“ Old Walcountians narrowly missed promotion to Surrey League 2 last season and are extremely confident that they can go one better ”
Old Walcountians
“ Old Walcountians narrowly missed promotion to Surrey League 2 last season and are extremely confident that they can go one better ”
Old Walcountians narrowly missed promotion to Surrey League 2 last season and are extremely confident that they can go one better this season . Coach Graham Rodd and 1st XV captain Will Thornton are in their second season in their respective roles and have presided over an impressive pre-season turnout by the club ’ s players which suggests that there will be strong competition for places in the 1st XV .
The club got their preparations for the new season off to a great start with a significant 37-7 victory over The Bank of England in the preliminary round of the RFU Junior Vase on September 3rd . Their Surrey League 2 campaign starts with a fixture against Cranleigh .
The development of youth rugby has been of great importance to Old Walcountians in recent years . In the early 2000s the influx of no less than seven players who represented Wallington County Grammar School when they won the Daily Mail Shield in 2000 led to a massive change of fortunes .
After being relegated to Surrey League 2 in 2002 and Surrey League 3 in 2005 , Old Walcountians regained the winning habit which resulted in two promotions , regaining Surrey League 1 status and victory in the Surrey Shield by 2009 . Although that side has now broken up , Walcountians are now benefiting from the establishment of a highly successful Under-21 XV which won silverware at the national under-21 tournament for old boys sides in both 2013 and 2014 and , in 2014 , won the Under-21 Surrey Plate .
No less than 14 players from the current 1st XV – full-back Ross Norton , wingers Marvin Fletcher-Rogers and Dharshan Vadivelu , centres Freddy South and Matt Witcomb , scrum-half Seb Chmielinski , prop Luke Raynor , hooker Rob Fleming , locks Dom Bell and Kieran Clarke , back rowers Remy Claustres , Joe Henderson and Tom Baker plus skipper Thornton – have graduated from that great side . The Under-21s are continuing to prosper under the tutelage of coach
John Young and it is expected that further players will graduate to the 1st XV .
The club ’ s long-serving Press Officer , Rob Murphy , gave us his insight on how rugby has changed since he joined 42 years ago , the challenges they face and and their ambitions for the future .
“ I was a late developer in rugby and did not represent the school until the 6th form . On leaving Wallington County Grammar School , I followed the wellworn path to Old Walcountians . Back in the 1970s , there was no regular youth rugby side – new players usually made their debut in the Extra Bs or , if they played , the C XV .
“ In those days , Old Walcountians regularly fielded five or six teams each Saturday and youngsters like us often gained early experience by turning out with some of the old sweats who had been playing for years . I can recall that , on occasions , 15 and 16-year olds were playing for the senior sides . Nowadays , this would not be allowed to happen .
www . sportip . biz 35