Jamie Beswick determined to help Shelford Rugby Club after overcoming injury nightmare

Jamie Beswick is determined to put an injury nightmare behind him to get Shelford surging back up the leagues.

The 29-year-old back-row forward had seemed set to be a vital cog in the wheel of Mike Gillick’s side last season, adding vital experience to the young group.

However, in the second pre-season match, Beswick suffered a serious knee injury.

“It felt bad but I didn’t realise I had fully ruptured my patella tendon,” he said.

“I had the operation within two days and that was me out for the season. I was in a brace for six months, and it was a long road to recovery.

“I haven’t had an injury like that for a long time, so to lose a whole season, and for the team, was quite a big blow.”

Beswick had ambitions to return to the squad, but it was never going to be cut and dried whether he would make it, given the severity of the injury.

“There was no doubt in my mind that I wanted to come back,” he said.

“It was just depending on how the recovery and conditioning went which would determine when and if I was going to come back.

“Everything went really well, the healing went really well. I still get pain from time to time but as a whole it’s holding up.”

Being in a leg brace for such a long period kept Beswick away from the Davey Field.

He was dependent on his partner to give him a lift to the ground so, given the travails of the season which ended in relegation, he felt even more distant.

“It was difficult to watch, and be a part of it, even though I was secluded from it because I was injured,” said Beswick.

“I think all round it was a tough season.”

It means that there is added incentive for Beswick for this campaign to be a success at Shelford, where a positive club culture is thriving.

It has been further enhanced by the arrival of Paul Allen as head coach, and it is just a matter of time for the new structures and patterns to take shape.

It has not been the easiest of starts to life in London League 1N, with players on their way back to full fitness.

But Beswick said: “There is a lot of positive play that we’re doing. As a collective, we feel good. There are a lot of changes, there are a lot of new players and a lot of boys coming back from injuries.

“We’ve just got to gel and be a collective – it will come.

“There are no easy games in this league, and we’ve just got to bring our A game.

“There is a positive attitude on and off the pitch. Shelford has always been a great club with the community, the fans and everyone getting behind us. It’s a positive unit that will only push us forward.

“We have to dig deep as a team and work on our weaknesses to move forward each week.”

Beswick had offers to join other clubs this summer but he was always committed to the Davey Field.

“I’ve been with Shelford now for eight years,” he said, “and I just thought it was the right thing to do to come back and continue playing with the boys I’ve been team-mates with the last eights years.”