An Interview with Club Captain: Pat Sanderson

(By JP)

JP: Pat I would like to take you back to your youth, where did it all start? Could you give supporters a brief history of how you became to be an England Rugby star?

Pat: It probably all started at the age of 4. My father was a very good soccer player, also played rugby for Broughton Park in South Manchester, my mother was a county hockey player, so really I came from a big sporting family. They started me off quite young, I received my first rugby ball at the age of 2 whilst still living in Chester. We then moved off to Littleborough near Rochdale, played most of my mini-rugby there then moved school to Kirkham, playing for a bigger club Preston Grasshoppers. It was from there that I signed for Sale.

JP: You lived in a very big rugby league area, did you ever play league?

Pat: No, there was no rugby league in my family although many of my friends did play for Rochdale Hornets. I regularly went along to watch, but never actually played.

JP: You then played for Sale. What made you leave Sale to join Harlequins?

Pat: I had grown up playing at Sale and things were changing. John Mitchell, who had a big influence on my career, had left. (I got my first caps whilst being coached by John). There was a fair amount of too-ing and fro-ing going on so I decided it was time for me to take on a new challenge. Which always good for your development, stops you becoming stale. Although I was at sale for only 3 years, they were three very important years, where I learnt an awful lot. It was time to move, I moved to Harlequins.

I actually considered moving to Bath but decided on Quins because there were some very good players there that could help my career. ZinZan Brook was there along with John Gallagher, some real rugby names. They were all really friendly and welcoming and at the time of my move, The Stoop was a very good place to be. I played some very good rugby at Quins. Probably some of the best rugby I have ever played, which was not always recognised by the powers that be.

However it changed quite a lot whilst I was there. I had 3 or 4 different coaches which is quite sad and very disturbing with lack of continuity. Having said that for me personally I had a really successful time there and as I said earlier probably played some of the best rugby of my career. It is also very hard to get recognised playing for a team that is not playing as well as others, but I did alright at Quins.

Similar reasons for leaving Sale encouraged me to look for another challenge and to continue my development as a player. Once again I needed a new challenge.

JP: Pat I have to ask the question; even though many pundits had written Worcester off as cannon fodder, did you perceive it a gamble to come here?

No, I don’t thinks so in fact definitely not! We could have been one of any 5 clubs, who at the end of last season could have been relegated on the last day of the season. Now that is exciting, frightening and very stressful. I think playing rugby in the premiership as a whole is a gamble. No it definitely was not a gamble. It is probably the most stressful place to play rugby in the world, there are so many very good teams and anyone of them can beat any one of the others, you cannot afford to be at the bottom of the table. It is mentally very, very hard.

JP: Pat, last year when we went down to Quins we had the feeling of it being a big family club very much like it is here at Worcester, is it really like that?

Pat: No, it is not like Worcester at all. Worcester is very much a traditional rugby club, mainly unaffected by the professional era. Obviously there has to be changes, to be successful, but Worcester has clearly retained the best of a traditional rugby club and adopted the best professional ways of developing the club as it gets bigger and dare I say it more professional. I and all the players absolutely love the atmosphere that is here at Worcester, which is uniquely very special in the premiership. I suppose Quins did have a family atmosphere but it is a very strong part of this club and something that makes players proud to be part of. It is not just a club, a place of work, we all regard it as OUR club.

Being a family club is what rugby is about, a great place to bring families and young children, rugby players take a great pride in being good role models for children. It is this which makes the game of rugby very special and something I want to be part of for many years to come.

At Sixways there is a good interaction between players and supporters where both are prepared to openly discuss the game much more so than at many other clubs. We are trying hard to preserve that interaction. However there are times when your focus has to be totally fixed on rugby, if you are to continue winning and being successful, which we all want.

JP: Pat what has pleasantly surprised many supporters here is the massive growth in our support base. Going from 3,000 to sell out 10,000 crowds week in week out. The biggest surprise is the passion and support that all these new supporters have bought adding massively to an already dedicated support base. Has this passion been noticeable by the players and does it help on match day?

Pat: Of course is does John, you only have to look at our home record, bar the last couple of weeks to see what the home crowd does for the club. It has a massive impact as importantly for lifting the players as much as making it extremely uncomfortable for visiting teams to play here.

JP: Is there any advice you can give us as to how we can make it even better?

Pat: No not really you guys are fantastic and know a lot more about organising support than any of the players. I have heard about your away “Tactical Chanting” and however it is organised it works brilliantly we always know when you guys are there at away games. I have to say and all the players will agree with me that the support here is great and it sets us apart from all the other clubs, it really does it is brilliant.

JP: Have you been surprised by the size and volume of support you get away from home at places like Newcastle and Leicester.

Pat: Yes I have and it truly is something very special going out away from home and your fans are louder and cheer longer than the home fans, it does make us feel very special. I have written in the Worcester News on several occasions about our support. One report was misinterpreted by several people in a way it was not intended. We had gone away to Connacht and I stated that there wasn’t much in the way of support. It wasn’t in anyway meant as detrimental to our support but indicating what the general home support was like at Connacht. Our away support on that day was magnificent we could not have asked for better. We had more supporters there than they did and they were passionate. The away support of Worcester is special and the players know to what lengths you guys have to go to get there in your big numbers. They understand the cost and the commitment you put in, way above and beyond the call of duty, you do it because of the support for your club and we love it.

It is a developing process we are going through and some supporters are foolishly impatient for silverware. It will take time, what are the timescales being considered by the club for a championship winning team here at Sixways?

It is a structured plan and it takes time to achieve it. John has a long, medium and short term strategy which he is employing to the benefit of everyone here at the club. As time goes on his plans are being shown to be realistic and achievable, we all have to be patient. The club is ambitious but it has to be structured to enable the club to get to the top and to be able to sustain it once we are there. We have had opportunities to do something special this year. But it is not about 1 year it is about doing things consistently year in year out like Wasps, Leicester and Sale. You have to have the right foundations to build the strong structure onto. It takes 4 or 5 years to build a side, no, a squad of sufficient depth to win consistently. We need to be able to groom and train our own source of talented players to step up to the mark when needed. We need to produce a Varndell, a Hipkiss, A Baldwin

JP:  Thank you for talking with me. I am sure all the supporters will feel proud of whatever position we achieve this year