Author: Denys Andrianjafy

Girls Rugby Camp

Come and TRY rugby with us

Posted on | by Denys Andrianjafy

Subject to RFU approval, and generously sponsored by SEC Works Group, we have organised a girls’ two-day training summer camp for ages 7-15. Most activities will be game based using rugby and multi sports to develop rugby skills. We are always excited to welcome children who are new to the game and want to experience rugby for the first time and invite players of all abilities.

Leading the camp will be qualified rugby coaches*. If you require further information about the camp please email secretary@cantrugby.co.uk

Date – August 3rd and 4th – 9.30am to 3pm
Cost – £10 per day per child

All players should bring a packed lunch, water bottle and wear appropriate sports clothing for the weather conditions on the day. Rugby/football boots are recommended.

*All the Rugby Camp coaches will have valid and current DBS checks

Register by July 15 and claim a free t-shirt

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
Places are limited

Sponsored by SEC Works

GBWR 3v3 League: Tournament One

Posted on | by Denys Andrianjafy

On June 18, at Stoke Mandeville stadium, Canterbury Hellfire burst back into action after an extended break including, and surrounding, the COVID-19 pandemic by participating in the newest format of wheelchair rugby – 3v3.

The focus of this 3v3 format is to encourage low-point players to have to carry the ball and play a different part of the game to that which they are accustomed.

This was the first of three tournaments which make up this league, and the results were phenomenal for the Canterbury side: four wins, one loss.

They opened the day’s play with a maximum score of 25 to defeat Stoke Mandeville Maulers WRC, and the same pace carried to the second game winning 14 – 2 over Mavericks.

The third match of the day was close, being brought into overtime by a try scored by Canterbury with 0.2 seconds still showing on the clock, and possession for the restart in the hands of the black & amber, giving a third win to the Canterbury side.

Fourth up were Ospreys WRC who played well and made sure to give their all against the starting-to-tire Canterbury side, but were no match for the expertise of Canterbury and were eventually beaten 23 – 16.

Finally, after a day of double duty for all three Canterbury players playing both 3s and 5s, the fatigue set in and the only other team to be as-yet-undefeated was last up – West Country Hawks WRC. Going into the game both teams were unbeaten, both teams had won with a maximum score, however that closeness in performance to that point would have to be broken: there would have to be a winner; and that winner was Hawks.

All teams involved in the 3s tournament provided an excellent atmosphere and enjoyed the experience of something new, and we would like to thank all our opposition for travelling from all over Great Britain and providing a great day of rugby.

Thank you to our players for representing Canterbury so strongly, sports is largely decided by performance on the day and the performance delivered was the standard we all strive to throughout Canterbury Rugby Club.

 

Teams in the league are:

Canterbury Hellfire WRC
Mavericks
Ospreys WRC
Stoke Mandeville Maulers WRC
Team Solent Sharks
West Country Hawks WRC
Marquee entrance

A big thank you to our staff, volunteers and partners

Posted on | by Denys Andrianjafy

It has been an extremely busy time at Marine Travel Ground with two hugely successful events on consecutive days, the Mark 22 Ball on Friday 10th, and the Barretts Ball on Saturday 11th June. With nearly 1000 guests across the two nights, we would not have been able to achieve them without the mammoth efforts of our staff and volunteers who worked tirelessly in the background to ensure all was correctly set up and in place to welcome revellers and give them the best possible experience. The club would like to take the time to acknowledge and applaud them. Thank you all for the work, effort,  and expertise you put into making these events possible.

We would also like to thank our partners:

Maypole Marquees, for assembling an excellent venue for two fantastic nights;

1st Setting, for supplying all the crockery and cutlery we could ever desire;

Saucy Flo’s for catering such a quantity two nights on the bounce;

Orbital for ensuring our network of tills operated with perfect connectivity;

Ritty for supplying extra tills so our staff were never waiting to be able to serve our guests drinks;

MorePour for installing the many fonts from which beer could flow;

121 Cleaning for their amazing quick, early morning turnarounds which guaranteed the venue was spotless for the next event;

SEC Work Groups for printing two stunning facias which adorned the entryway to our marquees;

Luckhurst Scaffolding for assembling a great towering structure upon which the facias could be installed;

Smiths Family Fun Fairs for operating the ever-popular dodgems;

Canterbury Bouncy Castle Hire for bringing us Twister;

The KD Dance Orchestra for playing the songs that kept the dancefloor filled and the party in full swing;

Paladin Innovations for assembling a fantastic lighting rig, a booming sound system, and making sure the party would go long into the night;

Temptationtowers for the selfie mirror, giving us hilarious memories of the two events;

Max Shand and Team for being on-site both nights to provide confidence, security, and safety to all there.

