Latest News
Great news for Canterbury Colts 2nd row Charlie Barker who has signed a two year professional contract with Saracens. He is the Colts 3rd second row and 4th player to sign a Sarries contract in three years. It speaks volumes for our youth players coming through the club.
we congratulate Charlie and look forward to watching his progression.
Sunday, March 10th, saw Kent U20’s open their National Championship campaign with a pool match against last season’s finalists Hampshire at Tunbridge Wells RFC.
In difficult conditions, Kent ran out victors by 17-3.
We had over 50 children join us at Merton Lane on Tuesday and Wednesday (30th – 31st August) on what was a brilliant camp for all. 1st XV players; Cam Murray, Jesse De Vries, Tommy Williams, Jamie Stephens, and Nathan Morris were joined by Canterbury Women’s 1st XV player Freddie who led 3 groups of enthusiastic young players. The players focused on the key principles of; attack, defence, and transition whilst creating a mnemonic to represent the values they feel underpin rugby union.
The winning mnemonic of Rugby was fostered as the camp’s mottos. Respect, Understanding, Guidance, Belief, and “Yellow and black” (to represent CRFC).
On the last day, we had a “World’s Strongest Group” challenge where each participant; ran a bronco, competed in body weight exercises, threw the rugby ball as far as they could, and took part in tyre flipping/carrying challenges. Wales came out victorious with Scotland close runners up.
The final event of the camp was the Rugby Festival where all players from Y6-Y10 were evenly split into groups and competed in a mini World Cup. Cam Murray kept up the Scottish tradition of coaching his country to the wooden spoon with 0 victories and 3 defeats. Wales came out with the Grand Slam completing a clean sweep and led valiantly by coach Freddie.
Our award ceremony saw 4 good eggs awarded.
Theo U8s
Lily U12s
Harry U12s
Henry U13s
Campers of the week were;
Dylan (Primary school age)
Luke (Secondary school age)
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.
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.
Mini and juniors (M&Js) are the lifeblood of the club. Fun is key to the training we offer, as is structure and discipline. Our coaches offer a safe environment in which M&Js learn the fundamentals, skills and fitness necessary to play.
If you wish to find out more about M&Js and how to get involved, please contact one of out team below (click on a name to email).
Ian Hodges – Mini & Juniors Chair
Chris Elworthy – Junior Vice-Chair
Guy Hudgell – Mini Vice-Chair
Laura Philips – Fixture Secretary
| AGE GROUP | SCHOOL YR | MANAGER |
|---|---|---|
| U6 | YR1 | Charlie Bannigan |
| U7 | YR2 | Darren Watson |
| U8 | YR3 | Rob White |
| U9 | YR4 | Peter Denys |
| U10 | YR5 | Guy Hudgell |
| U11 | YR6 | Steve Cooke |
| U12 | YR7 | Mike Sampson |
| U13 | YR8 | Renier Geldenhuys |
| U14 | YR9 | Gareth Philips |
| U15 | YR10 | Rich Collins |
| U16 | YR11 | Andy Purkis |
| U17 | YR12 | Tony White |
| U18 | YR13 | Darren Blench |