Slough Dragons- Slough 7s Bowl Champions

Team:
l-r standing: Martin Tilby, Kunta Kinte, Amal Grewal, Joe Sole, Craig Fullicks, Sam Rowe, Michael Spandley, Joel Nziza, John Spandley( coach)
front: Johnny Spandley, Max Miles( c), James Flisher

Slough 7s 2015

Teams from as far as Gloucester and Penzance descended on Slough Rugby Club for the 11th annual sevens rugby tournament on Saturday.

A minutes silence for Sam ‘Umfufu’ Heath, a good friend of Slough who recently passed away, was held before games commenced.

Overall winners of the event were Samurai Bulldogs who recorded four big wins before a close call in the final saw them come back from 26- 14 to 26-31 to lift the Peter Crockford Memorial trophy with a golden try.

A strong Reeds team won the Plate, beating an unlucky Illuminati 7s by a golden point.

Host team Slough Dragons met Olaf’s Axes, Abingdon, East India Company and Met Police in their pool games before going on to win the bowl.

The Met Police and Chobham drew 19-19 in a tense final for the vase; the Met Police claiming the award after a try count from the day.

Sevens organiser, Ben Harris, said it “had been a complete success” and thanked everyone involved, adding that “without our volunteers it just wouldn’t happen”

Successful Rugby Force Weekend

Following a call to support its aim of renovating the clubhouse and facilities over the Rugby Force weekend, Slough RFC had a great turn out which ensured a very productive and successful work party.

Saturday saw 35 men, women and children grab a paintbrush, bucket and sponge, broom and other cleaning/ DIY items and start the renovations which saw the changing rooms and main hall area repainted, the floor sanded, toilets refreshed and the clubhouse and surrounding area cleared and cleaned up by the end of the weekend. Those that didn't come along will certainly notice a difference when they next visit!

On Sunday this had increased to 50 people including new club president Ken Watkins, members of the Club’s youth section and England Rugby Legend Lewis Moody.

The 2003 World Cup winner spent the day helping to give the club a face-lift as part of Natwest RugbyForce- a nationwide programme developed in partnership with the RFU to help make rugby clubs stronger by improving their facilities with the support of member volunteers and the local community. The Leicester Tigers, Bath Rugby and British and Irish Lions star helped with renovations and repairs before holding a Q&A session and finishing off with a game of touch rugby.

Karen Wild, who was behind the Club’s successful application for the Rugby Force ‘ultimate club experience’ which included Moody’s visit and a £1500 grant to help with materials, said ‘The weekend was to ensure that the clubhouse is ready for the local community to ‘get behind England’ in September. We aim to get as many new, old and current members down to enjoy the World Cup and involve the community as much as possible’

Ladies 7s Train at Slough RFC

Slough Rugby Club was chosen as a training base for international Ladies 7s teams last week in the run up to the World 7s Women's Series in London at the weekend.

12 countries made their final preparations at the club including New Zealand, Australia , South Africa, Fiji and Canada( pictured).

Awards 2014/15

Members of Slough Rugby Club’s youth section gathered to celebrate the achievements of members in age groups U6s to U17s at its annual awards ceremony on Sunday.

Presenting the awards were Club Chairman Matt Harris, Youth Chairman Andrew Leighton- Pope and Club Vice-President Ken Watkins.

There were awards in each age group for the most improved player and coach’s player as well as a player of the season award. There was also an overall player of the season award for both the Mini’s section and Juniors section. U9s player Jamail Alikhan won the Mini’s award while Billy Young from the U17s picked up the Juniors award.

Volunteers’ efforts also received recognition at the ceremony with Martin Tilby collecting an award for coaching and Colin White, Richard Vanstone, Barry Dillon and Tom Lanigan lifting a joint award for their contribution at Club events.

Following the prize giving members enjoyed a bouncy castle, obstacle races and a fun rugby match. Youth Chairman Andrew Leighton-Pope commented that it had been 'A wonderful morning at Slough RFC on Sunday with the Annual Mini and Junior Awards Ceremony.The club was packed to the rafters with players, parents, grannies, dogs, all sorts. While it is always enjoyable to see the young players reactions to winning their awards it is equally lovely to see the hard working volunteers being appreciated with a few of the major awards.'

