DMP Bulls Wheelchair Rugby started their season off in September with a successful tour of Ireland’s Ulster province where they competed in a 4-team tournament against some tough outfits; playing against old rivals Caledonian Crushers, local team Ulster Barbarians and a scratch team of veteran Irish national players. The Bulls, being led by new Head Coach Shaun Lacey and assistant Jack Smith were dominant in their opening games, beating every team on the first day of competition. The second day saw teams playing for the final time and Bulls again proved the dominant side, ending the tour unbeaten. Following on from their success overseas the Bulls were hungry for the domestic league to begin. Head Coach Shaun was confident the team were in the best shape possible and that his unique set of skills would be enough to outwit this year’s competition. The Bulls ended up winning all but two of their games across the three league weekends in which they competed; a total of 12 wins out of 14 games. This meant the Bulls finished their season at the top of the Division 2 table and were crowned the 2019/20 Division 2 champions.

With the season at an end, the Bulls travelled to Leicester to watch former player and home-grown talent Jack Smith make his debut for the Great Britain National team as they played against Australia and USA – two of the top teams in the world. Jack had selfishly transferred to Division 1 outfit Leicester Tigers in order to keep playing at the top level in Great Britain but still trains with the Bulls each week as well as lending a hand to coach the team. All in all, this season has been a roaring success and the Bulls now have the option to be promoted to GB wheelchair rugby’s top division but will be assessing their options before deciding whether to make the leap. The standard of competition is much higher in Division 1 so Head Coach Shaun and the rest of the team will have some big decisions to make in the coming months followed by a step up in their training regime if they are to accept promotion. Finally, to conclude the year, the Bulls would like to thank all their hard-working volunteers and dedicated supporters for their involvement and look forward to starting training again following the end of the Covid-19 lockdown.