FORMER Rugby League ace Kevin Tamati is the man with the tough task of bringing rugby to the people of Preston.

The 44-year-old New Zealander is the manager of Lancashire Lynx, the area's only rugby league side, who play their home matches at Deepdale.

Experienced Tamati admits bringing the sport to a town obsessed with football will be tough, but it's a challenge he's determined to see through.

He said: "I'm told Preston people are sports mad. However, they only have an appreciation and understanding of football in the main and it's up to us to change that."

Tamati is certainly the best man to do the job. In a long spell playing Rugby League before taking up coaching in 1990, the father-of-three played for Warrington, Widnes and six years for his country.

And now with the appointment of a quality coach who's being groomed to take over team affairs, it will be his job to arouse interest in the sport.

He vowed to take the game to schools and amateur teams, saying "It's my role to take rugby into the community, to people's back yards to let them make up their own minds."

Lancashire Lynx have been in existence since last September when Baxi-backed North End bought out Chorley Magpies.

When the new season starts in January, the team will be playing in the national first division and will play home matches on Sundays. It is hoped to play a prestigious friendly tie against Wigan at the beginning of January.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.