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London Irish player 'remaining positive' in wake of cancer diagnosis

Dawidiuk, 30, who joined Irish in the summer, was diagnosed with the disease following his side’s pre-season friendly against Ealing Trailfinders.

Squad members and staff at London Irish are rallying behind first team player Darren Dawidiuk who is receiving treatment for testicular cancer.

Dawidiuk, 30, who joined Irish in the summer, was diagnosed with the disease following his side’s pre-season friendly against Ealing Trailfinders.

The Truro born hooker is currently undergoing chemotherapy following an operation to remove a tumour in his right testicle.

“All of the London Irish management team and the players have been extremely supportive,” said Dawidiuk.

“The messages of support that I’ve received after Nick broke the news to the lads have been overwhelming, and it’s helped me to remain positive as I continue my treatment.

“Director of rugby Nick Kennedy has been brilliant from the moment I was diagnosed, and I can’t wait to complete my treatment plan and get the green light to return to training.”

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In between his chemotherapy sessions, Dawidiuk is immersing himself in the gym and following a vegan diet to fight the disease.

“When I was diagnosed I immediately made the conscious decision to change my diet to a vegan diet to give my immune system all the nutrients it needs to help reduce and fight against the cancer cells in my body,” said Dawidiuk.

“A lot of people’s bodies are in an acidic state, which is what cancer thrives on and if you can reverse it to an alkaline state then your body is able to fight against the cancer naturally.

“The doctors have already noticed the benefits of me being on a vegan diet and they are encouraging me to keep it up and continue with my training.

“By following this diet I feel much healthier and don’t feel as bloated, which is giving me the energy to train in the gym.”

While Dawidiuk is doing everything he can to get himself back to full fitness, the front row wants to build awareness of the disease which affects thousands of men every year.

London Irish take on Dawidiuk’s former club, Gloucester, in the Anglo-Welsh Cup at Kingsholm this Saturday with both clubs working together with Oddballs to raise awareness of testicular cancer to get men checking more regularly to be diagnosed sooner, which is the key to beating any cancer. Both teams will be warming up in Oddballs bobble hats and T-shirts with the message Dukey 2 on them.

London Irish will also be wearing the hats and T-shirts when they warm up ahead of their next home game on Sunday 19 November when Bath Rugby are the visitors to the Madejski Stadium.

The club will be making a donation of £4 per adult ticket and £2 per 65 and over ticket bought for the game from Tuesday 7 November onwards to the Movember Foundation which supports research into some of the biggest health issues faced by men including testicular cancer. To make a donation by buying tickets to the game, visit www.london-irish.com/tickets or call 0118 968 1016 (Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm and Saturday 9am to noon.)

The London Irish players will also be collecting for Movember at the Bath game and a £1 donation to the Movember Foundation will be made for every 2018 London Irish calendar sold. The calendars are available from www.londonirishshop.com or in the Madejski Stadium Megastore.

And everyone can join in supporting Darren by signing up to the London Irish Movember Team and being sponsored to grow a mo or take part in a challenge. James Marshall is our Mo Captain, and you can join the team by visiting moteam.co/London-irish.

Dawidiuk, who made 144 appearances for the Cherry and Whites, says this weekend’s match at Kingsholm will be an emotional occasion for him.

“Whenever something like this happens, the rugby community rallies around and offers immense support,” said Dawidiuk.

“I’m looking forward to the game and it will be good to see some old faces down at Kingsholm.”

London Irish director of rugby, Nick Kennedy said: “Everyone at London Irish is right behind Darren at this difficult time and his health and wellbeing is the number one priority.

“Darren and his family will receive our full love and support and we are with him shoulder to shoulder every step of the way towards a full recovery.

“We are speaking to Darren regularly and the London Irish medical team are assisting him throughout his treatment.”

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J
JW 22 minutes ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Where? I remember saying "unders"? The LNR was formed by the FFR, if I said that in a way that meant the 'pro' side of the game didn't have an equal representation/say as the 'amateur' side (FFR remit) that was not my intent.


But also, as it is the governing body, it also has more responsibility. As long as WR looks at FFR as the running body for rugby in France, that 'power' will remain. If the LNR refuses to govern their clubs use of players to enable a request by FFR (from WR) to ensure it's players are able to compete in International rugby takes place they will simply remove their participation. If the players complain to the France's body, either of their health and safety concerns (through playing too many 'minutes' etc) or that they are not allowed to be part in matches of national interest, my understanding is action can be taken against the LNR like it could be any other body/business. I see where you're coming from now re EPCR and the shake up they gave it, yes, that wasn't meant to be a separate statement to say that FFR can threaten them with EPCR expulsion by itself, simply that it would be a strong repercussion for those teams to be removed (no one would want them after the above).


You keep bringing up these other things I cannot understand why. Again, do you think if the LNR were not acting responsibly they would be able to get away with whatever they want (the attitude of these posters saying "they pay the players")? You may deem what theyre doing currently as being irresponsible but most do not. Countries like New Zealand have not even complained about it because they've never had it different, never got things like windfall TV contracts from France, so they can't complain because theyre not missing out on anything. Sure, if the French kept doing things like withholding million dollar game payments, or causing millions of dollars of devaluation in rights, they these things I'm outlining would be taking place. That's not the case currently however, no one here really cares what the French do. It's upto them to sort themselves out if they're not happy. Now, that said, if they did make it obvious to World Rugby that they were never going to send the French side away (like they possibly did stating their intent to exclude 20 targeted players) in July, well then they would simply be given XV fixtures against tier 2 sides during that window and the FFR would need to do things like the 50/50 revenue split to get big teams visiting in Nov.

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