Pride Canterbury

Pride 2022

Posted on | by Denys Andrianjafy

Canterbury Rugby Club are proud to be sponsors of  Pride Canterbury this year. Seeking diversity in unity is a must so as a collective we can benefit from the best of what we all have to offer. Respect for one another is a tenet that we advocate not only on the pitch, but also off it, and within the many communities of which we are a part. This is something we teach our mini and youth, all the way through to our senior players.

Though recent times have been challenging for many, we have seen people come together in a way that we have not seen in such a long time. Public opinion and sentiment are changing for the better. There is, however, still much to do and we at Canterbury Rugby Club will continue striving to keep finding ways to move forward in a positive and inclusive manner.

Giles Hilton MBE.Chair – Canterbury Rugby Football Club

To find out more about Pride Canterbury, what’s on and where, visit the website at www.pridecanterbury.com

European Touch Championships 2022

Canterbury players receive England call up for the European Touch Championships 2022

Posted on | by Denys Andrianjafy

10 England teams have been named for this Summer’s European Touch Championships in Nottingham. England has entered a team into every category in a bid to retain the Overall, Opens and Seniors crown won in 2o18, the last time the European Championships were staged.

37 clubs from as far as Exeter, Wigan, and North Tyneside had players selected, and we are proud that some of our current players and alumni have been called up to represent England. Congratulations to them all and we wish them the best of luck in the competition that taps off on August 1st this year.

England Juniors U18 Girls

  • Iris Nasir
  • Abigail Pritchard
  • Alice Summers

England Womens Open Team

  • Danni Gregory
  • Lydia Ticehurst
  • Erin Payten (Non-traveling reserve)

England Mens Open Team final training squad

  • Vaughan Meredith
  • Max Howard – Canterbury Touch Alumni

England Mixed Open Team

  • Daniel Mayall –  Canterbury Touch Alumni
  • Eliot Nye (Non-traveling reserve)
  • Alice Summers (Non-traveling reserve)

England Mens 50’s Team

  • Spencer Nys
  • Adrian Riggs

“This has been a lengthy but rewarding process,” commented High-Performance Director, Ben Powell, “and by the time we arrive at tap off for ETC22 on August 1st, it will have been over 1,400 days since the last European Championships.

“We have assembled excellent squads through a process that may be the most competitive to date for England Touch. We are really looking forward to the opportunity to compete at ETC22 and feel all of our squads have a great chance to challenge for top honours.

“I would like to thank everyone who has helped us get to this point – the High-Performance Panel, our excellent coaching team, our medical team, strength, and conditioning, and most importantly our dedicated and talented athletes.”

We congratulate them all and will cheer them on through the competition!

To find out more and follow the competition, go to the European Federation of Touch website – http://www.toucheurope.org/etc/

Tom Williams

Match report – End of Season Spectacular, Canterbury Mens 1st XV v Bury St Edmunds

