Finals day shows strength of game around Yorkshire

Bridlington, Selby and Baildon all descend on the hallowed turf of headquarters each seeking to win one of the three trophies up for grabs for amateur teams in the regional leagues.

Baildon are back in south west London having won the RFU Junior Vase with a 6-3 win over Harrow last May.

The West Yorkshire club, in its centenary year, returns to defend the trophy against Gloucestershire side Newent.

If Baildon are relatively old hats at the grand day out to the national stadium, it is a new experience for both Selby and Bridlington.

Bridlington’s final against Brighton in the Intermediate Cup is their first visit to Twickenham in their 91-year history and represents a finest hour for the club.

Likewise, Selby, are debuting at the home of English rugby in the Senior Vase final against Drybrook.

What links all three clubs is a good infrastructure, derived from the ownership of grounds and clubhouse bars which generates income that enables them to meet the costs associated with running thriving senior and junior sections.

And what another White Rose invasion of Twickenham illustrates is that community rugby in the Broad Acres is in rude health.

For Steve Cruise, a veteran of the county scene for more than three decades and now involved at Selby, the blueprint his club laid out 15 years ago is starting to bear fruit.

“When I played at Wakefield, it was a club that had no infrastructure, they didn’t own the ground, they didn’t own the bar. They ran four teams and a Colts squad and ended up going under,” he said.

“Selby are a club that, like many others in Yorkshire, own their own ground. They run five senior teams and have over 400 juniors on their books. Ten to 15 years ago the club decided to get some quality coaching into the junior section and we are now reaping the benefits of that.

“At Twickenham, 10 of our players will be under the age of 23, and five of those under 19. That in itself is a success story.”

Selby’s head coach Richard Nicholson concurs. “It’s great for the region and it shows the strength in depth of quality in Yorkshire rugby,” he said.

Nicholson’s job today is to mastermind a victory for Selby against Drybrook, who were champions of the Gloucestershire Premier Division. Selby have themselves secured promotion from Yorkshire Two after securing a second-place finish last week.

“In the last month we’ve been working towards promotion, which was our main goal for the season, so we are delighted that we’ve got that done and dusted before Twickenham,” said Nicholson.

“We didn’t want to go down there knowing we still needed to come back and win our final game the following week. The players have been outstanding, they’ve treated every game as a cup final and they’ve come up trumps.”

If the club as a whole are in uncharted territory today, so are the majority of their players, with only three having previously played at Twickenham, and that was in an under-11s schools final.

Like Baildon and Bridlington; players, officials and supporters of Selby descended on Twickenham en masse yesterday and had a tour around the ground to help ease some of those matchday nerves.

For Bridlington, the showpiece Intermediate Cup final at 3pm represents the highpoint of their proud history.

Secure in mid-table of Yorkshire One and on a strong run of form, people in the East Yorkshire coastal resort have bought into the Twickenham story.

“It has generated massive interest,” said Bridlington’s director of rugby Rich Girking.

“I’ve got a small business and people are always asking me about the game and congratulating us.

“Of course we’re going there to win, but the most important thing is the players enjoy the weekend and don’t let the environment get on top of them.

“We’ve had some great days in our history; Yorkshire Cup finals at Otley and Headingley 20-odd years ago, but this is the biggest.”

Like their Yorkshire brethren, they know little about their opponents – Brighton – having fought their way through the regional rounds and then the northern knockout stages to reach Twickenham. Bridlington reached the final by prevailing narrowly against Midlands outfit Coalville in their semi-final last month.

“That’s when the butterflies really began,” added Girking.

“We didn’t really perform that day. We just scraped through in the end because we showed a lot of character.

“In the final, it’s two aggressive packs going against one another, but we’re an all-round team.”

By the time Selby kick-off at 1pm, and Bridlington two hours later, Baildon hope to be celebrating a second straight Junior Vase success.

“We thought last year was a once in a lifetime opportunity,” said chairman of rugby Andy Whiteley. “Turns out, it’s twice in a lifetime.

“It’s fantastic for the players, especially those who we had to disappoint last season. One in particular, Tom Craven, broke his wrist and missed out. So he gets his chance this year.

“Our mindset from the outset was we wanted to go all the way again. We thought last year was a premature celebration for our centenary, but we get to celebrate it in style again.”

Newent, their opponents from Gloucestershire, may have other ideas. They are unbeaten all season, having won their Midlands league at a canter.

“I’d argue that we play a more competitive level of rugby in Yorkshire,” said Whiteley, whose side have been promoted from Yorkshire Two. “Three teams reaching finals for the second straight year backs that claim up.”