Rugby - Students visit gives Kendal point to prove (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Rugby - Students visit gives Kendal point to prove

10:40am Saturday 7th May 2011 in Sport

KENDAL Rugby Union Club will celebrate keeping National League rugby at Mint Bridge today (Saturday, 3pm), when they face high-flying Loughborough Students in their final home league match of the season.

Some of England's future talent has come out of Loughborough, and although Fylde have the title in the bag, the third-placed Students still have a live chance of catching Leicester Lions for a play-off promotion opportunity.

It's a competitive fixture with Kendal's side having played some of its best rugby in recent matches, and looking for a major scalp to prove themselves.

Meanwhile, a visit by new Rugby Football Union Chief Executive John Steele and RFU Community Game Board Chairman Rob Udwin to Cumbria has been hailed as a major success for the RU game in the county.

“The meeting at Carlisle Rugby Club went superbly well,” said John Owen, Chairman of Cumbria and Immediate Past President of the RFU: “People who attended were highly impressed with John and Rob, who dealt superbly with all the questions in a Q & A session that last over an hour and a half and the informal discussions that were held in the bar afterwards.

“We had around 70 people attending, which I felt was a very good turnout. I was chuffed to bits with the interest shown and the way in which the questions were handled.

“We covered areas like the league structures in the North, travel finance and funding generally, our relationships with rugby league and a number of other topics. There was a lot of really worthwhile stuff that came up for discussion and I know that the audience were very impressed with the responses to their questions and comments.”

Cumbria Secretary and RFU Representative Roger Hackney endorsed his colleague’s sentiments. He said: “I was very pleased with the attendance and also the way the evening went. We had a good discussion on a wide range of issues relating to rugby in the county and I thought we received some very positive and encouraging replies from the panel.

“They agreed to take one or two issues back to Twickenham for further discussion and clarification and overall, their visit was very well received. The RFU can’t respond to every request and every issue in every county, but the way they dealt with questions and understood the concerns was very reassuring.

“It was definitely a very useful and enjoyable visit and a very encouraging one.”