Coach George to miss derby

BELGIAN chocolates will be on the menu for Bradford tomorrow if they can bring high-flying Calne back down to earth.

Coach Dave George will abandon his touchline duties to join his parents on their wedding anniversary in Brussels, but says he will be in touch from across the Channel.

George has left his squad in the capable hands of Henry Davies, father of fly-half Rhys, for this exciting Wiltshire derby at the Recreation Ground.

He said: "Now I wasn't going to turn down the chance of a free holiday, was I?

"I'll be contacting Henry via text message so I know exactly what's going on. I'm sure the lads can manage without me for one game."

Three weeks ago George may have had second thoughts about leaving his players to fend for themselves, but two consecutive league wins have lifted spirits at the Broom Ground.

Attendances at training are up thanks to the club's new floodlights and George is positive about the season ahead.

"We're all buzzing at the moment. The lads are working hard on the training ground and it's showing in their performances," he said.

"We've got several players on their way back from injury so the squad is getting stronger all the time."

Bradford traded tries with Wootton Bassett for 30 minutes on Saturday before finally pulling away from their visitors.

Skipper Chris Powell led the way with a brace and Paul Gerrish also crossed the whitewash twice.

Scrum-half Tom Hardie, flanker Dan Tozer and winger James Tate all touched down.

Centre Jack Shepherd kicked six conversions in an excellent all-round performance.

Said George: "We played basic, fluent, hard, aggressive rugby. Apart from the two tries we gave away I thought we were excellent.

"Rhys is showing signs of a much better understanding with his scrum-half and that was evident on Saturday.

"I thought the forwards gave us a very good platform to compete from. It was great to have Ginger Powell and Jim Mawer back in the side.

"Hopefully the lads can carry this form into the Calne match."