AFTER months of inactivity, Lymm Rugby Club is starting to come back to life.

For head coach Adam Fletcher, however, rugby has been pretty far from his mind.

“I’ve been lucky enough to welcome a new addition to the family so I’ve had my hands completely full,” he explained

“Having no rugby to play has been tough but in the grand scheme of things, it’s pretty minor.

“It will be great to have a normal pre-season and kick off the league campaign in September.”

After Covid put paid to the 2020-21 season, it has been 15 months without competitive action for Fletcher and his players.

With restrictions on outdoor sport being eased, however, friendlies have been arranged to get the sport moving again.

New recruits have been plentiful at Beechwood, too, ahead of the new North Premier campaign.

“It was great to see the boys take to the pitch again in home and away fixtures with Wirral RFC in May,” Fletcher said.

“We scored a lot of tries and looked really dangerous in attack.

“I was impressed with our physicality in defence, especially in the home fixture.

“I was really happy with all the boys that played – their skill set and fitness was impressive but the most pleasing thing was the way they put their bodies on the line for each other.

“After 15 months off, it would have been easy to be hesitant but everybody gave 110% and didn’t take a backwards step.

“We’re really happy with the squad depth we’ve created.

“To be successful in our league, you need to have a deep squad – it’s something we’ve worked hard on over the past 18 months so to go to Wirral missing so many regulars and to put that performance in was very pleasing.

“We have also recruited well in the lockdown period.

“The new guys have been great – we actually posted some information on social media and the Lymm RFC website last summer to recruit new players and will probably do something again soon.

“Kurt Riley (prop), Sean Boyce (2nd row), Samir Thanouri (back row), Ed Morris (back row), Ben Warman (back row),Sam Shepherd (back row), Kieran Hughes (centre), Jordan Houghton (full back), Mick Stafford (wing) all played in at least one of the Wirral fixtures.”

In terms of plans going forward, the players will take a break for the coming month before preparations for the new season can begin in earnest.

“The squad is having June off, starting back for pre-season training at the start of July,” Fletcher said.

“We have two pre-season friendlies planned – against Wilmslow on August 21 and we’re waiting for confirmation on a fixture on the 14th, and a training night with Sandbach at the end of July.

“As a squad and coaching team, we can’t wait to get back playing and entertaining everyone all down at Beechwood.”