Chichester rugby youngsters aim for another big year

Their second season in Sussex one saw them secure a top-three position and narrowly miss a winning play-off place purely on bonus points awarded, but they ended on a high with a stand-out weekend performance at Camber Sands rugby festival in East Sussex against quality line-ups from Sussex, Surry, Kent and London.

They won the final against a very strong Brighton team to secure the trophy and a presentation from England and Harlequins legend Jason Leonard, who was entertained by the squad doing their Chichester version of The Haka.

Consistency, fun, quality and commitment have always been the focus at Chichester RFC, with this particular group having played together now for nearly seven years.

New players who join are very quickly welcomed into the squad and given support and encouragement.

Over the years they have won numerous tournaments, most notably the Harlequins landrover trophy, which they were invited to parade around Twickenham during the Premiership final; London Irish St Patrick’s Day festival, which they have won twice, the Vectis festival and many others.

With the coaching team’s experience spanning a combined 100 years of rugby involvement, the training is structured, informative, fun and hard work at the same time.

And the addition of an ex-pro who has represented Ospreys and Bath, played at London Irish and represented his country at the Armed Forces World Cup, there is an abundance of professional and technical advice at hand.

Chichester’s junior section is performing as one of the largest and strongest on the south coast and further afield and numerous under-14 team members are participating with the Harlequins youth academy or London Irish youth academy.

Players are being recruited to the Seaford College and Portsmouth Grammar School teams.

New players are always welcome and with the under-14s moving up into the under-15 league in September, they are looking to recruit players who’d like to develop their rugby in a quality environment.

Details of the team and the coach’s contacts are on the Chichester Rugby Club website so take a look and get in touch. Summer training has started and the season kicks off in early September.

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