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ISSUE 70 | SUMMER 2014 

www.surreyrugby.com 

Guildford Overwhelm Reigatians - Page 24 

SURREY RUGBY 

IN 

THIS 

ISSUE... 

• Emerging 6th 

Form Leagues 

• Surrey Rugby 

Retain County 

Championship Shield 

• Farewell to the Avenue 

• Dorking RFC Promotion 

& Cup Double 

plus much more... 

Surrey Rugby Referees Group 

win a RFU Presidents Award

2 

A Message from the President 

Keith Heal 

SURREY RUGBY 

Anything Interesting? 

Please send copy to 

Gary Ashburn 

90 Gravel Hill, Croydon, Surrey 

CR0 5BE 

tel: 0208 406 3457 

e: gashburn@compuserve.com 

Editor: Gary Ashburn 

Contributors: Malcolm Caird, 

Hugh Godwyn, Lee Crabb, John 

Douglas, Keith Heal, Roger 

Underwood, Peter Vernon, Jack 

Smale plus several others... 

If you would like to be 

involved with Surrey's 

marketing & communication 

then please contact: 

gashburn@compuserve.com 

InPlay Action Shots 

Please supply any article photos at the highest 

quality possible, preferably as jpeg and above 

1mb (megabyte) in file size. 

Ihave not known a year pass so quickly or 

be so enjoyable. It has been a great 

honour and privilege to represent the 

County during the 2013/14 season. In the 

last twelve months I have seen over 40 

matches, travelled many miles and seen 

parts of Surrey I did not know existed. 

In February I watched the Under 20’s 

progress to the final, then had the 

satisfaction of seeing them winning the 

final in Coventry against a strong Durham 

XV. This was followed by the Schools Final 

at Twickenham only to see GRAVENEY 

SCHOOL lose by two points. Next was a 

visit to Pullborough to see the Under 15,s 

and Level 9 Seniors play. 

A full days rugby at Esher for the Surrey 

Finals in glorious weather, was very entertaining 

as the standard of rugby in each 

game was so high. 

A home game by the County XV against 

Middlesex in the County Championship 

Shield saw the County have a good win to 

go on and play Oxford in the semi finals 

where a win saw them proceed to 

Twickenham for the Final. I was disappointed 

that I was not present to see them 

beat Leicestershire 39 – 16 to be Champions 

for the third successive year. 

Being present at London Irish for their final 

matches at the Avenue before they move to 

their new ground was a memorable 

occasion. 

Equally memorable was the Annual Dinner 

and Awards Evening. It was made extra 

special having Bob Reeves the RFU 

President and Ian Ritchie the CEO join 

many rugby enthusiasts. 

Finally I must thank Stef and Ellie for their 

work and the Committee for putting their 

trust in me to do the job. On the 16th July 

I will hand over the baton to John Reywood 

and wish him all the best for next season. 

IMPORTANT NOTICE 

SURREY RUGBY 

HAS MOVED to: 

Surrey Rugby 

Riverbridge House 

Guildford Road 

Leatherhead 

Surrey KT22 9AD 

Tel: 01372 365770 

156 Station Road 

Addlestone, KT15 2BD 

01932 840 200 

info@2020copyprint.co.uk

3 

Gilbert Rugby are delighted to 

be the Official Kit and Equipment 

supplier to Surrey Rugby, the current 

County Championship Shield 

holders. The relationship will see 

Gilbert supply kit and equipment to 

all of the County teams and provide 

discounted prices and support to all 

teams within Surrey RFU. 

For any team wear or equipment enquiries, please contact Gilbert 

Rugby on 0845 066 1823 or email sales@gilbertrugby.com 

You can also follow the World’s leading rugby brand online: 

Web: www.gilbertrugby.com 

Facebook: facebook.com/GILBERTRUGBY 

Twitter: @Gilbert_Rugby 

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4 

Chairman’s Jottings 

Nigel Heslop 

Dear all 

Congratulations to Club Surrey for winning 

the RFU County Shield for the third time 

running at the end of last season. This is 

an outstanding effort by all involved in 

Club Surrey. 

It has been decided to investigate moving 

up to the lower tier of the Bill Beaumont 

cup as an alternative to remaining in the 

Shield competition. This will involve 

players from clubs in National 1 and 

National 2s, as well as those involved at 

the moment. 

But now a new season beckons with senior 

players well into pre-season training and 

friendly matches planned for mid August 

onwards. And of course Engand’s womens 

team, with several local players in the side, 

are contesting the Women’s Rugby World 

Cup at France's national rugby centre in 

Marcoussis. (Our best wishes go with them, 

as the outcome is not known yet.) 

It seems no time at all since the Surrey 

Rugby Sevens at Esher, and touch rugby 

games continue weekly. Our game has 

become a fifty week a year affair, and clubs 

need to recruit volunteers and members to 

cope with this extra demand on our 

resources. 

AGM 

Thanks to those who attended. 

Thank you for past contributions to those 

departing from positions – Ian Thirlwall, John 

Silwood, Steve Tomlinson, Derek Mugford, 

Fred Batchelor, Terry Long and Keith Heal. 

There are new members on the 

Management committee and new 

committees. A Mini Rugby Committee 

chaired by Ryan Reino and Junior Rugby 

Committee chaired by Sean Wickes, both 

looking after competitions and governance 

issues in their sections. 

Also welcome those new to posts - John 

Raywood our new President, John Pownall 

the new Club Development chair, and to 

Leonard Johnson as Deputy Treasurer. 

In addition Paul Herrington is now on the 

Club Development committee as Surrey 

Rugby Facilities Officer, and any facilities 

enquiries should be addressed to him, via 

the Office. 

Clubs Conference 

140 people from 35 clubs, RFU staff and 

Surrey Rugby attended the conference and 

talked about rugby in Surrey for 5 hours. 

There were 18 sessions, some feistier than 

others. The conference was a success, and 

will be repeated in two or three years when 

there is a sufficient agenda. 

Well worth a look 

To prepare for the new season there are two 

very short videos that all rugby people 

should watch as a reminder of how sport 

should be conducted, and very relevant to 

the Core Values we hold dear. So please go 

and look at these:- 

• My Magic Sports kit 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2uH9Dle8mQ 

• My parents are ugly (from NZ rugby people) 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=T41V_LMjpIc 

Next 

Good luck on the field to all our clubs in 

this new season. 

However good planning, preparation, and a 

lot of hard work is needed by all involved to 

prepare our clubs for the huge leap in 

interest that will come with RWC2015. As 

soon as tickets go on sale to the public in 

the early part of the season, expectations 

will ramp up. Our clubs need to be ready to 

ride this wave of interest to their advantage. 

In 2003 we didn’t take full advantage of 

the success in winning the World Cup, 

when we win the Cup in October 2015, 

let’s be ready 

Haslemere RFC 

proudly receive their 

Accreditation Award 

from Surrey Rugby’s 

Chairman, Nigel Heslop

5 

37th Annual Chipstead Rugby Club Golf Day 

Phil Gibson 

There were 75 Golfers for this years 

event, the biggest turnout ever for 

Chipstead RFC at Chipstead Golf Club. 

The Chipstead ‘Shut’ as it is generally 

known, is a traditional close season Social 

event for the Rugby Club and has more 

recently become a Fundraiser for the 

Wooden Spoon following the support of 

John Inverdale at the event in 2009. 

A full handicap Stableford competition 

with a huge range of handicaps and 

abilities, it would be fair to say some 

‘occasional golfers’ participated which 

added to the atmosphere, not to mention 

the danger of the occasion. 

Various stories of ‘near misses’ were 

recounted afterwards except from Surrey 

and Chipstead VP Alan Giddings who 

wasn’t so lucky, he had been hit ‘right at 

the very top on the inside of his leg’ by a 

scuffed 7 iron shot from his guest. With no 

physios available he was left to deal with 

that all by himself. 

Chipstead Golf Club excelled in their 

hospitality, fully stocking the halfway house 

and providing us with an excellent 3 course 

dinner. 

A minimum of speeches are the order of 

the evening and so directly onto the 

prizegiving, winners were:- 

Andrew Morris – Longest Drive , Paul 

Gilbert – Nearest the Pin, Jamie Stainer – 

Nearest the Pin in 2 ( Par4) and the team 

prize was won by Steve Murphy, Stuart 

McGeekie, Campbell Kilpatrick and Mike 

Smith, who consumed their bottle of port 

without waiting for the cheese! 

The visitors trophy was won by Chris Kennedy 

with 42 points from his 16 handicap, with 

Colin Jones as runner up narrowly beating 

Mark Freeman into 3rd place. 

Rugby Club Members who play for the John 

Band Trophy were Kingswood Member Paul 

Gilbert who won with 38 points from his 13 

handicap (now 11!), followed by Peter Hall 

with 36 points and Ian Cole with 35 points. 

The Prestigious ‘Most Golf Played ‘award 

was won by Michael Mason with an 

honourable 9 points, apparently assisted by 

over hydration at the half way house. 

Then followed, heads and tails and the 

usual selection of valid and spurious fines 

managed by Richard Shreeve who extracted 

cash from his victims in his own inimitable 

way – all money to the Wooden Spoon and 

£1320 was collected on the night. 

Chipstead Rugby Club have supported the 

Spoon in a big way this year entering 4 

teams into the Lakeland Challenge of 

canoeing Lake Windermere, Cycling up 

high gradient Lakeland Hills and the 

running up and over Scafell pike with a 

12 hour time limit imposed!. All four 

teams succeeded and including our 

collection have raised £ 14, 800 this year 

for this worthy Rugby charity. 

Phil Gibson 

Rugby Club Golf Society Organiser 

Kamikaze team prize, presented by Phil Gibson. 

Mike Smith, Campbell Kilpatrick, Steve Murphy & Stuart McGeekie

6 

Penny McCarthy 

Penny's involvement in rugby has 

spanned four decades and two 

countries. In the 1980s Penny's 

rugby development started in Canada, 

where she managed and founded two 

women's rugby teams and introduced the 

sport to girls in a number of schools across 

Ontario. Her work saw her appointed onto 

the Ontario RFU Board and she later 

received a Life Membership from Toronto 

Saracens. 

This proceeded Penny's return to England 

in the 1990s, when she was approached by 

Old Emanuel Rugby Club whom she helped 

achieve RFU Accreditation. She started 

'Minis' sessions at the club, and soon was 

asked to become the Club Chairman. Seven 

years on following successive re-elections, 

the club has 450 Minis and Juniors, a 

thriving Touch Rugby section (with 70+ 

regular participants), girls teams, three 

adult teams in leagues, and a vet's team. 

During Penny's tenure the club has 

achieved Sport England CharterMark, been 

elected as Community Development Club 

of the Year for last three years by Surrey 

RFU, won several RFU President's Awards, 

obtained grants and funding, new floodlights, 

new weights gym and a formal 

signed relationship with Roehampton 

University. Penny has trained as a coach 

and encouraged the development of others, 

and has recently helped two individuals 

become World Cup Ambassadors. This work 

has recently be recognised, with Penny 

being presented with the 2014 Eileen Grey 

Award for inspiring others in sport by 

Kingston Council. 

Penny has been nominated not simply for 

the work she has achieved, but for "empowering 

others" as a shining female 

light in a traditionally male dominated sport.

7 

Team England Reveal Rugby 7s Squad 

for Commonwealth Games 

Commonwealth Games England 

today announced the Rugby Sevens 

team that will compete at the XX 

Commonwealth Games in Glasgow 

(23 July – 3 August 2014). 

The squad included eight players who will 

make their Commonwealth Games debuts 

while John Brake, Dan Norton, Tom Powell 

and James Rodwell bring the experience of 

having competed in the 2010 Delhi 

Games. Please note: 5 of the squad either 

originate, or live in Surrey. 

Eight players featured in the side that 

finished third at the Marriott London 

Sevens, the final event of the HSBC Sevens 

World Series in May, while Brake and Mike 

Ellery have recovered from injuries in time 

to be selected. 

IRB Sevens Player of the Year nominee and 

last season’s highest point scorer, Tom 

Mitchell continues as captain, having taken 

on the role in January. 

Charlie Hayter who recently signed for 

England Sevens from Wasps, and London 

Scottish captain Mark Bright, earn their 

places after impressing in the first two 

rounds of the FIRA-AER European Grand 

Prix Series. 

England captain Tom Mitchell said: 

“Glasgow 2014 has been on the horizon for 

a long time and we’ve been working hard 

towards this one goal for a while. It’s nice 

to know selection has now been made and 

we can start to get that extra bit of focus as 

the event draws near. 

“Our preparations since the end of the 

World Series have been really well 

managed. Training has been very specific 

and tailored to ensure we peak at the 

Commonwealths. We’ve also worked on a 

lot of on-field things, both tactically and 

technically, that we needed to improve on 

from last season. 

“The event will be a totally new experience 

for all the boys and that comes with its own 

challenges, which we recognise and are 

prepared for. It is a huge opportunity to 

mix with other sports and it will be great to 

see how other athletes operate and to learn 

from them.” 

Tom Powell, who will make his second 

appearance at a Commonwealth Games 

added: “I was over the moon being 

selected. Coming fourth in Delhi was 

tough, it is the worst position to finish in 

and this is a chance to put that right. Our 

preparations are building nicely, we will 

have some very challenging games but 

there is a lot of belief in this squad. 

