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)England Fred Pierrepoint
England Luke Wallace
Captain(s)England Jack Forrest
League(s)National League 2 East
2022–234th
Team kit
Official website
worthingrfc.co.uk

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 East. 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

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.

Current standings

2023–24 National League 2 East Table
Played Won Drawn Lost Points for Points against Points diff Try bonus Losing bonus Points
1Esher15130258335422912266
2Dorking15121259135523612163
3Bury St Edmunds1512125032972069059
4Barnes1511045223561669457
5Henley Hawks151014448378709152
6Tonbridge Juddians157174494074210444
7Canterbury15708469418519441
8Old Albanian14707419391288339
9Sevenoaks15618370429-595435
10Westcombe Park154110431475-4410634
11Guernsey Raiders14509315415-1007229
12Worthing Raiders153012398558-1608323
13Wimbledon143011343505-1628323
14North Walsham140014163666-503101
  • 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. Pink background are relegation places.
Updated: 13 January 2024
Source: National League 2 East RFU [9]

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 and current players

Coaching Team and Player Highlights

In July 2011, former Ireland international Kieron Dawson was appointed head coach of Worthing Rugby Football Club, succeeding Will Green.[11]

Lock forward Charlie McGowan made an appearance for the Barbarians against the Combined Services at Plymouth in the annual Remembrance Match in November 2013. He was also selected for the England Counties squad for their match against a Scotland Club XV at Fylde’s Woodlands Memorial Ground on 27 February 2015.

Hooker Matt Miles (ex Raiders captain) had previously played for Northampton Saints and Ulster before joining Worthing RFC.

For the 2016/17 season, former Worthing RFC 1st XV 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.

In 2020 Rene Draude took up the role of Director of Rugby with former Harlequins centre Jordan Turner-Hall as Head Coach and they took the team to two consecutive 4th placed finishes in the league.

Former player Matthew McLean retired at the end of the 2022/23 season, having played 308 games for the club and amassed 3,038 points (a National League 2 record) including 173 tries during his playing career with the Raiders.

For the 2023/24 season, Fred Pierrepoint took on the position of Head Coach, assisted by Luke Wallace and current players Frank Taggart (forwards) and Tom Bowen (backs).

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. 1 2 3 4 5 6 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. ↑ "National League 2 East". England Rugby.
  10. ↑ "L2S 02/03". www.hampshirerugby.co.uk. Archived from the original on 21 May 2014.
  11. ↑ "Raiders Get Underway for 2011/12". Retrieved 20 July 2011.
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