Chichester Rugby Club celebrate the return of the sport
Chichester Rugby Club will resume training when the start gun for sport is fired at the end of the month, declaring: It feels like a return to the light.
They have been working hard behind the scenes to plan for the 202122 season and are now planning how training sessions will work when the sporting shutdown ends on March 29. And 2021-22 is set to be an exciting season at Oaklands Park.
Director of rugby Paul Colley said: “It’s been a long difficult winter for everyone, but in these challenging times Chichester RFC has not rested on its laurels.
“The committee and coaching team have used the time to discuss and plan how we can emerge from this pandemic and bounce back for the 21-22 season.
“The RFU has posted a series of ‘return to rugby’ dates for our level. While there are still some further dates to be confirmed we will start our return with a club-wide Zoom meeting to launch our return.
“It will be held a week today (March 25) with a fascinating session in this Lions year from Guy Richardson on his experiences as director of operations for the British Lions from 2009 to 2013.
“We will hopefully get some fantastic insights on some of the learnings at the ultimate level of British rugby.
“We will return to training from March 29 and slowly build it in line with RFU guidance. While it may be possible to have some form of contact matches versus other clubs in May, we will probably develop our training inhouse.
“The plan is to have a gradual build up the start of the 21-22 season which kicks off on September 4.
“We will have a least two warm-up matches in August, potentially three. Details will be announced over the next couple of months. Next season we hope to run three senior men’s sides, a ladies’ team and resurrect our colts team.
“The first team will be in London 1 South with some fascinating fixtures; the second XV, having been crowned Hampshire one champions in the 1920 season, will compete in the Hampshire Premiership and our threes will also be in the Hampshire leagues.
“We are at the beginning of the long road back – here’s to the return back into the light.
“We encourage all players new or established to get to training from March 29. Details will be posted on our club website.”