Rugby – Deano's World

Samurai: Seventeen Years A Samurai

31/01/202402/12/2024Mark "Deano" Dean

As the 2024 Melrose 7s approaches, I find myself reflecting on an incredible journey that began with a simple phone call in 2007. After seventeen years serving on the organizing committee of one of rugby’s most prestigious clubs, including my role as Operations Director, it’s time to pass on the jersey as Samurai transforms into Shogun Rugby.

The symmetry of seventeen years isn’t lost on me. It was always my chosen shirt number during my playing days – certainly not the most distinguished career, but one that led me to where I am today. Though I’m stepping back from operations, I’ll continue supporting the club as Vice President and fundraiser, roles that feel more crucial than ever during this transition.

Terry Sands’ call in 2007 opened the door to an extraordinary privilege: working alongside the world’s finest sevens coaches and players. The club’s achievements during this period have been nothing short of remarkable, with tournament victories spanning six continents. From the electric atmosphere of the Dubai 7s to the historic grounds of Melrose, from the beaches of Punta Del Este to the heights of Hong Kong, we’ve left our mark on every corner of the rugby world.

The #SamuraiFamily at the London 7s in 2017

The list of teams and players we’ve faced reads like a who’s who of international sevens rugby: South Africa, Kenya, Argentina, England, and countless others who’ve helped shape the sport’s landscape. But it’s not just about the matches or the trophies – it’s about the people who made it all possible.

The players from all over the World whose careers have benefitted from being part of the #SamuraiFamily are too inumerable to mention. Better to say that Samurai players,both men and women, have represented over forty nations: winning awards and medals on the World Series, the Commonwealth Games, The Olympics and at Rugby World Cups.

I’m indebted to the club stalwarts who welcomed me into the Samurai family. Terry and Rose Sands, Mike Friday, Fahad Adil, Nick Wakley, and so many others who’ve contributed to this remarkable story. Each person brought their own unique energy and dedication to the club, creating something truly special. I am particuarly indebted to the late, great, Colin Hillman who convinced me I had something to contribute after my first tour to Amsterdam didn’t go as well as I had hoped.

This reflection wouldn’t be complete without acknowledging the two people who introduced me to Samurai RFC. A friend of mine Joe O’Keefe, a team mate at Old Mid-Whitgiftian RFC and former Millfield 7s captain, put me in touch with his good friend Tommy Dann a talented player from Cambridge and Northampton Saints who gave Terry Sands my phone number which started the whole adventure. Without Joe and Tommy making those introductions I would never have got involved with Samurai and I am eternally grateful for the opportunities they opened up for me. Tragically Tommy died by suicide on the 18th February 2021 and it pains me that I never got to tell him how much his kind introduction has changed my life for the better and how grateful I was to him for that.

As I prepare to step away from my operational role, I’m filled with gratitude for the experiences, friendships, and memories that have shaped who I’ve become. Seventeen years, countless tournaments, and innumerable friendships later, I know this isn’t goodbye – it’s simply the beginning of a new chapter in my ongoing relationship with this extraordinary club.

“When the playing is done, the boots hung up and the tours over the most important thing is the friends you made along the way.”

The jersey may be changing hands, but the spirit of what we’ve built together will continue to thrive. Here’s to the next generation of leaders who will write their own chapters in this remarkable story.

GB7’s 2013 round 3, Allianz Park – London – 15/06/13 – MANDATORY CREDIT: Helen Watson

Samurai: The 25th Anniversary (1996-2021)

30/05/202129/03/2022Mark "Deano" Dean

At the 2021 edition of the Amsterdam 7s, had it gone ahead, Samurai RFC turned 25 years old. An amateur invitational team formed by former England manager Terry Sands in 1996 as a favour to the Amsterdam tournament organisers: Samurai RFC have become the standard by which all invitational rugby sevens teams are judged around the World.

The first ever team wasn’t too shabby. It contained the then unknown Martyn Williams alongside the likes Mike Boys and Chris Wyatt. The management team wasn’t bad either with Colin Hillman, Bob Reeves and Terry Sands all running the show.

