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SENIOR RUGBY
All three of our senior sides played their last league fixtures of the season last Saturday, before they all concentrate on their cup runs.
After a difficult campaign, our 1XV travelled to London Cornish determined to end their league season on a high. How did they get on? Click here to find out: Match report

Our 2’s faced Haywards Heath in a league and cup double header in what turned out to be a thriller with the lead changing hands several times in the closing stages. Trys from Dylan, Harrison and a sensational hat trick from Ryan saw the boys into a healthy lead with 10 to play but the red and blacks scored two late trys to snatch the lead with the ref looking at his watch!!

Time for one more play and hero Luke, breaking Heath hearts, smashed over to snatch the spoils at the death! What a game!!!

Idris, after his yellow nearly threw it away, summed it up with this match report. “ They thought they could beat us. They couldn't - even with 14 men for the last 7 mins!!”

This was a fine day to wear the Five Feathers!

After a very early start, our Ladies arrived in the Channel Islands to face title chasing Guernsey. How did they get on? Click here to find out: Match report

What a brilliant trip to finish the league season!! The Ladies will have to wait for May 10th for their Sussex Cup Final against Seaford at Uckfield RFC.

Whatever you were planning on doing this Saturday, change it and get to the club! Our 1’s are aiming to emulate our 2’s by beating Haywards Heath 1XV in the Papa Johns Cup. This will kick off at 3pm. Our 2’s are also playing a friendly against Crowborough to keep match fit before their Cup Final the following weekend. This will kick off at 2pm.

JUNIOR RUGBY
The final run in to the end of the season has seen the junior section busier than ever. It would have been quiet at the club on Sunday with only the U7s and U9s in attendance. Elsewhere the U8s traveled to Edenbridge whilst the U10s and 11s were away for their 1st ever rugby tour down in Bognor Regis.

U9s
A bit of an unusual update from the U9s this week!
On Thursday we received a request for assistance from one of the Burgess Hill coaches. They’d had some unexpected, last minute player drop-outs for Friday Night Lights at Brighton and were desperately looking for some players so they didn’t have to withdraw from the tournament. Very much in the spirit of Rugby and in keeping with the community bonds that have developed amongst the local U9s teams this season, Ollie, James and Josh stepped up and played every minute of the four 15 minute games in their pool against some very tough opposition. Ollie scored some stunning tries from nothing, James was tackling like a young Sam Underhill, and Josh was firing spin passes out to the wings, which demonstrated the sort of skill and determination we’ve seen from all our U9s this season. We made a swift exit at the end of the evening to avoid any tapping up!

On Sunday we were all back at HQ for a sunny morning of drills, working on our tackling, carrying into contact with a focus on leg drive and ball presentation and a 2 v 3 attacking / defending drill working on our communication skills. The morning ended with a fast paced game of Touch. Next week we’re away for some joint training and matches with our friends at Uckfield RFC.

Leicester Tigers Challenge Tour - Bognor Regis
The U10s and 11s attended their first ever rugby tour hosted by Leicester Tigers. Butlins resort was taken over by more than 300 teams and the sunshine was out. It would be an understatement to say that players, coaches and parents all had an amazing weekend.

U10s
The U10s travelled with one team and our team mascot, Big Duck, who went everywhere with us. Having been presented with their tour shirts on the Friday night, they we all looking forward to playing against some different opposition. On Saturday we were matched up against Battersea Ironsides for the 1st game and Harpenden for the 2nd game. The size and strength in depth these clubs possess showed as we lost both opening games. In the 3rd match we played Tunbridge Wells Vipers where we bounced back to a solid win. Sadly we lost Harry G to an injury that would keep him out of the rest of the tour and left us with no substitutes. This left us finishing a respectable 3rd in our Pool.

The boys returned to camp to enjoy the facilities at Butlins getting on the funfair rides and then hitting the pool. The parents even managed to enjoy a cold drink in the sunshine.

Day 2 - We are all set in a new pool, but down to the bare bones. The strapping and icepacks were being issued before the 1st match with some injuries being picked up on day 1. Harry G bravely put on his kit and boots, but was not able to go on. The remainder lined up for the 1st match against Gravesend and despite looking the better team came away with a draw. Next up was TW Cougars who we comfortably beat 7-1. Then the final match of the tour we faced Old Grammarians from London and we comfortably put them to the sword too.

