EDF Energy Cup - : Yorkshire rivals eye EDF Energy Junior Vase glory

Doncaster Phoenix will look to impose their high tempo style at rugby's HQ

Formula Sports Photography

Yorkshire rivals eye EDF Energy Junior Vase glory

8 May 2008, 5:39 pm

By Chris Heasman

Military precision is exactly what you would expect from someone who has served in the Coldstream Guards and Castleford's Director of Rugby Chris Willett is hoping...

Military precision is exactly what you would expect from someone who has served in the Coldstream Guards and Castleford’s Director of Rugby Chris Willett is hoping that the attention to detail that has marked his time at the club, will pay dividends in the final of the EDF Energy Junior Vase at Twickenham on Saturday (May 10, 1pm).

The 37-year-old No 8, who captains the West Yorkshire side, will lead a team at full-strength against Yorkshire Division Three rivals Doncaster Phoenix, a decision not to risk his Twickenham players in a Yorkshire Silver Trophy semi-final against Rotherham Phoenix ensuring that everyone who has been part of this season’s success story will be sharing the big day at ‘headquarters’.

“My father (Ron) missed out on a Wembley appearance with Castleford RL because he was hurt in a car crash and I know how disappointed he was,” says Willett.

“I didn’t want to put players at risk and I genuinely thought that our Cougars team had a chance to get us to the Silver Trophy final, which they confirmed by only losing 15-10. But I was determined that the lads who have got us to Twickenham and earned us promotion should all be there to enjoy the moment.”

With two league wins already under their belts against the men from Castle Park, Castleford go into the game as firm favourites, but Willett discounts the threat of complacency.

“Complacency is for people who think that destiny is on their side and I think destiny is a load of tosh. You make you own destiny.” says Willett.

“We know that they are potentially the best drilled forward unit we have played against and they will obviously learn from being involved with Doncaster Knights, so they will have our respect.

“But we are strong in all departments and have a well-drilled pack ourselves. We have also played together all season and I’m confident our rugby will take care of itself.

“We are favourites because we’ve won promotion by winning 20 games out of 22, reaching the semis of the Yorkshire Silver Trophy, getting to Twickenham and coming through some very difficult games to achieve that. We deserve to be where we are.

“We recruited 14 players at the start of the season having won promotion last and I knew that we had a good chance to get to Twickenham by looking at the players we had and at the level of the other clubs in the competition.

“Another important element in the success is the fact that the team is entirely amateur. Nobody gets paid to play for this club and that’s a fantastic thing.

“Everybody plays at Castleford because they want to and nobody is looking over their shoulder wondering what someone else might be earning. They’re all earning nothing at all, but the success we’ve enjoyed is worth more than money can give.”

As part of their preparations, opponents Doncaster Phoenix have played their last two Yorkshire Three League games on the senior pitch and are optimistic that the extra space will have helped to give them a better feel for what they can expect on Saturday.

“The main pitch is more in keeping with Twickenham.” says Phoenix secretary Will Hircock: “I think it’s about seven yards wider than the one we normally play on and that will be the case at Twickenham.

“We won those games as well, so the extra space clearly suits our style. We’re not a big side, but we like to try to play at a high tempo, especially when we play Castleford. They’re a bigger, stronger side than us.

“Our style is fast, mobile forwards – we don’t have any really big lads up front. We’re not a mauling side and if we went down that route we’d get murdered. We’re under no illusions that we are not the favourites. But we’ll concentrate on playing our style of game and maintaining as fast a tempo as possible.

“Castleford will be aware of that, but they are not a negative side themselves, but we are not going to try to out-muscle them. That’s for certain.

“We’ll have around 500 supporters travelling down and while we’re going there to win, the major achievement is getting there. Whatever happens, we’re going to enjoy ourselves.”