It’s only a couple more weeks until the long-awaited 2016 Staffs – Keele varsity, where you can see sports teams from the neighbourly rivals battle it out for the Staffordshire throne.
Of course, amongst the sports played, one of the most anticipated will be the rugby match: a no-holds barred contact competition where the two sides can really push each other to the limit. To try and get a real understanding of this, we spoke to Stafford player and student officer elect Darren Clarke.
Darren has spent all three of the years he’s spent at university with the rugby team. He explained how it all began and why he loves to play:
“I started playing rugby when I was seven years old, for a local club back in Ireland called City of Derry and on the secondary school team,” he said.
“It’s always been my passion. All the boys enjoyed football, I just didn’t as much: I found it quite boring.
“Plus, the thing is with football round where I live, I’m from a very Protestant background and it’s seen as a Catholic sport; it’s quite frowned upon to be playing it. Rugby was seen as very much a Protestant sport and a British way to do things, that’s the way it is back home.
“Then I just fell in love with the game. You get your aggression out for the week, a bit of stress relief. The comradery with the people you’re on a team with as well, it’s something else.”
However, Darren’s participation in rugby was soon put on hold, as he sought more time for study while retaking his AS-Levels.
Once he came to university though, it was just like old times.
“I contacted the team over the summer and from day one at the university I was hanging out with the Stafford rugby team.
“It was easy to pick back up; like riding a bike, you don’t forget.”
“We didn’t have any wins for a few years, and it was tough going from winning all the time in Ireland to Stafford where we’re not really winning as much. But in second year I got elected social secretary, then halfway through the season our captain got injured, so I took over the captaincy for the team as well.
“At first we didn’t get any wins, but this season we battled it out, trained with the Stoke boys and actually went down to Cambridge and beat Anglia Ruskin 41-29. It was our first win in four years. It’s been a hell of a journey.”
Finally Darren, who will be linking up with the Stoke team after this year’s Stafford campus closure, revealed his own expectations for Varsity.
“I’ve got to know the Stoke boys over the course of this season and especially this semester when we’ve been training together and the team spirit is already starting to mould.
“We’re all rugby lads, we’ve got each other’s backs, so yeah our friendship will evolve over the next year and the direction will change in our play to make a much stronger first team.
“Keele are always a tough side to play, but I reckon with hard work and determination we can always win. No team is undefeatable. I reckon we can beat Keele with the right mentality no bother.”