The Senior section of the Club made an evening of their Awards Ceremony with a black tie event at the Marriott Heathrow/Windsor Hotel in Langley.

Canadian Cole Mosychuk won the Club’s Player of the Year award while Michael Spandley, who made his senior debut this season, picked up the Young Player of the Year Award and the Top Try-Scorer Trophy after an impressive season saw him score 13 tries. 2nd team Captain Martin Tilby picked up the 2XV players’ player of the year award as chosen by his team mates while the 1XV players’ player award was presented to Daubroy Delahunty. Full senior awards as follows:

Player of the year - Cole Mosychuk
Players Player - Daubroy Delahunty
Most Improved Player - Ed Jensen
Young player of the year - Michael Spandley
Captains Player - Sion Street
Coaches Player - Rob King
Top Try Scorer - Michael Spandley
Top Points Scorer - Max Miles
2nd team players player - Martin Tilby
Captain of the year - Martin Tilby
Team of the year - 2nd XV

Head coach Darran Brown said after the event 'The evening was a great opportunity for myself as Head Coach, along with assistant coach John Spandley and Chairman Matthew Harris to demonstrate our appreciation for all the hard work, effort and sacrifices that players put in.
Rewarding talent, ability and skill is often a challenge in itself.... So this year most of the awards were opened up to the players for voting, which turned up some close calls, but more importantly gave each player the chance to voice their opinion.
All in all the evening was a great success and bodes well for the future of Slough Rugby."

Well done everyone.

Slough's youth section tour Bournemouth

Last weekend saw the Club’s youth section set off en masse to Bournemouth, on the first M&J tour for many a year, to enter the annual Bournemouth Rugby Festival.

The Bournemouth Festival is one of the largest and well-established festivals of its kind in the UK with up to 120 teams playing over the weekend in U7- U16s age groups.

Slough U9s had a fantastic result, reaching the Cup Final of their age group which had 21 teams competing alone!

Tries from Isaac Sullivan, Jamail Alikhan, Malachi Fleming and a brace from Cody Rumney saw Slough run out 5-4 winners against Salisbury in their first match of the day before a great display of running rugby put Fleming over the whitewash four times against hosts Bournemouth in the second game, Sullivan adding to the tally for a satisfying 5-2 victory.

Tadley proved to be the stronger team in the next game beating the young Greenies 2-1 while the final pool game saw Captain George Harris, Alfi Harris and Henry Caldwell on the score-sheet in a high scoring 7-2 win over Hove, taking Slough into the U9s Cup Final against Oakmedians.

A tough game ensued but unfortunately, despite Slough’s pace and power, Oakmedians ran out as eventual winners in the U9s category.

Slough U8s played 4 close games before the cold and wet got to them in the finals.

A try for Robert Cooksey and braces for Aidan Coyne and Adam White weren’t enough to hold back New Milton in the first game of the day, while Katie Vanstone and Mathew O’Hara added to the score-sheet in a narrow win over Yeoville. A hat-trick for Vanstone led to a close call against a very strong Cobham team in the next game before Player of the Tournament Coyne also touched down 3 times, against Ealing.

The play-off finals saw a tired, cold and wet Slough team lose 6-2 to Salisbury. Coach Colin White said he was delighted with how his team had performed, they had given it a real go and given their opponents quite a few shocks.

Slough U14/15s lost their games but played well and enjoyed competing against teams previously unknown to them.

Slough RFC Chairman, Matt Harris, said ‘At the end of the day rugby was the real winner for our boys who were on tour for the first time. They played with such heart and they are a real credit to our club and town.’

Slough Mini's Festival 2015

Over 600 boys and girls descended on Slough Rugby Club on Sunday to take part in the Club’s annual Mini’s Rugby festival for children aged 5- 11.

Slough U11s had a cracking day, winning 2 of the games in their pool which put them through to the semi-finals.

Game 1, against Old Albanians, saw the young Greenies make a strong start; Sachin Chadda and Harry Dillon scoring before half time while the second half saw Cana Williams touch down and Cristian Callero cross the line as the final whistle blew to finish the game 20 -5.

Up against local rivals Phoenix next, a strong attacking Slough team ran in an impressive 40 unanswered points. A brace for Harry Dillon while Sean Frost, Alfie Spiller, Anthony Wang, Sachin Chadda, Luke Bishop and Chika Enekwa also added to the scoresheet.