“The multisport element makes the 

Commonwealth Games completely different 

from our normal competitions. It will have 

a great atmosphere and I think off the back 

of the home Olympics there will be huge 

support making it an extra special event to 

be part of.” 

Team England Chef de Mission Jan 

Paterson said: "I'd like to extend a very 

warm welcome to the Rugby Sevens squad 

and their selection means Team England is 

now complete. 

"The sevens is a hugely competitive sport 

within the Commonwealth Games family and 

I know this team can do England proud." 

England Sevens Head Coach, and silver 

medallist at the 2006 Commonwealth 

Games in Melbourne, Simon Amor said: 

“The squad selected has a very good 

balance of speed, playmaking ability, 

physicality and the all-important X-factor. 

“With players returning from long-term 

injuries the competition for places has 

been particularly strong. This has raised 

the performances in training and the 

attitude throughout the team has been 

excellent. We will be looking to bring the 

experiences and progress made throughout 

the Sevens World Series to Glasgow.” 

“Being part of the bigger team that is Team 

England at the Commonwealth Games, is a 

unique experience in a very different 

environment from the one the players are 

used to on the world circuit. You feed off 

other sports’ successes, see other athletes 

there and the sheer scale of the village and 

the competition make it a wonderful 

occasion.” 

The team in full is as follows: 

Name Lives From 

Daniel Bibby London Wigan 

John Brake Woking London 

Mark Bright Twickenham Nelson, NZ 

Philip Burgess Farnborough Frimley 

Michael Ellery London Penrith 

Charles Hayter London Bath 

Christian 

Lewis-Pratt London London 

Tom Mitchell London Cuckfields 

Daniel Norton Bristol Gloucester 

Tom Powell Weybridge Rotherham 

James Rodwell Chertsey, SU Wendover 

Marcus Watson Walt.-on-Tha. Hillingdon

48 

Egham Hollowegians 

Eighth Annual Sevens Tournament 

The Eighth Annual Egham Hollowegians’ 

Sevens Tournament took place on 

Saturday 14th June, with competitive 

rugby returning to Kings Lane for the first 

time since January, following the collapse of 

the clubhouse roof. This year we were 

pleased to welcome teams from across 

Surrey, including newcomers King’s College 

School Old Boys (KCSOBs), Chobham and 

Battersea Ironsides. 

With last year’s winners, Weybridge Vandals, 

pulling out last minute, the stage was set for 

another team to etch their name in history 

and walk away with the competition’s 

top-prize, the Bedford Shield. In what is still 

a relatively social event, it’s interesting to 

note that no side has ever won this competition 

twice, showing just how unpredictable 

the game of sevens can be! 

The group stages were a relatively tight affair, 

with the majority of games being separated 

by a single try or less; and in the case of the 

game between Worth Old Boys and the OE 

Stags, a last-minute penalty drop-goal proved 

to be the difference! 

After some glorious sunshine, interspersed 

with two brief, but heavy, periods of rain, the 

four teams to progress through to the 

semi-final of the Shield competition were 

Worth Old Boys, the Assassins, Chobham and 

KCSOB. In the Plate Competition, Woking 

faced home side Egham Hollowegians for the 

rights to play Battersea Ironsides As in the 

final. 

The Assassins made light work of Worth Old 

Boys, winning 24-10 to secure their place in 

the Shield final. In the other semi-final, 

KCSOBs and Chobham already had a pretty 

good idea of what to expect of each other 

having faced each other in the pool stages. 

However the former were unable to avenge 

their earlier defeat, with Chobham taking the 

spoils 12-7. 

In the Plate completion, local rivals Egham 

Hollowegians and Woking took place in the 

Battle of Surrey 4. Despite leading 14-0 at 

half time, Woking took their off the gas as 

Egham fought back with tries from Kerins 

and Morley to put them back in content. 

Sadly though, a missed conversion proved to 

be the difference and the home side missed 

out on the chance of winning any silverware. 

Woking won the Plate competition last year, 

but there was to be no repeat, with a fresher 

looking Battersea Ironsides side proving 

themselves to be a far superior outfit in the 

Final, winning 24-7. 

The Bedford Shield final was contested 

between Assassins, a specialist sevens side 

who have played in competitions all over the 

world (including the Dubai Invitational), and 

Chobham, whose First XV play in London 

Division 1 South. With two such distinguished 

teams facing off against each other, 

the game was always going to be competitive. 

However, the Assassins demonstrated the 

skill and flair necessary to see them named 

as Champions, sealing a 19-12 win. After the 

game, the winning captain, Christian Squire 

said “It’s been a great day and to pick up 

some silverware is a huge bonus for us. We’ve 

played some good rugby, and Chobham are a 

good side to beat them is really pleasing.”

9 

England U20 retain JWC with 21-20 win against South Africa 

Surrey youngsters involved in famous England win… 

England U20 21 South Africa 20 

ENGLAND Under 20 have successfully 

defended their IRB Junior World 

Championship, beating South Africa 21-20 

at Eden Park, Auckland. 

Tries from Nathan Earle and Joel Conlon 

looked to have put England on the way, but 

the Baby Boks rallied from 21-13 down to 

set up a thrilling finale. 

In the end, a pair of penalties and a 

conversion from Billy Burns – plus Aaron 

Morris' superbly-struck penalty from inside 

his own half – proved just enough. 

After a cagey opening, Pollard and Burns 

exchanged penalties to make it threeapiece 

with 18 minutes on the clock. 

South Africa had the opening score with 

half an hour played after a tap-and-go from 

England’s Henry Taylor was knocked-on by 

Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi. The ball fell to 

Pollard, who chipped through for Jessie 

Kriel to score. 

England never really got going in the first 

35 minutes but had some joy at the end of 

the half. First Morris sent a 55-metre 

penalty flying between the sticks before a 

smart break from Nick Tompkins freed up 

space for Earle to dive over. It was the 

Saracens winger's sixth try of the tournament. 

Another Burns penalty just after half time 

extended their narrow lead to 14-10 before 

Pollard hit back to make it 14-13. With the 

game on a knife-edge, England got the 

ultimately decisive second try – executing a 

rolling maul from a lineout to perfection, 

with replacement Conlon eventually 

touching down. 

At 21-13 up, Burns saw a penalty sail to 

the left of the posts, and England were 

made to pay when Kriel went over for his 

second try after a scything South African 

attack. 

The impressive Pollard sent a drop-goal 

attempt just wide with five minutes to play, 

but England's staunch defence held firm 

for their second consecutive JWC title. 

Quotes from Maro Itoje: "It doesn't feel real at 

the moment. It feels pretty special. It's 

something I dreamt of when I heard about the 

JWC and I am so happy to be able to lift it. 

"It is massive and It shows the club 

academies are doing their work, the RFU 

academy and their personal development is 

working, so long may it continue." 

Quotes from Billy Burns: "The South Africans 

came at us hard and it could have gone 

either way but we showed that character. Full 

credit to the forwards to dig it out at the end 

for five or six minutes. It was an outstanding 

effort and we have worked hard all campaign 

and to come out with a gold medal in the end 

is a massive achievement. 

"It was one of our big strengths. We always 

believe in ourselves and no matter what 

position we are in on the field we feel we 

can find a way out of it. In the first half the 

set piece didn't go as planned and us 

backs weren't as sharp and to come out in 

the second half and show the character 

that we did and grind out that win was a 

real good achievement. 

"It was six minutes the forwards held onto 

the ball there in the end and all credit to 

them for the discipline the whole way. We 

knew we couldn't give any penalties away 

because to be fair Handre Pollard was 

kicking outstanding and we knew that if we 

gave him opportunities he was going to 

take it so all credit goes to the forwards 

they really got us out of that one. 

"We won it last year but it was a different 

squad so we had no title to our name so to 

come out here to win it back-to-back in the 

southern hemisphere was a massive 

achievement and one we will enjoy for sure." 

Quotes from Nick Walshe: "I thought we grew 

through the game and got some composure. 

Aaron banging the penalty over was a real 

boost and then sneaking in the corner just 

before half time really gave us a shift of 

momentum. In the second half we played 

some really good rugby and we got chances 

and to get to 21-13 up we just needed that 

one more score. We couldn't get the killer 

blow and they just came straight back but I 

felt we were in control of the second half just 

before the last five or 10 minutes. 

"It is difficult to compare (between this 

year and last year's JWC). Last year it was 

just as hard, we were 15-3 down at half 

time with 14 men for 10 minutes so again 

that was more of a really good come back. 

Probably not as physical as this game but 

that was a very tough game to win. Tonight 

we grew into the game and I thought we 

took all their shots and then we started 

getting a few shots off and started getting 

into our game. Any world cup final win is 

tough and this is a magnificent effort and I 

am so unbelievably proud of the boys. 

"It just is an incredible achievement and I 

can't really explain it. It is just as special 

as last year. Last year it was special 

because it was the first, this year it is 

special because of where we are and what 

it means and how we have played, it's been 

phenomenal. I have massive respect for the 

South Africans they are a fantastic side 

and that is why it is such a massive 

achievement to beat them. They played 

really good physical rugby and scored a 

couple of good tries, especially the last 

one. You know it is a huge, huge battle 

when you play South Africa." 

Points: Earle 1T, Conlon 1T; Burns 2P, 1C, 

Morris 1P 

England U20 started XV against South 

Africa 

15 Aaron Morris (Bedford Blues) 

14 Howard Packman (Northampton Saints) 

13 Nick Tompkins (Saracens) 

12 Harry Sloan (Harlequins) 

11 Nathan Earle (Saracens) 

10 Billy Burns (Gloucester Rugby) 

9 Henry Taylor (Loughborough University) 

1 Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi (Northampton 

Saints) 

2 Tom Woolstencroft (Bath Rugby) 

3 Paul Hill (Leeds Carnegie) 

4 Maro Itoje (Saracens, captain) 

5 Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby) 

6 Ross Moriarty (Gloucester Rugby) 

7 Gus Jones (London Wasps) 

8 James Chisholm (Harlequins) 

Replacements 

16 Jack Walker (Leeds Carnegie) on for 

Tom Woolstencroft 62 mins 

17 Alex Lundberg (London Wasps) on for 

Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi 70 mins 

18 Biyi Alo (Saracens) 

19 Hayden Thompson-Stringer (Saracens) 

20 Joel Conlon (Exeter Chiefs) on for Gus 

Jones 40 mins 

21 Callum Braley (Bristol Rugby) 

22 Sam Olver (Northampton Saints) 

23 Henry Purdy (Leicester Rugby)

10 

Surrey and Canterbury win RFU President's Awards 

Paul Bolton 

SURREY Rugby and Canterbury are 

celebrating after success in the 2014 

RFU President’s Awards. 

Surrey Rugby won the People Power 

category and Canterbury took the Club 

Management prize which were among 

seven awards presented by RFU President 

Bob Reeves at a gala luncheon at 

Twickenham last Sunday, before the clash 

between an England XV and Barbarians. 

Surrey’s award recognised their initiative in 

establishing the Surrey Referees Group last 

August to supply recruit and retain more 

active referees. 

Surrey identified that when referees 

complete their Entry Level Referee Award 

they either join a Referees’ Society, where 

they receive training and development, or 

become a club referee where training was 

more ad hoc. 

The Surrey Referees Group was launched to 

give club referees an identity within the 

Surrey Rugby community and to support 

and provide training and development. 

Surrey Rugby contacted all clubs with a 

mini and junior section and asked them to 

appoint a Club Referee Coordinator (CRefC) 

who is an experienced referee. 

Smaller clubs who did not have sufficient 

numbers were linked with larger clubs to 

provide support. An accreditation process 

was designed consisting of a short checklist 

to ensure that the referee was safe, had a 

good understanding of rugby union and had 

sufficient knowledge of the laws. 

The CRefCs are responsible for ensuring that 

their club referees satisfy the accreditation 

criteria and if they do, they receive a Surrey 

Referees Group shirt, shorts and socks. 

If they do not satisfy the accreditation 

criteria further training and support is 

made available until they reach the 

standard required. 

Cluster Referee Managers were appointed 

whose purpose is to assist the CRefCs and 

provide training evenings and support for 

all clubs within their clusters. 

Surrey Referee Group officials are 

appointed to officiate at under 13 to under 

15 Surrey Youth League matches and the 

Group has also been utilised at the Surrey 

Mini Festivals in 2014 and have received 

very positive feedback from clubs. 

Canterbury’s award recognises a range of 

initiatives that have improved the management 

of the Kent club in recent years. 

Five years ago Canterbury decided to rewrite 

their structure to establish a succession plan 

for each of the volunteer jobs at the club. 

Canterbury identified finance as a weak 

spot and so established a finance 

sub-committee to run the club professionally 

with detailed profit and loss accounts and 

to establish budgets for the year. 

This year Canterbury have a full time 

bookkeeper funded by a sponsor which 

keeps the club aware of successes and 

shortfalls. 

Canterbury have also generated club funds 

through organising a May Ball and increasing 

sponsorship revenue with more than 100 

sponsors now contributing to the club. 

Canterbury have also improved their 

facilities with the installation of new 

floodlights and changing rooms and plans 

to develop an artificial pitch in partnership 

with a local school. 

