Blues pack in 300 caps as centurions celebrate
MBTC-11-02-12-Bedford Blues v Plymouth Albion. Goldington Rd, Bedford.
BAND of brothers Sam Walsh, Mike Howard and Gregor Gillanders were delighted to become Blues centurions together on Saturday as they racked up a total of 300 games between them in the win over Plymouth Albion, writes Mark Wood.
All three had had their eyes on the milestone and they were happy to do it together.
Gillanders said: “I’m quite sad and happen to know the stats!
“I happened to know it was mine. Coming back this season I knew how many games I had, but I didn’t realise it was another two players with the same, so that was quite nice.
“We all joined the club at the same time and have all played the same amount of games so it’s worked out quite well.
“I didn’t know if the club would know anything about it.
“It’s a good benchmark but the rugby’s got to come first.
“To get a hundred caps is a nice milestone but I’ve got to kick on from there now and see how many more I can get.
“It works out at just over three years and 100 caps for this club.
“That’s a good average of games a year and if I can keep playing you never know where it will go.”
However, the milestone came sooner than both Walsh and Howard were expecting.
Lock Howard said: “We had been keeping an eye on it to be honest. I actually thought it was next week. I think Sam Walsh and I were both under the understanding because we sat down about a month ago having a few drinks after one game, and it came together that Gregor, Sam and myself were all getting close. We all realised that Gregor’s was this week, but Sam and I both thought we were next week. It’s nice for all three of us to come out at home and do it.
“It’s the first time I’ve ever played a hundred caps for a team. It is a big achievement and to be honest I still remember my first cap – that’s always a big thing.
“It gets better with time, it feels more like home. I can’t see myself being anywhere else at the moment and we’ve still got the best part of the season yet to come.”
But he was delighted to cap the landmark with a try, saying: “It was just a simple try. Old JL did most of the work and I just finished it off for him. It makes a change a forward finishing it off for a back! When you’ve got Pritch and the wingers out there, they are a bit greedy and they don’t share it with the forwards very often. It’s nice to get a try in my 100th cap – the same as I got a try on my home debut against Manchester.”
Walsh admitted he was surprised the game had beaten the freezing conditions, but was so pleased to mark the occasion with his pack mates.
The prop added: “It’s a massive surprise. It’s great for the supporters to be out and helping getting it on. The week’s training’s been here, there and everywhere to try and get it on. You wake up in the morning thinking is it going to be on, is it not? It’s brilliant and better for us as we don’t have to cram loads of game in in the last few weeks.
“A hundred games is a fantastic achievement for all three, it’s brilliant for us to do it together.
“There’s a supporter that counts them up and you get told, you get to 98 and it came up quite quick. I wasn’t expecting it today, but it was brilliant.
“Who knows, with the amount of games we are playing each season they soon rack up.
“Another hundred and who knows what, hopefully I’ve got it in me. It was brilliant to get the win and I think that was the most important thing about today. We’ve got to push on to these play-offs, get as high as we can to get those points and go through and hopefully play another 10 games or so.”
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Weather for Bedford
Tuesday 29 May 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 12 C to 19 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Light showers
Temperature: 12 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: South west