Maidenhead proved to be stronger opponents in Slough’s next game. A tough and gritty performance from both teams with Slough going into half time 5 points down. A determined Slough returned after the break with Alfie Spiller managing to break through to level the score, but with the scores level and only 2 minutes left on the clock Maidenhead caught well from a big kick on the Slough goal line and ran in 10 – 5 victors.

On to the semi-finals and Reading Sharks took charge from the off, running in three tries in quick succession; a lone try for Sachin Chadda Slough’s only reply before Reading powered over once more to complete their tally of 20 -5. Reading then playing Chesham in the final to emerge as the festival’s U11s winners.

Slough U9s won all 3 of their qualifiers, pulling out all the stops in a high scoring 6-0 win over Thatcham in their first game of the day with a brace of tries each for Henry Caldwell, Cody Rumney and George Harris.

The second match was a more closely contested affair; Rhys Watkins, Isaac Sullivan and Stuart Goddard helping to clinch a 7 -5 win against Chesham before the team took their third win of the day 5 – 3 against Beaconsfield.

Unfortunately despite the greenies best efforts and tries from Harris and Caldwell, Slough lost the semi final to Old Albanians; Coach Carl Rumney commenting that all in all it had been a great performance from a very much up and coming team.

Slough U8s made a promising start to the day with Aidan Coyne touching down almost immediately after the opening whistle in their first game against Reading. However despite a try for Adam White and a Moneir Dawkins hat-trick, Reading ran out 5 -7 victors.

The young greenies made another quick start in their second game, Aman Chadda touching down within minutes. Unfortunately opponents Bracknell stepped it up a gear and despite further tries from Dawkins and Katie Vanstone, Slough found themselves trailing 5 – 7 again at full time.

The U8s last game was against Beaconsfield, a try for Leonardo Tadzik adding to Dawkins, Chadda and Vanstone’s tally.

Slough Rugby Club Minis and Juniors Chairman, Andrew Leighton-Pope, said ‘the 3rd annual Wynford Phillips Tournament was a huge success at Slough Rugby Club. We welcomed over 600 young players aged 7 to 11 years old from 15 clubs, with winners right across the board. I would personally like to thank all the volunteers involved who make this day a great success. ‘

Celebrating our Volunteers

Congratulations to U6s coach Helen and U8s coach Bob who have both earned places in 'The Pack' for the Rugby World Cup 2015.
Also U14/15s coach Martin who has been recognised as an outstanding coach and volunteer and as such has been invited to attend a Volunteer Recognition luncheon hosted by RFU President Jonathan Dance at Twickenham :)

Introducing Slough's Newest Team!

The Micro Minis for boys and girls age 4-5. Sundays 11am-12noon.

Club pays tribute to Pete Harrison

Saturday 27th December at Tamblyn Fields a few club stalwarts rewound the clock and dusted off their boots for a special game of rugby to celebrate the life of much loved member and former player Peter Harrison who sadly passed away in October.

The game itself was almost a side issue as the limelight was most definitely taken by the very rare appearance these days on a rugby pitch of some former Slough players including; Bill Glenn, Mike Wild (President), Kenny Watkins (Senior Vice President), Paul Rendall (ex England/Wasps/Slough player and coach) and Ray Gagnon (Past Chairman). What was even more remarkable was the fact that at 68 years of age Ray Gagnon decided it was about time he had his first game of rugby and this is less than a year after having a hip replacement!

The game itself ended in a draw despite fine displays of running rugby from the younger members of the teams including tries from Aman Grewal, Kev Dunne, Sam Rowe amongst others.

In attendance was Mrs Pat Harrison, Pete's wife and his daughters, grandchildren and other family members who thoroughly enjoyed the tribute to Pete.

This is being planned as an annual event so if there are any ex Slough Players who fancy a run-out this time next year please contact the club.

Alex Corbisiero and the O2 Bus Come to Slough

Slough RFC U14&15s enjoyed some top coaching from England, Lions and Northampton Saints player Alex Corbisiero on Saturday.

Alex helped the boys to work on their core rugby skills before posing for photos with the team, meeting club members and signing autographs.

Alex, pictured here with Matt promoting our new O2 Touch programme, then stayed to help cheer a faltering Slough RFC 1XV on to a draw in a league fixture against Abingdon.