Canterbury also part-fund the Canterbury 

Elite Rugby Academy which is supported by 

the club’s Director of Rugby Nicky Little. 

URGENT & IMPORTANT 

PLEASE CIRCULATE CLUB WIDE 

It has come to our attention at Surrey 

Rugby that a publication has been 

circulating to Clubs in relation to the 

following subject: 

Leroy John 

The word document, titled “WARNING” 

contains an image and text relating to 

burglary offences taking place at cricket 

and rugby clubs across London and Surrey. 

PLEASE DO NOT OPEN THIS DOCUMENT. 

It is NOT an official Metropolitan Police 

publication and if viewed by potential 

victims or witnesses, could ruin the 

investigation. 

I have spoken personally with the Detective in 

charge of the investigation and he is going to 

get all relevant information sent to me. 

Once I have received this, I will or course, 

forward it on to all Surrey Clubs. 

Essentially, at this time, Clubs need to be 

aware that there is an individual targeting 

changing rooms of sports clubs and 

stealing property, including cars. 

Please ensure that changing rooms when 

not occupied are locked and valuables kept 

safe. 

If you see anybody behaving suspiciously at 

your Club then dial 999 immediately. 

If you have any information that may be 

helpful to the police, please call 101 or 

contact me and I will pass it on to the 

investigating officer. 

Thank you for your co-operation on this 

matter and if you have any queries, please 

do not hesitate to contact me.

11 

England Women Made Two Changes for Sevens 

Ahead of European Grand Prix Finale 

England Women’s Sevens Head Coach 

Simon Middleton has made two 

changes to the team that won the 

first leg for the FIRA/AER European Grand 

Prix for the second and final round in Brive 

in June. 

Middleton, whose side defeated Russia 

24-20 in the final in Moscow the previous 

weekend, handed Cardiff Quins’ Megan 

Jones her first cap whilst Richmond’s 

Alexandra Matthews got her first start in an 

England shirt for a year Former Camberley 

youngster. Matthews joined sister 

Francesca in the squad. 

Richmond’s Abigail Chamberlain will once 

again captain England. 

Middleton said: “Training has been going 

well and we have got a couple of new faces 

in the squad who have fitted in well. 

Megan is someone we have been really 

impressed with in the Divisional 

Programme and I’m confident she is ready 

to take the next step up. Alex, of course 

brings experience with her, having been out 

of action for some time through injury. This 

tournament is very much about helping her 

return to play and getting some game time 

under her belt. I think they are two new 

exciting additions to the squad 

England 

Natasha Brennan (Richmond) 

Megan Jones (Cardiff Quins) 

Abigail Chamberlain (Richmond) C 

Hannah Field (Richmond) 

Alexandra Matthews (Richmond) 

Sophie Lee (Darlington Mowden Park 

Sharks) 

Francesca Matthews (Richmond) 

Sarah McKenna (Saracens) 

Leanne Riley (Saracens) 

Emily Scott (Thurrock) 

Joanne Watmore (Richmond) 

Amy Wilson-Hardy (Bristol) 

11 Pints a night? You Can Still Play Rugby 

Hannah Devlin 

From joyriding golf buggies to offensive 

behaviour on aero-planes, rugby 

players' drinking binges have 

frequently landed them in trouble and 

sometimes been blamed for a poor 

performance on the pitch. One study, 

however, has come to the conclusion that 

drinking excessively — in some cases more 

than 11 pints — did little to impair the 

sporting ability of players the following day. 

The only athletic metric that appeared to 

be weaker the morning after a heavy 

drinking session was jumping. 

Sprinting, lower-body strength and hydration 

were unaffected by the previous night's 

binge, the study of 19 club rugby players 

in New Zealand found. 

All but second-row players, whose jumping 

abilities are required in a lineout, may 

welcome the conclusions of the researchers 

from New Zealand's Massey University. 

Other scientists were sceptical of the 

interpretation that “heavy alcohol consumption, 

sleep loss and whatever other physical 

be-haviour occurred during the night . . . 

had no effect on the participants' abilities 

to generate maximal isometric lower-body 

strength or complete a repeated sprint test” 

Professor John Brewer, a sports scientist at 

the University of Bedfordshire, said: 

“Eleven pints is on the high end of excessive. 

All the evidence would suggest that 

physical and cognitive performance suffers 

with much lower alcohol concentrations.” 

The research, published in the Journal of 

Science and Medicine in Sport, organised a 

series of physical assessments for the 19 

players before and after a Saturday night, 

as this was when the men undertook their 

“normal” alcohol consumption with 

teammates and friends. 

Ten of the players drank more than 11 

pints on the night, seven drank between six 

and 11 pints and the remaining two drank 

fewer than six pints on the Sat-urday night. 

On average, the players had three hours' 

sleep. 

The participants were tested on Thursday, 

Sunday and Monday morning on their 

jumping ability, lower-body force and 

shuttle runs of 40m, and only their 

jumping ability was found to be significantly 

below their baseline performance. 

The authors, led by Christo-pher Prentice, 

said the findings were relevant given 

rugby's relationship with alcohol. “This 

sub-culture is evidenced by the reports of 

heavy binge drinking in both the scientific 

literature and often reported upon alcohol 

related misdemeanours of high profile, elite 

players; the paper said. 

Players’ spinting was unaffected even after 

a heavy drinking binge. 

DAVID ROGERS/GETTY IMAGES

12 

County Championship Shield 

Surrey 47pts v Middlesex 3 pts 

Middlesex arrived at Streatham- 

Croydon RFC to face Surrey, in a 

confident mood having beaten a 

fancied Hampshire side 46 -35 the 

previous week. 

The game started with both sides measuring 

each other up, but it was 2013 County 

Champions Surrey who drew first blood, 

when fly half Neil Hallett of Wimbledon 

RFC kicked a penalty goal after only three 

minutes play, to ease the home side ahead. 

With Surrey’s pack establishing an early 

superiority, they then drove there visitors 

backwards in a scrum forcing Middlesex to 

concede another penalty, which again 

Hallett converted, to increase Surrey’s lead 

to 6-0. 

Back bounced the visitors and fly half Ben 

Lloyd of CS Rugby 1863 slotted over a 

penalty for Middlesex, after the home side 

were penalised at a ruck. Surrey’s forwards 

really began to take a grip of the game and 

the pressure they applied particularly in the 

scrums, enabled the home side to establish 

the platform for fly half Hallett to add two 

more penalty goals and bring the half time 

score line to 12-3 in favour of Surrey. 

The visitors woes continued when Middlesex 

prop Jake Robey was injured and had to be 

replaced by Jordan Files, just prior to half 

time. 

The second half saw Surrey in determined 

mood and gamely as Middlesex tried, the 

home side were always far more dangerous 

and decisive in attack. A quickly taken 

short penalty saw the home side catch 

there visitors on the hop and Ryan Jeffery 

scored a try, which again Hallett converted 

to increase the score to 19-3. Within 

minutes, a wonderful solo effort brought a 

try for replacement scrum half Will Crow, 

who sidestepped and jinked in untouched 

from the half way line. Almost to be 

expected, the impeccable kicking of Hallett 

added the conversion to increase Surrey’s 

score. Despite losing impressive No 8 

Robbie Fee with a yellow card, after he was 

penalised for holding a man down in the 

tackle, Surrey continued in the ascendancy. 

Flanker Ian White intercepted a 

loose Middlesex pass and scored under the 

posts, with Hallett again adding the 

conversion points. Then some slick 

handling by the backs, saw Matt Betty chip 

ahead and scoop up the ball and touch 

down for another Surrey try. While Hallett 

added another magnificent touchline 

conversion. 

With both sides using there replacements 

Surrey lost Stuart Fee to a yellow card, but 

still kept the pressure up and prop Ben 

Knight grabbed the last try and Neil Hallett 

once again added the conversion to bring 

his personal contribution to 22 points and 

a crushing final score of 47-3 to Surrey. 

Surrey: 15 – Matt Betty (East Grinstead) 

14 – Harry Watts, 13- Will Bennett, 12 – 

Simon Love, 11- Henry Bennett (all 

Dorking), 10 – Neil Hallett (Wimbledon), 9- 

Nic Losardo (Effingham & Leatherhead), 1- 

Ben Knight, 2- Ross Grimstone (both 

Dorking), 3 – Richard Nunn (Cobham), 4- 

Armand Roux (Captain), 5- Matt Higgins, 6 

- Ian White, 7- Jon Vermont, 8- Robbie Fee 

(all Dorking) 

Replacements: 16- Sam Johnson, 17- 

George Evans (both Dorking), 18 -James 

Caddy (Sutton & Epsom), 19- Doug 

Rodman (Cobham), 20 – Will Crow, 21 

–Ryan Jeffery (both Dorking), 22- Stuart 

Fee (Guildford) 

County Championship Shield Competition 

Hampshire 7pts v Surrey 34 pts 

Hampshire made wholesale changes 

and felt they had a good chance of 

beating there highly fancied visitors 

– current County Championship Shield 

holders, Surrey. 

Despite applying lots of early pressure and 

displaying a dogged determination to 

launch themselves into Surrey, Hampshire 

found the visitors defence hard to break 

down. 

Surrey took the lead after 16 minutes, 

through the reliable boot of Wimbledon fly 

half Neil Hallett, who kicked a penalty 

goal, when the home side dropped a 

scrum. Shortly afterwards a superb solo 

break by full back Matt Betty took him 

deep into Hampshire territory and some 

slick handling by the Surrey backs brought 

a try for Matt Noble. Hallett added the 

conversion to put the visitors 10 -0 ahead. 

With their tails up, Surrey soon added a 

further score when wing Henry Bennett 

found Noble in support to take the final 

pass and score the second try. Hallett 

magnificently added the touchline conversion 

to ease Surrey 17 -0 ahead. 

Back came the home side and after a 

period of sustained pressure, lock Toby 

Salmon crashed over for a try. Having 

fluffed a couple of previous penalty 

attempts, Joel Knight stepped up to add 

the conversion. 

With half time fast approaching, Hallett 

added a fantastic penalty goal from the 

half way line, to bring the half time score 

to 20-7 to Surrey. 

Both sides began the second half with 

several changes and a determined period of 

solid tackling kept each other at bay. Then 

Surrey wing Guy Stuckey Clarke made an 

amazing weaving run and found fellow 

Sutton& Epsom clubmate, James Caddy in 

support to crash over for the visitors third 

try. Hallett again added the conversion. 

With the hot weather conditions beginning 

to take a toll at the end of a long rugby 

season, play became somewhat scrappy, 

with the only other score coming from 

Surrey scrum half Will Crow of Dorking, 

who went over after good work by the pack. 

Once again Hallett added the conversion to 

bring the game to a close and another 

convincing Surrey victory over a gritty 

Hampshire side. 

SURREY. 15 Matt Betty (East Grinstead), 

14 Guy Stuckey Clarke (Sutton&Epsom), 

13 Matt Noble, 12 Will Bennett, 11 Henry 

Bennett (all Dorking), 10 Neil Hallettt 

(Wimbledon), 9 Will Crow(Dorking), 1 

Richard Nunn (Cobham), 2 Sam Johnson, 

3 George Evans, 4 Armand Roux – Captain 

(all Dorking), 5 James Caddy 

(Sutton&Epsom), 6 Chris Lewis, 7 Steve 

May ( both Wimbledon), 8 Harry Watts 

(Dorking). 

Replacements: 

16 Ross Grimstone, 17 Ben Knight (both 

Dorking ), 18 Pete Daly (Farnham), 19 Ian 

White (Dorking), 20 Nic Losardo 

(Effingham & Leatherhead), 21 Simon Love 

(Dorking), 22 Stuart Phillips (Guildford) 

Next Saturday Surrey as Group Winners 

face Oxfordshire (away) in the next stage of 

the competition and the route to Twickenham.

13 

County Championship Shield Semi – Final 

Oxfordshire 12pts v Surrey 52 pts 

Current County Championship Shield 

Holders Surrey clinched another visit to 

Twickenham and made their way into 

the Shield Final again, after a scintillating 

first half performance that destroyed their hosts. 

The visitors were awarded a penalty try 

after12 minutes play and prolific Surrey 

kicking sensation, fly half Neil Hallett added 

the conversion points .Within three minutes 

Surrey increased their lead when Hallett 

helped himself to a try, which again he 

converted. With their tails up, Surrey quickly 

added a third try when lively No8 Ian White 

crashed over, with Hallett again adding the 

conversion to put the visitors 21-0 ahead. 

Surrey were now firmly in control and flying 

Cyprus International and Dorking wing, 

Fidias Efthymiou scored a super solo effort 

to push the visitors into a 26-0 lead. 

Oxfordshire’s determination was rewarded 

at last and they got on the score sheet, 

when Martyn Walsh scored a try, which Zac 

Norris converted. 

Back bounced Surrey and after relentless 

pressure, the other wing East Grinstead 

power machine, James Faaatuatu crossed 

for the visitors fifth try and as half time 

approached he grabbed his second and 

Surrey’s sixth try. While Hallett added both 

conversions to reach the amazing half time 

score of 40-7 in favour of Surrey. 

