Worthing Rugby Football Club

Worthing Rugby Football Club is an English rugby union team playing in the fourth tier of the English rugby union league system; National League 2 South. The first XV, nicknamed The Raiders, were runners-up to Henley Hawks in the National League 2 South 2012–13 season and qualified for a play-off against the runners-up of National League 2 North, Stourbridge winning 28 – 26.[2][3][4] In doing so, the club became the first club from Sussex to play in the third tier of English rugby.[5] The club also has a number of other teams, and while their 2nd XV is non-league, their 3rd XV currently plays in the Sussex Spitfire 1 league.[6] Worthing also have a successful Ladies 1st XV who are currently in 2nd place in the National Challenge South East South 2 league

Worthing
Full nameWorthing Rugby Football Club
UnionSussex RFU
Nickname(s)Raiders
Founded1920 (1920)
LocationAngmering, West Sussex, England
Ground(s)Roundstone Lane (Capacity: 1,500 (100 seats)[1])
Coach(es) Ian Davies Jody Levett Ben Coulson
Captain(s) Liam Perkins
League(s)National League 2 South
2019–209th
Team kit
Official website
worthingrfc.com

History

A group of local sportsmen meeting at York House formed the club on the 10 September 1920.[7] They had no ground or equipment,[7] and initially borrowed a field from a local farmer off Wallace Avenue in West Worthing[8] before moving to the Rotary Ground at Broadwater.[7] In the 1924–25 season the club moved to Rugby Road in West Worthing. The Rugby Road ground was the club's home until 1927, when a 6-acre (24,000 m2) site was purchased in Castle Road, West Tarring.[7] The club moved to its current location at Roundstone Lane in Angmering in 1977 and the ground is now designated a Centre of Excellence for rugby in Sussex. The ground is approximately 5.5 miles (8.9 km) west of the centre of Worthing. Worthing has a proud history of mini and junior rugby, having been the first club in England to offer mini rugby and having held the first mini rugby festival in England which attracted hundreds of teams in the early 90s.

Honours

1st team:

Worthing Senior I:

Worthing Senior II:

Club colours

The original club colours were green and white stripes, which were also sported by Old Guilfordians RFC.[7] The choice of the present royal blue with chocolate and gold hoops was made in 1927.[7] The scheme is an amalgamation of the colours of Dulwich College, Mill Hill School and Cranleigh School where many of the team members had been to school.[7]

Notable former players

Current squad

In July 2011, former Ireland international Kieron Dawson was appointed head coach of Worthing Rugby Football Club, succeeding Will Green.[10] Charlie McGowan previously made an appearance for the Barbarians against the Combined Services at Plymouth in the annual Remembrance Match in November 2013. He has also been selected for the England Counties squad for their match against Scotland Club XV at Fylde’s Woodlands Memorial Ground on 27 February 2015. Matt Miles (ex Raiders captain) had previously played for Northampton Saints and Ulster before joining Worthing RFC. For the 2016 season, former Worthing RFC 1XV Coach and former Director of Rugby at Cornish Pirates Ian Davies rejoined the Raiders as Director of Rugby with former Raiders wing Ben Coulson and former Raiders Captain Jody Levett on the coaching staff.

Current standings
2019–20 National League 2 South Table
Played Won Drawn Lost Points for Points against Points diff Try bonus Losing bonus Points
1Taunton Titans (C)252005815521294174101
2Tonbridge Juddians (P)25210481036644413198
3Redruth25201462037524511396
4Henley Hawks25191576142433715295
5Clifton25160970355215115483
6Bury St Edmunds24150966048917112678
7Leicester Lions2416085203741467576
8Esher24131106095307911570
9Worthing Raiders2411013582726-14412460
10Old Albanian25901658556718111057
11Dings Crusaders249015548647-9911552
12Barnes258017533719-1869546
13Westcliff256118446735-2895839
14Sutton & Epsom (R)244119395831-4365326
15Old Redcliffians (R)233218329648-3193423
16Bournemouth (R)252122441852-4112618
  • If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
  1. Number of matches won
  2. Difference between points for and against
  3. Total number of points for
  4. Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams
  5. Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled
Green background is the promotion place. Blue background is the play-off place. Pink background are relegation places.
Updated: 14 March 2020
Source: "National League 2 South". NCA Rugby.
Notes

    References
    1. "Championship Rugby on The South Coast". Rolling Maul. 4 March 2013.
    2. "Results - SSE National League 2S". The Rugby Paper. 12 May 2013. p. 32.
    3. "National League 2 South". Rugby Football Union.
    4. "RFU National Leagues (levels 1-4)". Sussex Rugby Football Union.
    5. Legg, Mike (13 September 2013). "Worthing Raiders Fired Up For Historic Home Clash". The Argus. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
    6. "Sussex Spitfire 1". Rugby Football Union.
    7. "Worthing RFC official website". Worthing Borough Council. 30 September 2008. Retrieved 28 January 2010.
    8. Elleray, D. Robert (1998). A Millennium Encyclopaedia of Worthing History. Worthing: Optimus Books. ISBN 0-9533132-0-4
    9. http://www.hampshirerugby.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=729&Itemid=386
    10. "Raiders Get Underway for 2011/12". Retrieved 20 July 2011.
    This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.