Saturday also saw the O2 Wear the Rose bus descend upon the Upton Court Park based club. Using Oculus Rift technology, Wear the Rose is the first sporting experience of its kind and allows participants to virtually train with the England team. A good number of members and visitors to the club took the plunge which was deemed to be an enjoyable and thrilling experience by all, one member commenting that Christian Wade's speed in particular was impressive ;)

Club Head coach, Darran Brown, said it had been a great day, adding that it had been ‘a great chance to have an insight to an international training session and to meet a current player, who is well respected in the world of rugby’ while Chairman Matt Harris thanked Alex Corbisiero for taking time out to train Slough Rugby Club’s juniors and meet club members.

Bucks Plate Champions 2014!

A good crowd turned up to welcome neighbours Phoenix to Tamblyn Fields to play out the much anticipated final stage of this year's Bucks Plate competition.

The game started off fairly cagey, the teams trying to get a measure of each other but it wasn’t long before a determined and enthusiastic Slough decided to push ahead and at 4 minutes James Flisher put one over the whitewash- conversion missed- shortly followed by John Spandley, Rob King converting. Slough 12- 0 Phoenix.

Further scores in the half from Mikey Spandley, Curtis Blanchard and Ryan Littleboy, with just a penalty try for Phoenix at 40 minutes, meant that Slough were well ahead at half time.

Phoenix made a spirited comeback after the break, gaining possession and metres and forcing their way over but a reply from Max Miles followed by Curtis Blanchard and a final score from Matt Prince secured the long awaited and very satisfying 46- 12 Cup win for the home side.

Click to view full report and photos

O2 Touch Comes to Slough!

10 people turned up for our inaugural O2 Touch session this evening. A good mix of men and women of varying ages and fitness levels. They did a fair bit of passing and running followed by a game and seemed to enjoy themselves.

If you would like to join them sessions are on Wednesdays from 7pm. All are welcome age 16+ and the cost is £5 per session( £4 for members)

O2 Touch is a fun, exciting and enjoyable sport for everyone whether male or female, aged 16 or 60. There is no contact ( so no tackling, scrums, rucking, mauling…etc) and teams are mixed sex and mixed ability which makes it very social, inclusive and a lot of fun.

Turn up on your own or with some mates- you can be sure of a warm welcome :) Easy to learn and easy to play, no experience is necessary.

This isn't rugby as you know it, this is O2 Touch so come and join us!

Slough Through to Bucks Plate Final

Nice 31 - 3 win by our 1st team over Chesham in the Bucks Plate Semi-Finals today. This takes us through to a final against Phoenix who beat Risborough in the other semi.

Date and venue TBC.

M&J Open Day

Sponsor's Day

Every year Slough Rugby Club likes to invite sponsors to join us, have lunch, take a tour of the facilities, meet the players and members and watch a game at our Tamblyn Fields ground in Upton Court Park. This is a great way for us to thank people and local businesses for their sponsorship and investment, and for them to get a good feel for the club.

This year the club chose the season’s opening game v Chesham on Saturday as the ideal date to showcase the club and to launch a new kit that will see all players, from the youngest in the U6s through to the 1XV, sporting the same strip. Response to the new kit has been overwhelmingly positive so far with one RFU council member commenting that it was great to see just one design throughout a whole club.

The 1st team then put on a splendid performance with very nice 36 – 27 win over Chesham. A great start to the new season! You can read the match report here

The U9s and U15s also put on a great display at half-time, the U9s taking their first steps into the contact game while the U15s, joined by one of our junior girls Megan, gave a touch rugby display- all of them looking very smart in their new kit ;)

Post-match our sponsors were thanked and awarded with match-day shirts.

So a successful day for all concerned! Thanks to everyone that attended- with players, supporters and sponsors like ours we are well set to meet the challenges of the coming season :)

Successful Beer Fest

U8s Katie Runs Out at Adams Park

Slough RFC at the World Club 7s

Slough RFC U15s players, Dan Harris and Riley Vanstone, were selected to be ballboys at Twickenham for the World Club 7s 2014.

New Main Sponsor

Slough Rugby Club is delighted to announce that Glenn Flegg & Company will become the Main Shirt Sponsor for the next two seasons.