Samurai RFC win their first ever tournament, the Amsterdam 7s, in 1996

Since then the club has identified and given opportunities to players from all over the World with a former players list that, from a rugby sevens perspective, is beyond compare. In fact only the Barbarians or British & Irish Lions, also invitational sides, come close to the sheer numbers of world class players to pull on their famous jerseys.

Now I will prefix what I say next with: I am clearly biased. In my opinion Samurai RFC is the most successful invitational rugby sevens club in the World. Now in my defense I can actually back up that claim with cold hard facts.

Samurai RFC have helped to produce Internationals, Olympians, Series record holders, World Players of the Year and top level coaches: below is snapshot of some of those achievements in the club’s 25th year.

At the club’s 20th Anniversary they could boast that over 70 of the players and staff present at the at the WSS London 7s were part of the #SamuraiFamily representing thirteen different nations.

Gathering of Samurai RFC at London 7s in 2016

As we begin the 2022 sevens season, including a delayed 25th party at the Amsterdam 7s, I am excited about what the next 25 years holds for this unique rugby club.

Due South: And Now For Something Completely Different

09/12/202009/04/2024Mark "Deano" Dean

After returning from Everest, inevitably attention turned to the next challenge and fundraiser for Wooden Spoon. Understandably, there was a desire by some of the challengers to effectively “complete the set” by playing rugby at the South Pole: Wooden Spoon had previously undertaken challenges to play the most Northerly rugby match (North Pole) and the highest altitude rugby match (Everest). It is easy to see the allure of a challenge in the unspoilt wilderness of Antarctica inspired by the legacies of the likes of Ross, Scott, Amundsen, Shackleton, Bancroft, Fiennes & Stroud. For me, just the thought of the vast ice covered expanses and the clean air are enough to get my pulse racing and start looking at what exactly is realistic and feasible.

When you look at the idea in any detail however, the cracks start to appear. The problem with playing rugby at the South Pole, in my opinion, is that there is either a cost issue, time issue or story issue. What I mean by that is that you can either pay to fly to the South Pole itself for no other reason than to play the game and set a record which removes any element of challenge, reduces the number of challengers who can actually afford to go and decreases the appeal of sponsoring challengers. So you could walk in from the edge of Antarctica to play, which would be an astonishing challenge, but due to the time it would take to walk that far, recruiting enough challengers to play the match would be nigh on impossible. Lastly, the option to be dropped in at a realistic walkable distance feels scripted and doesn’t lend itself to authentic storytelling which is what inspires support and fundraising for the challengers and the charity. I also struggle with considering a charity challenge when potentially the cost of the expedition is going to be considerably more than the amount raised for the charity.

It may be that in the future, with increased exposure or funding, that the time and/or cost issues surrounding a game at the South Pole will be overcome and that the idea can be revisited and the set can finally be “completed”. But for now, in my mind at least, it is back to the drawing board to find a suitable challenge to undertake in 2023. I do feel however, that continuing to look Due South may well be the right approach and that a trip to the Southern reaches of this planet may well be on the cards in my not too distant future.

Everest: Birches, Brothers & Paths

05/05/201929/12/2020Mark "Deano" Dean

I imagined many months ago that when the Everest Rugby Challenge was all over I would feel a great emptiness. I was not wrong.

It is difficult to explain how an expedition like this can so utterly fill every waking moment of your life. The camaraderie, the laughter, the arguments and the tears that are a part of everyday life and permeate your very existence. It completes my soul in ways that are difficult to explain and I have more than once struggled to articulate my feelings adequately. Even writing this is itself overwhelming and strangely I find myself on the verge of tears.

I often fall over that verge if truth be told.

As we start our way home, despite the mental and physical struggles, my soul yearns to remain in the peace of the mountains but my heart tells me I must return to the World as I have been away too long from my loved ones. In being part of this challenge I have roused a spirit that I long since thought gone and I have rediscovered a wanderlust and yearning for sights unseen and experiences yet unexplored that I had forgotten had previously existed. This is both a curse and a blessing and, on occasion, leaves me feeling like two souls desperately at odds with each other pulling in two very different directions.