Posted on | by Denys Andrianjafy

END OF SEASON SPECTACULAR

CANTERBURY 31 BURY ST EDMUNDS 34

by David Haigh

Canterbury’s season may have ended as it began with a narrow loss to Bury, this time to Charlie Reed’s last minute penalty goal, but this was still a game to savour. The biggest crowd of the season were treated to a feast of ten tries, some of them spectacular, in a cracking contest that had none of that end of term feel about it. Victory was important for Bury as it gave them a top six finish in National 2 South and after building a fourteen point lead in the second half their job seemed almost done. But Canterbury, who had lost their earlier intensity, rediscovered it to dominate the final fifteen minutes and draw level with two exhilarating tries. To then concede that late penalty was a frustrating own goal leaving them with two league points instead of three from the draw their efforts probably deserved. The game was alive from the off with Canterbury taking an early lead through a catch and drive try from Billy Young and Bury hitting back quickly when Ruraidh Williams’ break made a try for Matt Bursey. From then on it was nip and tuck until half time. Lovely foot work from Reed set up the first of Bury wing Ross Taylor’s three touchdowns, Alex Evans rewarded more close range work by the city pack and hooker Fin McCartney claimed Bury’s third try to edge his side ahead again. Canterbury clawed it back in the closing minute of the half, Young again finishing an organised driving maul. Reed’s two conversions against one by Will Hilton saw Bury two points in front at the break and everything nicely poised. However, one of Canterbury’s regular failings has been a drop in concentration in the third quarter and here it surfaced again. Bury’s fast moving wide game exposed them and Taylor completed his hat trick in the space three minutes, the first following a fine break by scrum half Chris Bolton and then capitalising on work by fellow wing Ciarian Leeson. Reed converted both tries and Canterbury had all the work to do. Inspiration for the fight back came from replacement scrum half Tom Williams who spotted space on the blind side and outpaced the Bury defence in a searing 70 metre run. Hilton converted and was left a much easier kick when clever footwork by fly half Frank Reynolds took him over between the posts to bring everything level and ten minutes remaining on the clock. Canterbury seemed to have the momentum but paid the penalty for hanging on to the ball at a ruck and Reed cooly slotted the winner with the last kick of a brilliant match.

Canterbury: W.Hilton, G.Hilton, F.Morgan (repl D.Heads), T. F.Reynolds, B.Cooper (repl T.Williams), A.Cooper, B.Young, E.Lusher (repl D.Herriott), J.De Vries (repl R.Cadman), J.Stephens, A.Evans (repl S.Churchyard), T.King, T.Oliver

View match photos

v Bury St Edmunds - 30 April 2022

Images may be subject to copyright – Phillipa Hilton

A season of successes through our younger age groups

Posted on | by Denys Andrianjafy

What a season it has been across the club. From four U20s county call-ups to the National County Championship Final, both Colts teams combined only dropping a single game with their 1st XV running out Kent Cup League 1 winners and their 2nd XV finishing top in the Kent League 2. We have also seen international call-ups for two of our young players. This underlines the dedication of our players, the passion of our coaches, and the support from the wider club and its members and partners. It is our belief that this is the pipeline of talent that will drive us forward in the future.

To really see how these young rugby stars of the future are formed we must look to the Mini & Youth section of the club and observe the dedication shown by our U6 to U17 year groups who have celebrated their own milestone victories. Sunday 24th April saw our U14s playing in the Kent Rugby 7s Tournament, and what a roller coaster it ended up being! Canterbury got through to the final against Dartford Valley, scores were level at full-time meaning it came down to a nail-biting drop goal conclusion. Scores were also level after five attempts each but Canterbury emerged victorious in sudden death to become under 14s Cup winners. The day also provided the U14s with additional silverware with a second-team getting through to the plate final.

Our U15s will be seeing the season out by playing a Bury St Edmunds touring side on the main pitch at the Marine Travel Ground kick-off 5:30. It will be a fantastic endpoint to another successful year group season with our U15s running out as Kent League 5 winners, Tour 1 winners, Tour 2 winners, and Kent 7s Plate winners. Let’s get behind the lads and have as many of us cheering them on after the senior game also vs Bury.

We are going to have to get a bigger trophy cabinet! The future is indeed looking bright for the Black and Amber family at the Marine Travel Ground.

Match Report – Guernsey Ladies v Canterbury Ladies

Posted on | by Denys Andrianjafy

GUERNSEY 11 CANTERBURY 60

By Claire Bernthal

Canterbury Ladies took to the Footes Lane fields in Guernsey, through a tunnel of rapturous applause from the Canterbury Men and travelling supporters.

Starting at great pace the dynamic fullback, Jemma-Jo Linkins, ran in a fantastic solo try side stepping her way down the pitch. Swiftly converting it herself.

Canterbury built a steady lead as they put on an impressive display of aggressive defence and well-structured attacking play. Adding to an already strong debut season for the City side, Jess Pettafor added 5 points with an impressive display of pace down the right wing, following a line out steal from flanker Lucy Relf. Anneka Willis then scored after Liz Spruin turned a Guernsey ball over in defence. Linkins converted both setting up a 21-0 lead.

Guernsey opened their account with a penalty in front of the posts.

Player of the match, fly-half Rachel Austerberry, opened her account with a dominant break. Following a slick pick and go from the base of a centre field scrum by no. 8 Mimi Montgomery, a cheeky offload from scrum half Charlotte Andrews.

