Canterbury Pilgrims scheduled home league match against Old Alleynians this Saturday, September 11th, has been postponed until December 11th. A member of the Alleynians support staff tested positive to Covid which forced them to request cancellation.
ASHFORD 1st XV 12 CANTERBURY PILGRIMS 7
With eleven players making their senior debut a very young Pilgrims side, which trailed by twelve points at half time, looked as though they might snatch a win in a much imptroved second half. Tom Halliday broke through for a try which Dan Hill converted and it took some good defending by Ashford to deny them. The home side took the lead after ten minutes with a converted try and emphasised their domination by adding added a second through a pushover.
Captain Joe Craig ralied his troops after the break and with more possession being served up by the forwards Canterbury were able to take the initiative. Although the back division were still denied space Halliday’s breakthrough score gave them a real chance of victory., but to take an experienced side like Ashford to the wire was still an impressive performance.
Canterbury Rugby is sad to announce the death of Ricky Strange, who died on 2 September 2021 aged 78. Ricky was born in the northeast but the family moved to Canterbury in 1947. His father, Derrick (Frederick) St Clair Strange, was the senior orthopaedic surgeon at Kent and Canterbury Hospital and dealt with many rugby injuries – when the club started its ‘Broken Bones’ club in the late 1960s, Derrick was an honorary member.
Educated at Stowe School, Ricky was a tough, nuggety scrum half and was promoted to the Canterbury 1st XV when he was only 17. He loved his rugby but at 21 left Canterbury for New York to train in photography and became a leading travel photographer.
He married Mary in 1972 and set up home in Sturry, with children Will, Pete and Lucy although he continued to wander the world, building up an enviable photographic library. His interests changed to antiques and, in his later years, this became an absorbing pursuit for Mary and himself.
He was elected vice president of the club in 1979. The club extends our condolences to his family and friends.
(Our thanks to Tony Girling )
BURY ST EDMUNDS 30 CANTERBURY 22
By Andy Rogers
Given an unprecedented and enforced delay of eighteen months it was of huge credit to both sides that they served up a thoroughly entertaining National 2 South game. The disappointment for Canterbury was finishing on the wrong end of the scoreline after leading at halftime.
In the end it was defensive failures that undid that earlier good work. Despite conceding a first-minute try Canterbury came back to score three of their own before the break. The first saw a steal on the Bury 22 metre line allow Number Eight Tyler Oliver to juggle the ball and touch down.Next was the turn of impressive tight head prop Danny Herriott, in his first start for the club, who took advantage of a dominant line out and burrowed over from close range. It was left to young scrum half Tom Williams – who may have been many peoples man of the match – to score the best try of the game.
Another line out win saw Williams dummy at the base before drifting through the Bury defence to dab down untouched under the posts. Bury replied with a penalty from their ever reliable full back Charlie Reed but with another Canterbury debutant – fly half Frank Reynolds – landing two conversions – and astutely kicking for position when called upon, the city club seemed well set to consolidate their 19-10 half time lead. Bury had other ideas. Directly from the restart, Canterbury’s lack of defensive nous out wide gave Bury winger Mick Stanaway a simple try. Reed converting again. To their credit the young Canterbury side responded positively, moving the ball wide and forcing the home side into some desperate defence. But when a fourth try seemed odds on Bury wing Levi Roper intercepted to run the length of the pitch before putting skipper Matt Bursey in under the posts. That score proved critical because at 27-19 Canterbury were now chasing the game. Reynolds did reply with another penalty but with Bury’s Reed adding three points to complete a perfect kicking performance it was enough to seal the result. Still there were positives for the coaches to work on. The line out and set scrums were impressive. The new half back partnership of Reynolds and Williams looks promising. Lock Jesse De Vries knows how to put in a shift and skipper Jamie Stephens never took a step backwards.
It is the defensive shape in the wide areas that needs immediate attention.
Canterbury RFC is delighted to be supporting BBC’s Make a Difference Kit out the Nation Campaign to help provide sports equipment to children and young people who need it in order to get more active.
The campaign runs for a month and will get the kit to children and teenagers who need it at a time when the pandemic has seen levels of exercise plummet amongst young people.
If you have good condition sports kit that you don’t need, don’t want anymore or is simply lying around unused, you could make a real difference to a young person’s ability to access sport by donating this.
Donations can be made directly to the club at
Canterbury Rugby Football Club
The Marine Travel Ground
Merton Lane N,
Canterbury
CT4 7DZ
on these dates between 9.00 am and 1.00 pm
There will be a designated drop-off point and someone there to take your donation.
For further information on Kit out the Nation please visit the BBC website here.
We are looking forward to welcoming you back to the Marine Travel Ground for registration on Sunday 5th September.
Registration will take place in the clubhouse where we will have a team waiting to help you through the process. Please make sure you do this before going to your allocated training area. Other club helpers will also be available to answer any questions you may have or to assist you.
Please try to come 30 minutes before the training session so the registration desks can process you. You can register online before the day by going to – https://gms.rfu.com/GMS/Account/Login. We would recommend you do this if you can to prevent congestion at the registration desks.
Pitch allocations and timings are as follows –
| Age Group | Timings | Pitch Allocated |
| U6 & U7’s | 09.00-10.30 | Grids behind the Clubhouse |
| U8’s | 09.00-10.30 | Training Pitch |
| U9’s | 09.00-10.30 | Training Pitch |
| U10’s | 09.00-10.30 | Lower Orchard |
| U11’s | 09.00-10.30 | Top Orchard |
| U12’s | 09.00-10.30 | Top Pitch |
| U13’s | 10.45-12.45 | Training Pitch |
| U14’s | 10.45-12.45 | Lower Orchard |
| U15’s | 10.45-12.45 | Top Orchard |
| U16’s | 10.45-12.45 | Top Pitch |
| Colts | 13.00-15.00 | Top Pitch |
Click to view a map of The Marine Travel Ground
Players should wear comfortable sportswear, rugby/football boots or trainers, bring a gum shield and a water bottle.