The second half began with several 

changes by both sides and Surrey fly half 

Neil Hallett having to retire injured. 

In the second minute of the second half, 

the home side scored their second try by 

Matt Clarke, after a period of determined 

pressure. 

Then Oxfordshire hooker Steve Dixey was 

yellow carded in the 14th minute of the 

second half. Soon afterwards, Surrey wing 

Faatuatu completed his ‘hat trick’ of tries, 

which with Hallett off the field Matt Noble 

converted. 

Surrey replacement Harry Watts then 

snapped up the eigth try of the day for the 

visitors and brought matters to a conclusion 

and another convincing Surrey victory 

by 52points to12 points. 

Roll on Twickenham and another County 

Championship Shield Final for Surrey. 

SURREY:15- Matt Betty (East Grinstead), 

14- Fidias Efthymiou, 13- Matt Noble, 12- 

Will Bennett(all Dorking)11- James 

Faaatuatu (East Grinstead)10- Neil Hallett 

(Wimbledon), 9- Will Crowe,1-Ben 

Knight,2-Ross Grimstone (all Dorking),3- 

Richard Nunn (Cobham), 4-Armand Roux 

(Captain), 5 – Matt Higgins(both Dorking), 

6- Chris Lewis (Wimbledon),7 –Jon 

Vermont, 8-Ian White(both Dorking). 

Replacements: 

16-George Spreckley,17- George Evans 

(both Dorking), 18- James Caddy (Sutton & 

Epsom), 19- Harry Watts (Dorking), 20- 

Nic Losardo ( Effingham & Leatherhead), 

21- Simon Love (Dorking), 22- Stuart 

Phillips (Guildford) 

Surrey Win the County Championship Shield 

at Twickenham for the third year running 

Prolific points scorers Surrey clinched 

a ‘hat-trick’ of victories, when they 

retained the County Championship 

Shield at rugby HQ, Twickenham. 

Following on after the England v Barbarians 

International match, Surrey were shaken by 

the solid and determined attitude of the 

strong Leicestershire pack. Nevertheless, 

the Midlands side lost centre Andy Gates 

after less than a minute, when he was 

alleged to have taken out Surrey full back 

Matt Betty, while he was in mid air. Soon 

afterwards Leicestershire drew first blood 

when Ricky Aley kicked a penalty goal, after 

Surrey were penalised for pulling a maul 

down. Surrey were soon level though when 

fly half Neil Hallett kicked a penalty goal. 

At this period, the match became quite 

scrappy and Hallett added two more 

penalty goals for Surrey, while Aley added 

another for Leicestershire, to bring the 

score to 9-6 in favour of Surrey. Hallett 

then converted his fourth penalty to 

increase the score to 12-6 and bring the 

half to a close. 

The second half began with Leicestershire 

continuing to doggedly use their huge pack 

to drive deep into Surrey territory, but the 

Surrey defence was equally determined to 

protect there line. A terrific break by Matt 

Betty and a lovely one handed pass from 

replacement hooker Sam Johnson, then put 

back rower Harry Watts in for a try, which 

Hallett duly converted to push Surrey 19-6 

ahead. With Surrey still in celebration 

mode, Leicestershire immediately 

responded with a try of there own, when 

prop Rhoddy McNaughton burst through a 

gap and sent No8 Chris Bale in for a try 

.Mark Lord then took over the kicking 

duties, to add the conversion. From the 

resulting kick off Leicestershire conceded 

yet another penalty, which Hallett successfully 

converted again for Surrey. Lord then 

added another penalty for Leicestershire as 

the game approached the final ten 

minutes, with a score of 25-16 to Surrey. 

The large Leicestershire pack were noticeably 

tiring and a superb break from scrum 

half Will Crow brought a Surrey try, while 

Hallett continued his superb kicking form 

with another conversion. With their tails 

firmly up, and Surrey’s lively backs 

throwing the ball around, some slick 

handling saw wing Fidias Efthymiou crash 

over in the corner. Neil Hallett once again 

added a magnificent touchline conversion 

to seal a final and perhaps slightly flattering 

scoreline of 39 -16 to Surrey. 

Having won this trophy for three years 

running, means Surrey may now step up to 

the higher Division 2 level of the County 

Championship next season. 

SURREY: 15- Matt Betty (East Grinstead), 

14-Fidias Efthymiou, 13 –Matt Noble, 12- 

Will Bennett (all Dorking), 11- James 

Faaatuatu (East Grinstead), 10- Neil 

Hallett (Wimbledon), 9 – Will Crow, 1 – 

Ben Knight, 2- Ross Grimstone (all 

Dorking), 3 –Richard Nunn (Cobham), 4- 

Armand Roux (Captain), 5- Matt Higgins 

(both Dorking), 6- Chris Lewis 

(Wimbledon), 7- Jon Vermont, 8 – Ian 

White (Dorking ) 

Replacements: 16- Sam Johnson, 17- 

George Evans (both Dorking ) 18 – James 

Caddy (Sutton & Epsom ), 19- Harry Watts, 

20- Ryan Jeffery, 21 – Simon Love (all 

Dorking), 22- Stuart Philllips (Guildford)

14 

Adult Competition Recommendations Approved 

Paula Rowe 

The RFU Council today approved the 

recommendations of the Adult 

Competitions Review that will see 

adjustments to the structure of competitive 

rugby. The changes take account of player 

welfare concerns and will help to reduce 

the financial burden on clubs, while 

providing meaningful competition. 

Bill Beaumont, RFU Chairman said: “The 

decision by Council to accept the recommendations 

of the Adult Competitions 

Review is a major step forward in determining 

the future of our great game, to deliver 

accessible and healthy competition for 

generations to come. 

“It is vital that the changes work from the 

bottom up as well as from the top down, 

and that principle has been fully endorsed 

by Council. 

“The review brought together extensive 

research and diverse views into a set of 

recommendations that we believe best 

serve the changing needs of our game. 

The RFU Council has endorsed that belief 

and provided a mandate for work to 

proceed to implement the changes.” 

The revised structure offers clubs a 

balanced number of home games per season 

and a varied diet of league and Cup rugby 

within a 35-week season. Importantly, it 

provides defined weekends for rest and 

recovery and less travel, which will improve 

players’ welfare and experience, encouraging 

them to continue playing for longer. The 

maximum number of matches played by 

most clubs at levels 3 and below between 

September and April will not exceed 30. 

Work will begin immediately on implementing 

the recommendations, with the 

exception of changes to the league 

structures (recommendations 8 and 9), 

which will take effect from 2016/17. This 

will ensure that there is sufficient time for 

the detailed planning and preparation 

necessary at all levels, giving clubs at least 

one season’s notice of the changes: 

Level 3 will remain a national league, 

reduced in size to 15 teams (from 16 

teams) with no Cup competition. 

From Level 4 downwards the league 

pyramid will be flattened, with a view to 

reducing each team’s travel time and 

distance to away matches: 

• Level 4 – will consist of three leagues of 

15 teams with no Cup competition 

• Level 5 – will consist of eight leagues of 

12 teams with a compulsory National Cup 

competition 

• Level 6 – will consist of 16 leagues of 12 

teams with an optional National Cup 

competition 

• Level 7 - composition and operation of 

league rugby at level 7 and below will 

continue to be determined and managed 

locally, with optional National Cup competitions 

organised by Divisional Organising 

Committees 

Recognising the importance of providing 

meaningful competition and more opportunities 

to play rugby at second XV and 

below, the RFU will further strengthen and 

support this key area of the game with 

increased resources. 

John Douglas, Chairman of the Review 

Steering Group said: “The aim of the 

review was to provide competitive rugby 

that will encourage maximum player and 

supporter participation and to grow and 

sustain our clubs, in a world that will 

continue to change. 

“More than ever rugby faces competition 

from other sports and leisure activities, in 

addition to the demands of travel and cost. 

Adjusting the league programme will help 

to reduce the cost to clubs. 

“Every effort has been made to provide as 

many opportunities as possible for feedback 

and comment throughout the review process, 

and we are most grateful to everyone across 

the game who has contributed.” 

Lisa Lifts 

Women’s Award 

Lisa Poulton, of Wimbledon Ladies, was 

presented with the Surrey Women’s 

Award 2014 at the Surrey Rugby 

Annual Dinner & Awards Evening at 

Twickenham becoming the award’s first 

recipient having joined Wimbledon Ladies 

Rugby World Magazines for Sale 

when the team was formed in 1990. She 

has been treasurer and supports the club 

as a whole and, while playing, mentors 

other team members. Mike Keane, Wimbledon 

president and chairman, said “I could 

not think of a more worthy recipient”.

15 

World Wheelchair Rugby Challenge 

2015 at Olympic Park 

Chris Ryan and Bulbul Hussain joined 

Mayor of London, Boris Johnson and 

England and Harlequins full back 

Mike Brown to announce the first World 

Wheelchair Rugby Challenge, which will 

take place at London’s Copper Box Arena at 

Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park between 

11-16 October 2015 cementing the legacy 

of the 2012 Games. 

As well as Great Britain, current Paralympic 

Gold Medal holders Australia and current 

World Champions USA will take part, along 

with teams from Canada, South Africa, 

Japan, France, and New Zealand. The Mayor 

of London, Boris Johnson said: “I am 

delighted that the Copper Box will be hosting 

the World Wheelchair Rugby Challenge, 

which is surely one of the most terrifying and 

exhilarating sports on the planet.” 

David Pond, Chief Executive of GBWR 

added: “We will be bringing together the 

top wheelchair rugby teams in the world for 

this exciting world challenge event, which 

will run alongside the IRB Rugby World 

Cup. Wheelchair Rugby caught the public’s 

imagination in London 2012 and this 

tournament will give them another chance 

to experience the excitement of the game 

with its speed, skill and big hits.” 

Mike Brown, who has 26 caps for England 

and had a starring role in England’s QBE 

Internationals and RBS 6 Nations 

picking up the coveted QBE Player of the 

Series Award and RBS 6 Nations Player of 

the Championship Award, is an Ambassador 

for GBWR, primarily working with the 

GBWR military recovery unit programme. 

“I’m very proud to be an ambassador for 

GBWR and it’s fantastic that the World 

Wheelchair Rugby Challenge will be taking 

place alongside the IRB Rugby World Cup, 

when the whole world will have its eyes on 

England and London. I was lucky enough 

to experience the electric atmosphere in 

the copper box during the London 2012 

Paralympic Games and I’m really looking 

forward to catching some of the action 

next year,” said Mike Brown. 

Harlequins squad members were inspired 

by the professional wheelchair rugby 

athletes at the Paralympic Games and the 

club agreed a partnership with Great 

Britain Wheelchair Rugby (GBWR), the 

sport’s national governing body in England, 

Scotland and Wales. GBWR will support 

Harlequins with their Harlequins Foundation 

community programmes and Harlequins 

will help GBWR with marketing and 

sponsorship and assist the GB squad with 

performance support. 

Further information via www.gbwr.org.uk 

Wow from Barbados to Guildford to Glasgow... 

Congratulations to Phil Lucas of Guildford RFC who appeared on TV screens 

captaining Barbados during the Commonwealth Games Rugby 7s in Glascow.

16 

Emerging 6th Form Sports Winners 

Pos Team Pts P W D L F A +/- 

1 Bishop Justus 1st XV 18 6 6 0 0 148 20 128 

2 Hayes 1st XV 15 6 5 0 1 150 34 116 

3 Darrick Wood 1st XV 12 6 4 0 2 112 32 80 

4 Wilson\'s 1st XV 9 6 3 0 3 100 64 36 

5 Riddlesdown 1st XV 6 6 2 0 4 60 120 -60 

6 Coopers 1st XV 3 6 1 0 5 30 150 -120 

7 Oasis Shirley Park 1st XV 0 6 0 0 6 0 180 -180 

2013-14 

RUGBY 

CHAMPIONS 

SUTTON 

GRAMMAR

17 

The Jenkins Family 

Presenting the 

Kevin Jenkins 

Memorial Cup to 

the Winners 

Sutton Grammar 

Surrey young players celebrate winning another award 

2013-14 Emerging 6th Form Rugby Finalists – Bishop Justus

18 

England Under 18 Name Squad 

for Summer South Africa tour, Includes Surrey Players 

ENGLAND Under 18 have named their 

squad for the two-week summer tour 

to South Africa in August. Coaches 

John Fletcher and Pete Walton will lead the 

group of 26 as they face Wales, France and 

South Africa across the Western Cape. 

England U18 won their third successive 

FIRA/AER European Championship in April 

this year – beating Ireland 30-14 in the 

final in Poland – and Fletcher is looking to 

replicate those performances this summer. 

He said: “We’re looking forward to heading 

out there – it’s a significant part of our 

programme, and playing these three 

countries will be a huge challenge. Playing 

South Africa in their own back yard is one 

of the toughest things you can do in rugby, 

but it’s something we’re looking forward to. 

“Touring is huge for these players – it takes 

them out of their comfort zones and the 

proof is in the pudding. The vast majority 

of the Under 20s who have won back-toback 

World Cups toured the southern 

hemisphere with the Under 18s, so it 

definitely stands them in good stead.” 

