Diss Rugby Club chairman Andy Jermy wants to ‘do Arturas Rudys proud’ in Wisbech visit

Diss chairman Andy Jermy stated the club wanted to ‘do Arturas Rudys proud’ in the match against Wisbech in Counties 1 Eastern Counties.

The fixture was scheduled to take place at Mackenders tomorrow, however it has been postponed due to a frozen pitch. The pre-match lunch will still go ahead as planned.

This was set to be the first time the two sides had played each other since the in-game death of the 27-year-old in October, which saw Rudys suffer a cardiac arrest at the match in Cambridgeshire.

“We’re really looking forward to hosting our friends at Wisbech because as a result of the events that took place, there’s a much closer link between the two clubs, naturally,” said Jermy.

“We want to try and make it as normal and usual as possible and both the clubs realise that it’s not normal and usual. We’re going to try our best to do him (Arturas) proud.

“We want to have a really good game of rugby against each other because I’m sure it’s what him and his family would have wanted.”

While clubs across Counties 1 Eastern Counties paid their respects to Rudys and his family with a silence in the round of fixtures that followed his passing, Jermy said that no plans are currently in place to do so again before the match tomorrow.

“We want to mark his passing and no doubt we will raise a glass or two in his memory, but in effect we want to make sure the game goes ahead without too much concentration on the loss because I think it is going to be difficult enough for both sides anyway,” said Jermy.

“In the past we had silences and rested jerseys, but we think now it would be appropriate to just play the game in a normal manner, but to acknowledge the closer tie between the two clubs now.

“We don’t want to add to anyone’s distress if we suddenly started repeating those tribute measures that we had already done at the time of his death.

“We’re just really looking forward to seeing them all again and hopefully we have a cracking game of rugby, which would be the best thing for Arturas.”

Jermy had previously stated that the current Diss side might be the ‘closest-knit squad the club has ever had’ and he said the players are still ‘rallying around’ each other three months after the tragic events in Cambridgeshire.

The Diss chairman also hailed the work of the Rugby Football Union (RFU) for their help in providing professional guidance and assistance to his players.

With Wisbech currently sitting second from bottom in the table, it is unknown as to whether the two sides will be in the same league next campaign.

But, Jermy wants to keep the relationship between them past this season and is considering having a cup game on an annual basis which will ‘be a way to continue their support for each other’.

Diss, who find themselves ninth in the standings, suffered a heavy defeat on Saturday, as they lost 53-0 away to third-placed Ipswich and will hope that they can bounce back tomorrow.

And Jermy is hoping that as many people as possible can be in attendance for the match at Mackenders.

He said: “It would be a very fitting tribute for Arturas and would extend the support for both sides. We’d be very grateful for the support.”