LONDON & SE
RHAP ARTISTS Rhapsody RFC, thought to be the UK’s first female-only rugby club, are recruiting new and experienced players over the age of seven. Founders Alex Wilson and Tye Matthews are seasoned head coaches dedicated to growing the women’s and girls’ game in Sussex. The club is based at Southgate Park, Crawley, where they are ground-sharing with St Francis RFC.
MARK TWO Mark Pollard had ample time to plan this season’s strategy for
Gosport & Fareham in Hampshire Premier after becoming head coach in June 2020. Pollard, 41, has been at Gos for 17 years, mainly as a player, and said: “I love this club. We’ve had the highs of winning the Hampshire Cup and London One, but also the lows of relegation in the past few seasons.” HARD WORK PAYS OFF It’s great to be back in action – but Brighton Blues coach Frank Taggart admitted to some butterflies in his squad when the big moment finally came. Blues won 57-38 at CS Stags in London Premier and Taggart said: “We’d trained hard for 12 weeks. It’s different when league points are at stake but we dealt with it well.”
A DAY FOR HEROES The Sussex RFU thanked frontline workers by staging a match between the Emergency Services and a Sussex Invitation XV at East Grinstead, home club of Matt Ratana, who was killed in September 2020 while serving as a police officer in Croydon. The Invitation XV won 52-29.
COLTS INITIATIVE Haverhill &
District, newcomers to Eastern Counties One West, are establishing a colts’ section to maintain the club’s momentum. Captain Zac Evans said: “Going forward this is vital for the club.”
LANDMARKS Welwyn and Felixstowe are both celebrating their 90th anniversary. Welwyn slipped to Three North-West last year but coach Gareth Hughes said: “We’re not shying away from wanting promotion. We’ll probably have some bumpy roads along the way but we can make this a memorable season. Josh Milton, our new captain, is leading from the front.”
Felixstowe, of Eastern Counties Two South, have a black-tie ball on 6 Nov.
FAMILY FORTUNES Happy families was the name of New Milton’s game when three fathers and sons shared in the third XV’s 22-7 win over Kingsclere. Dad Steve Dossett and his boy Ollie, Joe Short and son Gabe, and Paul Eldridge and his lad Joe all relished the occasion.
Three South-West club Petersfield now have a third floodlit pitch seven years after first seeing the light. Spokesman Paul Harrington said: “Over the five seasons up to and including 2019-20, our floodlit pitches had been used by more than 23,000 players!”
UNBOWED Winchester, with a young team, were not downhearted by a 41-10 defeat in Two South-West on the artificial pitch at Chiswick. Coach Gareth Martin said: “I was so impressed. They’ve adapted incredibly well to the challenges of senior rugby.”
GEECH SPEECH Sir Ian McGeechan, the Lions legend, will be guest speaker at Holt’s 60th anniversary dinner on 17 December, while Alresford are marking their 30th year by offering free adult rugby membership with no playing fees.
THE THREE DECREES Chichester
coach Scott Ashley is eyeing promotion from One South after making good use of lockdown. He said: “There were three key messages. One was ‘all-in’, if you commit to us, you really commit.
“Two was ‘relentless’ in everything. And third was ‘tribe’ – supporting each other. The vision is promotion and we feel we’re in the right place to move up.”
POINTS BONANZA How’s this for a point-scoring duo? Fly-half Sean Crozier and five-try centre Liam Dunkley, on his debut, amassed 47 between them as
Heathfield & Waldron secured an 87-7 win over Crawley in Three South-East. Crozier converted 11 of the 13 tries.
Wanstead, of Two North East, have installed two top-quality pitches, called Centenary Fields, at their redeveloped home ground in Roding Lane North in Woodford and unveiled a war memorial in honour of their fallen players.
MUCH MISSED Pat Karama, a 1980s wing for Saracens, Wasps and Finchley, has died aged 63. After returning to his grass-roots club, he transformed Finchley’s fortunes as captain and hung up his first-team boots in 1990. When retiring from vets’ rugby in 2009 he had notched up 1,000 appearances, man and boy, for the club.