IT’S the kind of story you would read about in a motivational sports book.
Five years after being told by doctors he would never touch a rugby ball again, 22-year-old Richard Robinson is back doing what he does best… scoring tries in a black jersey.
On Saturday he touched down in Larne, helping Limavady to a 25-17 victory over their County Antrim rivals.
“He was in a pretty bad place a few years ago, so what he is doing for us now is pretty remarkable,” said Limavady First XV coach Paul O’Kane.
“He’s an inspiration. Some people make excuses, but Richard gets his head down and gets on with it.
“Not only is he improving every week on the field, he’s one of the nicest guys you could meet off it, a gentleman,” he said.
Christmas 2007 was a time the young, rugby mad Richard will never forget.
The former Limavady Grammar School pupil was diagnosed with a serious case of Crohn’s disease and later had a colostomy bag fitted.
In September last year he went under the knife again, this time having his large intestine removed.
But on Saturday he was one of the star players in an impressive win for the Roesiders, who spent 20 minutes of their game against Larne with 14 men on the field – both Alan Kilburn and Ricky McCollum seeing yellow.
That’s three league wins in a row now for Paul O’Kane’s side but for Richard, its just a case of another game under the belt.
“At the start of the season I was a wee bit worried about it, but I’m at the stage now where it doesn’t affect me so much. The Larne match was probably the first game where I can honestly say I fully enjoyed it from start to finish, since coming back.”
When his team mates were pulling on their boots ahead of the game, Richard was forced to wrap a weightlifting style belt and plastic shield over his colostomy bag in a bid to protect it from the inevitable impact it was about to take.
“I’ve had one broken already this season, so you have to be careful. But its a case of trying to put that to the back of your mind and getting on with it for the team.”
It was a “true team performance” that saw the Roesiders come home with the winning points on Saturday and they can now look forward to a rest weekend before the visit of Grosvenor next Saturday.
A win would see Limavady leapfrog their opponents into fourth position.
“They have a game in hand over us but we can only worry about what we are in control of,” said O’Kane.
“It has been a few years since Limavady have won three in a row in the league, and the confidence is starting to grow now. They (Grosvenor) are a good side and play a pretty expansive game.
“In saying that, they are coming to our patch and we need to turn our home ground into an intimating place for teams to come again,” he said.
By Andy Chapman
Phresh back from being chief sports reporter at the NZ Herald Andy is bringing his ability to spot a story to bear on local rugby circles.
