Colchester 1st XV return to their home ground for this weeks match ..

Mill Road host Chichester in the last home game of the season

Colchester 1st XV welcome Chichester RFC to Mill Road's final home match of the season, kicking off at 3PM. In December when Colchester visited Chichester we saw a loss and Colchester 1st XV rallied too late. With warmer weather upon us and a home performance Colchester are ready to battle it out and enjoy the game that is rugby.

"This Saturday is a big game for us as players and also as a club as it will be the last time of the season you will see a National Three League opposition at Mill Road. From a player's perspective, we all love playing national league rugby and it’s something many of the current players have aimed for since youth/colts rugby. Measuring ourselves against the bigger teams across the country makes you realise there is still plenty for us to learn as a 1st team squad and as a club. Going back up is definitely our target for next season, but as for this weekend against Chichester we intend to enjoy our rugby at this level and prove what we are capable of. Chichester have always found it tough playing us at home as we proved last season when we turned them over. This week our focus was on basic skills and fine tuning our depth in attack which if executed appropriately, should allow us to play expansive rugby." Brett Cutbush, Full Back.

Can't make it to the game? Not to worry, we'll be live tweeting and snapchatting the action, so make sure you follow us on Twitter @ColchesterRFC and snapchat: colchesterrugby Why not send our players some support using #ComeOnCol

Colchester A XV welcome top of their league Thetford RFC for their final league match of this season. Kicking off at Mill Road at 3PM. Whilst our Cavaliers and Roundheads are now done for the season.

“The A’s have had some tough fixtures towards the end of the season playing 5th place, 3rd place and now 1st place Thetford all within a few weeks of each other. Despite losing to these teams only just, some could say we played our best rugby in those games and have taken more away than some of our wins! Newmarket last week was one of the best games we’ve played of rugby, it was clear the team we played expected to walk over us and we played that to our advantage and blew them away for the first 60 minutes. This will be the case with Thetford and we are under no illusion that this will be a tough game. Playing them away first game of the season this year was really tough and a lesson for us all.

We can really value how far we have come in this league based on the game on Saturday. Thetford already are the league winners so we hope a slight bit of complacency creeps into their game and will play to our advantage. Especially what helped was doing a few run-throughs against the firsts Thursday night, mainly to prepare ourselves in the right way to stand the best chance of a league upset. If we play like we have the back-end of the season & against the firsts it should be a good contest." Matt Parker, Full Back.

Youth THIS Sunday ...

Festival Time !! We have our U14 Festival at Mill Road this Sunday, with 9 teams taking part. Kicking off at 10:30AM, come and give your support. Our Colts Academy have a well deserved rest after reaching the final last Sunday against Bury. The players getting prepared for the final match which is taking place on Sunday 23rd April away at Woodbirdge. See Weekend Round Up for more information.

Last weekend Colchester’s under 13s and 14s enjoyed a great tour to Northampton which included a visit to Northampton Saints Franklins Gardens. With our U16's on tour this week, wishing you a safe and fun time.

Volunteer Award

The Volunteer awards is taking place this Saturday as our Ladies Lunch where we have a great afternoon planned and a guest celebrity. Chris Ellison aka DCI Frank Burnside will be presenting the awards.

Colchester Rugby Club has over a 100 volunteers and, as the season draws to a close, we would like to recognise four outstanding volunteers whose dedication has been tremendous. They are:-

Graham Miller – Under 11’s Manager & Parent Rep.
Steve Humble – Rugby Force Organiser and Gatekeeper.
Kim Waters – U16's Parent Rep, DCC Organiser and soon to be Volunteer Co-ordinator.

We would also like to mention a past award winner, Gary Griffiths. He has been our media secretary for many years & is returning to Wales so all our best wishes to him.

In the time that I have been Volunteer Co-ordinator (7 years) I have met many brilliant people and would just like to say to them all, “Thank you and keep up the good work!”

Steve (Wally) Whiteman

Sponsor Spotlight

We've got 3 great sponsors for this weekend's game against Chichester RFC.

Fine & Country: Fine & Country is a multi-award winning, worldwide, real estate agency, with offices in Colchester, Manningtree and Ipswich. Offering luxury properties for sale and to rent within the county of Essex, their local knowledge of Essex and more specifically Colchester enables them to deliver the best results possible. Welcome to Richard Lamberth and his 11 guests.

Oak Home Developments: Oak Home Developments was established in 2013 by Paul Osborne and Alistair Cox. It is a Colchester based company that produces good quality, affordable housing in growing and prosperous surrounding areas. Paul is another long-term friend of CRFC and when owner of Osborne Garages was our main club sponsor for many years. Welcome back Paul, and your 21 guests.

Strident Technology: Strident is based in Colchester and Ipswich and is another long-term supporter of CRFC. Formed in 1993, Strident offers high quality, local IT support to small and medium enterprises throughout East Anglia. Director Richard Parker has been to every lunch this year and looks like it. Best wishes to him, his guests and his ensuing diet.

We've also got a new sponsorship opportunity available to our current sponsors or any new sponsors interested. After every 1st XV game, Director of Rugby Anthony O'Riordan will be choosing his Man of the Match who will win a dinner for two at a local restaurant. We're looking for a business to sponsor this award which will be featured on all social media and marketing with a photo of the sponsor with their man of the match. Interested? Then email us here to find out more about this exciting new venture.

Man of the Match: Joe Beckett

As awarded by the coaching staff, Joe Beckett was Man of the Match against Westcombe Park RFC

This weekend Joe Beckett earnt the Man of the Match with his performance last Saturday whilst away at Westcombe Park, as chosen by the coaching staff.

