Category Archives: Old Whitgiftians
Memorial matches stand out as rugby clubs prepare for kick-off
RUGBY ROUND-UP: While the England team’s preparations for the World Cup are in disarray following injuries, brainfade and piss-poor performances, the outlook locally is far brighter, with clubs using the off-season to re-group, re-build and, in some cases, lick some … Continue reading
Derby days: rugby clubs face some bumper autumn fixtures
RUGBY ROUND-UP: The publication of the club fixture lists has added some extra edge to some pre-season training, reports BRIAN MORE-ORLESS The rugby clubs in and around Croydon could be in for some hectic times in their clubhouses and bars … Continue reading
‘Counts finish on the up as clubs struggle with league shuffle
RUGBY ROUND-UP: The RFU’s league reorganisation has taken a heavy toll on clubs in and around Croydon these past few months. JOHNNY DOBBYN, right, provides the end-of-season report, and discovers some worrying developments down Croham Manor Road Walcountians ended the … Continue reading
Warlingham go from top to bottom at the flick of a blazer’s pen
RUGBY ROUND-UP: The club that has dominated local rugby for a decade hopes to restore some pride in their derby against Trinity on Saturday You’ve got to feel a bit sorry for Warlingham in this, the club’s centenary season. After … Continue reading
Warlingham take league title without having to make a tackle
RUGBY ROUND-UP: Warlingham kicked off the club’s centenary season in some style, celebrating finishing the season as London South-West Div 3 champions without having to make a tackle in anger. In an extraordinary turn of events, Warlingham took their regional … Continue reading
Fisher’s ‘strawberry daiquiri’ Dombrandt on a World Cup path
RUGBY ROUND-UP: After two blighted seasons, the past fortnight has demonstrated how resilient the area’s clubs are, with a first Six Nations start for one of their former youth players and two hard-fought derby games which between them were settled … Continue reading
Rugby clubs’ season’s big kick-off gets postponed to 2021
The club rugby season was due to kick off today. But with barely 48 hours’ notice, amid a rapidly worsening situation with the coronavirus pandemic, the blazers at Twickenham issued orders on Thursday to postpone competitive rugby until January, at … Continue reading
No scrums, no mauls, no tackling: rugby prepares to return
RUGBY ROUND-UP: Promotions for Old Walcountians and Croydon RFC, relegation for Streatham-Croydon and Chipstead, some big signings for Warlingham, and uncertainty for all, as the area’s clubs prepare for the new season Professional rugby kicked off last night in an … Continue reading
Eight weeks on, businesses left still waiting for covid grants
Two months on and 18 mostly unanswered emails later and, as first highlighted by Inside Croydon, Coughlans the bakers are still waiting for thousands of pounds of government grants which Croydon Council promised back in March would be in their … Continue reading
Plenty of derby action assured as rugby season kicks off
RUGBY ROUND-UP: It’s the big kick-off this weekend. No, not that little tournament being staged in Japan, but in Division One of the Surrey county league. The club rugby season gets underway in earnest tomorrow, and this year sees the 10-team … Continue reading
Burns’s Ashes century fires up Whitgift’s sporting credentials
When Rory Burns left the field in Birmingham yesterday evening, his bat raised in acknowledgement of the standing ovation from the Edgbaston pavilion, after he had batted all day to remain unbeaten and unbowed on 125, with the crowd chanting … Continue reading
Whitgift are denied a final double by Wellingtons’ non-boot
RUGBY ROUND-UP: It was ecstasy and agony at Allianz Park for Whitgift School last weekend as they came within a clause in the rule book from getting both their teams through to Twickenham finals later this month. The South Croydon … Continue reading
Struggling Whitgiftians face tough derby trip to Hamsey Green
RUGBY ROUND-UP: Croydon sides are top of Surrey 2 and second in Surrey 1 going into the Christmas break It’s the Big One at Hamsey Green tomorrow, the hottest derby fixture in Croydon rugby, with the district’s two top sides … Continue reading
Coach Edwards wings it before MidWives extend their cup run
RUGBY ROUND-UP: There was cup action for Old MidWhitgiftians last Saturday, in the Junior Vase. They followed up a resounding 62-10 win over Fareham Heathens earlier in the month in the first round with a 36-12 win at New Ash … Continue reading
Warlingham bounce back to keep alive promotion talk
RUGBY ROUND-UP: For rugby alickados, the old farts in blazers, there’s long been a sense that the club season hasn’t properly started until the clocks go back, and kick-off for Saturday matches is brought forward from 3pm. And there’s also … Continue reading
Old MidWhitgiftians enjoy a try-fest at Lime Meadow Avenue
RUGBY ROUND-UP: Old MidWhitgiftians quickly got their season back on track with a breath-taking 62-5 win at home against Old WImbledonians in Surrey 1 last Saturday. Andrew Dean scored a hat-trick of tries, fellow centre Temi Okenla got two, and … Continue reading
Old boys’ youngsters claim bragging rights over Warlingham
RUGBY ROUND-UP: Old Whitgiftians, after a 20-year exile from London divisional rugby, claimed their first win of the season on Saturday, as they beat Warlingham 22-14 at Croham Manor Road. In the first clash between the two clubs at 1st … Continue reading
World Cup player Thorpe joins Warlingham’s coaching team
RUGBY ROUND-UP: London and South-East 3SW side Warlingham has secured the services of former Canadian international back-row forward Richard Thorpe as a consultant coach, to complete a training set-up which other clubs in London will struggle to better, according to their … Continue reading
Robson returns to his rugby roots as coach at Warlingham
Warlingham are welcoming back a stalwart former player to take up a key role in the club’s back-room staff ahead of the new rugby season. Neil Robson played in Warlingham’s first XV’s back row for a decade before cutting his … Continue reading
Old Whitgiftians are on the way up as champions of Surrey
RUGBY ROUND-UP: Old Whitgiftians finished the league season last weekend by maintaining their unbeaten home record at Croham Manor Road this season with a 41-31 win over Chipstead to underline their status as Surrey 1 champions, with promotion to the … Continue reading
Warlingham get relegation reprieve ahead of season finale
RUGBY ROUND-UP: Warlingham, sitting in apparent safety in eighth place in 12-club London 3 South-West, have been given a relegation reprieve ahead of their visit to bottom-of-the-table Basingstoke today, with an undertaking from a self-declared “Twickenham blazer” that only the … Continue reading
Warlingham in peril of relegation for being in Surrey
RUGBY ROUND-UP: The long-standing order of the Croydon area’s rugby clubs could be about to be turned on its head in a relegation battle that depends less on the clubs’ position in their league tables, and more to do with … Continue reading
Whitgiftians move closer to securing Surrey rugby title
RUGBY ROUND-UP: With four local clubs in the division, Surrey 1 was always going to provide some keen interest this season. As Old Whitgiftians, MidWives, Walcountians and Chipstead enter the final lap of the 2018 club rugby race, no one … Continue reading
World Cup-winning captain is helping out at Frant Road
RUGBY ROUND-UP: A World Cup-winning captain is coming to Thornton Heath next week to help Croydon’s up-and-coming young players. Katy Daley-McLean led England to women’s Rugby World Cup glory in 2014, played at the 2016 Rio Olympics, and was a … Continue reading
MidWives deliver to set-up top-of-the-table derby clash
RUGBY ROUND-UP: Halfway into the 2017-2018 rugby season and it’s clear that in Croydon this winter, Surrey 1 is where it is at. And after the break for Christmas – no one likes to fill-up the local A&Es with broken … Continue reading
