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COUNTY DIARY Entries in the County diary do not necessarily imply endorsement of the event by Essex County RFU. For information please contact the third party advertiser direct.
2009
June Friday 12th June Annual Dinner & Presentation Evening at the Orsett Hall
Guest Speaker - John Bentley July
Monday 6th July
Sat-Sun 18th/19th July
Bancroft RFC
Autumn Internationals 14 November - Argentina 21 November - New Zealand 28 November - Fiji
2010 - 6 Nations:
6
February - England v Wales -
14
February (Sunday) -
27
February -
13
March -
20
March -
Cash Back Scheme for Clubs
Seal of Approval and Club SX
For further details click on the Award
Essex County RFU
Seal of Approval Clubs
Westcliff
Southend
Braintree
Rochford
Witham
Thurrock Thames Clacton Brentwood Eton Manor Basildon
Funding & Facilities
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News from the County September 13th ( Back on line)
National Two South With no Essex Clubs at level 5 (This Season) we have six clubs at level six in London 1 North ( formerly London 2 North). Brentwood beat their Herts rivals Harpenden 27 - 21 and Chingford turned the tables on strongly fancied Civl Service with a 30 - 19 win at home. Rochford had a dismal day as they entertained Bury loosing 13 - 30 at Home. Woodford enjoyed the trip to Stevenage as they came away with the points following a 23 - 31 win and though the score of the Eton Manor v Westcliff match was failed to make the results sheets, this was a win for Westcliff by 33- points to 20 London Two North East (Formerly London 3 NE). There are eight geographical Essex clubs in this league this season albeit that three of them are affiliated to Eastern Counties. Top score of the day went to Colchester who beat Mersea Island 10 - 42. They were closely followed by Braintree who beat Sffron Walden 39 0 22 then Thurrock who beat Norwich 5 - 34. Romford & GP travelled up the M11 to Harlow, where under new Coach Mark Collins they earned a very respectful 7 - 32 win. Chelmsford also found their winning touch as they beat Ipswich 12 - 19. In the only other match in this league Sudbury beat Enfield Ignations 16 - 12 London Three North East ( Formerly London 4 NE). Seven Essex clubs in this league this season which will lead to some excellent local derby's. A close call at Dagenham where Basildon just ran out winners by 20 points to 24. Wanstead travelled to Lowestoft and came off second best loosing 29 - 11. A close finish took place at Hall Lane where South Woodham Ferrers made the first half tries count as they held off a second half comeback by Upminster at Hall Lane to win by 17 points to 19. Canvey Island made the first of their long trips up to North, to West Norfolk and made the trip worth it with a find win by 9 points to 22. Unfortunately Billericay could not replicate the winning pattern and lost to Wisbech by 22 points to 5. In the only other match in this league Wymondham lost to Beccles 15 - 26. Essex 1 - This season, eleven clubs make up Essex 1 with Billericay being reinstated at the last minute to London 3 NE following some emendations elsewhere in the Country with leagues and level transfers. Old Cooperians topped the league after week one with a 27 - 7 win over Upper Clapton. Thames beat Old Brentwood's 26 - 39 to go into second place. East London surprised Ilford Wanders as they took home th points with a 5 - 17 win and at Maldon, Millwall lost their first match for some time as they came up against a determined Maldon team who won this one 25 - 17. I believe the Bancroft Campion match ended in a 0 - 0 draw whilst for the first week, Clacton sat this one out. Essex 2 - Having merged Essex two and Three this season to give us a 12 club league adn help clubs have a more meaningful fixture list it will be interesting to establish if there is much difference between the two leagues. There were no massive differences in scores this week which bodes well for the future. Ending up on top in week 1 is May & Baker who beat Brightlingsea 5 - 29. Kings Cross Steelers also earned themselves a win beating Loughton 33 - 14. Pegasus Palmerians beat Burnham 7 - 26 and Stanford beat Phantoms 26 - 7. In was pleasing to see Witham back on the score sheets although they lost to Ongar 12 - 27. Calling all you budding referees - an ELRA course has been arranged for the 4th and 11th October at Billericay RFC - for more info return to our Rugby First home page or click here
July 1st
June 12th Next seasons fixtures can now be downloaded from the London and SE division web site at www.rfulondon.com London One North Formally London two north -level 6 London One South Formally London two south - Level 6 London Two North East Formally London Three North East -Level 7 London Three North East Formally London Four North East - level 8
With 24 clubs now in the Essex leagues we have now merged the clubs into two leagues to give you all more league games during the season. The structure means that each club will regularly have at least 11 home and 11 away games, thereby helping clubs to be more sustainable. News regarding any Cup competitions will be circulated as soon as possible and will feature on the spare dates. Essex One Still Essex one but with 12 clubs Level 9 Essex Two Merged with Essex 3 with 12 clubs at level 10
