By Will Castle

Scunthorpe rugby club are setting their sights on a top three finish this season after being put through their paces by a pair of England and Lions legends.

Dan Cole and Ben Youngs – the two most capped England men’s players of all time – came along for a pre-season training session as part of the RFU’s push to get more players to register for their clubs using their new player registration system.

The duo, who host the podcast For the Love of Rugby, got the chance to challenge the Scunthorpe players, who are looking to improve on last year’s midtable finish in Regional North East 1 division and secure a top three finish.

Fly-half Ethan Taylor said: “It’s been brilliant having the guys down to Scunthorpe. It’s a really good opportunity for the boys to train with professionals.

“It was a bit rough, a lot of running to start with which I wasn’t too thankful for! But after that it was a lot of chaos but real professionalism and then a few games to finish.

“We’re preparing for our first game against Cleckheaton at the start of September. On our home patch, hopefully we can get a nice little five-pointer to start the season and then push towards the top half.

“We spoke to the coaches and agreed that a top three finish hopefully would be really good for the club. Last year we finished mid-table so hopefully we can get top three.”

The arrival of two legends of the game, who play their club rugby a couple of hours down the road in Leicester, has created a great deal of excitement at Scunthorpe.

And for coach Tony Roberts, there is no question that just by overseeing one training session, the pair can have a huge impact on Scunthorpe’s fortunes.

He added: “It’s been amazing. It’s not just been the day; it’s also been the lead-up since we found out the boys were coming down. It created a buzz around the club. You’ve got two England legends, Leicester legends, British & Irish Lions legends coming down to impart some of their knowledge to grassroots players.”

Part of the drive around player registration is to ease the burden on club volunteers, with the new system putting the responsibility into the hands of the players.

And being part of a club like Scunthorpe, which has players from a wide range of different age groups, Roberts is encouraging as many people as possible to get involved.

He added: “Where else could you go to a place where you can have a chat and a catch-up with people who in their first year of university and people who are 60 years old and going to retire.

“It’s a cliché that it’s a rugby family but that’s exactly what you’ve got. It’s an extended family and it’s massively important for the community. Scunthorpe is quite socioeconomically deprived, we’re not very affluent but people come in and rugby is a sport for everyone. Anyone with any skill level can come in, you don’t have to be Ben Youngs or Dan Cole to come in.”

Register to play rugby today! Pre-season is officially underway and it’s time to get back on the rugby field. From the Premiership to the community game, every adult player needs to register to play rugby for the 2024/25 season. Register to play: //////englandrugby.com/registertoplay