Rugby World UK – July 2019

Next generation

Weaver with his colts team

train,” Zaffiro recalls. “My brother-in-law
had the ball and four guys jumped on
him to create a ruck. I didn’t know
anything about what was going on but
pitched in because I thought they were
beating up my girlfriend’s brother. Then
I found out it was allowed and thought,
‘That’s the sport for me!’
“I came from a tough neighbourhood
and when playing football we’d go out
to beat the crap out of the opposition
and start a fight. Rugby is a better way
of life. You can be physically aggressive
if you stay on the right side of the line
and then once the whistle goes you
buy each other a pint.”
Last season Phillips and Zaffiro were
joint third-team captains while Weaver
makes an occasional appearance for
the vets – known as the TOADs (Too
Old And Decrepit). The latter has moved
from fly-half to the engine room these
days – “I don’t like it, it’s claustrophobic,
but with my hamstrings it’s the only
place I can play,” he says – but the
other members of Frampton’s 800 Club
aren’t keen to class him as a forward.

“We tolerate backs if we have to,”

says Zaffiro with a grin. “Weaves says

he’s a second-row but calling yourself

that doesn’t mean you are. In his first

game at second-row, we had to turn

him around and tell him which way

the ball was after rucks and scrums.”

Phillips has played all of his senior

rugby in the back row while Zaffiro

started out as a hooker, moved to the

back row and has been a prop since the

mid-Eighties. It’s not just in their on-field

positions that they’ve moved around,

either. Between them they have filled

virtually every role at the club –

chairman, club captain, fund-raising

officer, social secretary, membership

secretary, park management... Their

names are scattered across the club’s

honour boards and there’s even an oil

painting of a scrum by local artist Ian

Cryer with Zaffiro at the front.

On the day Rugby World visits,

Weaver sets off in a minibus with the

club’s colts team that he now manages,

while Phillips and Zaffiro organise the

third-team match against Whitehall.

This proved to be a tougher task than

expected when the visitors arrived

with just six players. Another two

turned up shortly before kick-off but

Frampton still had to lend them seven,

including Phillips, and switched to an

old yellow strip as the current one

was too similar to Whitehall’s.

Despite all the pre-game issues, the

fact it took place is a success in itself.

The stalwarts explain that while there

are still 32 clubs in the Bristol area,

Frampton is one of the few that still

fields three senior teams and has juniors

aged five to 17. And maintaining that

level of participation is why they are

still pulling on their boots at an age

Grass Roots

“Getting a third team out means

providing a game for 30 people

and it keeps them playing rugby”