England Under 18 squad to tour South 

Africa 

Forwards (14) 

Lewis Boyce (Pr. Henry's & Leeds Carnegie) 

Owen Hills (QEW & Leicester Tigers) 

James Fish (Trent College & Northampton St.) 

Ollie Adams (St Pauls Catholic College & 

Lon. Irish) 

Seb Adeniran-Olule (Wellington College & 

Harlequins) 

Ciaran Parker (St Ambrose & Sale Sharks) 

Joe Batley (Hartpury College & Gloucester 

Rugby) 

Kieran Treadwell (John Fisher & Harlequins) 

Joe Maksymiw (QEW & Leicester Tigers) 

George Nott (Kings Sch. Chester & Sale Sharks) 

Charlie Beckett (QEW & Leicester Tigers) 

Lewis Ludlam (St Joseph’s College & 

Northampton Saints) 

Sam Underhill (Sir Thomas Rich’s School & 

Gloucester Rugby) 

Henry Cheeseman (Whitgift & Harlequins) 

Backs (12) 

Will Homer (Sherborne School & Bath Rugby) 

Rory Jennings (Bryanston School & Bath Rugby) 

Theo Brophy Clews (Abingdon School & 

London Irish) 

Cameron Cowell (St Pauls College & 

London Irish) 

Kai Little (Hartpury College & Exeter Chiefs) 

Harry Mallinder (Rugby School & 

Northampton Saints) 

Max Clark (Bryanston School & Bath Rugby) 

Rotimi Segun (Stowe School & Northampton 

Saints) 

Brett Herron (Wellington College & Bath Rugby) 

Joe Marchant (Peter Symonds & Harlequins) 

Ollie Thorley (Cheltenham College & 

Gloucester Rugby) 

Taylor Prell (Giggleswick School & Leeds) 

Jack Fishwick Sevens 

at Wimbledon RFC 

Jack Fishwick plays in the second row 

for Wimbledon RFC 1st XV and he 

sadly sustained a serious neck injury in 

a league game against Haywards Heath. 

On Saturday 26th July 2014 the first Jack 

Fishwick Sevens tournament was therefore 

organised to create awareness and to help 

raise some funds to support Jack and his 

on going treatment. 24 teams entered 

including several sides from London South 

1 - these were the teams that Jack has 

both played in and coached. Additionally, 

teams from Jack's home town of Salisbury 

were part of this special occasion. 

Plate winners were the G.E.N.T.S and the 

Main Cup competition was won by Exeter 

Street Elite, which was particularly fitting 

for the day, as this team was entirely made 

up of Jack's closest friends from school. 

Wimbledon RFC attracted over 900 people 

on the day and they were entertained by an 

exceptionally high standard of rugby and 

some great live music rocked deep into the 

night. 

Massive thanks should go to all the teams 

that entered, those who came there to 

support, everyone who kindly donated 

money to pay for the day, those who gave 

raffle and auction prizes and to the army of 

volunteers who worked so hard to make the 

day a resounding success. 

The running total so far achieved is 

£14,000 - with still a lot more to be 

accounted for, so watch this space.

19 

Cobham Rugby Club on approved list of Team Bases 

for Rugby World Cup 2015 

Cobham Sports Association, incorporating 

Cobham Rugby Club, has undertaken 

a significant development programme 

over the last ten years including the 

acquisition of new grounds and the 

completion of a new Clubhouse. This has 

now been recognised at the highest 

possible level with the announcement, by 

the organising committee for Rugby World 

Cup 2015, that Cobham Rugby Club has 

been selected on the ‘Approved List’ as a 

potential Team Base for the Tournament. 

The rigorous application process, which is 

still on going, has involved site visits from 

England Rugby 2015 and Cobham’s bid 

was enhanced by the support that has been 

provided from ACS Cobham International 

School who, if selected, will be providing 

fitness and swimming pool facilities. 

Bases on the approved list are not guaranteed 

to host teams; however they will be 

used to provide the competing nations with 

their Team Base options, many of which are 

currently undertaking visits of prospective 

bases. 

A Team Base must include an indoor and 

outdoor training facility, a gym, an indoor 

swimming pool and a hotel. These 

facilities must meet international team 

training standards and be located in close 

proximity of one another. Match Venue 

location has also been taken into account. 

England Rugby 2015 requires up to 50 

bases for use during the tournament. These 

will be confirmed mid-2014 following 

completion of team visits and selection. 

To put this announcement into context for 

Cobham Rugby Club, only 65 venues 

across the country have been selected on 

the Approved List as possible Team Bases. 

Director of Cobham Sports Association, 

Anthony Balkwill said; ‘This is a fantastic 

accolade, not only for Cobham Sports 

Association, Cobham Rugby and its 

members, who give all of their time 

voluntarily, but also for the Cobham 

Community. We are still working with 

England Rugby 2015 through the process 

and hope that we will be selected for 

Rugby World Cup 2015’. 

ACS Comment 

ACS Cobham International School Director 

of Sport, Dave Schuchter said; ‘It is 

exciting for our school to be able to play a 

key role in this bid. Our swimming pool and 

fitness facilities are of an excellent 

standard and we are delighted that this has 

helped contribute to the successful 

application for Approved List status. 

England Rugby 2015 CEO, Debbie Jevans, 

said: "Since launching the Team Base 

selection process there has been strong 

support for the tournament right across 

England and Wales with over 80 applications 

made to host teams in 2015. I would 

like to thank all those who applied and who 

have met with us in recent months; these 

visits have been integral to the process and 

have shown the great enthusiasm for Rugby 

World Cup 2015. 

“We are fortunate to have such a great 

number of excellent facilities available to 

host the teams in 2015 and we are pleased 

to have a good range including rugby clubs, 

colleges, universities schools and training 

centres on the approved list. Rugby is at 

the heart of all our planning and it is vital 

that, in our role as the Organising Committee, 

we do all we can to ensure that we get 

the conditions absolutely right for the 

players to prepare for the game’s premier 

event. We will continue to work with the 

team mangers and look forward to confirming 

the final list of Team Bases by the middle 

of this year.” 

Kew Occasionals Triumph in Warsaw 10s 

Reg Clark 

The Kew Occasionals, who have been 

Surrey members since their foundation, 

celebrated the climax of their 25th 

anniversary season by winning the Warsaw 

10s in late May. 

The Warsaw Rugby Festival has grown into 

a significant social event in Central and 

Eastern European rugby circles and at their 

first attempt the Kews took the flagship 

Mens 10s title by beating the Jamhour 

Black Lions from the Lebanon 31 -7 in the 

final. The game of the tournament was the 

semi-final against the hosts the Warsaw 

Frogs – the sides were tied at 14 all at half 

time before Kew pulled away to win 28-14. 

Kew received an RFU President’s Award for 

Player Retention last year (see attached 

photo of presentation by England & British 

Lions Most capped forward ever Jason 

Leonard) in recognition of the club’s long 

standing championship of non-league 

social rugby which appeals to younger 

players who cannot for largely professional 

reasons commit to regular training and 

playing and who would otherwise have to 

give up the game.

20 

Seven Stars of the Southern Hemisphere 

Guildford Under 15's successes in South Africa 

Guildford Rugby Club U15 ‘A’ squad 

travelled to the Eastern Cape of South 

Africa to tour and play in the 

Kingswood Independent Schools’ Festival 

in Grahamstown, historically remembered 

for the establishment of British settlers in 

1820. 

The tour kindly sponsored by Dowley Turner 

Real Estate and Nuffield Health not only 

facilitated attendance in the festival but 

also provided the chance for the boys to 

play the local township of Alexandria which 

has seen extreme poverty recently after the 

collapse of their Chicory farming roots. 

Arriving in the Cape on the 11th April the 

boys were treated to arrange of activities 

and life experiences which included trips 

to Port Elizabeth, Tistsikamma National 

Park, Whale watching in canoes!, at 

Plettenberg Bay, Addo Elephant Park, the 

township of Alexandria and Pumba Private 

Game reserve where the boys slept in the 

ranger’s station a 15 minute drive in to 

bush. 

festival and won all 6 matches only 

conceding 2 tries in the process. 

The game which had the most impact was 

that of the township game in Alexandria. 

We played Ukanhanyo Secondary School on 

the Alexandria High School field, the place 

where earlier in 2013 our opponents had 

won the FNB Classic Clash for the first 

time in 20 years. Taking the air of a full 

blown International we had National 

anthems, choirs and local dignitaries. 

The home side were strong, fast and able 

to cope with the 310 c temperature better 

than Guildford and lead at half time 10-7. 

But Guildford took on water and fought 

back finally securing a 31-10 victory 

against a very strong and well drilled side. 

Simon Rhodes G’s Head Coach commented 

“firstly thanks to the sponsors who 

facilitated this life experience and the 

warmth of the South African welcome. Our 

club also donated boots and shirts to the 

township stretching out the hand of Ruby 

friendship. But most of all a note of 

respect for the boys who played seven and 

won seven by scoring 30 tries and only 

conceding 3!” 

The Kingswood festival was a superbly run 

festival with teams such as Hilton College, 

St Andrews (Grahams Town and Bloemfontien), 

St David’s Marist Inanda and another 

touring side St George College from Zambia 

who had not been beaten for two and a half 

years. 

After winning the first three matches 

Guildford took on the top three favourites 

St Andrews (Grahams Town), Hilton and St 

Georges. All in all the squad took on 6 

committed opponents in the course of the

22 

WHAT DOES RUGBY MEAN TO YOU? 

Twelve Midday, Armistice Day, 2012 

Poignant, perfect. Almost spring-like, 

the warmth of the sun and the sounds 

of ‘The World in Union’ over the PA 

system bringing smiles to the faces of the 

gathering crowd of, what turned out to be 

around seven hundred Ironsides members. 

A special day for all that were present, a 

day to remember as Battersea Ironsides 

Rugby Club would ultimately take its place 

in the new World Rugby Museum at 

Twickenham. 

During the Autumn of 2012 Ironsides were 

approached to potentially be a part of a 

section of the new museum. Specifically 

representing community/grass-roots rugby. 

In response, the words scribed by Youth 

Chairman, Tom Courtney-Clack hit the 

mark with the museum curator. 

"As an inner-city rugby club the community 

means everything to us and vice versa. We 

draw our membership from the local area 

with approximately 1400 members 

representing many nationalities and all 

'walks of life'. 

With up to 30 teams playing each weekend, 

rugby offers the opportunity for a truly 

diverse group of people to meet, play and 

socialise outside of their normal comfort 

zone. 

The 4 senior teams each Saturday have 

members from a wide player base and 

enjoy support from ex-players and locals 

alike both at Garratt Green and at the 

clubhouse! 

The Green and White Army on Sundays 

brings together children from a joyous mix 

of creeds, colours and social status. An 

opportunity that is embraced by all. 

Simply put, Battersea Ironsides is a great 

place to meet and celebrate our differences. 

(not to mention our club 'icon', Kyle 

Sinckler the England U20 tight-head 

prop)." 

And so a plan was hatched, to assemble as 

many of our membership in one one place 

at one time as possible, to take a photograph, 

truly showing the strength of our 

community, the love of our game, of 

Ironsides Rugby. The Big Shoot! 

Little did we appreciate, where this 

endeavour would lead us. 

The museum curator, so impressed with 

the energy and enthusiasm of the club, 

invited us to select some young players to 

be part of a film, central to the final exhibit 

and featuring Rugby legend Lawrence 

Dallaglio. 

So on May 24th 2012 we sent three young 

men along to Twickenham to be part of an 

unforgettable rugby experience. 

Romy Burley (U9’s), Louis Partridge 

(U11’s) and Marcus Bailey (1stXV Vice 

Captain) at the time each becoming film 

stars for the day and now larger than life at 

Twickenham HQ. 

The new World Museum of Rugby 

re-opened in October 2013. Ironsides are 

centre stage in Zone 1, featuring the whole 

club photo and our three young players 

captured on film. 

The icing on the cake was still to come for 

young Romy and Louis. They had endeared 

themselves to the film and museum crew 

so much that still photos were also taken, 

ultimately resulting in a two and a half 

metre high panel, which welcomes you at 

the entrance to the museum. 

Ironsiders - standing tall and proud for the 

entire world rugby community to see. 

Truly – The Spirit of Rugby!

23 

Reassurance from Conor set my mind on England 

Kieran Treadwell - Harlequins and England U18s second row 

Kindly produced by permission from The Rugby Paper 

It is quite common to see young players 

with a cross-border heritage gain 

international caps with different 

countries, at different levels but doing so in 

one age group is quite rare. 

Which makes Kieran Treadwell’s story all 

the more fascinating. 

The English-born Har-lequins lock did not 

make the oat with England U1 6s so he 

tried his luck with his mother’s country, 

Ireland. and went on to earn four U18s cap 

for the Irish in 2013. 

However, the England U18 selectors soon 

realised they had missed a trick and 

recalled him for the match against the 

Aus-tralian Schoolboys last December, with 

a tour to South Africa on the horizon in 

August (see page 30). 

His past sorrows were hard to forget but his 

Pre-miership ambitions with Harlequins 

pushed hint to switch his allegiances back 

to the Red Rose. 

“I was let go by London and South East at 

U16 level so I thought I’d try my luck with 

Ireland as my mother is Irish,” he told The 

Rugby Paper. 

