Craig Jones may be standing down as head coach of Old Patesians at the end of the season but he insists that there is still all to play for between now and the end of the season.

The 36-year-old has decided to take a break from rugby – he told the players after training on Tuesday – but he is determined that the club that have been home for the past six years finish the campaign as strongly as possible.

Three wins over the past couple of months have raised hopes that they could pull off ‘The Great Escape’ and avoid relegation from South West Premier after winning promotion last season.

Tomorrow’s game at home to Drybrook – two places and 13 points better off than bottom-of-the-table Pats – will be vital of course but Jones believes the club still have “every chance” of surviving.

“I’ll fight like hell to gain everything I can with the boys,” he said.

Whichever division they are playing in next season, Jones will still be a big supporter of the club although he admits to feeling “a little strange” now that he has made the decision to step away.

That’s not surprising when you consider the one-time fly-half has been involved in first-team rugby for 18 years with Lydney, Worcester, Rugby Lions, Stourbridge and then the Pats.

“I first started talking about standing down over Christmas with my wife Sarah,” said the Churchdown School teacher, who played four or five first-team games last season. “I mentioned it to Matt Cape [Old Patesians chairman] a couple of weeks ago.

“He tried to persuade me to stay but he wanted me to do the right thing for me.”

Jones admits that he doesn’t know what he’ll be doing when the players return for pre-season training at the end of June/beginning of July and he certainly has no idea how he’ll fill all his extra time when the season proper kicks off.

“My wife says it’s taken her 10 years to get used to me training every Tuesday and Thursday night and then playing on a Saturday,” he laughed.

“We’ve been together 11 years and she says I’ll be an absolute nightmare, she says that within half a season I’ll be desperate to get back involved in rugby!”

And while Jones doesn’t know what he’ll be doing – particularly on Tuesday and Thursday evenings – he’s ruled out a couple of things.

“I won’t be watching EastEnders,” he laughed. “I haven’t checked the TV schedules but I won’t be watching Coronation Street either!”

Saturday afternoons should be easier to fill – the Pats isn’t far from his home in Bishop’s Cleeve – and he added: “It’s not like I’m leaving to join another club.

“I just need a season to reflect. I don’t know if I’ll go back to rugby but I do know that if I hadn’t made this decision I’d always be wondering ‘what if?’

“I’d never know what my life could be like without rugby.”

He’ll miss it, of course he will.

“The hardest part is leaving the players,” he said. “They’re not just players, they’re friends as well. A lot of them were 19, 20, 21 when I first came to the club and we’ve grown together. They are an exceptional group.

“The coaches are great too. My wife says I speak to Mark Peacey more than I do her!

“The Pats are a great club. We all stick together no matter what, no one is bigger than the club.”

And while that is undoubtedly true, Jones’ departure will still leave a big hole to fill.

“No one was expecting it,” said first-team captain George Angell. “No one knew it was coming. He’s been with us six years and he’s a friend as well as a coach.”

Typically, Jones didn’t hang around at the club once he had told the players on Tuesday that he was standing down.

Ask him what their reaction was and he said: “I don’t know, I told them and just left, I think there was a round of applause.”

Rest assured, it was a very big round of applause.