“I’d like to get away from earth awhile and then come back to it and begin over. May no fate willfully misunderstand me and half grant what I wish and snatch me away not to return. Earth’s the right place for love: I don’t know where it’s likely to go better. I’d like to go by climbing a birch tree and climb black branches up a snow-white trunk toward heaven, till the tree could bear no more, but dipped its top and set me down again. That would be good both going and coming back. One could do worse than be a swinger of birches”

Robert Frost

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I know I will miss my fellow challengers, we shared a journey that shall not likely be repeated and in doing so genuinely achieved great things for a worthy cause. It is difficult to describe the bond you build with your companions in circumstances like these and as I struggled to explain it I remembered, in a flurry of public school pretentiousness, a passage from Henry V that just seemed apt:

“From this day to the ending of the world, But we in it shall be remembered. We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; For he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother.”

William Shakespeare – Henry V, Act IV Scene iii 58–62

For me it is always the little things that linger longest in the memory. My kit reviews with Robin Calloway that will probably never be deemed suitable for broadcast or publication, fleshlightgate that somehow managed to slip past the censors, my personal unspoken demons and the unconditional support of so many people.

My friends, family and supporters, who I suspect at times struggled to understand the meaning or purpose of this trip, I feel I owe you an explanation of why I went and to try and explain why I am the way I am. I do not have the words to put it better than this, my favourite poem, by Robert Frost:

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference

Finally for those all those strangers who read these ramblings out of morbid fascination, genuine interest, idle curiosity or simply boredom I will leave you with this:

Be unexpected, be kind, be authentic and above all live your life without regrets. Speak for those who have no voice and where you are able help those who need it give aid without reserve, without condition and without regard for the often man made barriers or conventions that seek to control or divide. If you are privileged understand that it is also a duty of privilege to help those less fortunate than yourself. Not for reward but because if we all do our part the cold distant world becomes closer and warmer than before.

As a great man once told me: No what ifs, no if onlys and no regrets.

Everest: Quite Simply Put, Thank You.

13/04/201929/12/2020Mark "Deano" Dean

I am on my way to Everest as we speak but before I get to the mountain I need to thank all the people and companies that made this incredible experience possible. So, without further ado….

Huge thanks to PAYE Stonework for being both an incredibly supportive and incredibly tolerant employer. Family and rugby have always gone hand in glove and the family approach at the company is one of the reasons I genuinely love my day job. From everyone on the the board, my own team and to the guys and gals at the coal face the level of support has been incredible from all of you. I’ll be back in early May to bore you all to tears with stories about “weavils in biscuits” or failing that I’ll be dead on a mountain and you’ll have to find someone with a similar level of idiocy to replace me. If so do not look in my top drawer. Ever.

Much love to Samurai Sportswear and all the gang up in East Anglia for once again helping me with the next chapter in my life. You make the best sports kit out there and definitely have the best people working for you! Thanks for treating me like one of the family and you can never know how much everything you do is most sincerely appreciated

Dhan’yavāda to the Gurkha Kitchen and their incredible staff for allowing me to host a fantastic fundraising dinner in their restaurant and demonstrating once again why the Nepalese people are renowned for their hospitality!

Help is always appreciated but even more so when it is unsolicited. Thanks to John Fisher School, staff and pupils for supporting me by taking on their own Everest challenge and also donating the proceeds from their “mufty” day to my sponsorship page. It never ceases to amaze me how much John Fisher, a state school, does with regards to the game of rugby and I firmly believe they should get a lot more credit than they do given how many players and coaches they help on their journey.

I would also like to thank Huge Events, Built Visible, Formark Scaffolding, Hugh Anthony, Samurai RFC, Old Mid-Whitgiftian RFC, Wooden Spoon (Surrey), The Mercer Restaurant and Andrew Campbell Safaris for everything they did to help get me to hit my fundraising target and to get a fat broken old bugger like me on Everest.

Cheers to Ollie Phillips for realising when I was drunk enough to agree to do this bloody thing in the first place and then backing that up with a huge amount of help and assistance to actually get me on the plane.

