UGBY PLAYER, BY ELLIOT BURROW Eldest Pete, alongside youngest brother
George – who is also deaf – have both gone on to represent their country on the international stage having ran out for the England deaf side. Soon Pete swapped the white rose of Yorkshire for a Lancashire red rose to play for Fylde where he joined on an initial loan before making the move permanent. It was here where he met his wife Saoirse, with whom he now has two children, and rubbed shoulders with a member of the 2003 World Cup winning squad, Jason Robinson. Robinson, or ‘Robbo’, who scored a try in the 20-17 World Cup triumph over Australia, played alongside Pete at Fylde when he joined for a season in 2010 as a 36-year-old. Robinson, who also played for Sale Sharks in union and Wigan Warriors in rugby league, helped Fylde gain promotion back to the National League One before he retired from the sport at the end of the campaign following knee surgery. “It was just unbelievable,” Pete said when he found out Robinson had joined. “I was 21-year-old at the time and this guy played at the highest level in both codes of rugby and won almost everything there was to win – then he went to sharing a changing room with me. He just treated you like a normal person and was really down to earth. He’s from Yorkshire which made it even better!”
Despite not playing with his hearing aids in, Pete has represented the England deaf team and both Lancashire and Yorkshire at county level. He’s played at the home of English rugby union Twickenham, and returned to Fylde at the start of the season after spending time at neighbours Preston Grasshoppers where he helped the club gain promotion back to the National League Division Two North. Fylde captain Ben Gregory, who plays alongside Pete in the front row, says he still can’t get his head around how his teammate does it. He said: “It amazes me. Luckily for us Pete is really good at lip reading, so during the game you are able to pull him to one side and give him the message you want and he takes it on well and reacts. If you are trying to communicate with him as the ball is live it’s just a case of getting his attention, which isn’t difficult as he is great at being aware of who’s around him and always looking for messages.” Unfortunately, Pete’s season is finished after undergoing an operation on his left pectoral, however, he still has his teacher duties to fulfil while he waits to return to playing.
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