Throughout the weekend, the boys played some great rugby. With great running lines and some great passing and rucking. Albert Turner made his trademark bullish runs through the pack, constantly breaking the gainline. Seb Lethbridge was putting some huge tackles and mazy runs, with Theo Knight making the best tackle of the tour. The crunch was heard on the other side of the pitch. Sam Walding was passing off the base well and making nice breaks down the outside, with mighty Mattie Evans darting around everywhere. Erikas Jonusas was his imperious self, making big hits, strong counter-rucks and powerful runs all over the park. Cameron Bell finishing off with the greatest no-look pass inside to Erikas, resulting in a try. All the boys put in an amazing shift having to play every minute of every game. The coaches could not be more proud of you. Both players and parents were a credit to the club both on and off the pitch (or on the sidelines in the case of the parents).

The scoring was based on more than just the scores though and despite the best results we somehow ended up runners up to TW Cougars who we handsomely put away. Despite this, the boys were delighted at the end of the day and were thrilled to receive their medals from non other that World Cup and Lions winning legend, Martin Johnson!

It was an amazing weekend and to quote Martin Johnson, one that the kids will still be talking about over a beer in 20 years time. We couldn't recommend the experience more strongly to the other age groups.

Next week, we host our own festival for the U10s and 11s. All other sections are away.

INTERMEDIATE RUGBY
U14 Girls
On a beautifully sunny day at the club, the under 14 girls took to Pitch 1 to face Crowborough for their final league game of the season.

EG girls lost the toss, Crowborough opted to receive and, following their kick, our girls put in a good chase, immediately starting to apply pressure to Crowborough. Unfortunately, despite their best efforts, Crowborough were able to find space after a few phases of play, and broke through to open the scoring with a converted try. Our girls regrouped and, again, kicked off to Crowborough who ran the ball straight back at EG. This time, however, they were met by a strong defence which resulted in the ball being turned over. Our girls then ran the ball back towards Crowborough only to find themselves on their receiving end of a strong defence and, before anyone really noticed, Crowborough had broken free and, despite EGs best efforts, had managed to scored twice.

Despite being 21-0 down, our U14 girls managed to keep their heads up and were quickly rewarded with a breakaway try, courtesy of Eleanor Mackay who showed Crowborough a clean pair of heels. This gave the EG girls even more confidence and it wasn’t long before they were back well inside Crowborough’s 22. Their efforts, however, went unrewarded as Crowborough showed their experience, keeping EG pinned outside their 5 before the ball was knocked on and Crowborough found themselves scoring again.

Not to be deterred by this set back, the EG girls kept up the pressure against Crowborough and it wasn’t long before Lua Ellis found herself over the try line for EGs second. Crowborough then found themselves back in control and went on to score another two tries before Lua, again, showed her strength and determination to outpace the Crowborough defence and score EGs third. Crowborough then demonstrated their experience once more, breaking through the EG defence using quick hands and pace to score again.

As the game was coming to an end, our girls proved their determination and, through sheer hard work, found themselves again inside Crowborough’s 22. Our girls showed control and maturity, securing the ball at each breakdown as phase after phase was played before Sophie King was able to break through and score in the final minute. Whilst the girls didn’t win, to all our parents, spectators and coaches who were there, it pretty much felt like they had won. This was, by far, the best game the girls have played, with everyone working hard and coming together as a team including Maisie and Olivia who joined us from Crawley.

The girls all showed how they have developed and how far they’ve come, throughout, what has been, only their first season and they should, rightly, be proud of their achievements.

U16s
The last match of the season for our U16s was upon us as Gs made the trip to the seaside to play Worthing. A beautiful day greeted us and when the ref mentioned to the players pre-match that he hoped they'd all applied their suncream we knew we were in for a feast of running rugby and so it proved!

The first ten minutes were a cagey affair, Gs taking the lead through a strong carry and run from Jesse Monovis to score out wide, but the team let their concentration drop and Worthing stormed back into it with a well worked try. Fortunately that was the last time they'd threaten the G's line however as the boys clicked into gear and showed their deft handling, open field kicking abilities and strong running to rip Worthing apart almost at will. First Jesse M scored his brace with another strong run before the backs decided to get in on the act with Will Blackburn scything through some weak defence in the centre channel to score from distance. That area proved fruitful for Gs all match, and once the boys worked it out they put the hammer down with our centre pairing of Noah Abajo and Harvey Seal breaking through and offloading whenever they felt like it, the latter grabbing 2 tries from strong direct runs as always. Further tries from the pack through Radley Minter and Josh Sey led to Gs having a commanding half time lead.