Special thanks to Paul Jordan, Matt Mitchell, Miles Hayward, Graham Allen, Tamara Taylor & Paul Watkins for so much positive encouragement in the early stages when I didn’t think I would be able to complete that bloody Fairfield Horseshoe. You guys dropped me back in the bowl when I felt very much like a fish out of water. In a desert. Being hunted by a very hungry Eagle. I cannot wait to smash this on the mountain with you guys!

My gratitude to Hugh McCardy, Adedoyin Layade, Imogene Anglaret, Rob Anglaret, Zinzan Brooke, Purna Gurung, Matt Kember, Terry Sands, Rose Sands, Sarah Atkinson, Andrew Dean, Tom Street, John Inverdale, Chris Robshaw, Damian Hopley, David McCrae, Sirish Gurung, Joe Marler, Lawrence Dallaglio, Bryan Hodges, Adam “Bomb” Jones, Steve Kember, Mark Butcher, Sam Showering, John Pennycuick and Sophie Kidd all of whom donated prizes, time or expertise to my fundraising events and without whom I seriously doubt that I would have hit my sponsorship target.

I would also like to take time to thank all the individuals who sponsored me: Adrian Paye, Anna Paye, Antony Stagg, Mark Macaskill, Emma Aalders, Mark Aalders, Benjamin Aalders, Will Wilson, David Abercrombie, Alex Richardson, Geoff Griffiths, Alexander Dean, Catherine Dean, Christopher Dean, Marion Cross, Andrew Campbell, Rachel Hattersley, Caren Cummings, Tony Cummings, Alex Boyd, Luke Treharne, Scott Wight, Ben Ellan, Stephanie Ellan, Peter Wilby, Tom Cuff-Burnett, Will Matthews, Mark Coote, Rob Cottrell, Martyn Worsley, Dino Fritz, Mike Robinson, The Gouldstones, Faye Almy, Carla Cox, Matt Higgins, Karrie White, Linda Viner, Martin Harvey, Rick Eling, Rod Palmer, Tim Kerr, Rachael Burford, Daniel Alcon, Andrew Burnett, Kate Kirven, Christine Stobbs, Garry Gordon (Sunshine 7s), Paul Christopher, Darran Sly, Monique Tomiczek, Paul Archer, Dylan James, Paul Martin, Dom Peachey, Jon Hopper, The Clabburns, all those who donated very kindly but anonymously and everyone who donated by text.

I’d also like to thank all the rugby legends who took the time to send me good luck messages – the message from the USA 7s gang was truly epic!

Almost there……..thanks to Sarah, Jules, Amber, Matt & Laurie at Wooden Spoon for doing all the leg work to make sure this expedition and challenge took place.

Last and by no means least I genuinely couldn’t have done any of this without the support of my incredible wife. Buffy has put up with all my shit, all my meltdowns away from the public eye and never batted an eyelid when I told her I was off to Everest to play a game of rugby. She is my rock, my sounding board, my motivator and my inspiration who never fails to make me smile. Plus she cries at almost every remotely sad moment in every single film ever made which is unbelievably cute!

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PS: Buffy in answer to your questions: a) yes I did increase my life insurance premium, why? b) no I will definitely not mention our amazing cats Apollo, Athena, Artemis and Achilles in my blog that would just be stupid! c) I used your toothbrush to do it I hope you don’t mind d) 42 e) buried in the garden f) I have no idea where the 5th cat came from and g) why said cat is called Ares.

PPS: If your name or company has not appeared anywhere above and this makes you feel sad then rejoice! You can rectify this immediately by sponsoring me here

Everest: Perspective

04/04/201929/12/2020Mark "Deano" Dean

So far this blog has been about my preparation for the Everest Rugby Challenge, written in a somewhat haphazard manner and outlining my distinctly #1stWorldProblems. With just 10 days to go until we leave I think a touch of perspective about genuine hardships and real struggle is needed. It is also a good way of showing some of the incredible work that Wooden Spoon do to try and improve the lives of disabled or disadvantaged children and their families around the UK.

