without much of a queue. The bacon sandwiches have improved albeit slightly.

The weather was bright and fine and the conditions looked as though a good game would be in prospect. The game was to be played in three 20 minute sections. This was due to a shortage of numbers on our side I believe.

For the first ten minutes the match was a good solid arm wrestle. There were mistakes made on both sides. Dinno were strong at the scrum and at the ruck and in the tackle. Then a Sheffield player was injured and this seemed to disrupt our mojo. Sheffield ran in two tries which were both down to a weakness in defence. Then the iceman scored a try but again we went to sleep and Sheffield went in 19-5 up. Our former players had varied games and one hadn't learned how to keep his mouth shut.

The second period started and the forwards dominated again then in the last ten minutes Sheffield ran in two tries. Score 31-5.

Then the third period started with our remaining players coming on. Our pack dominated and it was noticeable that Sheffield started to feed back first team players back in. Dinno then won a scrummage against the head. The ball was worked out to the Chessie boys. Dick got the ball in his own 22 and then ran the ball in for a try. With his 200m speed there was only one outcome. Another strong drive from Dinno earned a penalty and Jacob crashed in from inside the 10m.

Dinno won another scrum. The boy, who was playing no8, picked the ball up at the back and then proceeded to run and drive for 10 metres. Following several phases of play the ball was again worked out to Dick who had his brother Alex in support. Arguably Alex was in the better position but Dick managed to get over. His brother was livid and complained that Dick was not a team player. Much to the amusement of all the parents and in particular his dad. The forwards continued to dominate and two more tries from Jacob followed. With conversions from Brendan on 3 of the 5 tries in this period the final score was 31-36. This interpretation of history has been disputed but then you know what they say 'History is written by the winners'. Quote of the day was from Barney who summarised our day as 'Our wankers are better than their wankers'.

The following week we were visited at Lodge Lane by Scunthorpe. The first half was not very pretty and Scunthorpe snatched a try to lead 0-5. After half time things livened up a bit. We got a try through either Angus/Alex. 5-5.  Then after a mortuary pass by our backs (it was so bad it bypassed the ambulance) Scunthorpe ran in an interception. As ever our forwards dominated and created chances. Angus finished with two tries on the day with one from new kid on the block Alex to leave a final score of Dinno 19 - 12 Scunthorpe.

Season so far is Played 3 won 2 drawn 0 Lost 1.

Next up we have an emotional return to where our rugby journey started. Huddersfield.