Legend tells juniors to enjoy the game

IT IS not often that you meet a living legend. But around 80 youngsters from the Guernsey Mini/Youth Rugby Club had the chance yesterday when England's World Cup-winning captain Martin Johnson visited the island.

The two-time British and Irish Lions skipper is enjoying his testimonial year and was in Guernsey for a charitable dinner, sponsored by the Kraken Group, Cable & Wireless and RBSI.

Before that he took time at St Pierre Park to hold a question-and-answer session with the group of young local rugby players and sign autographs.

His message to the children was clear: simply have fun playing the game.

'At this age I don't think that it should be a case of if you want to become a professional, what should you do? At this age it is all about enjoyment,' said Johnson, who first pulled on a rugby shirt when he was 11.

'I played it because I enjoyed doing it. I enjoyed going to training and I wanted to play rugby with my friends. Later, if you are good enough, you can start working a bit harder on it. But I would not specialise too early in playing one sport.'

Johnson said that rugby in Britain has had a higher profile since the World Cup triumph and his advice to the juniors was that it was good for them to try to emulate their idols.

'In any sport you want to have superstars - people such as Jason Robinson and Jonny Wilkinson - that kids can aspire to,' he said.

'Since the World Cup I have noticed when I'm driving about kids in playing fields with a rugby ball - it always used to be footballs.

'There is a whole world of professional rugby out there that they can enjoy and watch and then play the game like their heroes.'

Guernsey is just one of many places Johnson is visiting in his testimonial year and he is pleased with how it is turning out.

'It's been very interesting - it has almost taken on a life of its own - but it has been good fun. We were just saying on the way over here that we should have done a video of the whole year.

'So far we have had events in places such as Singapore, Bermuda, Paris, London and, of course, a couple in Leicester - it has been a world-wide tour. We finish off in New Zealand with the Lions tour and that'll be great.'

Although he said that it had been hectic at times, Johnson has still managed to mix his testimonial engagements and playing commitments. As Leicester Tigers captain, he has led his club to first in the Zurich Premiership and into the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup, but he said that silverware is not won in January.

'We are top of the league and into the last eight in Europe. We would have liked to have beaten Biarritz as that would have probably got us a home tie, but we didn't and we are through so we cannot complain,' said Johnson. 'At this time of year you have just got to keep going. The way the season is now with the play-offs at the end, you can be good all the way through but if you lose the last couple of games you are not going to win anything,' he said.