BLUNDELLSANDS will be home to an alternative Merseyside Derby this Saturday when Caldy travel to Waterloo in a rearranged fixture in rugby union’s National Three North.
The game is the first league meeting between the two neighbouring sides and both sides will be eager to hold the local bragging rights at least for the next few months when the sides are due to meet again.
Caldy will see this game as their opportunity to claim the honour of being Merseyside’s leading club, an honour, which has traditionally always been held by Waterloo and Birkenhead Park. Waterloo will be eager to make amends following their heavy defeat to Macclesfield last weekend.
Caldy have recruited a number of former Waterloo players over the past few seasons who are likely to be involved in this historic game including head coach Matt Holt who joined Waterloo when he first came over from Australia.
Holt said: “Waterloo was my first club in the UK and I spent four years with the club before moving to Leeds. The club was very welcoming and in rugby terms I had one of the most enjoyable periods there of my rugby career. I made some great friends for life through my time there and it will be great to return with Caldy this weekend.”
Jake Lyon is one of the players who has played for both sides and has been in outstanding form yet again this season. He and back row colleagues Jon Sewell and Craig Smithson have excelled over the past few weeks and played a major role in Caldy’s impressive start to 2010.
Lyon said: “I met some good people during my time at Waterloo and hope that I helped build a decent link between the two clubs but come Saturday I will have no hesitation in helping Caldy win the game.”
On the much-vaunted Caldy back-row of Lyon, Sewell and Smithson, he added: “It was clear two weeks ago that we were better than the much-hyped Loughborough back-row. As a unit we dominated all aspects of the game.
“It’s all well and good to be able to run but you have to back that up with being able to ruck and stop mauls its not much use.”
Up front for Caldy, Paul Arnold, 28, has scored 13 tries so far this season but has not scored in the last two games and is eager to get back on the score sheet this week. Arnold said: ”I am going to stop making tries and get back to scoring tries as soon as possible and hope to get off unlucky 13 this weekend.
“I don’t want Kerf (Neil Kerfoot) catching me before the end of the season.”
Caldy’s Craig Ross is now in his third season and has returned following a year out travelling and Steve Ross, who played for Caldy last season, is studying in the area, and could well line up for Waterloo. The game at Waterloo kicks off at 2.15pm.
