Author: David Haigh

Canterbury v London welsh

Corker Sees His Side Learn

Posted on | by David Haigh

CANTERBURY 43 LONDON WELSH 17

by David Haigh

Head Coach Matt Corker’s take on this pre-season friendly against the club he once captained was that his Canterbury side had learned a lot about themselves in a seven try victory. There was plenty to encourage him in the performance of a squad which was missing several front line contenders as they took an early grip on the game, saw off a second half rally from Welsh and finished strongly. Among those who will have caught Corker’s eye were centre Garry Jones, whose powerful burst opened the scoring with a try after three minutes; the ball carrying of young prop Will McColl and a lively contribution from scrum half Presley Farance. Although they operate at a level below the city club London Welsh were no pushovers but the number of times they fell foul of the new tackle laws gave Canterbury plenty of opportunities as they established a nineteen point lead in the first half. They exploited one of many penalties to create a simple overlap for wing Morgan Dayes while Farances’s probing around the scrum and some good handling sent Tyler Oliver over for a third touchdown. Two conversions from Frank Reynolds and committed defence when Welsh threatened kept the lead comfortable and more slick work by the threequarters extended it a minute after the break. Flanker Harvey Furneaux finished the move. It was a cushion that led to a drop in concentration in the Canterbury ranks and the Welsh, always positive with the ball in hand, showed good running lines and off-loading skills to claw back two tries, one of them converted. There might have been more trouble for the city side when Frank Morgan was yellow carded but instead Number Eight Oliver, another player in good form, stole an interception and strode away unopposed for his second try. Forward power proved too much for Welsh in the late stages and a driving maul and close quarter efficiency brought two tries for Pierce Holland and conversions from Reynolds. Welsh had the last word with a final minute try but overall Canterbury will have been quietly satisfied.

Canterbury: J.Weaver, M.Dayes, G.Jones, T.Best, F.Morgan, F.Reynolds, P.Farance, W.McColl, N.Morris, D.Herriott. W.Hunt, J.Stephens, A.Evans, H.Furneaux, T.Oliver. Replacements: P Holland, B.Dunkerley, M.Fankah, L.Webber, S.Rogers, T.Williams, A.Geddes

Canterbury Pilgrims had their first pre-season outing and came away with a 29-17 home victory over London Welsh 2nd.

Friday Night Light vs Tunbridge Juddians

FRIDAY NIGHT’S ACTION

Posted on | by David Haigh

CANTERBURY 21 TONBRDGE JUDDIANS 26

This was a high tempo pre-season work out for both clubs with TJs edging a game played in four 20-minute sessions and expanded squads being rotated to give everyone one a taste of the action. Although billed as a friendly there was no shortage of competitive edge and the result was in the balance right to the final play. Tries from new boys Alfie Orris and Mo Pangarker, both converted by Frank Reynolds, gave Canterbury the best of the first session. Wingman Orris beat his marker in impressive style while Pangarker brought a powerful finish to some solid forward pressure. The visitors cut the lead with a converted try and by the end of the second session were four points ahead, neat work from their back division then a missed tackle yielding two tries. Canterbury were then guilty of conceding penalties and paid the price as they fell further behind to TJs fourth score, a converted touchdown. The city side hit back hard as the forwards built up a head of steam to set up a sniping try by scrum half Tom Williams, Reynolds adding the goal points, and they dominated the closing stages. In the last minute a knock-on with the line beckoning denied them an equaliser they probably deserved.

Kent RFU Volunteer of the year Awards

Awards For Chris and Ian

Posted on | by David Haigh

Two Canterbury volunteers have been named as winners in this year’s Kent RFU Volunteer Awards. First Team 4th Official Chris Fullbrook took the Match Official Award and our Wheelchair Rugby Chairman, Ian Lloyd, the Social Inclusion category. Chris and Ian came out on top from a field of 60 nominations from 27 clubs in the County. The winners were announced at the Awards evening at Sheppey Rugby Club on June 29th.

“I think very justifiable awards for two people who put an enormous amount of time and effort into CRFC and Hellfire alike” said club chairman Giles Hilton.

New Signings

SUMMER SIGNINGS

Posted on | by David Haigh

The club has announced major additions to the senior squad for the 2023/24 season. They include two players from the championship winning Kent County side, wing Alfie Orris and back row/second row specialist Mo Pangarker who both join from the Medway club along with scrum half Cullen Daly who has County and International age group experience.
Four more arrivals are prop forward Pierce Holland and wing Morgan Dayes from Championship club Ampthill, former Leeds Tykes centre Brad Law and centre/wing Garry Jones from Australian side UCS.
Lewis Hollidge, who was on loan from Blackheath last season, has moved to Canterbury on a permanent basis covering both centre and fly half positions. “The signings bring both improved depth and healthy competition for places”. said Director of Rugby Taff Gwiliam.
The club is also bolstering the Pilgrims team which was promoted to Counties Kent One. Joining the senior ranks are five players graduating from Canterbury’s highly successful Colts side together with Kent Under 20s recruits Sonny Trew-Neville and Harrison Fermor from the Whitstable and Vigo clubs respectively. Canterbury will also welcome back forwards Seb Clark and Will Hunt who return after recovering from long term injuries.
“We have made some exciting additions to our team to go with nearly the complete squad from last season,“ said Head Coach Matt Corker. “The continuity, in combination with the new signings, will give us greater competition and it is great that we have attracted local talent, as well as those from further afield. It is a sign of the strength of our youth programme that we again have five colts graduating to our First and Pilgrims squad.”