MAY 22nd The Essex lead was short lived as from the kick off, some weak defending saw Kent's Buster Collins power his way over the line for the first try of the match, The conversion was made by Kent's fly half and captain Martin Beaumont to take the Kent lead to 10 - 3. Four minutes later, Greatrex added another 3 points to the Essex Score with another penalty 10 - 6. As both sides settled into the match honours were even in terms of territory. It took another twenty minutes for the next score to come when following Kent pressure on the Essex 22 a penalty was awarded to Kent for an indiscretion in the ruck and the three points from the boot of Beaumont gave Kent a 13-6 half time lead. Kent began the second half strongly and Essex did well to prevent Kent from increasing the score. Five minutes into the half though, Kent managed to break through with a try by No 8 Collins and with the conversion missed, Kent had an 18 - 6 lead. Essex woes were increase when prop Luke Irvine was adjudged to have used his shoulder in a tackle and was shown the yellow card. Despite being one man down Essex kept up pressure of their own in the Kent half and were eventually awarded a difficult penalty on the 10 metre line which Greatrex converted into three points to keep Essex in touch with the score at 18 - 9. Kent however made good use of the yellow card and increased their lead 8 minutes later when Beaumont opened up the Essex defence to score a try under the posts which he then converted to take the score to 25 - 9. Another unconverted try shortly afterwards by Canterbury's James Birnage gave Kent an unassailable lead at 30 - 9. Despite being 21 points behind Essex continued to play some good attacking rugby as well as defending well. With just minutes to go before the final whistle Thurrock's Darryl Worster made sure it was Essex who had the last word. The backs were given good ball which was quickly passed out to Worster on the left wing, who then won the race for the line with an excellent well worked try. The conversion attempt drifted wide of the posts. The try gave Essex a boost but it was too late and the referee blew for full time with the score at 30 - 14 to Kent. In the other semi final Durham just beat Oxford who Essex beat last weekend. Despite loosing the semi final Coach Andy Cappaert praised the efforts of the Essex team, several of whom had been called up at the last minute due to other players being unavailable.
May 16th It took eleven minutes for the first score to go on the board and these were to Oxford, when they were awarded a penalty just inside the 22 for an infringement in the ruck. Oxford's stand off Sam Portland duly claimed the points to give Oxen the lead. From the restart Essex though managed to win a ruck on the Oxen 10 meter line and a tactical kick by fly half Luke Greatrex was caught on the wing by Southend's Mark Billings who outstripped the Oxen defence to score his first try of the afternoon under the posts. Greatrex gave Essex the two conversion points and Essex a 7 - 3 lead. A lack of concentration following the try and a deep restart by Oxen, caught the Essex defence unawares and Oxen regained the lead a minute later as full back Huw Jones weaved his way past the Essex defence for a try just wide of the posts. Converting his own try Oxen regained the lead 7 - 10. Both sides played some excellent rugby and it was Essex who took the next initiative. Greatrex once again controlling matters behind the scum. A flick to Andrew Frost saw the Southend full back slip through the first lien of the Oxford defence and with a crafty back reverse pass saw the ball go to his Southend colleague Billings, who was running up running in close support> Billings then turned on the pace to sprint 30 years for his second try under the posts. Greatrex converted to give Essex a 14 - 10 lead. Five minutes later, pressure on the Oxen 22 led to a penalty for Essex, and Andrew Frost slotted a difficult kick, between the posts to take the Essex lead to 17 - 10. The restart put Essex under pressure and in a messy ruck, Oxen were awarded a penalty just on the stoke of half time converted by stand off James Cathcart to make the half time score Essex 17 - 13 Oxford. With news coming in the Durham were beating East Midlands at Darlington, Essex knew that to get into the next round they had to win this match by at least 4 clear points and Danny Cleary took the message to heart as following some intense pressure in the Oxen half following the half time restart, he popped up on the right wing to jink his way over the line to give Essex another valuable 5 points with a try. Greatrex was unable to convert the difficult kick but this gave Essex a 22-13 lead. It took twenty five minutes for the next points to be scored as both teams battled to score the next points. It was Oxford though that at this point of the match who broke away through their Oxford University No 8 Stan McKeen who crashed over the line for a try converted by Cathcart to make the score 22 - 20. Two points were not enough but Essex kept up the pressure and several replacements were made. With just five minutes left on the clock, Barking's Marcus Bloomberg took a tap down from a line out on the Oxen 22 and running up the blindside sold a brilliant dummy to the Oxen full back and touch down for a try and take the score to 27 - 20. The conversion attempt again a strong wind went just wide of the posts but the points difference had been re-established. There followed a great period of defensive and attacking play by both sides, but Essex held of for their win which now gives them a semi final match next Saturday against our Shepherd Neame neighbours Kent. The match is due to be held at Gravesend RFC with a 2.30 pm Kick off. Oxen also go through to the next round, but travel to Durham for their match.
