Victorious return to rugby for the Cambridge Vanguards, but rugby is the real winner
Reporter: Edna Clouds, 7th Feb 2022
After the enforced break due to the well documented global pandemic, Grantchester Road, Volac Park, call it what you will, welcomed back the Cambridge Vanguards for their first match since 24th Nov 2018.
A beautiful blue sky. The start of the Six Nations. Old friends reunited and some new faces being welcomed into the Vanguard family, Saturday was truly a celebration of the very best of what rugby has to offer.
The excitement had been building for a number of weeks since the idea that with all the false dawns in community rugby, it was possible that veterans rugby could return to Cambridge. The team was made up of some very familiar faces and well over 1,000 Cambridge 1st XV caps between the assembled group. The team contained some famous names of yesteryear such as Darren Messenger, Tim Smith and Mial Walker with over 800 between them. What was really pleasing were the number of new faces joining the team for the first time, this bodes well for the future of vets rugby in the club.
The morning started with a good luck message to the team from All Black legend Craig Newby, once of the Cambridge coaching staff himself. His advice to the team was to play like they’ve never played before, that is: really well. Wise words.
The opposition came in the many different shapes and sizes of Welwyn Garden City, a club linked to Cambridge through Simon Banks and Gareth Hughes. Their vets team has only been up and running for a short period of time, possibly 3 years. The Cambridge Vanguards history dates back to pre-Neolithic times with one of the clubs most notable legends, Alan Banks, part of every team since its inception and once again propping up the starting XV at kick off.
The game itself was a game of three parts. A strong start by the hugely talented Vanguards, steered capably by Stef Liebfraumilch and his able Southern African henchmen, Trevor Grizzly Bear, Christof Lombardi, and Gerhard Biscoff with a small mix of the Irish at 10 for good measure. The home team pack were solid from the outset creating the platform required for the Vanguards to dominate the early exchanges and race out to a three try lead.
The middle period saw a resilient fightback from Welwyn with some hard ball carrying aided by the referee’s 1970 interpretation of the breakdown laws and numerous changes to the starting XV from Cambridge.
At halftime there were only 3 points between the two teams.
The early part of the second half saw more pressure from the visitors, but unable to drive home this advantage they were then undone with the return of the slightly stronger Vanguard’s line up for the final 20 minutes. Some great tries from both teams and some even more intriguing refereeing from Little Legs, a former Cambridge Vanguard himself, the game finished in favour of the Vanguards.
In reality though, the rugby on the pitch was only part of the story. The old cliché that rugby was the winner could not have been more apt on a day that saw old friends reunited at the club after many years away, and the smiles on the faces of those that had not been part of the Vanguards family before. No significant injuries. New Vanguards medals handed out along with the traditional fines that you would expect for their exploits on the field. The clubhouse was buzzing, and the Welwyn team stayed long into the evening to enjoy the hospitality. The bar was drunk dry of Guinness and that’s a measure of the success of the evening.
A massive thank you must go to Nick Stringy* Dance and Simon Banks for getting the ball rolling again. A big thank you to the club and club President for allowing us to use the facilities. To Mollie Messenger for providing the much-needed medical support and fresh supply of batteries for the many pacemakers on display. Steve Davies and the bar team, the catering and of course Welwyn for providing the opposition.
We’re already looking forward to the next match but let’s hope we get a couple of months to recover.
*Denotes International
