By Graham Cox
Kent’s senior rugby side head for Twickenham this Saturday in an attempt to make it a hat-trick of Bill Beaumont County Championship titles in successive seasons.
They take on Yorkshire in a repeat of last year’s final – a match as close as they come, with the northerners missing a last-ditch penalty to leave Kent 31-30 victors.
Indeed, both Kent’s group games in that campaign hinged on a knife-edge, but this term, against the same opposition, they dispatched Hampshire 42-5 and although Cornwall threatened strongly in the third quarter in front of a large, partisan crowd at Redruth, the visitors emerged comfortable 34-18 winners.
Nevertheless, despite their good form, head coach and second-row Tom Stradwick is expecting Saturday to be a very tough test.
“Yorkshire have a big, powerful pack, and some very good backs,” said Blackheath’s Stradwick.
“You can never underestimate a Yorkshire side in any sport. They will play with a lot of pride and passion, as will we, and I expect it to be very tight.”
The Yorkshiremen already have one major scalp in the form of Lancashire, the most successful county in the 136-year history of the competition with 25 titles, nine of them this century, and whom they beat 36-22 to reach the final.
It was against Lancashire that Kent overturned a 17-point deficit in the 2023 final to emerge 39-37 winners and claim their first county crown for 96 years. So what is it that has enabled Kent to gain a consistency that has seen them unbeaten since Covid, and join the elite of the County Championship?
“A lot of credit must go to director of rugby, Taff Gwilliam, and his management of the under-20s Kent side,” said Stradwick.
“Most of our current squad have been through that set-up. We’ve also brought Dave Marshall (Westcombe Park) and Seb Sherwood (Tonbridge Juddians) into the coaching team, so with Taff at Canterbury and myself at Blackheath, we’ve got links into our top-four club sides, giving us better access to players.”
On a personal level, Saturday will be a very poignant occasion, win or lose, for Stradwick as he makes his 35th and final appearance – way more than any other player in the modern era – in a Kent jersey.
Add to those 237 matches for Blackheath, seven for England Counties and last month a Barbarians cap, not to mention his time as a semi-professional footballer with Bromley Town, and Stradwick has decided to draw down the curtain on an outstanding career as a semi-pro athlete, as he takes up the role of head coach at Blackheath.
“Kent has been a big part of my career,” Stradwick added. “It gave me the platform to start coaching when Chris Wilkins (former Kent coach) invited me to step up as forwards coach.
“It has also given me some of my finest rugby moments. Two appearances at Twickenham in Division 2 of the County Championship, and now three at the top level, plus tours to New Zealand, Argentina, and South Africa.”
Kent versus Yorkshire is a 5.15pm kick-off at Twickenham on Saturday, following the England XV v France XV match.
