Wednesday's Ruck & Maul

Lucas Hammond - An Opportnity!  Lucas Hammond has hung his Eastern Canada hat on CW's peg for some three seasons however for the past two seasons this young man has moved from Windsor Park to U.Vic to Kiwiland, appearing on one or two occasions with the Sevens Krew, he has now been called upon to play a huge role, in seemingly being THE ONE to fill Philly's boots at the upcoming Commonwealth Games.  Lucas is a quiet, unassuming young man and we bring you this recent background info.  "Hammond will be one of 265 athletes and close to 100 coaches and support staff representing Canada this July, which is their largest for a non-home Games. And after his beneficial recent spell rubbing shoulders with the seven-time Super Rugby champions, the 20-year-old Toronto player is clearly still buzzing.
 
"It was awesome," he said as the team prepares for the Sevens, which will be held at Ibrox Stadium. "We got a chance to train with the Crusaders in their environment and to see how they go about their business day to day was really helpful."
 
"On a regular day we would usually go in and get our training started earlier than the Crusaders and there was ITM Cup coaches and also Reuben Thorne (former All Black captain) coaching us. After that we would watch the Crusaders practice for an hour or two before doing game analysis and finishing off in the gym."
 
Playing alongside and also watching the likes of former IRB World Player of the Year Dan Carter train clearly had a positive effect on Hammond too, with the half-back explaining how studying some of rugby's greats of the game helped him.
 
"It definitely urges you to step up to the next level of your training and I think I have learned some good habits just from watching guys like Dan Carter and Richie McCaw. whose training reflects how they play," the youngster continued.
 

"It is a huge opportunity for me and I am very excited to be selected so I am going to try and enjoy every moment of it and take advantage of this chance. (Switching back to Sevens) was a little hard yesterday position wise but I'm catching up quickly now. I feel pretty good and definitely in better shape." (Credit - Rugby Canada)

New Skipper At The Helm.  CW's Club Presidency has passed the helm to Don Swainson.  Don is a Wanderer from way back...pre-amalgamation days but he transferred abodes to Ontario for many years and was very actively involved in Junior Rugby coaching and organizing up to the Provincial level.  He has been back with us for three seasons and has taken over from Spice who seemed destined for life to be The Prez.  We are very grateful for Don's volunteering when at the same time he is starting a new business (we must plug VITAL PHARMACY ).  He will receive strong support from our active Board.  We are sure Don will have some goals for CW during his stint at the tiller, so we'll follow this up with an interview ..... if we can catch him!  One of the directions you will hear much more about will be more effective communication.  We have a vast cadre of "old boys", many of whom are not aware of the semi-professional state their old rugby club has transitioned to and we thank Matt Gordon (Board), former Prez, Chris Noel and Mark ("Dinger") Bell for their time applied to this mammoth task.  Stay tuned or take time to answer one brief upcoming e-mail!