Docherty strides to victory

Posted on Jun 13, 2011 in Latest Rugby News

Nineteen year old Connor Docherty damaged his vertebrae in three places and was told he may never walk again, but the doctors did not reckon with the bravery of the young man who just three years later took on the West Highland Way in a bid to raise money for the Murrayfield Centenary Fund.

On Sunday (12 June 2011) Docherty took the final strides of his epic expedition, three years after being told he may not walk again. The 19 year old who damaged his vertebrae in three places during a rugby game for his school, St Aloysius’ College, in 2008 took on the West Highland Way in a bid to raise money for the Murrayfield Centenary Fund who helped him in his recovery.

Connor, who now walks with a single crutch, and his physio, Eilidh Dorrian, braved the stereotypical Scottish summer weather along with friends and family in order to complete the challenge which raised over £7000.

Connor said: “I am exhausted; keeping the walking up for an entire week was so hard but this is a great achievement.

“I just can’t wait to do nothing; I think I will do that for the rest of the week. Eilidh will have to keep me going now.”

Connor’s wish to do nothing for the next seven days didn’t quite happen though as he was up bright and early this morning to continue his physio and commence his recovery.

Eilidh said: “We are pretty drained and emotional but I think the highlight was just the achievement itself. There were tough times and there were amazing times when we all came together and really got behind each other.

“Walking isn’t really Connor’s forte so we are determined to find him something he wants to continue with and enjoys more. We are going to try cycling and skiing or snowboarding next and see how he gets on with them.”

The persistent wind and the rain throughout the week presented its fair share of challenges to the team and it meant, at times, that they struggled to walk more that one mile an hour. However through great perseverance and camaraderie they arrived at their final destination, West of Scotland RFC, where they were greeted by friends and family, ahead of schedule on Sunday.

Eilidh added: “We met people on route who had friends who had dropped out. I just don’t understand when someone like Connor is doing this how other people can drop out.”

The journey was also done in memory of the late Bill Hogg, administrator of the Murrayfield Centenary Fund, who played a key role in Connor’s recovery.

Dominic McKay, Director of Communications and Public Affairs for Scottish Rugby said: “ Everyone at Scottish Rugby congratulates Connor, Eilidh and the rest of the team on this tremendous achievement. Connor is a truly inspirational young man.”

Pennell – Sixways support crucial to us

Posted on Mar 16, 2011 in Latest Rugby News

Worcester captain Chris Pennell has issued a rallying cry for the Sixways faithful to make a wall of noise in the league play-offs – urging fans to create a hostile and intimidating atmosphere for away teams to face.

Worcester Warriors kicked off the RFU Championship play-off bid in Pool A with a 44-15 away day victory over Bristol and now prepare to welcome London Welsh to Sixways this Saturday (kick-off 3pm).

Pennell has stressed the importance of the Warriors really exploding into life and making home advantage count as the squad strives to make Sixways a difficult place to visit.

And he has urged the club’s dedicated and loyal followers to play a big role by cranking up the volume in the promotion bid.

“Home games in the play-offs are massive,” said Pennell. “This is a different competition and we have to make sure we take the form from the regular league season into these play-offs.

“Sixways has to be our fortress, especially looking ahead when we want home advantage in the latter stages. We have to play as we know we can and leave teams in no doubt that they face a very tough day at the office here.

“That has to start this weekend. Hopefully we can get a big crowd in and we can start with a big performance.

“We are all in this together and the fans have been fantastic so far. Now I want even more intimidating atmospheres and for teams to come here to face big crowds and really hear that noise and our support.

“It can be an incredibly intimidating place for the opposition to play when the stadium is really rocking and our players really feed of that. It lifts every one of us and we would love nothing more than to put in some massive displays for our fans.”

Full back Pennell, who has made an eye catching return to the team in recent weeks, admits the victory over Bristol was all important on day one of the play-offs but firmly believes the team can produce even more.

“It was very important to win first up,” he added. “The most important thing was the victory. We didn’t play how we really wanted, but we made massive improvement in certain areas and our defence was top class.

“Now we just need to sharpen our attack. We showed what we can do by scoring six tries when we didn’t really produce what we wanted. There is more to come and in these next set of five play-off games we have got to keep our focus and get even better.”

Sheriden trains charity marathon runner

Posted on Oct 8, 2010 in Rugby News

Sale Sharks’ and England prop Andrew Sheridan took some time out of training this week to do some personal training for James Kight, managing director of Altrincham based Printerland.co.uk  who are official sponsors of Sale Sharks.  James is training to run the London Marathon next April in a bid to raise over £25,000 for the Breast Cancer Campaign.

Andrew put James through his paces including the dreaded squat rack, one of the exercises where Sheridan, arguably the strongest man in world rugby, particularly excels.  He says, "It’s an honour to be helping James in his bid to raise money for this fantastic cause.  Everyone knows someone who has been touched by Breast Cancer and by supporting James you will really make a difference.  He is training hard and as long as he keeps it up he has a great chance of hitting the sub 4hr target I have set him."

James Kight’s company Printerland.co.uk have recently signed up for a sixth season as official sponsors of Sale Sharks.  Sharks’ supporters are now well and truly familiar with the passionate atmosphere of the Printerland.co.uk Stand at Edgeley Park.  James is confident that the support he has received from the Sharks and Andrew Sheridan, will prove invaluable to his efforts to finish the marathon and raise the £25,000 for Breast Cancer Campaign.

"It’s fantastic to have Andrew and the Sharks on board.  Not only is Andrew a great motivator and trainer, the help I have received regarding nutrition and injury prevention should help me cross the finish line in a half decent time.

Please help me reach my target, all the money goes direct to the cause and every penny counts!!"

Breast Cancer Campaign’s mission is to beat breast cancer by funding innovative world-class research to understand how breast cancer develops, leading to improved diagnosis, treatment, prevention and cure. We aim to be the leading specialist in breast cancer research across the UK and Ireland, making a significant impact on breast cancer for the benefit of patients.

To donate go to www.printerland.co.uk/run or contact James@printerland.co.uk

Scottish Rugby expresses interest in tendering for 2013 RWC 7s

Posted on Nov 4, 2009 in Rugby News

Scottish Rugby can confirm today that it has expressed interest to the game’s worldwide governing body, the International Rugby Board (IRB), in tendering to host the Rugby World Cup 7s in 2013.

Seven other unions have expressed interest to the IRB and now work will begin in detail to determine whether Scottish Rugby can proceed to the formal bid stage.

Scottish Rugby’s Chief Executive Gordon McKie said: “Rugby sevens are very much regarded as the flagship for the global development of our sport – and that gives great pride to us in Scotland given that we gave the game to the world.

“Scottish Rugby hosted the inaugural Rugby World Cup 7s in 1993 and, of course, 7s will ensure rugby returns to the Olympic family in time for the summer games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

“We are also very proud that 7s will be one of major sports at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

“But what will be crucial in our deliberations on whether we submit a formal bid for the 2013 RWC 7s will be that such a bid must sit alongside our strategic objectives.

“We cannot advance a bid if it were to compromise the overall financial stability of the game in Scotland and hosting such a tournament would be about much more than the event itself.

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