“I went to an Irish Exiles trial and it went 

from there really. I ended up playing four 

games for Ireland Ul8s in the 2012-13 

season. 

“But then I got a got from England Ul8s 

coach Pe ter Walton saying they were 

impressed with what they saw and they 

wanted me to go come down for training. 

“I did think about turning them down after 

what happened with the U16s plus 

Leinster and Ulster were keen on signing 

me but with my ambitions to break into the 

Harlequins first team it was better for me 

to play for England. 

“Conor O’Shea also reassured me I’d be 

given a Premiership opportunity I’m 

dreaming about as long as I deserved it so, 

since he's got a proven record when it 

comes to trusting youngsters, I decided to 

stay and play for England again.” 

As a former hurdler for Surrey, Treadwell 

matches his size (6ft 6in and 17st 91b) 

with an undeniable speed, and despite still 

attending John Fisher School he made his 

first team debut for Harlequins in the 

LV=Cup in Cardiff last January. 

Now a full-time member of the Quins set-up 

after signing a two-year professional contract, 

the 18 year-old will be looking to adapt to 

the senior game on dual-registration with 

Rosslyn Park this season, the club he grew 

up playing for, while dreaming about a 

Pre-miership call by O’Shea. 

“It was quite tough to play at senior level 

in that Cardiff game but training with the 

first team full-time at Quins helps a lot,” 

he added. 

“Being able to pick the brains of players 

like George Robson or Nick Easter every 

day is brilliant as a youngster. It’s the same 

with younger guys like Charlie Matthews or 

George Merrick because they know what 

I'm going through having been in the same 

position as me. 

“Linking up with Alex Codling at Park will 

be a great experience, too. I like the 

physicality of the game but I'm also quite 

mobile having run hurdles for Surrey. 

“I think it's crucial to have some pace in 

the modern game. I’ll be looking to put on 

a few pounds this year but keeping my 

athleticism is top of my list. 

“Next season is all about making the step 

up to senior rugby but I’d be lying if I said 

I didn’t want to make my Premiership 

debut with Quins.” 

Dorking RFC Clinch Promotion & Cup Double 

Esher 8 - Dorking 22 

Dorking Rugby Club won Promotion to 

National Division 2 as Champions, 

having narrowly missed out the 

previous season and also turned in a 

convincing performance to beat Esher 

2nd’s in the Surrey Cup Final. 

Congratulations to the 1st XV squad of 

players and coaches who ran out comfortable 

winners against Esher at Esher yesterday. A 

combination of forward power and backline 

attacking flair in the first half and committed 

defence by all in the second half 

secured the cup on a threadbare pitch. 

This was a full squad effort with all of the 

bench being used. Special mention to 

Jasper King, who at 17 years 10 days is 

probably the youngest medal winner in the 

history of the competition.

24 

Slick Guildford Overwhelm Reigatians 

Having already beaten the side from 

Park Lane twice in their triumphant 

London Two South West league 

winning campaign, Guildford were always 

going to be favourites for the Surrey Trophy 

final against Old Reigatians and they 

certainly lived up to that tag, a points laden 

opening half setting them up for a 43-5 

triumph. 

A brace from the rampaging Stuart Fee, 

along with efforts from Matt Stockdale – his 

first in Guildford colours – Mark Watkinson, 

Bertie Hopkin and Matt Shea ended the 

contest long before a beleaguered Reigatians 

unit finally found their feet midway 

through the second period. Andy Dalton 

touched down to ensure ORs left with 

something to show with their efforts, but by 

that stage James Roberts had added a 

seventh for a rampant Guildford. 

After securing promotion to London One 

South next term, Guildford boss Dave Ward 

had urged his men to go out and relish the 

occasion – and they certainly did so, 

entertaining a strong supporting contingent 

at Esher’s Molesey Road HQ. 

“I told the boys simply to go out there, 

enjoy it, and play rugby. With it being the 

last game of a long, hard season, it was 

important we finished on a high and some 

of the rugby played in the first half was 

superb,” commented Ward. 

“We gave nothing away in the close 

exchanges and some of the attacking 

patterns were as good as we’ve put together 

all season. We played rugby as it should be 

played and it’s a very positive way to go into 

the summer, which we will all enjoy, and 

give us a platform from which to build on 

when we return for pre-season in July.” 

Having blown away Sutton and Epsom in 

the semi-final a week previous, Guildford 

made a blistering start. Stuart Fee, at times 

unplayable with ball in hand, had his side 

on the front foot from the very off and he 

got the ball rolling after just two minutes, 

taking a short ball from Bertie Hopkin to go 

over unopposed. 

Fee instigated a second just minutes later, 

combining with Rory Andrews and skipper 

Jarrod Adam to tee up Matt Stockdale. The 

lock forward had all the time to stroll over 

in the right hand corner to register his first 

ever five-pointer in Guildford colours and at 

12-0, Reigatians plans on staying in the 

game for at least the opening half hour 

were well and truly shot. 

Pulled forward almost single-handedly by 

their diminutive, but hugely combative, 

open-side Will Godwin, Reigatians finally 

settled to enjoy a little possession but it 

wasn’t long until they were punished again. 

A loose ball in midfield was scooped up by 

Ben Barrow, teammates queuing up around 

him and Reigatians defence not being able 

to retreat quickly enough. Fee was the man 

to prosper, dotting down under the sticks to 

give Adam the easiest of kicks, easing 

Guildford into a 19-point lead. 

Mark Watkinson’s try, from a clinical 

catch-and-drive that would not have looked 

out of place had the host club executed 

such a move at Level Three in the pyramid, 

killed off any aspirations Jonny Hylton and 

his Reigatians coaching staff might have 

entertained of a comeback, before two late 

scores in the half most certainly did. 

Hopkin, recently named in the England 

Counties U20s side and destined for 

grander stages, made Ant Comyn pay for 

not dealing with a dink ahead from Matt 

Shea, gobbling up the loose ball to 

compound the Reigatians full-back’s 

embarrassment. His half-back partner in 

Shea wasn’t going to let Hopkin take all the 

plaudits, battling over for Guildford’s sixth 

after a quick tap and go that saw him reach 

the line just ahead of two ORs pursuers.

25 

to Claim League and Cup Double 

The second 40 was always going to be bitty, 

with Ward opting to empty his bench and 

Reigatians finally stringing together the 

phases that saw them give their opposition 

significantly more problems when the sides 

last met in mid-January. 

James Roberts did ensure the Guildford 

following, sufficiently lubricated at this 

point, had something to applaud with a 

bullocking run and fend taking him over the 

line. 

With Godwin’s engine continuing to purr 

and Ed Forsyth at scrum-half and winger 

Blaize Harris upping the energy in the 

Reigatians ranks, Andy Dalton found 

himself the final link after a number of 

well-worked phases, which resulted in the 

loose-head being freed up down a narrow 

blind-side passage. It was just reward for 

Reigatians who, despite being deprived of 

captain and lynchpin Mark Chesterton, 

refused to completely bend to Guildford’s 

all-court game. 

A delighted Jarrod Adam, speaking after his 

man-of-the-match showing, was delighted 

with not just his group’s work on the 

afternoon, but over the course of a season 

that saw the senior side hit new heights. 

“It has been a long season and this is the 

icing on the cake. We have a fantastic 

squad with bundles of spirit and heart and 

all of us, to a man, are going to enjoy what 

we have achieved this year,” said the 

Guildford captain. 

“To win the league, the London and South 

East Intermediate cup and now the Surrey 

Trophy has been just reward for the 

incredible amount of hard work that has 

gone in from players, coaches, support 

staff, volunteers and officials. 

“There are challenges ahead and we’ll meet 

them head on but there’s no doubt that 

Guildford Rugby Club is headed in the right 

direction, from senior to junior sections, 

and it’s all about pushing on now and 

making the step up to the next level.” 

Congratulations to Surrey Connected Players 

in the England Women’s World Cup Squad 

On 10th July 2014, Gary Street 

announced the England squad to go to 

France for the World Cup. 

It includes Kay Wilson and Alex 

Matthews, both of whom came through 

the Player Pathway in Surrey, Richmond 

players Claire Allen, Becky Essex and 

Emma Crocker: and La Toya Mason, who 

is employed by Surrey Rugby as the CRC 

in Kingston and Wandsworth. She can be 

seen Head to Head with Danny Care on 

the RFU website, 

http://www.rfu.com/news 

And you can help support the players, if 

you are not going to France for the World 

Cup, by tweeting them with an inspirational 

message to @EnglandRugby using 

#CarryThemHome

26 

Proving that amateur and professional 

can survive and thrive together 

The remarkable story of the rise of London Irish Amateur RFC since 1997 

In the current era when coverage of the 

professional game dominates the sport, it 

is worth recalling that the story of London 

Irish and The Avenue owes its origins to when 

the game was played for fun. London Irish is 

unique among the Premiership rugby clubs in 

that it has maintained and enhanced its 

amateur rugby activities since the game went 

professional. The Amateur Club includes the 

senior amateur team, the Wild Geese, that 

competed in National League 2 this 

season, adult teams and a host of successful 

youth and mini-rugby teams. John Hunter, 

with the help of Paddy Lennon, reviews the 

recent history of the Amateur club. 

The onset of professional rugby in 1995 

caused upheaval within the game, London 

Irish, like many clubs in this country and 

around the world, was forced to look at its 

activities and decide on its future role in the 

game. 

Prior to 1995, the club consisted of three 

principal playing elements — the first team, 

other adult teams and youth and mini-rugby. 

In 1997, the club decided that it wanted to 

continue to compete at the highest level in 

this country and in Europe and so a professional 

structure was created around the first 

team. 

The amateur teams were temporarily 

sidelined until on the initiative of 

Chris Kane, he and John Gilligan, Steve 

Teague, and Bart O'Connell met to discuss 

bringing cohesion to the amateur area of the 

club. They subsequently met with Gerry 

Gallagher, Michael Connole, Richard 

Smallbone, and John Flynn, who were 

organising the youth/mini sections, and then 

persuaded Alex Newberry, Gerry Holland, and 

Bosco McAuliffe to organise adult rugby. 

In 1998-99 season, the old team name 

long associated with the club's second team, 

The Wild Geese', was re¬vitalised and used 

to denote the first XV of the amateur club. 

Another year was to pass before the club 

was officially reconstituted in 1999, with the 

RFU, the governing body of the game in this 

country, as London Irish Amateur Rugby 

Football Club, to enable competitive rugby to 

take place under this name. The first 

President of the newly reconstituted club was 

former Ireland international 

number eight, Michael Gibson, and the 

Chairman was Chris Kane. 

In an initiative promoted by the then 

Wasps President, the Wild Geese played, in 

the 1999-2000 season, in a Merit Table 

comprising other amateur teams who had 

been sidelined by the decision of their clubs 

to go professional, clubs like London Scottish 

and Richmond. 

The club applied to Surrey County RFU in 

January 2000 and thanks to its support, was 

able to re-enter competitive amateur rugby in 

season 2000-01. The Wild Geese played in 

Surrey League 1, under the stewardship of 

club stalwarts Alex Newberry, Gerry Holland 

(coaches), and Bosco McAuliffe (manager) — 

all later to be honoured by being elected Club 

Presidents. 

The club's portfolio of adult teams at this 

time included the Wanderers (representing 

the club in the aforementioned 

Merit Table), the A2s, the Bs 

(veterans), and an U19 XV. 

In the same season, as a result of the 

Memorandum of Understanding, Noel 

Traynor, the then Club President, was invited 

to join the LIH Board as the representative of 

LIARFC. 

It took three full seasons in Surrey League 

1 before promotion was achieved by the Wild 

Geese at the end of season 2002-03. This 

was swiftly followed by promotion from 

London Division 4 in season 2003-04. 

The club settled in London 3 for three 

seasons until promotion was achieved in 

2006-07 to London 2. The 2007-08 proved 

disappointing - only two wins were recorded, 

resulting in relegation back to London 3. As 

is often the case, the demotion re-energised 

all concerned and promotion to London 2 

came for the 2009-10 season, from which 

there was to be no turning back. 

In season 2010-11, the 'Wild Geese 

achieved instant success with promotion from 

London 1 to the heights of the National 

Leagues. They started in National 3 (London & 

South East) but had to switch, in the following 

season, to National 3 (South Nest) due to 

geographical requirements. 

The 2012-13 season produced its own 

success story; the Wild Geese secured 

promotion to National League 2 at the first 

attempt, losing only one game in the process. 

As results last month show, this turned out to 

be a one season sojourn but not without its 

highlights: two high-scoring and nail-biting 

encounters with the eventual champions — 

Hartpury College. Having experienced 

competition at national level, the club is 

determined to return. 

The progression in the amateur 

leagues would have been impossible but for 

the efforts of committed coaches and 

players. Jamie Balls MBE was a highly 

successful Head Coach from 2008-09 

for four seasons, interrupted only by his 

duties in Iraq in season 2010-11, when Paul 

Dunne took over. 

A former player, coach and manager — 

Chris Magowan was appointed Director of 

Rugby in 2008, a post he held until 

late 2013. New Zealander Bevan Lynch 

(fresh from a successful period at the City of 

Derry club) took over as Head Coach for 

2012-13, and he coached the players to the 

National Division 3 League Championship in 

2013. 

