Rugby Club Issue 63 | Page 78

Old Pauline FOLLOW US ONLINE TWITTER.COM/RUGBYCLUBMAG Old Pauline FOOTBALL CLUB A lthough Old Pauline FC’s first team suffered relegation last season, this is a club with a bright future thanks to a fine set up behind the scenes and a commitment to being a family-friendly club that provides a superb all-round experience. We caught up with Club Captain John Barrett and 1st XV Captain Robert Raynor to find out more. Involvement RR: This will be my ninth season with the club having joined in 2008 and taking on the role of first team captain in 2012. Playing rugby with the lads is still the highlight for me. I love competing on a Saturday.” JB: I started playing for the club in 2007 so this will be my tenth season. The role as club captain was challenging this year 78 Issue 63 because playing numbers and availability was down a little on previous years.” we’re in a better position than our results perhaps show. Atmosphere Transition JB: I would say the mood here at the moment is very good. It was a tough season for us but we’ve managed to retain the core of our playing group and have just come back from a tour of Ireland which was terrific fun. The social side of the club is always good and I think RR: We had a long period of time here where we had a core of players that were incredibly committed week in week out across three sides and what I think crept up on us over time was that actually we weren’t recruiting enough new players. It wasn’t a problem at that stage but once we lost a few of those key players