With the enforced break from the league programme, it was great to catch-up with some of the players around the clubhouse at Gravesend, and I was fortunate to bump into Ashley Moorey, a player that left Gs in the summer to go on his travels.
Ashley was good enough to make time to answer a few questions for me about why he felt the need to go away and how he is doing since leaving England for the Bay of Plenty.
Q. What prompted you to go to the Southern Hemisphere?
A. I always had the desire to travel abroad and to try and play rugby in another country. I had spoken to one of Gs coaches, Malcolm Moaby, about this and it was he who steered me towards the academy in New Zealand so that I could immerse myself in the culture of another country and develop my rugby at the same time.
Q. Had your plans included a team that you would be playing for, who do you play for?
A. After getting in touch with the people who run the academy and giving them my credentials and CV etc they were keen to push me towards playing for Tauranga Sports. This team seems to be the better team in the Premier league having won 4 of the last 5 championships. They then got in touch with me and as I was able to arrive early it fitted in well with their off season training group which is used to keep their players fit ready for pre season training.
Q. Have you managed to impress your club out there to get a lift up to a higher team?
A. So far it has only been sevens season but this has gone well and I have been playing and starting for the Tauranga 1st team in these competitions. We actually managed to win some prize money in the last competition we played in!
Q. How are you finding playing in a country that live and breath the game at every level?
A. Playing rugby in New Zealand is brilliant. There is also some sort of rugby to pay whether it is 7s or touch tournaments or just general recreation at the beach. And from all of this I already feel that my rugby has improved particularly my basic skills and strength.
Q. What do you miss most being away (you don't have to say your mum)?
A. Things I miss the most from being away are my friends and family. I think that is always something that people find hard to leave when moving away. But I have also missed playing for Gravesend this season but with the internet I am always able to read their match reports and keep up to date with their progress.
Q. Was there a very steep learning curve when compared with rugby played at National 3 level at Gravesend?
A. I think what ever level you play there will always be things that you can learn from other players and coaches to improve your own game. When first going to New Zealand I thought that there may be times where I would be completely out of my depth. However I have been able to draw on experiences of playing National 3 with Gravesend and from those games I played for Kent which equates to a higher level again to help me in New Zealand. I am sure that when we start playing 15s there will be another step up in the levels but I am confident that I will cope with what ever is thrown at me and be able to learn and develop my game at the same time.
Q. Do you hope to come back to Gs and bring what you learn from playing in New Zealand to help improve the play at Gravesend?
A. At G's we have a very good culture of listening and learning from one and other and that is coaches included. So as I learn and improve in New Zealand I hope that there is something that I can bring back and share with the team in order to improve our performance and make good progress on the league.
Q. Has the club you are playing with achieved any successes over the recent past?
A. Tauranga Sports Premiers have a very proud recent history having won Baywide Titles in 1999, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010.
In 2011 Tauranga Sports were fortunate enough to have fifteen of our players represent the Bay of Plenty Steamers. Further to this seven players from Tauranga sports have gained Super rugby contracts and another two have received contracts for the super rugby wider training squads.
When the Kent squad arrives in New Zealand in 2012 Ashley hopes to meet up and join with them for their games down under.
