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COACHES CORNER
We are so blessed at East Grinstead RFC with our amazing coaches right across the club. Over the summer, in Rugby Round Up, we will be highlighting some of these heros in the words of the players they look after.

Sam Lindsay-McCall is a second row genius, master tactitian and statman, Photoshop legend and all around nice guy. He is a fixture in our first team pack, so who better to critique our brilliant ‘Forwards Coach’. Sam writes:

“Every rugby club ideally needs 3 kinds of coach:

1) *The Superfan* - watches every televised game, practically salivating until next Tuesday's training

2) *The Hard Taskmaster* - whatever the training session is, you're not putting enough effort in, and you're probably getting called a ***t

3) *The Master Tactician* - has a play for every conceivable scenario (quite possibly several plays, depending on how long the grass is and whether or not the opposition flanker has a beard)

Our club has suffered its share of adversity in recent years, but building a coaching team hasn't been a problem - Sandy Robertson is all three of the above.

That's not to say the self-proclaimed "best coach in Sussex" comes without his challenges. It's hard to build trust in a man who insists the Crusaders are the best team in the world. And Ryan Morlen has a tough job as Director of Rugby while his right hand man changes tactical direction quicker than Cheslin Kolbe. On any given day, however, Sandy invariably talks the talk and rightly expect his players to walk the walk. And 9 times out of 10, if we listen up and execute, we come away with the results to back it up. The other 1 out of 10, he will 100% claim we misheard his instructions...

So if you're proud of what our senior men have achieved in the last couple of years, Sandy deserves a big chunk of credit. Go and give him a hug! And if you're still not convinced, think of it this way - he's surely our best hope of driving Ryan to drink!”

Thank you Sam - Good luck in preseason!!! If you want to put your EGRFC coach in the spotlight, please let me know and you could make the next issue...

WILD 7’s
After the success for our men in the Lloyds 7’s last week, determined not to be outdone, last Saturday our Women headed to Cranleigh for their inaugural Wild 7's tournament.

With the sun shining and fancy dress on glorious display, the day was set to be a great day of rugby. The tournament was set up with Rugby X rules and the decision was made to make it a touch tournament in light of the ground conditions and experience levels of the teams.

With many on holiday, the EG women travelled light, expecting to partner with two other teams to create an all stars team. However, on arrival the other teams had not turned up with the exception of one women from Guildford Gazelle's who fortunately was the 7th addition to the G's team.

Despite having no subs, G's powered through their first three matches, producing some stellar results! Out of the five matches played, three were won with no points conceeded. The early wins put G's in a great position and landed them in the final against home team Wild Cranes.

Across the board G's scored some excellent tries between them all. A standout try in the final however, came from a perfectly weighted grubber and chase from Lewis (N) which was a true delight to watch. After five wins out of five, G's were awarded a beautiful trophy which they are very much looking forward to displaying in the club house.

Well done Ladies!

INTERMEDIATE SEASON REVIEW
(Boys u12’s to u18’s)

End Of Season Report - Rob Ward, Intermediate Chairman

Due to the weather, it has been quite a challenge to try and get as much rugby played as possible, but extreme wet and extreme cold conditions have caused a fair amount of disruption. Careful management of the pitches along with the cooperation of the Groundsmen, Director of Rugby – Ryan Morlen and The President – Andy Poole, we have managed to keep as much rugby as was possible for all groups.

It was a successful season on and off the pitch in having an East Grinstead RFC team as Sussex County Champions – the under 16’s, and waterfall league A runners up in their league – the under 14’s. Teams also increased and strengthened their squad sizes – notably the under 12’s doubling from 12/13 players to a squad of 25, increases for U13’s and U15’s as well.

We have had several players across several age groups, selected for and played for, Sussex County teams and Harlequins player development programme. Also, Colts players Bryan Karimanzira playing for the under 18 Harlequins RFC Academy and Connor Madden selected and playing for the Welsh Rugby Union - International Academy side The Welsh Exiles RFC.

We are very much looking forward to welcoming this season’s under 11’s into our Intermediate Rugby group.

Under 12’s
Coaches / Admin – James Seal, Billy Davies, Trudie Gwynne, Kat Ellis, Sarah Brown.
Played - 9
Won - 2
Drawn - 2
Lost - 5
Points for / against – 105 / 175

Player of the Year – Leighton Langridge
Players Player of the Year – Sid Ward-Harris
Most Improved Player – Jack Brown
Parents Choice Player – Alfie Powders

Under 13’s
Coaches – Neale Turner, John Hughes, Simon Maidment, Ian Hudson
Played - 11
Won - 1
Drawn - 0
Lost - 10
Points for / against – 65 / 260

Player of the Year – Ethan Norris
Players Player of the Year – Nate Maker
Most Improved Player – Declan Hodge
Best New Player – Bailey Moore

Under 14’s
Coaches / Admin – Ric Blackburn, Geoff Longstaff, Andy Sullivan, Paul Nix and Katie Lamb
Played - 10
Won - 7
Drawn - 0
Lost - 3
Points for / against – 255 / 204

Player of the Year – Will Jolley
Players Player of the Year – Ollie Knowles
Most Improved Player – Harry Thompson
The Golden Coat of Cockiness for leading points scorer – William Blackburn

Under 15’s
Coaches – Richard Darch, Lee Simpson, Ellen Woodrow-Ramma
Played - 11
Won - 3
Drawn - 0
Lost - 8
Points for / against – 248/279

Player of the Year – Tristan Simpson
Players Player of the Year – Thomas McMahon
Most Improved Player – Thomas McMahon

Under 16’s
Coaches / Admin – Mike Champain, Jacques Coetser, Dave Page, Tom Hicks, Malcolm Higginson, Rachel Hardisty
Played - 18
Won - 16
Drawn - 0
Lost - 2
Points for / against – 764 / 204

Player of the Year – Felix Champain
Players Player of the Year – Tommy Nasta
Most Improved Player – Nathan Oliver
The Rachel Edwards Leadership Award – Harry Higginson
The David Hooker Shield – Felix Champain for the Best Youth Player of the Season across all age grades

Colts
Coaches / Admin – Tom Hicks, Jonnie Neil, Neil Oakley, Matt Townsend, Cathy O’Donoghue
Played - 12
Won - 5
Drawn - 1
Lost - 6
Points for / against – 248/256

Player of the Year – James Knott
Best Back – Noah Roberts
Best Forward – Bryan Karimanzira
Coaches Player of the Year – Evan Gosling
Players Player of the year – James Knott
Most Improved Player – Max Godfrey
The Oakes’ – ‘Hard as Nails’ award – Finley Neill

The Kennedy Trophy – James Knott
Awarded to a player that has given his all, gone above and beyond just playing rugby. James has suffered 2 serious injuries this year and potentially rugby career ending injuries, so we choose him as The Kennedy Trophy award winner.

GET YOUR ENGLAND RUGBY FIX
England v Wales & Fiji - then the world! With just over 100 days until England take on the world on rugby’s greatest stage, be there to join them as they face Wales (12 August) and Fiji (26 August) at Twickenham Stadium.

Steve Borthwick will use these fixtures as the ideal preparation and confirmation of his squad ahead of the short trip to France. So don’t miss out as England’s finest vie for a place on the plane.

Prices start at £35* for the Summer Series and you can get yours by clicking here: England tickets

OTHER NEWS
If you have any news about any aspect of our rugby family here at East Grinstead, get involved and email m.marriott@btconnect.com. See you next week!!