Tom: I Knew I’d Be Alright With A Few Stitches And A Bit Of Glue

With time running out in Yorkshire’s 23-16 win over Lancashire, the red rose county were on the attack. Their scrum-half saw a gap and made a dash for it. Waiting for him there was Tom Bairstow who not only deliver one hell of a hit but he forced the turnover and went on a charge that helped secure the win. A cut on the head ended Hull RUFC’s player of the season’s game early, after catching a stray stud while on the ground. As the blood turned his white jersey red, the front rower thought his dream of playing at Twickenham was over. But he received reassuring words from the medical team who patched him up and told him he’d be fine for Saturday’s final against Kent.

“As soon as the incident happened, I thought that was me done,” Bairstow said. 
“All I saw was blood dripping down.
“The fact the physios reassured me was all I needed.
“A few stitches and a bit of glue and I’ll be alright.
“It’s exciting to know we are going to be at Twickenham for the final.
“Hopefully I’ll be playing, the physios said it would be alright and I might have to wear a headguard.
“Either way, just stepping out onto the pitch will be a big achievement.

It’s a massive weekend for the Bairstow family. Not only will Tom be at Twickenham, but his brother Sam has his own special moment. Sam, currently 200th in the world rankings, is a professional golfer and will be teeing off at the US Open at Pinehurst on Thursday. What a weekend it promises to be for proud parents John and Emma, who will be at Twickenham. Sadly Cooper the dog, a regular at Chants Ave, won’t be able to attend. Tom hopes he can make up for last year’s disappointment of losing to Lancashire in the final pool game to deny them a place at Twickenham.

“Last season we had the same dream to go to Twickenham, but we lost to Lancashire by a point at Sedgley Park.
“So to win this game by 13 points is great. There was possibly only 10 minutes where some might have thought Lancashire could win. 
“Everyone was dominant and a real buy-in, especially with what happened last year.
“We showed them up and they were ones with their heads down and we’re the ones going to Twickenham. Happy days.
“The crowd was great. We’d all played at Brantingham Park before, so it wasn’t a new experience for us.
“Every time we did something, you could hear the crowd cheer us on.”