Fellow Millwallians

I hope you are all well. Although I don’t yet have the pleasure of announcing the start date for league matches, there has been progress on various fronts in the last month, which I detail below.

Club captain

Following discussion between the playing chairs, our Youth Chair Scott Vinnicombe has been appointed Club Captain for the 2020/21 season. As both a player and a coach, Scott has been a wonderful servant to Millwall Rugby Club down the years: his place on the honours board is well deserved. 

Return to rugby

We are now at Stage D on the RFU return to rugby roadmap, which allows a limited amount of contact in training in addition to the 10v10 touch rugby which has been allowed since August.  As a lifelong member of the front row union I regret to report that scrums, mauls and contested lineouts remain prohibited in training until we reach Stage E.

The RFU confirmed to member clubs last week that organised rugby training and touch rugby matches are exempt from the 6 person limit on gatherings that was introduced on Monday.

Now that Millwall Park has become less busy on weekday evenings, Men’s training sessions have returned to their usual time of 7.30pm on Monday and Wednesdays. Venus training sessions are now also running on both Monday and Wednesday, from 7pm. The enforced break from competitive matches is a great opportunity to improve our technique and work on our gameplans, so I encourage anyone who is able to do so to come down to training. It is, however, absolutely essential that every adult player attending a training session fills out a Covid self-assessment on the club website: https://www.millwallrugby.com/training-s2021-1

Youth training recommenced on 6 September, with an encouraging number of new players in some age groups. Like last season, we are looking to encourage current players in the adult teams to help out with coaching the youth sides. If you're interested, please speak to one of the playing chairs (email addresses below). 

Taster sessions

This week the club is hosting taster sessions for potential new players and would really appreciate your help in promoting these to your friends, family, neighbours and colleagues. If you are part of any residents’ groups on social media that would be a great place to share the flyer (attached to this email). These will be free and fun training sessions providing an opportunity for those new to rugby or those who have played before to get to know the game a bit better and, if they like what they see, join our friendly and social club.

All levels are welcome, no experience required: all that participants need to bring is clothing suitable for exercise and a pair of trainers or boots. As with all training at Millwall Rugby Club, all sessions will run according to RFU COVID-19 guidelines. The timings are as follows:

Wednesday 23 September

• 7-8.30pm Ladies Taster Session

Sunday 27 September:

• 11am-12:30pm Youth Taster Session

• 1:30pm to 3pm: Men and Ladies Taster Session

If you – or anyone you know – would like to come along to one of these sessions, just message one of playing chairs, who can send you more information and sign you up for the relevant session.

Men’s chair: Shek Palit menschair@millwallrugby.com

Ladies’ chair: Meg Over ladieschair@millwallrugby.com

Youth chair: Scott Vinnicombe youthchair@millwallrugby.com

Clubhouse bar opening

There were a few successful nights of trial opening of the clubhouse bar in August and September, including after training last Wednesday. The clubhouse currently has a members-only maximum capacity of 33, with no more than 6 people to a table and no moving between tables or moving chairs to another table. These restrictions are far from ideal for such a social club as ours, but they are now expressly required by law and are unlikely to be loosened before the end of the year given the current prevalence of coronavirus. Nonetheless, I encourage those who live locally to come down for a drink – keep an eye on the club’s social media channels for opening times.

I have not completely given up hope that, when I next write to the club's membership in October, we will have some indication of when league fixtures can begin. In the meantime, the best any of us can do is to keep ourselves fit and healthy. 

Best regards

Toby Sanders

Chairman