Dursley Rugby Club captain Chris Perrett insists he doesn’t have any problem getting his message across to his team-mates on the pitch even though he plays on the wing.

“I’ve got a loud voice,” he laughed. “To be fair to the lads they are pretty good, they do listen.”

Perrett is in his second season as captain of the Gloucestershire One club and the 25-year-old must be doing something right because he was re-elected unopposed in the closed season.

“I stood in as captain a few times the season before last because of injuries and I quite enjoyed it,” said Perrett.

“I decided to stand as permanent captain before last season – two others went for it as well – and I was voted in.”

Perrett, a former Rednock School pupil, has been with the club since the age of 11 so knows pretty much everything there is to know about the club.

Although primarily a wing – he prefers playing on the left – he can also cover in the centre and has been a regular in the 1st team for the past four years or so.

So what sort of captain is he?

“I like to lead by example,” he said. “I think if you can line break or make a big tackle that’s the best way to lead a side. If the other players see you doing it they are more likely to follow.”

It’s easier to do that if you are a good player yourself, of course, and Perrett is clearly a decent player.

“I’m quite physical and direct and I like a good hand-off,” he said. “I like to think I’m quite quick. The season before last I got 15 tries and last season I scored nine.”

Perrett is one of many players who have come through the ranks at Dursley and the club are even bigger now than when he first started playing in the mid-noughties.

“I started playing for the under-11s and under-12s,” he said. “Now we’ve got tots as young as three playing.”

A thriving junior section is the lifeblood of any club, of course, and should ensure that Dursley will be able to field three adult teams on a Saturday – if not every Saturday – for many years to come.

The club also have a very strong ladies’ section – “The ladies play pretty much every week,” said Perrett – as well as a good Colts set-up with Perrett saying of the Colts: “We like to develop the 17 and 18 year olds into senior rugby players.”

And it’s certainly something that seems to be working because Dursley are an established club in Gloucestershire One – Perrett believes they would be fine in Gloucestershire Premier if they got promoted – and they are perennial winners of the Stroud and District Combination Senior Cup.

“We’ve won it for the past five years,” said Perrett with some pride. “We beat Stroud the first time and we’ve beaten Cirencester in the past four seasons.”

That’s pretty special by anyone’s standards and it’s particularly special for someone like Perrett who has come through the ranks to play for the club’s flagship team.

“I live just a five-minute walk from the ground,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to play for the 1st team. Dursley are a great club, they are a big part of the community.”