West Park achieve ambition by hosting England

The last major arrival at The Sycamores was Limited Edition.

An eclectic band which combines country, blues, folk and rock influences, they played a Christmas Eve gig at the home of West Park Leeds RUFC in front of a few hundred party-goers.

Far more illustrious visitors are due to arrive at the end of this month and we are not talking about Yorkshire Division Two opponents Skipton.

The England Elite Training Squad are set to descend on the Bramhope venue in readiness for a five-day pre-Six Nations training camp.

Such stars as Chris Ashton, Toby Flood, Tom Croft and Courtney Lawes could be gracing the same pitch which saw Goole dispatched 33-17 in its last usage.

It is a major coup for the club which only came into being in 2006 as a consequence of the merger of West Park Bramhope and Leeds RUFC.

That union, with the sale of Leeds’s Chandos Park in Roundhay, helped facilitate the major investment in a new clubhouse and excellent facilities which have become the envy of clubs throughout Yorkshire and beyond.

Such are their standards that Stuart Lancaster – the England interim coach who played professionally at Leeds – has no hesitation in bringing his squad north for his first meeting in charge.

Rather than the usual warm-weather training in Portugal, which the national side has undertaken for the last few years, or perhaps the comforts of their luxury base at Pennyhill Park Hotel in Surrey, he has chosen to take the Red Rose on the road.

West Park Leeds club secretary Rob Storey told the Yorkshire Post: “It’s a dream come true for us.

“It’s wonderful for the club – especially being such a grass-roots one – and for the area as well.

“I think it will generate a lot of interest certainly around the local area and wider still.

“We’ve had the England Under-17s and Under-18s training here before Christmas and we held an England Counties Under-20s v Scotland Under-20s last March so we’re on the map as far as Twickenham is concerned.

“When we first built the clubhouse it was an aspiration to get something like this.

“You like to think you can but do they ever come that far north, especially to a club like ours at our level ...?

“So, to progress to having the full England ETS training here is just really marvellous.”

What should those England players expect from their new facility?

With 10 different pitches, there is an abundance of space for Lancaster and his new coaching team of Andy Farrell and Graham Rowntree to get to work on.

Given one of those is a state-of-the-art 3G artificial surface, West Park Leeds can also ensure the national squad can take to the field whatever the weather.

It also houses a sizeable gym – designed with the help of Leeds Rhinos assistant Jimmy Lowes, a former player at The Sycamores – which is well equipped and there are ample physio treatment rooms on the impressive base.

Adorning the walls of the clubhouse are some mementoes from their famous alumni – the jersey worn by former West Park Bramhope junior Danny Care when he played for England against France in March 2009 plus an England shirt from former Leeds Tykes captain Mike Shelley.

In the middle is Ian McGeechan’s blazer from Scotland’s clash with New Zealand in 1974, the exceptional player who started out at Headingley (before they merged with Roundhay to form Leeds) and went on to both play with, and coach, the British Lions.

The name of another Headingley legend – the England flanker Peter Winterbottom – is emblazoned on a past captains list while there are constant reminders of the club’s vast heritage.

Lancaster’s children both play in the thriving West Park Leeds junior set-up and he assists in coaching their Under 11s – “we’ll see how he goes at the Six Nations and might consider promoting him to full coach if he does okay” mused Storey – so he knows all about the importance of grass roots.

In explaining his decision, he said: “There are a variety of reasons we wanted to use a different venue centred around wanting to keep the camp in this country.

“The main objectives of the camp are to spend some time together, building the team, reviewing the World Cup but more importantly working together on setting our goals for the Six Nations and beyond and getting on the same page with our rugby game plan.

“By keeping it in England we can create a ‘new’ feel to the camp, in what is a new start. It will allow us to train in conditions that we will be facing up at Murrayfield, create opportunities for the team to stay connected with the public, and allow us to invite in one or two people from outside of rugby to help us shape our future.

“All the players have come through grass-roots rugby and, with excellent facilities at West Park Leeds and the availability of local facilities and provision for poor weather options, Leeds was the best fit when we considered all the options.

“Hopefully, it will also give a boost to rugby in the North and help in developing the game in the area.”

England, who will also train at the Leeds Rugby Academy at Kirkstall during their stay, begin their Six Nations defence against Scotland at Murrayfield on February 4, ironic given the next major event in West Park Leeds’s clubhouse is a Burns Supper dinner.

“That will be finished before they arrive,” added Storey, “and they’ll be sure to get a good old Yorkshire welcome.”