After the break we kept our foot on the gas, and our backs finally had the confidence to let rip. Some beautiful handling put Ethan Strickley in for a well deserved try and a great kick was followed up at pace for Harry Thompson to score his first try in EG colours! The pressure was relentless, with Will Blackburn getting a further 2 tries, and so with the score at 56-5 both coaches and ref agreed to call an end to 'league' proceedings, with the final 15 minutes played as a friendly, giving both sides the opportunity to have some fun in their last run out as U16s.

And much fun was had, with players swapping positions so at one point we had our hooker and 2nd row in the centre and our 9 in the scrum! Special mention to Harry T for showing his silky footballing skills with a beautifully deft grubber kick, which puts some of the backs to shame! This didn't make much difference and shows the versatility of our team as Harvey broke through to score his second, Will Longstaff dummied, sending half their team the wrong way and scored under the posts before Will 'Wiggy' Blackburn finished off events with his 4th try. And it was only right that our number 8 & captain Will Jolley took the final drop kick conversion of the season.....!

Final score was 75-5, a fitting end to a great season!
Tries - Monovis x 2, Blackburn x 4, Seal x 2, Minter, Longstaff, Thompson, Sey, Strickley
Cons - Sullivan x 4, Kewell x 1

This team now heads up to Colts rugby full of positivity and confidence. Having been training with Ryland and the Colts the past couple of months they are absolutely where they need to be and we look forward to seeing them next season continuing to tear up the Sussex leagues! Most of this team have now been together since U10s, and in a couple of cases since U6s and we have seen them grow from small people running around like headless chickens into young men, full of bravado and confidence. The contacts have got harder, the tackles fiercer but their spirit has never wavered. All those that have coached and supported them through their rugby journey couldn't be prouder and as they move inexorably towards senior rugby it's clear to see that the spirit of rugby is well and truly alive in them and the future of the club is bright!

Our U15s lost 46 - 35 away at Hove in a tight fixture and congratulations to Crowborough who beat our Colts 38 - 24.

£2 OFF BURGER & DRINK ON SATURDAY
What could be better than cup rugby..?
How about watching it with a beer and a burger?

G’s face Haywards Heath on Saturday hoping to progress further in the Papa John’s Cup. Our 2’s, having knocked Heath 2’s out of the Sussex Plate last weekend, are also at home, playing Crowborough in a friendly before their cup final the following week.

The 2’s kick of at 2pm and the 1XV at 3. Come and grab a drink (We do have other drinks other than beer!!) & burger and settle in for the afternoon in the sun! As an added incentive, anyone who uses their phone to show the graphic at the top of this article (Rugby Round Up email only), gets £2 off!! If you don't receive the news via email, Email m.marriott@btconnect.com and we will add you to the mailing list and send you the graphic.

Let's pack out Saint Hill to support the boys!!

TATE WILLIAMS
Great to see Tate selected for England U18s in their game against Scotland tomorrow. KO is at 12.15 and you can watch via England Rugby YouTube.

We are all with you mate!!!

RUN CHAMPERS
You may remember us talking about one of our own, Callum Champain, taking on the ridiculous Marathon Des Sables. He is now five days in and running well. Please consider supporting him using his JustGiving page below.

Before he set out, Callum wrote:
“Hi all as some of you are aware I will be taking part in the Marathon Des Sables in April 2025. The Marathon Des Sables is a 250km running event across the Sahara Desert taking place across 6 stages (7 days). I will be doing this while carrying all of my food, sleeping equipment, and essentials, all in heat that in recent years has reached 45 - 50 Degrees Celsius. This is a challenge that I am both excited and nervous about.

When I was younger, I needed sport to focus in lessons, I needed it to stay active, I was very lucky with the opportunities I got offered to me when I was growing up. Youth Sports Trust is a charity that equips educators and offers sporting opportunities to young people. Sport gives young people a great platform to feel valued and allows them to express themselves, and I am proud to be running to support them.

If you would like to find out more about the YST there is a link here: https://www.youthsporttrust.org

If you would like to donate to my page, the link can be found here: https://www.justgiving.com/page/callum-bateman-champain-2?utm_medium=FR&utm_source=CL

Any donations are greatly appreciated no matter what size.”

PREMIERSHIP FINAL TICKETS
GET YOUR TICKETS BEFORE THEY'RE GONE
The Gallagher Premiership Rugby Final 2025 is shaping up to be an unforgettable event and is on track to sell out for a second year in a row.
With less than 10,000 tickets remaining, this is your chance to experience world-class club rugby at its finest.
Don't miss your chance to watch the top teams go head-to-head at Allianz Stadium!  

Get your tickets here: Prem 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!!