It can be a tough and lonely job being a director of rugby at a semi-professional club.

Lose and it’s your fault, win and it’s down to the players. There are times when you have to tell players that they’ve been dropped or, at season’s end, that they are not being retained.

It’s not all bad, however, and Cinderford’s Paul Morris certainly experienced the other side of the job when he told 17-year-old Will Baldwin that he was going to make his debut against Old Elthamians on Saturday.

“It was a good moment,” said Morris. “He was a very proud boy and his family were very proud too. He’s Cinderford born and bred and you could tell it meant a lot to his mum Karen and the family.”

Morris told the St Peter’s School pupil, who plays on the wing, that he was going to get his chance after training on Tuesday.

“I’d made up my mind beforehand,” Morris said, “but I wanted to make sure that he turned up for training and also that he trained well and would fit into what we wanted to do.”

Baldwin has already signed a contract for next season but Morris revealed that he wasn’t expecting any money for playing for the National Two South club on Saturday.

“He wasn’t expecting to get paid but he will do,” said Morris. “When I told him he joked that there was no point paying him because he wasn’t old enough to buy a drink at the bar!”

It was a tough baptism for Baldwin because Cinderford were overrun 55-12 by the second-placed team at Dockham Road.

“We were well beaten by a very good side,” said Morris. “We weren’t at our strongest due to injuries and there was a bit of end-of-season fatigue. We were lacking a bit in motivation.

“They were made for a high tempo game on a hard pitch.

“We did okay at times but when we had two players in the sin bin at the same time they ran in three converted tries and that was it really.”

One of the players to be shown a yellow card was Baldwin, penalised for being offside.

So how did he do?

“I thought he did very well,” said Morris. “He’s enthusiastic, got a good attitude, he’s got pace and is brave. I don’t want to overdo it because he’s only 17.

“He’s got a lot to do but he will get better.”

Baldwin was joined in the team by another two Cinderford born and bred players – second row Jack Shields, 20, and hooker Sam Baker, 23. All three have come through the club’s minis and juniors.

While Morris admitted that he probably wouldn’t have started Baldwin against Old Elthamians had it not been for injuries, he said that he had always intended to give the teenager a taste of first team action at some stage over the closing weeks of the season.

And he confirmed that Baldwin had done enough to be involved for the club’s final league game of the season at Canterbury on Saturday.