Fletcher set for Wales test for England Deaf
SEAN Fletcher, head coach of the England Deaf team, admits that the international against Wales at Cardiff Arms Park on Saturday January 31 (2.30pm) will gauge how far his side have progressed this season.
Fletcher was appointed head coach after England were beaten in Cardiff 12 months ago and they were then beaten in the return match at Franklin’s Gardens in Northampton in May in his first match in charge.
The England Deaf Rugby Union have since done much to raise awareness of deaf rugby with an active campaign on social media which has seen a 75 per cent increase in Twitter followers and more players realising that they are eligible to play international rugby for England Deaf.
England have played two warm-up matches, against Leicestershire Police and Kettering, to prepare for Saturday’s international and have named six new caps including number eight Jake O’Leary from Henley Hawks, who is the son of former England B lock Sean.
Although Fletcher, who played for Sale in their 1997 Pilkington Cup final defeat by Leicester, is happy with England’s preparations, he accepts that Saturday’s match represents a major test for his new-look squad.
“Since last season we have done a lot on social media and we have grown our Twitter following massively,” Fletcher said.
“Some of it is word of mouth, we have a new website which we are keeping up dated and the feedback is that is pushing us forward.
“Playing against Wales at Franklin’s Gardens helped to raise our profile and more people are aware of how you qualify to play for England Deaf.
“So I am happier now than I was 12 months ago when I took over as head coach. We are looking string which comes from having a bigger squad and more depth of players to choose from.
“The inclusion of the likes of Jake O’Leary, Ollie Fountain and Ben Jordan in the centre have given us a lot more power to our play.
“We stripped it right back to the bare bones and what we do now I would like to think we do well, we do it with speed and aggression. We are doing all the basics 60 per cent better than we were doing this time last year.
“But Saturday is the gauge. That international at Franklin’s Gardens was a bit of a test for the new regime but the coaching team of Aldam Mills, Paul Bailey and myself have gelled now, we understand each other and that filters through to the players.
“The knock-on effect is that the players my understand our standards and when we do come together we have clinical time together rather than chasing our tails like we used to do which I felt we did when I first got involved.”
Fletcher, who works as a detective sergeant in the Merseyside Police, moved into coaching with West Park in St Helens, the club where he started and finished his playing career, and is now coaching at their local rivals Ruskin Park.
He joined England Deaf on the recommendation of Craig Orrick, a former deaf international who plays at Ruskin Park, but he had been seeking to get involved in sensory disability coaching having lost the sight of his left eye playing rugby in 2003.
Fletcher also played for Fylde, Waterloo, Lancashire, the North, England Under 19s and England Under 21s but has enjoyed return to rugby basics with England Deaf.
“It has been absolutely fantastic, it has taken me back to many coaching basics and the reasons why I have enjoyed rugby all my life,” Fletcher said.
The England Deaf Rugby Union was formed in 2003 to give deaf and hard of hearing players the opportunity to represent their country.
Players are eligible to play for the England Deaf team if they have a combined average hearing loss of 25 decibels or more in both ears, which roughly translates to a minimum hearing loss in both ears or a moderate hearing loss in one ear, but can hear normally in the other.
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