The first Captain of the Wild Geese after 

its re-formation was Andy Madill, who made a 

big contribution to the redevelopment of the 

first XV. Other players of note to play for the 

Geese during the 20005 included lock 

forward Ciaran Gannon and scrum-half Karl 

Becker (both still playing with the Bs), and 

locks Dave Peters and Dave Reilly. 

Of the current group of players, centre 

Lawrence Price was the captain who led the 

Wild Geese to their prestigious promotion in 

2013, and back-row Sam McKinney (son of 

the legendary London Irish, Ireland, and 

Lions blind-side flanker, Stuart), who gained 

his honours tie in 2005-06. 

LIARFC is a large club by any standards 

with six adult, six junior and six age-groups 

of mini-rugby teams. The club is administered 

by an Executive Committee of 10-12 

people, elected annually. Since reconstitution, 

there have been four Chairmen - Chris 

Kane (1999-2003), Jack Costelloe (2003- 

06), John Gilligan (2006-09), and David 

Fitzgerald (2009 on); the last named was a 

distinguished Club captain in seasons 

1988/89 and 1989/1990. Secretaries and 

Treasurers have also been notable by their 

continuity and include Ray McLennan, Terry 

Long, and Michael Connole. 

In recent years, the interface with the 

professional club has shown a healthy mutual 

respect. Due to the standard reached via Wild 

Geese promotions, that squad's players have 

appeared regularly in A League (2nd XV) 

fixtures for London Irish (professionals) 

gaining valuable experience, with Academy 

players appearing for the Wild Geese. 

The rest of the amateur club (as distinct 

from the Wild Geese) continues to thrive, 

with the Wanderers, the Bohemians, the 

Nomads, the Bs (veterans), and Wolfhounds 

(U21 & U19) XVs, all adding their own 

lustre. Indeed, the Bs keep an age-old rugby 

tradition alive by embarking on annual 

end¬of-season tours to various parts of 

Europe, from Sofia in the East, to San 

Sebastian in the West, to Istanbul in the 

South. 

The Junior and Mini sections continue to 

flourish, with U18s 

down to U13s in the former, and 1.112s 

down to U7s in the latter. The club's Mini 

Festival has become a legendary event — the 

biggest of its kind in Britain and Ireland — 

and attracts teams both from these islands 

and beyond (see separate article). 

The move to Hazelwood ushers in a period 

of great potential for LIARFC which it is 

looking forward to capitalising on as it retains 

its special status within a remarkable rugby 

club family.

27 

Farewell to The Avenue 

As part of ‘The Wake and the ‘Farewell 

to the Avenue’ special commemorative 

day held in May – at London Irish’s 

home in Sunbury, a Surrey County XV took 

on a strong London Irish Wild Geese Side, 

in a very entertaining match. 

Additionally with a fantastic celebration 

lunch held in a huge marquee, kicking off 

the proceedings at Noon, the diary of events 

was amazing, with the highlight being a 

match between a London Irish Legends v 

Topsy Ojo & Declan Danaher Invitation XV – 

in a match littered with many famous 

Internationals over the years who had 

starred for London Irish. 

A London Irish Vets team informal match and 

demonstrations of Mini Rugby, added to the 

proceedings, which were then complimented 

with an evening of music and entertainment 

with ‘Bible Code Sundays. ’ 

I am sure many woke with sore heads on the 

Sunday morning due to the fabulous ‘send off’ 

given to the spiritual home of London Irish – 

The Avenue and now everybody looks forward 

to the new era at Hawthorns. 

We lost 55-41 which was a great effort against 

an established side considering Surrey only 

got together a few hours before kick off. 

Squad was as follows : 

LONDON IRISH WILD GEESE 

SURREY COUNTY XV 

1. Mark Watkinson – Guildford 

2. Sam Sims – Chobham 

15. CONOR 3. QUINN Luke Raynor – Old Walcountians 15. HARRY GUY – CHOBHAM 

14. PADDY 4. MCENRI Dom Sammut – Chobham 14. JOSHUA DEVITT – CHOBHAM 

13. BEN 5. KITCHING Colin O’Keeffe – © Battersea 13. Iron. TIM MCKAVANAGH – OLD WALCOUNTIANS 

12. SEAN 6. CUNNINGHAM Charlie Gossington (C) – Esher 12. TITAPU PAIRAMA – WIMBLEDON 

11. TOM 7. EASTHAM James Kirk – Guildford 11. JAMES DUNNE – CHOBHAM 

10. LIAM 

8. 

PRESCOTT 

Tom Whitehurst – Esher 

10. BRIAN COLLINS – EFFING. & LEATH. 

9. Michael McDonald – Chobham 

09. JACK HARVEY 

09. MICHAEL MCDONALD – CHOBHAM 

10. Brian Collins – Effing. & Leath. 

01. CHARLIE 

11. James 

CONNOR 

Dunne – Chobham 

01. MARK WATKINSON – GUILDFORD 

02. MIKE 12. BUNN Titapu Pairama – Wimbledon02. SAM SIMS – CHOBHAM 

03. CHRIS GREENWOOD 

03. LUKE RAYNOR – OLD WALCOUNTIANS 

04. MIKE HOLLAND 

04. DOM SAMMUT – CHOBHAM 

05. SCOTT 13. MOORE Tim McKavanagh – Old Walcountians 05. COLIN O’KEEFFE – © BATTERSEA IRON. 

06. CHRIS 14. BROWNIE Joshua Devitt – Chobham 06. CHARLIE GOSSINGTON – ESHER 

07. CAMERON 15. Harry JOBSON-WOOD Guy – Chobham 07. JAMES KIRK – GUILDFORD 

08. SAM 

16. 

MCKINNEY 

Ben Mott- Battersea Ironsides 

08. TOM WHITEHURST – ESHER 

17. Antony Penny – Effing. & Leath. 

18. Joe Henderson – Old Walcountians 

16. KELWIN 

19. 

MILES 

Ross Brooker – Guildford 

16. BEN MOTT- BATTERSEA IRONSIDES 

17. JAMES 20. CAMBELL Jon White – Wimbledon 17. ANTONY PENNY – EFFING. & LEATH. 

18. ETHAN 21. KINNEY David Woods – Old Whitgiftians 18. JOE HENDERSON – OLD WALCOUNTIANS 

19. TOM PRICE 

19. ROSS BROOKER – GUILDFORD 

20. ED HARTE Manager: Les Todd – Old Whitgiftians 20. JON WHITE – WIMBLEDON 

21. STEVE Physio: MACCONVILLE Callum Stone 

21. DAVID WOODS – OLD WHITGIFTIANS 

22. ROB KIRBY 

23. GEORGE OWEN 

MANAGER: LES TODD – OLD WHITGIFTIANS 

24. EDDIE FRAHER 

PHYSIO: CALLUM STONE 

The New London Irish Training Centre

28 

A New Dawn 

London Irish New Training Centre 

It would be remiss of us in the Editorial 

team, on today of all days, not to 

mention the absolutely wonderful new 

facility that London Irish will call home for 

generations to come. 

Yes, we are sad to leave The Avenue, 

Sunbury on Thames. Eighty years of shared 

history is a special and poignant affair. But 

as several of our Family have said across 

these pages today, it's not the end of the 

world. If anything, it's a brave new one 

which will be the envy of our peers. 

The Hazelwood development is a state of 

the art facility, fit for purpose in bringing 

both the professional and amateur enterprises 

into the new century. In fact it's an 

aspiration nothing short of putting London 

Irish ahead of the game, at the top of the 

pile, in terms of the environment we can 

offer the London Irish Family at all levels. 

In short, after today, London Irish will 

occupy the brand new £12 million training 

complex that will help to improve the 

Club's fortunes both on and off the field. 

The new home promises to be a very 

special environment for the professional 

and amateur clubs of London Irish as well 

as the local community. The new site on 

Croysdale Avenue in Sunbury is less than a 

mile away from where we stand today. 

So, to the housekeeping. The new 63-acre 

site is four times the size of the current 

training facility and will feature 17 pitches, 

five full-size pitches, one of which will have 

an artificial 4G surface, and 12 junior 

pitches. The clubhouse will be state-of-the 

art and will include all the elite equipment 

required for a professional rugby team to 

prosper. Thus in terms of practicalities, this 

is more than fit for purpose. There's good 

news in terms of prestige immediately too. 

The training facility has also been named 

on the approved list of team bases to 

potentially host one of the 20 competing 

nations at Rugby World Cup 2015. 

London Irish have partnered with Xcel 

Leisure centre in Walton-on-Thames and 

Oatlands Park hotel in Weybridge in the bid 

submitted to the 2015 Rugby World Cup 

organising committee, England Rugby 

2015. England Rugby 2015 requires up to 

50 bases for use during the tournament. 

These will be confirmed mid-2014 

following completion of team visits and 

selection. 

The thought that Ireland or a Southern 

Hemisphere giant might choose to locate to 

Hazelwood for the biggest tournament in the 

history of world rugby is a provocative one. 

The welcome to whomever took us up on the 

chance, would be warm, you can be sure. 

As we wrote in The Exile' a game or two 

ago, this aspiration to provide an environment 

fit for sporting excellence is a 

common denominator across the Premiership. 

The means to pull it off is a different 

matter, but under the auspices of the new 

owners at London Irish, the Club is set fair 

to navigate the choppy commercial waters 

of the coming seasons. 

London Irish Executive Chairman, David 

Fitzgerald has said, "This is an exciting 

time for the Club and it is gratifying that 

England Rugby 2015 have recognised what 

will be an outstanding facility. 

London Irish President Mick Crossan has 

said, "The London Irish training centre will 

provide a state of the art facility for use by 

not only the professional and amateur 

clubs of London Irish, but the whole of the 

local community. We are delighted to be 

nearing the fulfilment of our ambitious 

plans and believe that our new home 

provides a lasting legacy for our Club and 

all of those who will be using it." 

The raft of new signings for next season in 

the professional club are a seasoned and 

talented group - an astute move, but having 

lured James O'Connor to the Club with 

Sunbury as central to our pitch, Irish can 

predict with some confidence that luring 

stars will not be a problem. 

Certainly a more important dimension to 

the process is rebuilding our Academy 

system - and Hardwood will catapult what 

we offer young players into the stratosphere. 

Under the auspices of Declan 

Danaher, Giselle Mather, Billy Clark and 

our returning friends, bolstered by some 

excellent AASE performances, and the 

recent showing of the under-15 side, Irish 

have every reason to be excited about the 

future. 

This is a move about substance. A move 

that works for all the strata at this wonderful, 

unique rugby club. Our inclusive quality is 

one of our strongest suits, London Irish is 

stronger together, and no matter the 

perceptual distance we travel in leaving 

The Avenue today, it's not far to go for such 

a leap in standards for all concerned. 

Esher Golden Lions win Surrey Sevens 

Coming off the back of a fantastic 

effort at Sevens and the City the 

weekend before, Esher put in a great 

showing to retain the Surrey Sevens Cup. 

Dorking, having already rolled over Esher's 

Amateur side earlier in the tournament, 

went in to the game having won every 

match as well. 

The Golden Lions were hit by several 

injuries throughout the day but rallied 

together to trounce former winners, 

Dorking. 

Having progressed out of the group stages 

with convincing wins against Bank of 

England, Kew Invitationals and Weybridge 

Vandals, Esher went on to smash Reigations 

in their Semi-Final, putting them in 

prime position to retain the cup. 

It was all one way traffic in the final as the 

Golden Lions stormed home 52-7, letting 

in one solitary Dorking try. The home team 

lifted the trophy for the second year and 

the Surrey Sevens looks to be a tournament 

this young side will dominate for years to 

come. 

It was a great day all round, see a selection 

of photos below and visit the Golden Lions 

sponsor Trinidad & Tobago.

29 

Streatham – Croydon RFC 

Hosts a Successful Schools & Club Sevens 

Surrrey Rugby CRC Chris Spedding put together a 

fantastic school to clubs 7s event for U15’s which 

took place at Streatham-Croydon RFC on the 

afternoons of 11th and 15th June. On the Wednesday 

it was a schools event featuring South London 

Emerging Schools. At the end of the event a ‘Schools 

Barbarians’ side was selected to play in the Sunday 

tournament (15th) and featured local clubs U15 

sides…..as well as inviting all the other school 

participants to come along to the event as well. 

The objective was to transition as many youngsters 

as possible from School to Club rugby by making 

introductions etc on the Sunday to their local clubs. 

Old Emanuel 

Old Emanuel down to 

9 players in pool of 

5 win semi final and 

final of Surrey 7s Bowl

30 

A Great Surrey finals day! 

Dorking celebrate winning 

the Surrey Cup in style. 

Jeremy Waud of Incentive 

Media – one of our kind 

sponsors, presents the Trophy 

to the winning Guildford captain.

31 

Old Wimbledonians jubilant side after their 

narrow victory over, Old Walcountians. 

Keith Heal, President of 

Surrey presents the award 

to the winning Old 

Guildfordians Captain.

32 

Surrey Rugby Junior Awards 

at Twickenham, HQ 

Surrey Junior Awards- George 

Merrick, Harlequins, England 

Under 20 and former Mitcham 

lock forward presents an award 

to one of the lucky winners. 