Seal of Approval for Eton Manor Prior to the County Match President Gerry Mansfield was pleased to award Eton Manor with the ir Seal of Approval awards and their award for coming first in the London North Regional Nominations in the RFU Presidents Awards for their Seal of Approval project. Pictured are President Gerry Mansfield, Eton Manor Chairman Martin Pearl, and Seal of Approval project leaders, Neil Taylor ( Secretary) and Terry Burton (Chairman of Youth)
May 10th Following their win a couple of weeks ago in the Shepherd Neame Essex Senior Cup Final "Chingford's 1ST XV are once again touring the USA, this year going to Tampa Bay in Florida. Chingford who in the last 11 years have visited the USA 10 times, missing out only after the September the 11th attacks, as a sign of respect. This year though, travelling with Chingford as a Rugby Ambassador, and hopefully having some sort of run around will be the Worlds Most Capped Front Row Forward and President of Barking - Jason Leonard."
May 9th Dorset & Wilts 21 - 20 Essex RFU The second half began in much the same way as the first half ended, but Essex began to put their game together and put pressure on the D&W line. The pressure gave way to a penalty for Essex and the points were gratefully collected by stand off Luke Greatrex who came on as a replacement for Ian Rudgley. From the restart, D&W got the points back with a penalty of their own for Essex indiscretions at the breakdown making the score 13-6. A quickly taken kick off to the right wing instead of to the forwards was collected by the backs and quick inter passing passing from Vaughan gave Billings an opening to the try line as he outpaced the D&W defence for a well taken try converted by Greatrex to level the scores at 13 -13. The euphoria of the try was short lived as once again D&W put pressure on the Essex line from the deep restart and once again Essex gave away a penalty for an infringement in the ruck giving D&W's No 10 Westall an easy kick at goal to put D&W back in the lead 16 -13. With five minutes left in the match left wing Tyson Lewis, who had always looked capable of scoring tries, received clean ball at pace and outstripped the covering D&W defence to score his first try and take the score to 16 - 18. With Greatrex again converting this gave Essex a 16 - 20 lead. But D&W were determined to regain the lead and in the closing minutes of the game it was their turn to outwit the Essex defence to score a try out wide on their right and win the match 21-20. With seconds left on the clock Essex managed to get the ball to Lewis who in a desperate covering tackle, this time was bundled into touch to end the game. Essex now face Oxfordshire, (who last week beat D&W 34 - 10) on Saturday 16th May at Eton Manor, Kick off 3pm. Needing a clear points difference of 29 points the task will be difficult but is attainable. Should make for a great match so please come along and give your team your support
May 2nd
U17's Buffs Cup Final
Essex U15s finished a credible 4th in the County XIIs tournament held at Ruislip RFC, Saturday 2nd May. Having lost their two previous fixtures, it was important for the team to get an early win. This came in the first match with a 7-5 victory over Kent. Debutant Jon Mutoka scored Essex’s try from inside his own 22 metre area with Harry Branch converting. A Devon Baronet try which he converted himself led to a 7-0 victory in the next match vs Hampshire and a clean sweep of the group was completed with a 10-0 victory over Sussex. Essex tries came for Charlie Creak and Robert Bird. The semi final saw Essex come up against eventual joint winners Surrey. A disastrous start led to Surrey scoring three early tries and leading 21-0 after no more than five minutes. However, an immense effort saw Essex score 4 tries through Curtis Allen, Ashley Boyce, Alex Calvert and Jon Mutoka to get within a point of Surrey. Unfortunately a late try secured a 28-20 win for Surrey, leaving Essex with a 3rd place play-off against Hampshire. Fatigue got the better of the team who were unable to repeat their earlier victory over Hampshire, losing three tries to one. Devon Baronet’s try was converted by Josh Townsend. Congratulations must go to all players in the squad on an excellent performance and thanks to the coaches, Gavin Maude, Nigel Branch and Mick Townsend
National Emerging Schools
Finals Well done all the Essex Schools who took part in this competition in the early rounds, around the County ,organised and supported by our RDO Keith Green and CRC's Simon Hoult, Dean Cutting and Scott Murphy.
