Driffield on the road to Twickenham
Driffield Rugby Union Club will be flying the flag for the whole of Yorkshire when they journey to Twickenham for the first time in their 97-year history on Sunday.
The past two seasons have ranked among the club’s finest with a glorious promotion, a third-place finish in Regional 1 North East and now the cherry on the cake, a Papa Johns Community Cup final to be played at the home of rugby.
Patrick ‘Bash’ Burdass, the club’s chairman of rugby, says the team are determined to win the competition for those connected with the club and beyond.
“I think winning at Twickenham would have a massive impact,” said Bash, ahead of his side's Regional 1 Championship final. “Winning it would feel like we’ve done our club proud. A huge amount of people put a lot of work into the club and its reward for all those people.
“The club is very much part of the community and after sneaking past Syston in the semi-finals, I’ve spoken to the local Driffield radio station, Radio Humberside and the Yorkshire Post.
“We’re representing the club, the town and Yorkshire rugby, so everyone is buzzing. We are fortunate to have been drawn as the home team so we’ve got the England dressing room and that will be extra special for us.”
After finishing top of their pool, Driffield beat Syston in a thrilling semi-final contest watched by a record crowd at the club’s Kelleythorpe home.
Just shy of 1,000 people turned out to cheer the side on as they overturned a 10-point deficit late on to run out 36-33 winners, scoring the decisive try just two minutes from time before an excellent final defensive set secured victory.
“It was a great game and our final pool match against Alnwick was a very similar game,” said Bash. “We won with the last play, scoring underneath the sticks and kicking the conversion to win. Syston were a really good team and if I were in their shoes, I would feel it could have gone their way.
“They were a great set of lads and we were all having a drink together afterwards in the true spirit of rugby. If you were a neutral watching that game, it was £5 well spent, if you were supporting either side your nerves would have been jangling.”
Standing between Driffield and a slice of history are Havant, who snuck past Heath 27-21 in the semi-finals for a shot at glory on the Papa Johns Community Cup Finals Day.
Director of rugby Rob Matthews has enjoyed their Papa Johns Community Cup campaign and isn’t underestimating the special occasion awaiting his club at Twickenham this weekend.
“The opportunity that the Papa John's Community Cup gives is massive, to go and play at Twickenham, but also to play clubs you wouldn't normally play,” said Matthews. "I've been with Havant now probably for over 20 years and I remember playing in what was the intermediate cup semi final where we travelled to Bradford and Bingley. That was an absolutely massive fixture for the club.
"People sometimes underestimate what it means to rugby players to go and play at Twickenham. It is probably the highlight of most people's rugby players careers and it will be huge for our players to experience it.”
