We had a great families and friends day on Saturday at Old Albanians Rugby Club (many thanks to Old Albanians for their support and generosity). After a long period of intense training in Norfolk it was good for the players to be able to enjoy some time with their families before the start of the games. Our GB London 2012 referee Dave Woods was also present along with many of the Table officials selected for the games. The highlight of the afternoon was the presentation of international caps to the players by Matt Hampson – a really great occasion and an inspiration to us all. Thanks also to the Saracens players and staff who came down to give the team their best wishes. The team entered the Paralympic village on Monday and last night a cast of 140 performers assembled by the National Youth Theatre put on a song and dance show for the 300-strong GB team and support staff. The event was attended by Hugh Robertson, Minister of State for Sport, Dame Tessa Jowell and London Mayor Boris Johnson. It was not long before Boris met up with our players and I was able to place a GBWR pin badge on his lapel and got his guarantee that it will remain until the end of the games – so make sure you monitor this in all of the media shots of him over the coming days! He spent some time talking with Myles and Manni and will be at our opening game next week. Tonight is the opening ceremony so keep your eyes on C4 as it should be spectacular. The team look great, in very good shape and eager to get on with the action. They will be training every day and will want to remain focused as the games go on around them and they wait for next Wednesday. Meanwhile the media interest could not be any higher. On Friday I heard Bob O’Shea give a good interview on Radio 2 Drive time, we had a lot of weekend coverage in the nationals followed by a full page in the Telegraph and a great article on Justin Frishberg in The Times both on Tuesday. Expect this interest to continue as we get closer to the start of our competition.We are also getting some great messages of support which we will put on the site – the latest from Ed Whitten an Army Officer serving in Afghanistan was a real lift for the team.
David Pond
