An Evening with Ian McGeechan

GEECH & TOM @ HQ
By KevinTheB
August 19 2009

Ian McGeechan, or “Geech” as he is known to rugby enthusiasts the world over, will be appearing at an evening to be held at the Clay Oven Banqueting Suites in Alperton on 25th September 2009, in support of SCORE, the charity behind many of the chaplaincy initiatives in sport.

Friday 25^th September, 7.30pm – midnight

The Clay Oven Banqueting Suite, Alperton

Tickets for the evening are £10 in advance only and will not be available on the door!

There will be a raffle for some exciting prizes donated by players and clubs, drawn on the night.

All monies raised from the admittance charges and raffle will be donated to SCORE: all the organisation effort and venue costs are being donated.

On the evening, there will be a cash bar, and buffet-style hot meals will be available, for a modest additional charge. So you will be able to come along for the evening straight from work, get a very decent plate of curry, a pint, then settle down to listen to Geech talk about … well, anything he’s asked!

Questions will be taken from the audience and put to Geech by Dave Larham, the Wasps Community Rugby Manager. Anyone who has been to a Wasps game will know of Dave’s bantering style of interview, making an informal evening’s entertainment a certainty.

We anticipate a number of Geech’s former players and players from SCORE-supported clubs will be in attendance, as well as the odd surprise guest or two.

To get your ticket(s), send an email to dwshopbox@googlemail.com stating clearly the names of all your party, and you will receive a return mail (after Sept. 1^st) with payment instructions and venue location.

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Geech and Tom Rees at HQ copyright: Empics

Ian McGeechan:

As a skilful centre or flyhalf, Geech won 32 caps for Scotland, between 1973 and 1979. He captained his country nine times. He went on two Lions tours, playing in eight tests – including all four on the ‘Invincibles’ tour of South Africa, in 1974.

After retiring from playing, he went straight into coaching at his club, Headingley. He became Scotland coach in 1988, and guided them to the Grand Slam, in 1990.

His first tour as Lions coach produced a series win in Australia, in 1989. He coached them again in New Zealand, in 1993, when they narrowly lost the series, before masterminding another series win, over world champions South Africa, in 1997.

He returned to New Zealand with the 2005 Lions, coaching the unbeaten midweek team in an otherwise unsuccessful tour. He was again head coach for the 2009 tour of South Africa, where a memorable series ended in the narrowest of 2-1 wins for the hosts.

On the club front, he coached Northampton from 1993 to 1999, building the team which won the Heineken Cup in 2000.

After a spell as Scotland’s Director of Rugby, he returned to the club game in 2005, succeeding Warren Gatland, as Wasps’ Director of Rugby. Under Geech, Wasps continued their run of success, lifting three trophies in three years – the 2006 Anglo-Welsh Cup, the 2007 Heineken Cup, and the 2008 Guinness Premiership title. Although his final season produced no silverware, the club provided a record number of players to the England squad.

He was inaugurated into International Rugby’s Hall of Fame, in December 2005.

SCORE:

Since 1991 SCORE has been providing chaplaincy in professional & semi-professional sport throughout the UK. Starting in football it has now spread into several sports including cricket, horse racing, rugby league & athletics, with around 170 chaplains, all of whom are volunteers.

The last few years has seen considerable growth in chaplaincy in Rugby Union, with 9 of the 12 Guinness Premiership and 6 of the 10 Magners League clubs having a chaplaincy presence. Talks are also ongoing with several of the remaining clubs.

There are now nearly 30 SCORE chaplains active in pro & semi-pro Rugby Union, offering pastoral & spiritual support to everyone at their club irrespective of role, background, gender, or religious persuasion. This has spread into women’s rugby with the appointment last year of chaplaincy to the Scotland Women’s squad.

In addition SCORE has provided official chaplaincy to Rugby Union tournaments such as the 2008 Junior World Championship, and is already involved in planning such provision to the Women’s World Cup in 2010.

Working with the RFU SCORE also provides an official pastoral support network for elite officials, and offers a back up resource to the Injured Players Foundation.

Such growth has been possible through having a full time Rugby Union Chaplaincy Coordinator in the person of David Chawner , who is also chaplain to London Wasps. For the past 2 years this post has been funded predominantly through individual giving, and funds raised by this evening will go towards maintaining that role to the benefit of everyone involved in Rugby Union.

An Evening with Ian McGeechan

Posted by: DrunkenWasps.com (IP Logged)

Date: 19/08/2009 19:14

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Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2009:09:26:00:54:48 by dom.