Wooden Spoon is a charity that changes children’s lives through the power of rugby. Each year they fund around 70 projects, from community programmes and specialist playgrounds to medical treatment centres and sensory rooms. Since 1983, they’ve distributed over £26 million to more than 700 projects, helping more than a million children.

At the recent Wooden Spoon Ball the one thing that stood out for me was the speech given by Belinda King, the head teacher of Kobi Nazrul primary school. I don’t mean to say that there was anything wrong with the ball, far from it, it is just that for me her speech summed up the reason for being there in the first place.

When you hear someone like Belinda King speak so eloquently and passionately about the tangible benefits her pupils have had from the works carried out by Wooden Spoon you are rushed through a whole spectrum of emotion. You are, of course, immensely proud of the fact that you are part of the team fundraising for this incredible charity. You are overwhelmingly sad that today, in a country as wealthy and privileged as ours, so many still have to rely on charities to give them opportunities many people in that room would have considered normal. You also feel incredibly guilty that you are sat in the ballroom at the Hilton Hotel on Park Lane eating delicious food and bidding on luxury items. There is a moment of clarity where you realise that you are, in point of fact, privileged almost beyond measure.

Lastly you wonder why someone would be cutting up raw onions so close to you during someone’s speech.

I think it was around this time I finally started to understand why I had made good on my promise to go to Everest. Being honest I had considered withdrawing on a great many occasions over the last few months. I felt I was not fit enough and even if I could complete the trek but I couldn’t look after more than just myself that this would be letting everyone else down. I was also worried about whether or not I was doing it for the right reasons. I believed that the reason for joining an expedition like this should not be about the records or the adventure but about helping people who needed it: The “story” was just a PR tool to promote the charitable aims.

I suppose, to me, if none of us leave the UK and the match does not even get played we have still raised enough money to change the lives of a large number of disadvantaged and disabled children all over the UK. That is the core of what we are doing and in my opinion the part that actually matters: The other stuff is simply the icing on top. There are a great many people in the UK who do not get the chances, opportunities or start in life afforded to people like me simply because of the peculiarities of their birth. I don’t want to lose sight of that or forget why we are going to Everest in the first place. I said right at the start of this blog I felt that the journey was the worthier part of this expedition and the closer it gets the more convinced I am that I was right.

Everest: #MyEverest

25/03/201929/12/2020Mark "Deano" Dean

With just 20 days to go before I leave for the Everest Rugby Challenge everything is slowly falling into place. I have finally bought all my kit and if anyone owns shares in RAB: You’re welcome! The extreme cold weather kit has arrived courtesy of LMAX Exchange and I have started packing to work out what I will have to leave behind to hit the max weight for luggage of just 23Kg.

I am now sleeping in an altitude tent which simulates the oxygen levels of somewhere around 3500m. You are probably thinking that this simulated altitude is the reason I am doing this but you would be wrong. The real reason for anyone in our expedition using an altitude tent is that it simulates being unable to sleep as the compressor makes almost as much noise as Paul Watkins does when he snores. The worst thing about the tent is that I have had to set it up in the spare room because of the noise meaning that Buffy and I are in separate rooms for the first time since we got married which is really tough.

In other altitude tent news two of my cats are also acclimatised to 3500m after claiming their own spots inside the tent every night. It is going to be a pleasant relief not being woken up every couple of hours for attention by needy cats when I get to Everest.

This month I am pushing it at the gym trying to shed the last weight I think is possible in the time left until we go. I figure that at this point every pound I can lose before I go gives me a better chance of succeeding when I get there. It is however getting to the point where I will have done all I can in the time available to get ready. I don’t think it will be enough to make the trip anything other than a struggle from start ’til finish. I am trying to mentally prepare myself for what will be a significant challenge at altitude when the reality is I genuinely may not be able to cope.

I am trying to focus on the positives and the fact I am now fitter than I have been for almost a decade. Coming back from an L5 disc extraction and a serious case of ITP is no easy thing and only 18 months ago I was weighing in at between 24 and 25 stone. The fact I am worried about my performance on the mountain and not just about the fact I am going speaks volumes about my progress so far.