South African Flag

ELEVEN JOIN SA TOUR

Posted on | by David Haigh

Canterbury players make up almost half of the County Championship winning Kent squad which is making a two week tour of South Africa this month. Led by the club’s Director of Rugby, Taff Gwilliam, the 26-man squad will play games in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Pretoria. The eleven strong Canterbury contingent boarding the plane are forwards Danny Herriott, Mo Pangarker and Harvey Furneaux together with backs Aiden Moss, Alfie Orris, Frank Reynolds, Lewis Hollidge, Tom Williams, Cullen Daly and brothers Tom and Max Halliday. The squad will play matches against Kraaifontain (July 11), Correctional Services (July 15) and Impala clubs before flying home on July 21st,

2023/34 fixtures out now

Season Opens With Derby Games

Posted on | by David Haigh

The new National 2 East league season will get underway with two exciting Kent ‘derby’ games against Sevenoaks and Tonbridge Juddians. In the opening week, September 2nd, we travel to Sevenoaks and the following Saturday entertain TJs. Pre-season fixtures at The Marine Travel Ground are against Tonbridge Juddians, on Friday evening August 11th, and London Welsh, Saturday, August 19th. The final warm-up match is away to Blackheath. Here is our full fixture list.

23-24 FIXTURES 1ST XV

CRFC players representing Kent

Canterbury Players Help Kent Make History

Posted on | by David Haigh

Kent became the English County Champions for the first time since 1927 after a superb 39-37 win over Lancashire at Twickenham on the final day of the 2022-23 season. Led by Canterbury captain Jamie Stephens the county side staged a tremendous second half rally after slipping more than 20 points behind at one stage. With six Canterbury players in the Kent squad the club’s influence on the historic victory was immense. Joining Jamie in the starting line-up were Tom Williams, Harvey Furneaux and Dave Irvine while Danny Herriott made an early entrance from the replacements bench and Lewis Hollidge was introduced in the second half. Our new Director of Rugby, Taff Gwilliam, headed up Kent’s off-field team with former Canterbury players Dave Marshall and Mike Melford part of the coaching panel and Charlie Bannigan providing physio services. Kent reached the final with an unbeaten run of three Division One victories over Hampshire, Somerset and Cornwall. Billy Young, Frank Reynolds and Aiden Moss also made important contributions to those wins. The number of Canterbury players selected by Kent in their successful campaign was the highest of any club in the county. The scorer of the county’s first try against Lancashire was Alfie Orris who is joining us from the Medway club for the 2023-24 season.

CRFC players representing Kent

Kent County Call Ups

KENT NAME COUNTY FINAL SQUAD

Posted on | by David Haigh

Kent go into Sunday’s Senior Men’s County Championship final at Twickenham with six current Canterbury players in the squad. Club captain Jamie Stephens will lead the county side against Lancashire from the Number Eight position and he is joined in the starting line-up by scrum half Tom Williams and forwards Dave Irvine and Harvey Furneaux. Named as replacements in the 22-man squad are prop Danny Herriott and centre Lewis Hollidge while full back Aiden Moss is a travelling reserve. Prop Billy Young is another who would have been in the frame but is ruled out through injury. Alfie Orris, who is joining Canterbury this summer, is selected on the left wing. The Canterbury connection does not end there as Kent’s Director of Rugby is Taff Gwilliam, who is our new DOR, and club physio Charlie Bannigan will be on duty at Twickenham. Sunday’s kick-off is at 4pm.

Kent squad
15 B.Hotston (Tonbridge Juddians), 14 T.Wallace (Westcombe Park), 13 J.Hennessy (Blackheath), 12 M.Harrison (Westcombe Park), 11 A.Orris (Medway), 10 S.Evans (Tonbridge Juddians), 9 T.Williams (Canterbury), 1 L.Boon (Tonbridge Juddians), 2 R.Jackson (Bishop’s Stortford), 3 R.Conlon (Tonbridge Juddians), 4 T.Stradwick (Blackheath), 5 D.Irvine (Canterbury), 6 R.Dutta (Westcombe Park), 7 H.Furneaux (Canterbury), 8 J.Stephens (Canterbury) Captain.
Replacements: 16 A.Mitchell (Blackheath), 17 D.Herriott (Canterbury), 18 A.Pangarker (Medway) 19 J.Liston (Eton Manor), 20 N.Cook (Westcombe Park), 21 J.Buckley (Westcombe Park), 22 L.Hollidge (Canterbury).

Travelling Reserves:
A Denham (Blackheath), A Moss (Canterbury), H Chapman (Tunbridge Wells), KK Orelaji (Westcombe Park), Z Jones (Sidcup)

Jamie Stephens

Jamie Leads Kent Bid

Posted on | by David Haigh

Canterbury’s Jamie Stephens will captain the Kent side which is playing for a place in the Bill Beaumont County Championship final when they travel to meet Cornwall at Camborne on Saturday, May 20th. Kent lead Division One South after victories over Hampshire and Somerset and need a win or a draw against the current county champions to guarantee an appearance at Twickenham on May 28th. Six Canterbury players are included in the Kent squad. Forwards Dave Irvine and Harvey Furneaux join Jamie in the starting line-up and Billy Young, Tom Williams, and Lewis Hollidge are named as replacements.

Kent Senior Team V Cornwall - Bill Beaumont Cup

Kent County Call Ups

Kent Call Dave and Jamie

Posted on | by David Haigh

Canterbury forwards Jamie Stephens and Dave Irvine have been called up by Kent for their second County Championship game against Somerset. They join the club’s Billy Young, Harvey Furneaux and Lewis Hollidge in the starting line-up at Medway RFC. Kick-off is 2pm. Kent’s final Division One game is away to the current county champions Cornwall on May 20th.