I am writing this column before setting off to Coventry for probably the most important day in the history of First Division Rugby and for one of the teams in our league.
It is the day on which the future structure of the league will be decided.
Will we go down to 12 teams? Will the RFU help fund the league so that all 12 are full-time sides? Will we be allowed to play in new tournaments alongside, perhaps, Premiership and/or sides from the Celtic nations? Hopefully all these things will be decided once and for all.
The day is even more important for Coventry itself as they risk being relegated to the bottom of the league structure if they cannot meet certain demands placed on them by the RFU.
To try to help out, the Coventry Morning Telegraph set up an appeal to raise a bond of £100,000 two weeks ago but they are only just over the halfway mark in spite of tremendous efforts by the newspaper and their diehard supporters.
Martin Johnson, the iconic former captain of England, has been installed as manager and we wish him all the best.
Having met him just once, he is a truly imposing character and if anyone can sort England's problems out it is him. He has announced his first squads and hopefully he will set out dismantling and then rebuilding the structure around and above the players that has let them down so badly in recent seasons.
And so on to our next ELV (Experimental Law Variations) which relates to the fact that there will no longer be any restriction on the number of players from either team who can participate in the lineout.
What this means is that, at a lineout, the team not throwing in the ball will no longer have their number of lineout players governed by the number of lineout players chosen by the team throwing in the ball.
As long as there are at least two players from each team to form a lineout, and all lineout players fit between the 5-metre and 15-metre lines, there is no further restriction on numbers. The variation is designed to allow teams more flexibility in their tactics at the lineout. It will also mean the end of sides being punished for numbers of players in lineouts.
Today 600 children from more than 60 local schools are participating in a Festival at Castle Park organized by DIRECT, the Knight's Community Rugby charity and sponsored by ARCO.
It also features an attempt on the World Record for the number of people doing the Haka, the All Black's pre-match challenge.
The Star's Steve Hossack has asked for a picture of our two Castle Park mice that I keep referring to as I am not sure he thinks they exist. I have spoken to their guardian Martin Haythorne, our marketing and media manager, and he has promised to send Steve a photo as soon as he buys Marion and Martine new dresses and has their tails permed. Again, watch this space.
Our stadium development will take a huge step forward next week when the steel work for the new West Stand starts to be installed. For the last two weeks great care has been taken with the foundations as there are over 50 markers that have to be set out precisely else the steel work will not fit.
What do you think? Post your comments below. READ MORE Football headlinesMore BladesMore OwlsMore SpireitesMore RoversMore RedsMore MillersMore Ice HockeyMore rugby leagueMore rugby unionMore boxingSports columnistsAll sport categoriesThe full article contains 622 words and appears in Doncaster Star newspaper.