As our young players are constantly growing out of boots, shirts etc, we will be organising a kit exchange for later in the season to bring old kit in, drop off and exchange. We will be looking for volunteers to help us run this. If you are interested, please contact us on volunteering@cantrugby.co.uk for more details.
The club shop will be open to supply new kit and equipment.
The clubhouse bar will open from midday and Saucy Flo’s restaurant will be open from 8.30 am selling hot drinks and breakfast rolls and cake.
Though Covid restrictions are lifting, we are still trying to operate a Covid secure environment. Sanitising stations will be available to all and where possible, we will observe social distancing inside. Wearing facemasks is not compulsory though we would encourage you to do so if possible.
Our Chair of the Canterbury Hellfire wheelchair Rugby team, Brian Pitchford, went on Julia George’s BBC Radio Kent show, 25/08/2021 to talk about sport for all and wheelchair rugby. Listen to his interview (forward to 2:41:03) – https://bbc.in/3gvgrCD.
We are always looking for new players and volunteers across Kent. Whatever your disability, come to one of our taster sessions to try out Paralympic Wheelchair Rugby.
12th September 2pm – 4pm and 22nd 6pm – 8pm at Medway Sports Centre, Mill Road, Gillingham, ME7 1HF.for more information or to book your slot contact Brian Pitchford at wheelchair@cantrugby.co.uk.
The pre-season match against Tunbridge Wells on on Saturday, August 28th has been cancelled. Unfortunately, Tunbridge Wells have pulled out of the fixture for reasons not specified. The club is trying to find another fixture but at this late stage this is proving difficult. If a game can be arranged the situation will be updated later in the week. The senior squad now plan to hold a training session on Saturday morning..
We would like to thank all of the stallholders and visitors who came to our craft fair Saturday 7th August despite the atrocious weather conditions. £300 was raised for the wheelchair rugby team. Your support was hugely appreciated.
It is with great sadness that the club has learned of the death of Gordon Stewart, a long time club member, friend, supporter and highly respected youth coach. Two rugby men who knew him well, former chairman Steve Uglow and former Head of Rugby Andy Pratt, pay tribute to a wonderful character and proud Scot who will be remembered by so many.
Everyone at Canterbury RFC will be sad to hear of the death of Gordon Stewart. He had moved to Canterbury, working in computers. As under-8 coach, I first encountered him at Elthamians, screaming passionately in a broad and unintelligible Scots accent at a small red-headed bundle of energy that I had put on the wing. That winger was Gordon’s son Eoin, destined to become one of Canterbury’s most talented scrum halves.
For many years Gordon coached that age group at mini and youth rugby level. It was a talented bunch that had considerable success at Colts level. But many of the players will remember best the annual tours where the sheer fun and effervescence that Gordon brought with everything he did made these events the stuff of legend. He was unstoppable – at Reims in 1983, he (as a non-French speaker) spent 30 minutes explaining to our French hosts (non-English speakers) the nature of the Sun Newspaper. And all in his Dundonian accent.
His support of Eoin’s rugby career was unwavering and his contribution to the club’s junior rugby through that decade was immense – always willing to take on tasks and inevitably making committee meetings bearable by his refusal to take anything too seriously. More recently he would be found on the mini rugby touchline again, now cheering on his grandchildren.
The loss of Eoin’s mother, Muriel, was a huge blow to Gordon and was felt by all who knew her, but he has had many happy years with Micheline Weigh – who has also been a stalwart club servant, along with her sons, Dan and Jerome. Whether there were disputes as to whether Eoin or Dan was the better scrum half is not known. What is known is that everyone who knew Gordon will feel bereft. The club sends its heartfelt condolences to Micheline, to Gary, Ailsa and Eoin and to Dan and Jerome.
Steve Uglow
Gordon Stewart’s immense contribution to Youth Rugby at Canterbury is reflected by Andy Pratt, former captain, Head Coach ad Head of Rugby, whose own rugby career was guided by Gordon from a young age.
Like so many mums and dads who give up their time to coach at weekends, Gordon had a profound impact on the lives of the young players he led. I was lucky enough to be one of them. He knew his rugby but what he did so well was much more than coaching how to tackle or pass. Ask any of his former players about him and I guarantee they will smile and be able to recount several memories of those times. It probably won’t be a memory on the pitch either.
He made rugby fun. He made Sunday mornings the highlight of your week. Gordon had no time for rugby’s stuffier traditions, but he cherished its values. We didn’t wear blazers or ties, but we had such a laugh whether we were training, playing or on the several tours we went on. Most of his players continued playing into senior rugby thanks to the love of rugby and the club that he fostered. For me, that’s the true measure of his success as a youth coach but he wanted more.
The All Blacks have a saying “Better people make better All Blacks”. Gordon was determined to develop good young people through rugby, regardless of how good at the sport they were. Back in March I discovered an old festival certificate from those times and sent him a photo of it. We reminisced over text and he ended the chat with:
I’m proud of the fact that ALL of you have turned out to be good sons, fathers and husbands. I loved every second with all of you and you’ll be in my heart forever
He’ll be missed greatly but the memories and laughter will live on with so many of the lads and lasses he coached.
Thanks Gordon, we owe you so much.
Andy Pratt