Team bonding at Fylde Under-13s with delightful rugby video

The Fylde Under-13s can't bond together like this at present but are still keeping their team spirit high

And among the many people impressed by their initiative was the club’s most famous son, chairman of World Rugby Sir Bill Beaumont.

The team have put together a training video and uploaded it YouTube. The delightful clip has been widely shared on social media and retweeted by none other than Sir Bill.

The video has been cleverly edited to give the appearance of the players passing to each other.

In reality, they are all training alone in their gardens, with the exception of Freddie Tomlinson, who appears to be training in a cow shed (on the family farm).

A coach for the team is former Fylde first-team player Greg Johnson, who told The Gazette: “The video was actually my wife’s idea. It’s not just about keeping the lads active in their gardens - it’s also about keeping in touch while the schools are closed and they can’t train together.

“The players are good friends and most of them have been together since under-eight level. My son Jasper is in the team and I’m part of a coaching team who will take them right through the age groups. The team manager is Anthony Hoskisson.

“The lads are at an age where the size of players can vary greatly and they’ve come up against some massive teams this season.

“We started slowly, but in the last three or four games the lads were really overcoming the size difference and believing in themselves.”

Hannah Johnson, whose brainchild the video was, added: “They are a strong, dedicated, united team. Normally they would come together twice a week to develop their skills but they can’t at the moment. They are really missing the game and having each other’s backs.

“We decided to put something together to make an example of this amazing bunch of boys, who are all staying home and safe.

“We feel they are great representatives of their age group and of their club as teenagers having fun while still social-distancing.

“They are made up to be featuring in The Gazette. It’s all been such a great boost for them as a team. We hope they continue their success when they’re back playing together on the pitch. We’re so proud of these boys, who are member of a brilliant rugby community at Fylde. We’re lucky to be part of it.”

The players are (in order of appearance on the video): Jasper Johnson, Felix Twitchett, Sam Lord, James Ryan, Sam Littler, Ben Wright, Max Carter, Alexander Smith, Ethan Brown (and brother Archie from the Under-9s), Joshua Squires, Garthie Samson, Toby Curran, Jasper Sykes, Finn Reynolds, George Goulden, Oliver Hoskisson, Freddie Tomlinson, Connor Norman, Harvey Ashworth, Eddie Hodgkinson, Oliver Chadwick and Stan Matthews (with brother Leo from the Under-11s).

The coaches who work alongside Anthony Hoskisson and Greg Johnson are Dave Brown, Wayne Wright, Matt Smith, Si Carter and Charlie Sykes.

You can view the video here