On 23rd February the Supporters Club held our first event of 2022 – Past and Present.

Online via Zoom we had Barry Everitt, “Barry the Boot”, flyhalf in our Powergen Cup winning side of 2002, and the ever popular Lovejoy Chawatama.

Barry gave us a tremendous insight into his rugby career and how he moved on from rugby to be head teacher at his preparatory school. He also talked about goal kicking technique and kicking from hand, where he was a great exponent of the spiral touch kick. He explained why it is not in such wide use today – a different type of rugby ball makes it difficult to achieve.

Lovejoy talked of his move to England from Zimbabwe as a 15 year old, and how he progressed from school club rugby to the professional game. Also how he transitioned from the back row to the front, and then from loose to tight head prop. In his early days in the professional game his mentor was James Buckland, who many of you will remember played at hooker for Irish for several seasons.

Thank-you to Barry and Lovejoy! And thank-you to everyone who attended, we hope to see you all at our next event.