A letter regarding the Club’s Behaviour during the train journey on this year’s Cornwall Tour
We received a letter from a member of the public who was on the same train as the Club when we travelled down to Cornwall on Tour back in April.
Dear Mr Dover & Mr Barrett,
I am writing in regards to your team’s recent tour to Cornwall and the conduct of your team on the Great Western Railway service travelling on the Friday afternoon of the 28th of April. (I have sent the same email to your club chairman).
With a train so crowded that many travellers were standing you can imagine that few on our carriage were over joyed to discover half the car was reserved for the touring players, costumed as they were to closely resemble a stag do on steroids. I’ll be honest, my heart was in my stomach.
However the following 4 hours were a lesson to me that a book should not be judged by its cover. The gentlemen representing your club that weekend gave account of themselves not just as ambassadors for themselves and the good game of Rugby football but also for the wider capacity for the good spirit and decency we human beings can aspire to!
I speak for every one aboard that carriage when I say we could not have shared our coach with a better group of travellers.
From the moment of boarding where your boys politely introduced themselves, through their good natured banter and amiable conversation, the mostly restrained singing, the first rate etiquette they showed to the train staff and other members of the public, making way at platforms , ushering ladies past whilst doffing the hats and intoning ‘ ma’am, ma’am’, signing lullabies to a crying baby as it was carried through the carriage, to the serving of wine and cheese biscuits to the whole carriage, the trip was a delight.
On your teams departure at Bodmin the whole remainder of passengers on the carriage were buoyant with the good fortune we had shared in landing our reservation alongside your tourists.
It would be a great service if you could convey to the conductor, the judge, the gentlemen in the crash test dummy outfits, the fact pontif, the ‘Australian’ fellow, the shaman, and all their team mates our gratitude for their good travelling demeanour .
I hope the tour was a success and that your club prospers.
Kind regards,
Adam Grice.