The BBC and other news outlets have been doing their best to scare the shit out of me with a series of seemingly unending articles about people dying on Everest or mountains in general. These articles are in addition to coverage of real life tragedies on Nanga Parbat, Ben Nevis and the Alps this year and have not helped with the nerves particularly given they happened at altitudes below where we intend to set the record.

It has been great to receive good luck messages from around the rugby world from various members of the #SamuraiFamily. I found the picture below particularly helpful in understanding exactly where everything is on Mount Everest, although it doesn’t show the cable car or lounge bar I was definitely promised!

With the huge push by Wooden Spoon to help disabled and disadvantaged children overcome their own Everest it makes everything the Challengers are doing for fundraising all the more important. With a fantastic amount of help from a great many people I have hit my target of £10,000 for the charity. The focus is now on getting everyone across the line so as a team we can hit the magic number of £200,000 and hopefully get as high as £250,000 to help fund the incredible works carried out by Wooden Spoon around the UK.

As for #MyEverest? it seems at this point it is, according to Rob Vickerman, actually Everest.

Lastly if you want to get your school or club involved with the #EverestRugbyChallenge take a look at the video below and get in touch with team at Wooden Spoon.

Everest: Lunch With A Legend

22/02/201929/12/2020Mark "Deano" Dean

To round out my own fundraising for Wooden Spoon and to make sure I hit my £10,000 target I decided to host a lunch in London at The Mercer on Threadneedle Street after holding a successful fundraiser there last year for Samurai RFC

I enlisted John Inverdale, a long time supporter of Wooden Spoon, as the host for the lunch and former England Captain, Wasp and Lion Lawrence Dallaglio as the guest. You don’t get much more of a rugby legend than Lawrence Dallaglio. The England, Wasps and Lions star had won just about every piece of silverware going and has gone on to have a successful media career after retiring.

It was also great to have the support of fellow challengers Paul Jordan, Matt Franklin, Miles Hayward and Jude “Jess Cheeseman” McKelvey who very kindly took places and tables at the event.

As ever Jason and the staff at the Mercer delivered a cracking lunch and Hugh and the team at Huge Events as ever made sure the event went off seamlessly. I am hugely indebted to them for making sure I could make good on my fundraising promises.

Thanks to Built Visible, ROC, Cisco, PAYE Stonework, Facelift, JDC Scaffolding, Warlingham RFC, THSP, Samurai RFC, Hugh Anthony and Elmstone for supporting the event. I am pretty sure you and your guests had a good time. Not bad for a lunch that started at 1200 in the Mercer and somehow finished, for the hardcore amongst you, at 0300 in the Forge nightclub.

I also got to meet Bryan Hodges who heads up Wooden Spoon in Surrey. What was great was that several of the people he met at my lunch, including several from Warlingham RFC, have agreed to help with the work done by the charity moving forward.

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Everest: Watt Bikes, Breathing Difficulties & Charity Rugby Balls

15/02/201929/12/2020Mark "Deano" Dean

Come and do a training session at the Altitude Centre they said. It’ll be fun they said.

As usual I forgot to look before I leapt.

So before the send off for the Everest Rugby Challengers at the Wooden Spoon Rugby Ball at the Hilton on Park Lane I joined the other challengers for a “quick” training session at The Altitude Centre.

Now I have never used a Watt Bike and if I am being honest I’d not actually heard of them before this session. It is fair to say that my little legs and them do not get on. Add to that this the training session is in a room where the Oxygen content is controlled to simulate being at 2700m/12,000ft and I am seriously struggling.

Matt Mitchell asked if anyone else had found themselves “breaking wind” more in the session because of the altitude and I replied that I hadn’t been able to fart because I was using that particular orifice for breathing through.

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Riding a Watt Bike at a simulated atmosphere of 2700m is horrid but trying to walk uphill in a mask which simulates an atmosphere of 5000m altitude with no acclimatisation is a whole new level of “outside my comfort zone”. It is fair to say that at that point my muscles, such as they are, were in spasm so badly I was shaking like a shitting dog. This challenge is now very real, I have work to do and I am well and truly on the raggedy edge. I am also loving every second of it which I put largely down to the group of people involved.

