Rugby returned to Sandbach RUFC on 1st April, with more than 80 senior player and senior colts being put through their paces.
The club said that not only was it good to see so many familiar faces, but there were also a few new ones, too, with “bags of enthusiasm” and skill on display.
The players went through a series of varied controlled group exercises and games, under the watchful eyes of the coaches.
The session opened with director of rugby Andy Bird outlining the programme for the summer through to next season, not only for training, but transition into senior teams, rugby events and pre-season plans.
Following the cancellation of the whole of the 2020/21 campaign, league rugby is scheduled to start in September, in a season that will result in a radical shake-up and restructuring for many clubs. This is because the RFU is to soon announce detailed proposals on league reorganisation. This includes regionalisation, fewer games and dedicated break weeks in the schedule.
Accordingly, plans are very much focused on this at a senior level, so that the club is best placed to take advantage of the opportunity this presents, with the potential to be playing at the highest ever level in the club’s history, come the end of the forthcoming season.
Focus is not just on the 1st XV, with Sandbach being a fully inclusive community club, with the Mini / Junior section scheduled to start returning to training from 4th April and O2 Touch and walking rugby also to restart.
As the excitement grows, the clubhouse also gradually returns to normal, with plans in place to reopen outdoors from Monday, subject to Government approval.
To help with this the club has recently installed a new electronic point of sale system, to ease the paying for goods and services remotely from the bar, with portable chip and pin devices and a state-of-the-art backroom management system.
A spokesman said: “All in all, things are looking promising as the anticipation and excitement grows to all restrictions being lifted and a return to something like normal rugby activity resumes.”
