RUGBY UNION
I feel like I’m at an age where I understand
”
there’s a process. They’ve done the game, we’ve
prepared for it and this is what we’ve got, and now we need to repair and get ready for the next game
State of the industry?
Having been in the industry for over twenty-two years, I have come through the whole process, an apprenticeship scheme at sixteen to where I am today. I absolutely love it and wouldn’t imagine me doing anything else.
It’s difficult to see and I won’t say our industry is struggling, but I certainly would say that it has stagnated somewhat and has been on a slow decline, maybe over the last two decades with having the ability to attract newcomers. This is speaking as a manager who, in previous roles, has been seeking suitable staff to come and work with me and my teams and seen first-hand the issues.
I am very aware of the fact that our industry is not seen in the same light as other “trades” in this country. For example, the plumbing, electrical and engineering industries are recognised with their core skillset and the value they bring; we, most certainly, should be seen in the same light.
I appreciate there is an element of supply and demand for quality trades and maybe that’s something that has to happen within our industry too. Having the demand outstrip the supply will naturally raise the stock of hard working groundsmen and women across not only this country but across the globe. If this shift takes place, then there will be a natural attractive quality for youngsters to have a serious thought when looking at their career options when looking at our industry as a choice. Prestige, fulfilment, job satisfaction and value.
then ridiculously intense periods where they throw everything and the kitchen sink at it, and we’ve got to try and recover from that ready for the next one.” “Another difference from football is the playability. I think in open play in terms of the damage you’ll get from rugby in comparison to football is probably marginal if we’re talking about hybrids. The big thing you’ve got is when we start talking about scrums and mauls because you’ve got lots of guys in quite a small area and, if there are issues in the scrum and they’re reset, they don’t tend to move too far. For instance, we had three resets on the West side in the big game, and we can still see the signs of that now, and we’re three weeks past it.” “I had to adjust to it because, in football, if I had hair, I would have ripped it out. But it’s one of those because you have the ‘oh my god, what I am going to do to fix this’, whereas now I feel like I’m at an age where I understand there’s a process. They’ve done the game, we’ve prepared for it and this is what we’ve got, and now we need to repair and get ready for the next game.” “But the guys have been really great, they’ve adapted, and they’ve been very open minded with my ideas. We’re working with such small margins. It’s not like we’re going to do something here and it’s going to give us a thirty percent advantage or better quality or anything like that. We’re eighty, ninety or ninety-five percent there most of the time, so we’re just chasing the small margins, so it’s little tweaks here or there.” Away from his main focus of Twickenham, Jim is looking to become fully immersed in Rugby Groundsmen Connected by the end of 2020. Clearly, he is keen to give back to the industry and he speaks enthusiastically about having the opportunity to work within a programme that’s already helped a lot of clubs and has the potential to help many more. Along with being an IOG Ambassador, he views this as a chance to leave a legacy. He explains: “I think it’s huge for the sport that there are guys at the volunteer level
74 PC February/March 2020
giving up their time to try and produce and maintain pitches for their clubs. I’d love to be able to help and give advice exactly like Keith’s done, and do the workshops. There might be some slight adaptations to how Keith’s done it to how I might approach it, but the ultimate goal is to enhance the quality of those pitches at the grassroots level so that players can use them for longer and they can sustain that usage and still have a good enough quality. Again, it’s all about sports participation and getting as many people as possible playing rugby on good quality pitches.”
“That has a whole legacy ahead of it. Keith is still actively involved in his “semi- retirement” and we will work in tandem for the foreseeable future, making sure we deliver sound advice for all of the volunteer groundsmen so they can deliver pitches fit for play as best they can.”
As the interview comes to a close, attentions turn to the more distant future of the pitch and the equipment used to maintain it. The Desso GrassMaster surface was installed in 2012 and is due to be reviewed with a part or full reconstruction the likely outcomes. On the equipment side – an openness to new technology and the RFU’s awareness of their carbon footprint will guide purchases in years to come. For now, the upcoming Six Nations campaign [at the time of writing] is the focus. Jim’s feelings on this are a mixture of excitement for a new tournament in a different sport and another day being focused on the job. Whatever his feelings on the day, there’s no doubt that, when England and Ireland cross the white line on February 23rd to a capacity crowd, they’ll step onto the first of many pitches prepared by Jim and his team that is more befitting of the occasion.
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