Haslam's Hertfordshire dream comes true with Lancashire link
May
Hertfordshire’s first appearance in the Bill Beaumont Cup final, in their 75th anniversary season, is a “dream come true” for the county rugby union’s president, Colin Haslam.
Haslam,63, was born in Bury near Manchester and as a Rydal schoolboy played for Bury rugby club alongside Bob Grant, who these days is one of Lancashire’s two representatives on the RFU Council.
Hertfordshire will be meeting Lancashire for the first time when they face each other in Sunday’s final at Twickenham Stadium, and Bill Beaumont, the former England captain and now International Rugby Board vice-chairman whose name is on the Cup will be there too to present the trophy to the winners.
“Bob Grant and I played together at Bury when he was at Sedbergh School,” said Haslam, who moved to Hertfordshire in the course of his 35 years' work in sales and accounts for a food packaging company.
“Bob was also my standby best man when I got married in 1970. Our captain at Bury was Bill Chappell, who is now Lancashire’s chairman. I keep on having to pinch myself, the way it has all worked out.”
Hertfordshire have qualified for their first final of the top-tier County Championship - they won the secondary Shield competition in 2005 - with three wins out of three in the southern pool of this season's Bill Beaumont Cup.
Under the guidance of former Sale and Newport Gwent Dragons coach Paul Turner, who has the ex-Wales captain and Saracens forward Michael Owen among his assistants, they recorded their first ever win in Cornwall in the opening pool match in Redruth.
That was followed by an away win against Kent and last Saturday’s clincher, a stunning 53-8 defeat of a well-fancied Gloucestershire side at Old Albanians RFC near St Albans.
Two more ex-Saracens forwards, Paul Gustard and Nick Lloyd, complete the coaching team with Old Albanians player-coach James Shanahan, and the captain is former Northampton hooker Brett McNamee, now playing for Hertford.
Haslam will present the Herts players with their commemorative jerseys on Sunday morning before taking his place alongside Beaumont and the Lancashire president in the Twickenham royal box.
Haslam coached youth and colts at Bishop’s Stortford rugby club then took on the Hertfordshire colts who became the Under 20s before he became chair of the county union’s marketing and communications from 2003 to 2008.
He was invited to be Herts vice-president in 2008 and succeeded John Drew as president in 2010, in time for the 75th anniversary celebrations that kicked off last August.
“I’ll be playing every position and making every pass on Sunday, I am sure,” said Haslam, whose son Stuart played for the county and had a year in the Premiership with West Hartlepool. “It’s absolutely a dream come true.”
Bill Beaumont Cup 2010-11
Pool 1 South
May 7: Cornwall 18 Hertfordshire 25, Gloucestershire 33 Kent 26
May 14: Gloucestershire 44 Cornwall 23, Kent 7 Hertfordshire 48
May 21: Hertfordshire 53 Gloucestershire 8, Kent 34 Cornwall 42.
Pool 1 North
May 7: Lancashire 46 Warwickshire 12, Yorkshire 10 Cheshire 18
May 14: Lancashire 26 Yorkshire 15, Warwickshire 15 Cheshire 36
May 21: Cheshire 17 Lancashire 37, Yorkshire 54 Warwickshire 10.
Bill Beaumont Cup Final, Sunday May 29, at Twickenham Stadium, 4.30pm: Hertfordshire v Lancashire.