April 30th Sir Trevor Brooking opens a new sporting facility at Memorial Park, Newham. The facility includes a full size floodlit rubber crumb. Adjacent to East London RFC the pitch will provide all weather training facilities to the three East London based rugby clubs of East London, Steelers and Phantoms. Provision of the facility was made available in a joint funding project between the local authority, the Football Association and the RFU.
April 29th April 26th
Essex
Senior Cup Final Day
In the U15's Cup Final South Woodham Ferrers just edged out Chelmsford but the U16's final was convincing won by Romford who beat Woodford . A match in which Woodford were complimented on their "Never give up" attitude.
April 25th
April 12th April 9th
Kieran Ball, Felsted School and Romford &GP earns his England Cap as he representw England in an exciting match against Italy in the Four Nations tournament in Wales. Playing at prop and up against an Italian side who on average were 4/5 months older than the England team Keiran had an excellent first match wearing an England shirt at Llandovery RFC. With a final score of 14-13 England were left rueing some missed opportunities. Kieran now look forward to playing against Wales at Par Y Scarlet's on Sunday, with the final match against the French U17's taking place at Cardiff Arms Park on Wednesday
April 5th The second half started in similar vein with Essex having excellent spells of possession and putting pressure on Middlesex. But handling errors and some excellent Middlesex work in the centres increased Middlesex lead to 32-5. Despite being so far behind Essex never failed to continue to try and play rugby and their efforts produced their second try of the afternoon to take the score to 32-10. However, Ogbaonna finished the match with an excellent run to score under the posts to make the final score 39-10.
March 29th
This weekend it was the turn of Chelmsford to to hear the Bishops sermon under the guidance of the Very Revered Richard Austin. With Chelmsford calling on support from their neighbours at Braintree there was a real expectancy in the air that the Bishops had met their match. But it was not to be as the Bishops drawing on their experience and inner strength eventually ran out winners by 31 points to 24.
Barking won an exciting U19 Colts Final 20 - 10 on Sunday at Bancroft RFC. Displaying a side with several youngsters already having had a taste of first team rugby at National Three level, Barking came out in confident mood. Chelmsford though were there to spoil the party and very nearly did. Both sides were full of players who had played with and against each other over the years in inter club and county matches so they knew each other fairly well. Therefore there were no inhibitions as both sides battled it out for the Cup. It was not until the final quarter of the game that Barking opened up a 20 - 10 gap which was just too much for Chelmsford. March 21/22 Sun Shines on Festival of Golden TriesThis year, Essex again had many of their girls away representing the East Region at Lichfield RFC at the RFUW Regional Youth Festival. 650 girls descended upon the West Midlands club and enjoyed two days of competitive rugby and the glorious Spring sunshine inspired the players to lift their game, and the spectators were treated to a feast of high quality rugby.
Saturday saw the East U15's
put up a terrific display to face Cardiff Blues in the Cup Final,
despite going 10-0 down the East girls fought back to make it 10-10
before conceding a try in the dying moments which handed the cup to
Cardiff. Parents and spectators alike could not fail to be impressed
with the skills that were on show on the day, and non more so than in
the 31-0 win over South West North in the semi final which saw East run
in some fantastic tries following some sublime passing across the pitch
to stretch their opponents. All the girls should be proud of themselves
for the way they raised the game and were unfortunate to come away as
only runners up. However the East Region U15's Official ranking for
2008/9 as the Best Team in England.
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Mapping Guide to Essex Clubs
Essex Rugby Summer Camps Your County Needs You
Information for coaches
who would like to be involved in County Representative rugby and the
School of Rugby
Click on the "Coach" image below to take
you to the
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