The coaching clinic, presided over by former Saracens’ hooker Greg Botterman on October 13, had a captive audience, and not least the players themselves, writes Jonathan Landi.

The objective of the listen-and-learn exercise was to improve basic skill levels; as well as tapping into the wealth of experience of a player-coach that has plied his trade at the very top.

Line out drills were first on the agenda before the attention was turned to the scrummaging machine, where body positions, amongst others, came under close scrutiny.

The players embraced the occasion enthusiastically, and Greg will be monitoring our progress from afar as we bid to improve our current predicament.

Greg graduated from the grass roots, and he became a firm fixture in the Saracens’ front row when they were starting to emerge as a national force in the 1980s and 1990s.

He featured in Saracens’ 1990 epic win against a Bath side boasting ten internationals at Bramley Road, and he also pushed himself through the pain barrier (broken ribs) in a memorable win against Orr ell, which had one of the most feared packs in the game, that same year.

Greg has also played for the Barbarians, the London Division, Middlesex and Herts. He played for London Welsh before joining his current club Old Albanians.