OSWESTRY RFC’s first team have been treated to a specialist training session by former England player Neil Back.
The former Leicester Tigers legend and 2003 Rugby World Cup winner visited the Northern South Lancashire and Cheshire Second Division side on Friday, February 28 after they were named winners of a national grassroots rugby competition, QBE Hit Squad.
Current QBE Hit Squad coach, Back, worked alongside current coaches at the rugby club to help develop key skills to help the club improve the clubs performance throughout the season both on and off the field.
He said: “We went back to the core basic skills with the Oswestry RFC to ensure I passed on best practice coaching and technical advice
.
“The focus of the training session included ball presentation, clearing out and decision making.”
The prize is awarded to clubs that will benefit from QBE Hit Squad coach mentoring and Oswestry RFC is one of only four grassroots rugby clubs across the country to be awarded a mentor this season.
Judges were particularly impressed with the club’s coaching team drive to learn from Back’s expertise, knowledge and ability to inspire the Oswestry RFC players and felt the expert mentoring can help them improve in key areas for the remainder of the season.
Paul Wapshott, the Honorary Secretary at Oswestry RFC said he was delighted when he found out the club had won the competition.
He said: “It’s fantastic to win QBE Hit Squad. To get the opportunity to learn from Neil Back is great for the club and utilising his coaching expertise and experiences in rugby will only benefit us as a club.”
Back will return to the club for the final game of season, while the club also has the opportunity to meet the England rugby backroom staff at an open day later this season.