Andrew Jones

RORY and Tony Underwood, Gavin and Scott Hastings, Scott and Craig Quinnell.

There is a long history of brothers playing in the same rugby team.

And Barnstaple have their own pair to add to that list in Jason and Brad Slade.

Both made the most of injuries in the Barum pack to break into the first team last season.

They will be in contention for starting places when the new National Three south west season starts with a trip to Weston-super-Mare on Saturday.

Their presence is sure to make the visitors' changing room at Drove Road a lively place.

Jason, at 22, is three years younger than his brother, a prop forward.

He said: "We know how each other works. We like to mess around in the changing room, having a laugh and a smile.

"For me, nothing is better than playing with Brad, it's so fun having that bond.

"And if I get into a bit of a situation during a game, I always know he is going to be there. And when he wants to, he can play rugby."

So can Jason. He showed it with a string of impressive performances in the back row during the last two months of last season.

His call-up to the first team came in the nick of time, otherwise he might have been wearing a different shirt come Saturday afternoon.

"I was thinking of leaving, going to another club just to do something different," he said.

"I had been knocking on the door as second-team captain for two years.

"Then, around November last year, I got really bored.

"I was enjoying rugby but not being pushed and was at the point where I almost said, 'I'm out of here'."

It was a feeling shared by a number of second-team players in recent seasons.

But the Slades are a lesson to those who have said the Barum first team is a closed shop.

"I like challenges and when someone says, 'You can't do it', I say, 'Yes, I can'," said Jason. "I was loving it once I broke into the first team. It's about challenging yourself, playing proper rugby against good players.

"With the second team, unless you stand out phenomenally you are not ready for the first team.

"It's so different, there's a humongous gap and maybe some of the second-team players don't understand that.

"I was quite lucky. It's not the perfect way to get a shirt, by someone's injury, but I took the opportunity and didn't look back."

Jason is well placed to be one of the stars of a new-look Barnstaple team this season. His free-running, attacking style should be ideally suited to the changes Danny Thomas, the new head coach, has made to the game plan.

"As a forward, it's fantastic," he said. "With the system we have got, we hit every third or fourth ruck and there is more emphasis on running with the ball, not just clearing the rucks.

"We have got ownership of the ball and have to look after it. We can even find ourselves out on the wing.

"Personally, I love it, it suits me a treat, flying off our 10, 12, 13, picking the weak man in the opposition's defence and running at him."

Jason is enthusiastic about what he called "a new era" for Barum and is determined to make a winning start at Weston.

"Everyone has put so much effort into training for eight weeks, we don't want to go out and lose the first game," he said.

"We want to have a winning run at the beginning of the season.

"If you get into winning ways, everything goes well, the team spirit goes up, training is enjoyable and when you are enjoying it you play your best rugby."

● Jason Slade will bring Journal readers his views from behind the scenes at Pottington Road throughout the season.

Barnstaple 2010-11 fixtures (National Three south west unless stated) — Sept 4: Weston-super-Mare (A). Sept 11: Bournemouth (A). Sept 18: Bridgwater & Albion (H). Sept 25: Cheltenham (A). Oct 2: Chinnor (H). Oct 9: Cleve (A). Oct 16: Coney Hill (H). Oct 23: Exmouth (A). Oct 30: Hartpury College (H). Nov 6: Paignton (Devon Senior Cup, A). Nov 13: Newton Abbot (A). Nov 20: Old Patesians (H). Nov 27: Oxford Harlequins (A). Dec 4: Redingensians (H). Dec 11: Bournemouth (H). Dec 18: Bridgwater & Albion (A). Dec 27: Bideford (friendly, A). Jan 8: Cheltenham (H). Jan 15: Chinnor (A). Jan 22: Cleve (H). Jan 29: Coney Hill (A). Feb 5: Exmouth (H). Feb 19: Hartpury College (A). March 5: Newton Abbot (H). March 12: Old Patesians (A). March 26: Oxford Harlequins (H). April 9: Redingensians (A). April 16: Weston-super-Mare (H).