Dominant scrummaging, inspired by the formidable front row of Daniella Charles, Inger Philpott, and Tasha Weir, opened up the field for the backs to attack. Linkins ran in her second of the afternoon which she converted.

A lapse in discipline in front of the Canterbury posts saw Guernsey secure a further 3 points from the tee.

The half concluded with centre Olivia Haywood intercepting a ball and quickly popping in the tackle to fly-half Austerberry. In a stunning break she ripped through the heart of the Guernsey defence with a series of incredible fends. Linkins converting once more.

Starting the second half with a 38-6 lead Canterbury were keen to kick on and enjoy the final 40 minutes of the season.

Kate Rutherford added a further 5 points following an impressive rolling maul. But with the wind against her Linkins failed to convert.

The next try saw winger Alice Hayward turn the ball over with one of her aggressive tackles. Centre Tilly Chilton pounced on the ball then popped to Pettafor who ran in the try.

Forward of the match Philpott made a bust through the centre and offloaded to Austerberry. She accelerated away from the tiring Guernsey players to secure her first hat trick in the amber and black jersey.

Guernsey never gave up the fight and their fly half scored out on the wing following and swift series of pick-and-go plays.

With the minutes slipping away Canterbury fought back from the kick off. Impact substitutes: Alexis Scarpulla, Chloe Oakley, Lauren Windsor, Amber Waitimas and Octavia Andall bought much needed energy into the attack.

Captain Andrews took advantage of a penalty and put Guernsey on the back foot. With the forwards storming up the centre of the pitch. Veteran member of the team Claire Bernthal made a break round the fringes of a ruck. A slick offload to flanker Alice Crabb, who came sprinting through at pace to score a final try of the season which Linkins converted.

The squad undoubtedly put on a fantastic display of passionate, energetic, attacking rugby which demonstrated to all watching why they ladies were crowned league champions.

 

Match photographs may be subject to copyright – Phillipa Hilton

v Guernsey Ladies

Match Report – Guernsey RFC v Canterbury Mens 1st XV

Posted on | by Denys Andrianjafy

GUERNSEY 33 CANTERBURY 33

In a terrific climax a penalty try in the last minute of this National 2 South game gave Canterbury a late share of the points after they had squandered a healthy lead.

They opened a 21-point gap in the first nineteen minutes but poor discipline, which cost them three yellow cards, handed Guernsey all the incentive they needed to dominate the second half.
It was the Channel Islander’s own indiscretions, however, that denied them victory as they came under sustained pressure in the dramatic closing minutes.

An impressive driving maul was stopped illegally, and referee Neil Sweeney had no hesitation in awarding the penalty try to Canterbury.

It was all so different in the early stages with Canterbury cruising ahead smoothly with tries from Ben Cooper, half back partner Frank Reynolds and Alex Evans, all converted by Tom Best.

Guernsey got their breath back with a converted try from Anthony Armstrong but despite temporarily losing Frank Morgan to the first of their yellow cards, the city side soon claimed a bonus point with a fourth touchdown when full back Aiden Moss delivered one of his scorching runs.

Guernsey made their extra man count just before half time through Callum Roberts’ try but Canterbury were still sitting in box seat with a fourteen point advantage.

It was a cushion that quickly became deflated in the second half which the home side dominated and as the yellow cards flew, first for Will McColl and then Sam Sterling, the city defences crumbled.

Going into the last quarter Guernsey had forged ahead with tries from Ciaran McGann, Owen Thomas, and Oscar Baird, with Thomas converting them all.

But when Canterbury found themselves in the last chance saloon they kicked down the doors in powerful fashion and it earned them three league points.

 

Match photographs may be subject to copyright – Phillipa Hilton

v Guernsey

Neil MacKinnon

Neil MacKinnon 1946 – 2022

Posted on | by Denys Andrianjafy

It is with sadness that we have learned of the death of Neil MacKinnon, player, supporter, businessman and a colourful character during his long association with the club. As a player, he was a strong and competitive scrum half who played at every level from first to fourth team. Which ever side he played for he set new standards in style usually arriving in a Porsche and dressed for the occasion. The scrum half tradition has been carried on by his family, son Miles and grandson Harrison who is a member of our successful Under 18 Colts team. Neil was also stepfather to Tony Allan, a leading supporter and sponsor of Canterbury rugby.

Neil, who was 75, died while visiting Cuba. Our sympathies for their loss go to Miles and his family, Tony and James.