World Cup Final fever at Cleckheaton

Cleckheaton Rugby Union Club are expecting a large turnout to cheer England on to World Cup glory as they face South Africa in the final in Japan on Saturday morning.
Cleckheatons Mikey Hayward was among the scorers in last Saturdays victory over Driffield in North One East. Picture: Paul Butterfield.Cleckheatons Mikey Hayward was among the scorers in last Saturdays victory over Driffield in North One East. Picture: Paul Butterfield.
Cleckheatons Mikey Hayward was among the scorers in last Saturdays victory over Driffield in North One East. Picture: Paul Butterfield.

The club are opening their doors at 8am, ahead of the 9am kick off, and with no first team fixture that afternoon, they expecting an influx of players to join club members and other supporters in the hope that England can win their first World Cup since 2003.

Cleckheaton chairman Neil Gillan said the club had been open for some of England’s earlier games in the competition but he is expecting a large turnout come kick off on Saturday, after expectations grew following the superb semi-final win over New Zealand last Sunday.

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If England need inspiration on how to tackle the Springboks, they could look no further than Cleckheaton’s most famous rugby son John Bentley, whose British Lions shirt from the 1997 Test victory in South Africa sits proudly on the clubhouse wall.

Cleckheaton have no league game this weekend but return to action with a tasty home derby clash against Morley on Saturday week.

They produced an excellent display last Saturday to come from 12-0 down and defeat North One East league leaders Driffield 37-28.