DoR, Anthony O'Riordan stated "Having worked hard for the first half of the season to break into the 1st XV it has been a pleasure to watch Joe develop and solidify his place in back row. Joe was awarded Man of the Match based on his never say never attitude and his ability to tackle and stop the guy in front of him regardless of size."

As part of its programme to recognise ALL the people who contribute to CRFC's success on and off the pitch, our 1st XV Man of the Match awarded with a bottle of champagne courtesy of Nethergate Wines along with a meal for two.

Morph & Sumo are rumoured to be hanging their boots up at the end of the season.

Surely not? Several players from Brightlingsea guested in the great win over Mistley II's and these sides routinely share players throughout the season. One of these is the incredible Alan Goggins who is still playing aged 69! Along with Mark Scarth aka Morph!

From President Brian Borges "I would like to pay a tribute to club legend Mark ‘Morph’ Scarth. Last weekend Morph played his last league game for Colchester for our 5ths in their win against Mistley 2s. Morph has over 1000 games under his belt playing for our club and has been playing week in week out since the 80s. He has decided to hang up his boots at the grand age of 52. He will not be lost to rugby as he is planning to take up refereeing. Colchester is indebted to his service and we wish him the best of luck as a referee."

Announcements;

The Pritchard Cup

On Thursday 16th April why not come and support as last year’s Colts play this year’s Colts for the Pritchard Cup !! The game will be Kicking off at 7:45pm. There will be a few beers afterwards, courtesy of RFU / Eastern Counties.

Any former colts wishing to play should contact Liam Tully.

CRFC DOUBLE CENTURION CLUB – IT’S MUCH MORE LIKELY TO BE YOU!
You might not know that CRFC runs its own lottery. And because it only has 200 members the odds on you winning are vastly higher than the one run by Dale Winton. Even if you don’t win the money goes to a cause we all love – Colchester Rugby Club.

DC membership costs just £5 per month and half of all money collected is returned in big monthly prizes. We’ve got a few vacant spaces and if you’re quick you can snap one up before the BIG annual draw of £1,500 on Community Day on 30th April. Yes, that’s £1,500!

Centurions get other benefits too. We’re issuing DC membership cards next week which entitle you to join in Flash Draws for free drinks throughout the season. This starts at the last home game of the season on 8 April with loads of Prosecco up for grabs!

To join just email DC Supremo Kim Waters and she’ll do the rest. And hurry, spaces are limited and ‘you’ve got to be in it to win it’!

We are approaching the end of the 2016-17 season and this is when we start the process of allocating roles and responsibilities for the new season. One of the roles vitally important to the club is that of the MINI RUGBY CHAIRPERSON. Jon Smith has been temporarily holding this post over the course of the current season, but we would like a permanent Mini Chairperson installed ready for the new season.

If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, or you are already a volunteer but would like a new challenge, please let us know; we welcome new people and new ideas. If you’re interested, please get in touch…

Upcoming events...

Summer Ball

Its that time again, the sun is shining (well some days!) so that can only mean one thing... Summer Ball! We are returning to Le Talbooth for our annual summer ball to celebrate the end of another season on Friday 9th June. Tickets are already selling fast so contact Maggie to book your table! Why not visit out website to see what delicious food will be served, click here for more.

Colchester Brewery Trip

Fancy joining us on our trip to Colchester Brewery on Friday 28th April? There will be an ALL you can eat BBQ and ALL you can drink beer and scrumpy.The coach will be leaving at 7pm from Colchester Rugby Club and due to return approx 10:30pm. The bar staff will keep the evening going as the clubhouse bar will be open on return for those who wish to carry the night on!

£20 pp for a great night out! Includes your coach trip, BBQ and drinks. Only 12 spaces left so get your spot now.

For more information contact Claire on 07733 713240 or speak to Claire at the bar the next time you visit the club.

More upcoming events ..

Ladies Lunch ~ Saturday 8th April

Pritchard Cup ~ Thursday 16th April

Colchester AGM ~ Thursday 27th April

Colchester Brewery Trip ~ Friday 28th April

Community Fun Day ~ Sunday 30th April

Summer Ball ~ Friday 9th June

Rugby Force Weekend ~ 24th/25th June

For more information on the upcoming events visit our website.


Throwback Thursday

What's worn on tour stays on tour...

With numerous colts teams on tour at the moment we look back to 1983, when amongst a sevens tour in Amsterdam & a Guernsey and Jersey tour some may not forget the extraordinary dress ups from the colts tour in Bournemouth.

Day 1. Vikings
Day 2. Frenchmen
Day 3. Supermen
Day 4. Arabs- which i googled is politically correct..

Unbelievably we can't recognise any of these youths. Facial recognition software has come up with: Ivar the Boneless, Eric Cantona, Clark Kent and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.

Thanks to everyone who has submitted throwbacks- please keep them coming here!

Colchester Rugby Club gets social...

There's plenty going on across our social media all the time. Keep up to date with all the action live on match days, behind the scenes at training sessions as well as Throwback Thursday and video highlights. If you head over to our YouTube channel you can witness all the Colchester tries from this season.

So, make sure you follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to stay in the loop. You can also find videos of all the tries from this season and last on our YouTube channel and all the behind the scenes action and live game highlights are on our snapchat: colchesterrugby.

Good luck to all our players in action this weekend!

Regards Megg Flexman, CRFC Press Officer