Minety have been mentioned in an article published last week in The Times Newspaper. The article, penned by Owen Slot, their Writer of the Year, was entitled “Humble rugby clubs are offering inspiration to all.”
Slot begins the piece: “Some weeks ago, I wrote a column about the worst club in England. And maybe, as was pointed out, that wasn’t the brightest or cheeriest of topics, So I asked openly, afterwards, for a kind of New Year filip: what then are the best clubs in trhe country?
“Not the clubs that you watch on TV and that win trophies, but those lower down, where rugby is played, where kids learn, where the rugby players get muddy …
“I would like to call this column ‘The Best Clubs in 2019’, but I can’t because that would suggest this is some kind of scientific test. It isn’t. It’s just four of the best, four stories that say something about this sport.”
The second of the clubs included in the article are our old friends Horus 7’s
“Four years ago, Rob Bugden, an RAF parachute instructor at Brize Norton, Oxfordshire, was left paralysed by a parachuting accident. His injury resulted in the birth of Horus 7. He and his mate, Phil Thomas, had talked about starting a rugby team with other parachute instructors and Rob’s injury was the trigger for Phil to put their dream into action – thus the birth of Horus, so named after the Egyptian god of the sky. They started with a few sevens tournaments. The first time that Bugden came out of hospital was to watch Horus playing against his home town club, Minety, near Cirencester in Wiltshire. Yes, that was the start.”
The article continues about how Horus have become involved in a scheme to introduce rugby to prisoners in a local prison.
It concludes: ” There is a lot left in this story, but there are two decent endings for now. At the National Rugby Awards at Twickenham, (Phil) Thomas was shortlisted for the lifetime achievement honours. He didn’t win; being 32 yeras old seemed a but young for lifetime achievement honours. And (Rob) Bugden? He has made it into the GB team to go to the Invictus Games next year in rowing and wheelchair rugby. The Horus 7s team will be there to support him.”
On behalf of everyone at Minety RFC, congratulations to Horus 7; congratulations to Phil Thomas; and special congratulations to our mate Robbie! Well done; you are an inspiration to us all.
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