Mark Regan Column: Clifton boys have really done themselves proud
I have taken my role as coach at the club very seriously this season – and this is turning out to be a very important week for Clifton.
The Intermediate Cup semi-final final win over Sheffield Tigers was a momentous day for the club, who will now play at Twickenham.
Clifton RFC has been around since 1872, but April 18, 2009 will mark its first visit to Twickenham – and I am so proud to be involved.
We know we have not won anything yet – and there is so much to be played for in all competitions.
And that is why this week is turning out to be something special. The boys followed up their Intermediate Cup semi-final victory with a win against Avonmouth in the semi-final of the Bristol Combination Cup.
Tomorrow we are at Chippenham in an important league match –so there is a great buzz around the club at the moment.
We have managed to use the whole squad this week, too, because people can't play three games in a week. So other guys have come in and played their part.
Back at Bristol, I have been working hard to get myself fit, training alongside the same old faces in the IPG.
Iain Grieve, Jason Hobson and David Blaney are all in there – so it is a good, sociable group, even if it means having to put up with Hobbo's terrible jokes. He is not very funny at all.
The injury is so frustrating for me, especially as I had not been particularly used to being injured before this season.
I suppose that is just my body's way of reminding me I am getting old – and that I am coming to the end.
I still hope to play a part for Bristol before I retire at the end of the season, and the home match against Wasps the day after Clifton's final is one I am desperate to play in.
I was also honoured to be asked this week to play for the Classic Lions against the Springboks in South Africa during the Lions tour this summer.
It will be good to catch up with some familiar faces down there, including my old Bristol team-mate Gareth 'Bus-head' Llewellyn.
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