Cambridge Exiles begin their Eastern Counties Division 2 West campaign on October 4th with a trip to Haverhill. It’s not as glamourous as, say, a trip to Doncaster Knights or Bedford Blues – but the Exiles are almost unique in the rugby pyramid…a Level 10 ‘social’ side as part of a Level 2 Champ rugby club. And as Exiles coach Julian Mannion explains, the team fulfil a very important function within Cambridge Rugby…
“We’re primarily a social side that wants to play competitive rugby. During the summer I made the tough decision to drop us down to Eastern Counties 2. At the end of last season I had a lot of very enthusiastic individuals but a lot of results didn’t go well for us in EC1. The year prior we entered a rebuilding phase as we lost a large number of players to other clubs higher up the pyramid and we’re in year 2 of that rebuild.
“I took the decision to drop us down to give us the chance of winning more games and therefore retaining more players as we build a winning mentality. We were competitive last year for much of the season but this time around we’ll be more so. We ran some much better appointed sides very close at times last term – the team spirit was amazing – but we hope to get more rewards this term. The only way is up.
“This season – in addition to Haverhill – we’ll be playing against Cantabs III, Thorney II, St Ives III, Wisbech II and the combined Ely/March Barbarians. Round 17 of the season ends us up on March 28th next year with a home game against Haverhill – and there’re plenty of weekends off so players can plan their family lives around the fixtures without having to ‘cry off’ on a match day. It’s a smaller league with fewer matches and I’m hoping that therefore I’ll have more players available more often. It’s a big commitment these days playing at an amateur level on Saturdays and training twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We’ll be able to put out better teams and the players will have more time to recover.
“I want to be able to say to Colts this season who may not be quite ready for the 1923 Academy level that they can get some experience of transitioning into adult rugby. F they show up for us a few ties and are clearly of a good standard I want to be able to say, ‘on you go’ to the next level. If they want to stay at this level, playing social rugby, that’s all good too. At the moment, we have that gulf between ourselves and the Champ Rugby squad – we’re competing with the likes of Shelford locally in what seems to be an ever-decreasing pool of ‘senior’ men’s social players. Our 1st XV are Level 2 – we’re Level 10 – we’re offering a stepping stone between the two. We want Cambridge players to remain Cambridge players.
“Last year our Rugby Development Officer, Daniel Allen’s ‘Give Rugby A Try’ initiative afforded us a number of new players – some of whom were actually brand new to the game – and they just kept coming back because they enjoyed the craic, the camaraderie and the competition. That’s been a rea success and it’s something that’s made me very happy. We do, though, always need ‘new blood’ – we train on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6pm here at Ellgia Fields – and anyone who wants to come along, and line up with the likes of Cambridge Rugby President Dick Wallin, is more than welcome!”