Surrey Junior Awards - 

George Merrick, presents 

two awards to two delighted 

young ladies winners.

33 

Another successful Surrey Senior 

Awards & Dinner Evening 

at Twickenham 

Surrey Senior Awards - 

A delighted Chobham RFC 

receive a Club Development 

Award from Surrey 

President, Keith Heal. 

Surrey Senior Awards - 

President Keith Heal 

presents two very 

happy ladies winners 

with their awards.

34 

Surrey Clubs Conference at Twickers 

Every two or three years there are 

enough pressing club development 

issues to warrant organising a Surrey 

Clubs Conference. This year, pre RWC2015 

was an ideal opportunity. 

The venue was an obvious choice - HQ, 

Twickenham Stadium, the Elgar suite and 

Brunel rooms in the South Stand, giving 

delegates an opportunity to see and sample 

the inside of this magnificent facility. 

Twickenham Experience Ltd run the 

hospitality side of the stadium, and their 

catering is first rate. The timing – out of 

season, with an early start and a lunchtime 

finish seemed to be a popular choice. 

We put on six parallel themes, three 

covering Club Development issues and 

three covering Game Development topics, 

as well as a keynote address from Andy 

Coslett of RWC2015 and Simon Winman of 

the RFU. 

All in all there were 140 people attending 

the conference, from 35 different clubs, 

Surrey Rugby and the RFU. The networking 

possibilities of the event were as important 

as the information distribution and 

discussions that went on. 

As everything revolved round the playing of 

rugby in Surrey during 2014-15, the 

turnout was a significant success in itself. 

It’s hard to comment on the feedback as the 

Office only received two (complimentary) 

replies to the form that was sent to 

participants. So we have to assume that no 

news is good news. There will be another 

conference, probably with a similar format, 

when there are enough rugby issues to 

demand that it happens again. 


SURREY RUGBY

35 

Another Award for Sutton & Epsom RFC Girls Selection 

Garry Jones, James Peters, Rob 

Peart-Smith, Annette Thompson & 

Sam Phillips all attended the Surrey 

Youth Games Awards Ceremony along with 

the Youth Girls Tag Team on Wednesday 

16th July 2014. The awards were held at 

the Epsom Playhouse to celebrate the 

achievements of all of the Epsom & Ewell 

participants in this years Surrey Youth 

Games. This year the girls achieved a 

Bronze Medal following 12 Wednesday 

night training sessions on the Cabbage 

Patch at Rugby Lane. 

Sutton and Epsom RFC was awarded the 

Charlie Steer Shield for the Most Supportive 

Club. This award recognises a community 

club which goes above and beyond to 

support the Youth Games and Sutton and 

Epsom demonstrated this via the growth of 

the Youth Girls Section at the club, which 

has seen the club generate around 15 girls 

following the 2013 Surrey Youth 

Games. After the 2014 Games, 

this number has risen to well 

over 30 with many more looking 

to join in September. Garry 

Jones was commended for the 

outstanding managerial role he 

played in the Surrey Youth 

Games Squad (which consisted 

of 2 teams, Epsom and Ewell 

were one of only two boroughs 

to achieve such a number). 

Sutton and Epsom was commended for the 

infrastructure put into place to allow so 

many girls to take up rugby. 

Kyle McInerney RIP 

It is with the most enormous sadness that we 

have to announce that Old Ruts and Rutlish 

School Under 16 Kyle died in hospital 

yesterday following a rugby training session. 

Kyle came to rugby late but in his own 

quiet way worked really hard to establish 

himself as first choice prop this season for 

the U16’s at Club and School and he will 

be sorely missed both on and off the field 

by his fellow players and coaches. 

The whole Old Ruts family will want to 

send their condolences to Carol, Ricky, 

Albert and all the family and friends of 

Kyle at this very difficult time. 

The Club will of course mark Kyle’s passing 

in an appropriate way and will let everyone 

know about that. 

Mike Stallard 

Chair, Youth Rugby, Old Ruts 

Congratulations to Dulwich School 

Huge congratulations to Dulwich School 

for winning the Nat West Schools Cup 

at Twickenham for an amazing three 

years on the trot… This year Dulwich beat 

Warwick convincingly by 53pts to 5pts. 

On Saturday Dulwich College won their 

third Schools Cup in succession, beating 

Warwick 53-5. 

‘Back to back to back’ was the chant from 

supporters after the semi-final against RGS 

High Wycombe and it was to be proved 

right at Twickenham before an excited and 

appreciative crowd of boys, staff, parents, 

OAs and Dulwich friends. 

The game saw inspiring leadership from 

Felix Maddison, a hat-trick from Anthony 

Nzegwu, at least three of the eight scores 

being created by School Captain Ali Neden 

and three players - Josh Ibunaokpe, Joe 

Charnley and John Winter - all collected 

their third winners’ medals. 

Dulwich - with 22 boys lucky enough to take 

the field - played outstandingly well. All the 

team members joined the College in Years 

3, 7 or 9 and have trained under the 

expertise of the College's coaches. Master 

In Charge of Rugby, Sam Howard, remarked: 

‘This really is a fantastic achievement and is 

PHOTO 

testament to all the players’ hard work 

and passion for the game.’ The final score 

proved to be the second highest in a 

Schools Cup final since 1993 and this 

momentous occasion was celebrated in 

fine and gracious spirit by players and 

spectators alike.

36 

RUGBY FORCE 

PHOTO 

The photo shows some of the members hard at work on Day One of this special weekend 

Woking RFC are one of the many 

Surrey Clubs who participate in the 

Nat West Rugby Force Weekend

37 

Leadership Academy Graduates Honoured 

John Sillwood 

Keith Heal, President, presented 

awards to fifteen rugby leaders from 

across Surrey who recently completed 

the RFU Leadership Academy. 

Awards were presented on 4th June 2014 

at Twickenham Stadium where candidate’s 

achievements were recognised followed by 

a celebratory three-course dinner. 

The RFU Leadership Academy, sponsored 

by MARSH, the official insurance broker to 

the RFU, has existed since 2005. The 

Academy helps identify the next generation 

of rugby leaders and provides high quality 

training aimed at developing their skills 

and confidence. Networking opportunities 

allow delegates to share common experiences 

and solve issues. 

Invited to the celebration were John 

Douglas, Trevor Sokell and Malcolm Caird 

who freely gave their time and expertise to 

act as Surrey RFU mentors. After specialist 

training, they supported the candidates 

throughout the programme. 

The Surrey RFU Leadership Academy 

graduates honoured were: 

Steve Adam & Julie Craig (Richmond), 

Richard Cotgrove (Battersea Ironsides), 

Harry Rodd (Old Walcountians), David 

McGuigan (Old Reigatian), Tom Beresford 

(Reigate), Gordon May (Old Emanuael), 

Owen Jones (Streatham & Croydon), Jack 

Smale, Teresa Bennett & Stuart Turner 

(Egham Hollowegians), Lian Cranford 

(Chobham), Kevin Coyle (London Irish), 

Kate Gulliver & Fabrizio Maffi (Weybridge 

Vandals). 

The general consensus among the graduates 

was that the Academy was a very 

worthwhile initiative which will help secure 

the necessary skills and knowledge for 

successful club management in the future. 

Listed below are some of the comments 

received from the graduates: 

I really enjoyed the RFU Leadership 

Academy. It was an excellent mix of club, 

management and personal skill development. 

Another enjoyable aspect was the 

networking opportunity with other clubs 

and learning from their experiences. 

Fantastically organised, a high standard of 

presenters and overall, I’m really pleased I 

took the course. 

The course was a great opportunity to learn 

from other clubs in the area and the RFU 

but having left behind the rivalries and 

politics. 

The course had some great core content 

and the rest of it was not at all prescriptive 

so we were able to have a lot of input into 

what was covered which helped hugely. 

It was a great chance to see how different 

all of the clubs are but also to realise that 

they all face mostly the same issues and 

that sharing experiences can therefore be 

enormously beneficial. 

Everyone was most grateful to the mentors 

for helping to facilitate a great shared 

learning experience and to Alex Thompson 

from the RFU who did a terrific job in 

organising the Academy. 

Further information about the RFU 

Leadership Academy is available from Alex 

Thompson, RFU Club Management & 

Governance Manager, 

AlexThompson@rfu.com 

Fred Batchelor 

Congratulations to Fred Batchelor who 

we have lost as our Discipline 

Secretary after many years, as he has 

gone on to greater things as ESRFU 

(England Schols RFU) representative on 

the RFU Council. 

Fred has been a Surrey Rugby stalwart for 

many years, and was also recently our 

esteemed President for two years. His 

career spans time in schools as a History 

teacher and 1st XV coach, as a Chief 

Examiner, as a Surrey Youth manager, age 

group selector and time on the English 

Schools RFU committee. He’s fitted that 

round being a father, grandfather, and 

charitable work building orphanages in 

Romania and elsewhere. 

He is a classic example of the wisdom of 

giving an important job to a busy man! 

Well done to you Fred. 


SURREY RUGBY

38 

Touring Vandals Vets 

contribute to the growth of rugby in Cuba 

Weybridge Vandals RFC undertook a 

veterans tour to Cuba in Spring 

2014, continuing a touring tradition 

that started back in 1990. As well as 

playing two games, the tourists took time 

out to visit a Cuban school and provide 

them with some gifts to assist them with 

their education and promote their ongoing 

participation in rugby. 

38 players representing the Surrey based 

club, made the journey to Cuba, where they 

played against Havana based Indios Caribe. 

The two match series was held at the 

Ciudad Deportiva on the outskirts of 

Havana. The UK ambassador to Cuba, Tim 

Cole dropped in to see the first game which 

was won by the local team 31-22. The 

return fixture 4 days later saw the Vandals 

team revert to a forward dominated game 

and level the series. 

As well as providing their opponents with 

various bags of kit, the tourists made a trip 

out into the countryside to visit one of the 

handful of rugby playing primary schools on 

the island, Los Mártires de Tarará. After 

watching the tag rugby and gymnastic 

displays put on by the children a significant 

amount of stationery and playing kit 

was handed over to the teachers to 

distribute to the school children. 

The tour leader, Terry Berry commented 

"Through the generosity of our tourists and 

sponsors, we have been able to make a 

significant contribution to the school. It is 

hoped that they will continue to offer rugby 

to their pupils and that one day, Cuba go 

on to produce an international star.” 

This was a view that was echoed by Chukin 

Chao, the president of the Indios Caribe 

club who had been instrumental in 

arranging the school visit. He was a long 

standing member of Cuba’s first club, 

which was established back in 1992. The 

Indios Caribe have come a long way since 

hosting their first match against a touring 

team from the Cayman Islands in 1993 

and now have a full range of teams from 

minis through to vets. 

Chukin is also the head of the Cuban Rugby 

Vandels in action in 

their second match 

Development Group, which is working with 

the Cuban sports ministry to establish a 

national rugby federation. This is a key 

stepping stone in the journey towards 

Cuba’s recognition as an IRB member. 

Fabrizio Maffi, Weybridge Vandals RFC’s 

Mini and Junior Chair, summed up the 

feelings of the touring party: “It was a 

poignant experience to see the reaction of 

the children and there teachers when we 

arrived and throughout our visit. The 

facilities at their school were very basic and 

it is hoped that our gifts to fellow members 

of the ‘rugby family’ will make a real 

difference to them and their education.” 

Derek Mugford 

Derek has been an outstanding 

volunteer as Youth League Fixture 

Secretary for many many years, going 

back to the era of using result cards and 

snail post. 

Recently he always kept the web site 

scores recorded as up-to-date as is 

humanly possible. Derek has always been 

very professional in his dealings with the 

various team managers. 

During this time he was spending a great 

deal of his career under the sea, working 

on the development and testing of the 

latest class submarine. 

While running the Surrey Leagues, he 

would leave home on the BAE Monday 

morning flight from Farnborough to 

Barrow-in-Furness, returning late on 

Thursday, when he would then focus on the 

Surrey leagues. 

If it was not for Derek’s dedication, the 

Surrey Leagues would never have been 

anywhere nearly as successful as they have 

been. Despite many changes in the 

Management of Surrey Youth Rugby, Derek 

has remained the rock on which everything 

has stood. 

Everyone who has had dealings with him 

over the years will miss Derek terribly. Many 

clubs have expressed their appreciation now 

that he has resigned from the role after 

many years sterling service. 


SURREY RUGBY


Surrey Rugby 

Thanks all of our sponsors 

for their support 

SURREY RUGBY 

Surrey Rugby endorses and wholly supports the 

RFU Code of Rugby/Core Values ethos, and fully 

expects all Clubs and Schools to do as well. 

SURREY RUGBY 

Everyone involved in Rugby in England, whether as a player, coach, referee, administrator, 

parent or spectator is expected to uphold the Core Values of our sport. 

Teamwork | Respect | Enjoyment | Discipline | Sportsmanship 

» Play to win – but not at all costs. 

» Win with dignity, lose with grace. 

» Observe the Laws and regulations of the game. 

» Respect opponents, referees and all participants. 

» Reject cheating, racism, violence and drugs. 

like. 

» Value volunteers and paid officials alike. 

» Enjoy the game

4kHtkX7iT

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