Suitably knackered we went off to the Hilton to meet our respective partners and families and to help Wooden Spoon raise as much money as possible at the charities annual ball. The event also served as a send off for the challenge and the support from those gathered at the event was amazing. For sure they all thought we were bonkers as well but then almost everyone I’ve spoken to regarding the challenge thinks that anyway.

The event was top notch and certainly puts my fundraisers into perspective. Sarah, Jules, Laurie and the rest of the team put on one hell of a show and it is truly incredible how many legends of the game they get to willingly support the cause.

There are legends and then there are legends and Willie John McBride is the latter, a true great and an icon of the game. The sort of man that inspires awe in everyone who has played the game and is respected by all he played with or against. He has 17 test caps for the British & Irish Lions. To be clear that is test caps and not just match appearances. Or to put it another way he has more test caps for the Lions than any other player in the history of the side and more than most players get for their nation. During the Wooden Spoon Ball that night in the auction when an auction prize dinner with Sir Bill Beaumont and Jason “Fun Bus” Leonard, themselves bonafide legends, at a Michelin star restaurant stalled at £2500. Willie John spoke to auctioneer Jon Gould and offered to pitch up as well to see if that would help raise more money for the charity. The dinner went for £5000 around 30 seconds later. I think it speaks volumes about the work of Wooden Spoon and the standing they have within the rugby community that they have someone like Willie John McBride involved with the charity

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I would just like to thank the team at The Altitude Centre for the time they gave us – very much appreciated and no doubt I’ll be back to try and squeeze a few more sessions in before I go.

Everest: A Nepali Dinner

06/02/201929/12/2020Mark "Deano" Dean

Part of my trip to play rugby on Everest is a commitment to raising £10,000 for the charity Wooden Spoon. Wooden Spoon, the children’s charity of rugby, specifically work with disabled and disadvantaged children in the UK giving them opportunities they otherwise wouldn’t get in life, opportunities that most of us take for granted every day.

For the cynics amongst you the £10,000 all goes to the charity, with the cost of the trip coming entirely from each of the challengers themselves. That is a large amount of money to raise by anyone’s standards and I suspect that a lot of potential challengers shied away from coming because they felt that sort of target was unattainable. Certainly I was conscious that I would need to pull in a few favours to hit the target so I decided to start somewhere familiar.

I have had my birthday celebrations at The Gurkha Kitchen in Oxted for almost twenty years and over that time have become good friends with the founder, owner and restaurateur extraordinaire, Purna Gurung. Purna very kindly agreed to let me use his restaurant for free and provide a meal for my guests at as close to cost as he could. The result was that I could run an event in my home town, similar to what I ran for Samurai RFC in London, and hopefully raise a decent chunk of money towards my target.

I had help of course. Ollie Philips hosted the evening superbly and via the help of Chris Robshaw and Joe Marler the main guest, Adam Jones, was a barn storming success. His handling of questions regarding pressing political issues of the day, the non-selection of Danny Cipriani and the merits of different hairdressers will live long in the memory.

The kindness of strangers never ceases to amaze when one of the guests at the dinner, who I didn’t know, bid £300 for £150 worth of restaurant vouchers.

“You’re mad” I told him after his winning bid.

“It’s for a great cause” he replied and who am I to argue.

I hope everyone had a good time and I certainly enjoyed hosting an event, which is a significant part of #MyEverest journey, in somewhere akin to a second home. We raised circa £2000 towards my total but as a side benefit we raised awareness in my home town of what Wooden Spoon is all about. As I said, rather clumsily, on the night:

“The truth about the Everest Challenge is that it isn’t about me, it isn’t about Ollie and the other captains, it’s certainly not about setting Guinness World Records and it isn’t even about the trip itself. We certainly won’t be changing the World on the World’s tallest mountain but the money we each raise on the way might just change the World for one person. To me The Everest Challenge is about the money raised to change the lives of disabled and disadvantaged children in ways most people cannot even imagine. It is about giving these children the sort of opportunities that you and I take for granted and providing the people that care for them the sort of assistance or respite that helps share the burden they shoulder everyday without complaint .

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