The new season kicks off with U21 success at the Cronk-Cunis!

On the August Bank Holiday Monday we entered a team into the 15th National Cronk-Cunis U21 15-a-side rugby tournament at Richmond Athletic ground. The Cronk-Cunis is a festival organised by the Combined London Old Boys RFC which has grown over the last 15 years into a national event hosting over 30 old boy teams from across the country. In an era where old boy rugby is struggling as ever increasing numbers of players leave for university and either stop playing rugby or move club it serves as a reminder to everybody how much enjoyment can be had from playing rugby and that playing with your old school friends can be the best.

The day kicked off against Norwich with Old Whitgiftians taking to the field with 14 men (3 players were stuck on the M25 after travelling down from Liverpool after a music festival!). After a slow start the cobwebs were soon dusted off and Whits showed superior pace and strength to take an easy win 20-0. With reinforcements having arrived from Liverpool, although at least one of the party was in no fit state to play much rugby, we took to the field against Worth who had convincingly beaten St Pauls in Round 1. The Whits pack dominated and two good rollover tries from the forwards followed by a beautiful break through by Tom Nicholls at fly half secured the game at 15-0 win. Before we knew it, and quite unexpectedly, we found ourselves in the quarter finals and suddenly thoughts of going all the way entered the teams minds. Our quarter final saw us take on St Benedicts, Ealing who have been undefeated in the tournament since 2008. An early try from our own 22 from Crane at full back, who was superb all day running the ball from deep, gave Whits the lead. But Benedicts weren’t keen to lose their title and most of the match was spent in the Whitgiftian 22. Valiant defence by all 15 man for the next 25 minutes saw Whits once again come away victorious with one player pointing out “If you don’t let them score any points – you can’t lose”. Wise words indeed!

The Semi Final saw us up against Tonbridge, 3 times previous champions. By this time both teams were tired and neither had escaped injury issues. The heat of the day had taken its toll on our front row who by this stage were taking significant advantage of the special ‘rolling substitution’ rule which applied only to them, and we lost Patrick Bowen to a bee-sting (apparently it was a very big bee...). Whits started on top playing moments of champagne rugby but failed to capitalise. Eventually the forwards took the ball up battering holes through the Tonbridge line allowing Tom Archer to break through for a try – not dissimilar to his score at Twickenham in the Daily Mail cup final 2 years ago. Nicholls added the 2 points. Tonbridge came back stronger in the second half but again the superior fitness of the Whitgiftian boys kept them away from the line and the game concluded 7-0.

So we found ourselves in the Final! There was no questioning what a challenge taking the title would be. We were up against a Peter Symonds side who had knocked out Wellington and Millfield, had brought along 4 coaches (including a dedicated water boy), had special kit made for the day and appeared to have been training for the majority of the summer – there were mutterings whether all this was really in the spirit of the day!! It was Symonds who struck first with an early try. Whits were quickly back in the game with a break by Nick Byrne down the right wing that showed such immense pace that the crowd were shocked – and most of the team were too! The second half started 5-5 but again Symonds were quick to put some points on the board. A quick restart from Whits saw Symonds on the back foot and turn-over ball, followed by quick hands out wide, saw Ben Morrison break through the line to bring the game back level at 10-10. The Old Whitgiftian boys fought courageously for another score but unfortunately a late break by Symonds saw them go over once more to give them the win.

All in all a great day of rugby which all the players and supporters thoroughly enjoyed. We plan to have our name on the silverware next year!

Team: Chris Castelino(C), Piers Johnson, Josh Persaud-Walters, Andrew Black, Josh Smith, Ben Morrison, Chris Crane, Nick Crane, Tom Archer, Patrick Bowen, Nick Byrne, Tom Nicholls, Yeboah Mensah, Nick Francis, Olli Dickerson, Charlie Petschi, Matt Lugg, Tom Margetson
Managers: Sam Barke, Les Todd


Round 1 v Norwich
WIN 20-0
Tries: Black, Francis, Crane
Con: Nicholls
Pen: Nicholls

Round 2 v Worth
WIN 15-0
Tries: Johnson, Nicholls, Black

Quarter Final v St Benedicts, Ealing
WIN 5-0
Tries: Crane

Semi Final v Tonbridge
WIN 7-0
Tries: Archer
Con: Nicholls

Final v Peter Symonds
LOST 10-15
Tries: Byrne, Morrison

School 1stXV NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!

Whitgift won a superb game at Twickenham on 6th April to retain the Daily Mail/RBS Under 18 Cup and join an elite band of schools who have kept hold of the most prized trophy in schoolboy rugby. Full article here

School 1stXV march on...

The School 1stXV won their semi-final match at Broadstreet RFC on Saturday 5th March to go through to the final of the Daily Mail Cup for the second year running. They took on Wimslow High School from Cheshire and came away with a 20-17 win after a hard fought battle.  A coach load of OW supporters made the journey up to cheer the boys on to victory. It was a lively coach journey home and celebretions lasted long into the evening.

The final will be held at Twickenham on Wednesday 6th April.  Old Whitgiftian plans for the day will be circulated nearer the time

12.02.11 - This week's results

1st XV v Old Walcountians WON 13 -18

Daily Mail Cup success for Whitgift

The Daily Mail RBS double is very much on for Whitgift after their sides stepped up to the plate in the quarter-finals on Wednesday...
Click here to read the full article

The semi-final will be held at Broadstreet RFC (nr Coventry) on Saturday 5th March.  There is an OW supporters coach being organised - to book a place please email Sam Barke ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ).

OWRFC celebrates outstanding contribution...

On 29th January 2011 a lunch was held at the clubhouse prior to the 1stXV v London Exiles match to recognise the outstanding achievment & contribution of 3 OWRFC stalwarts.  Their names & caps have been engraved on a silver salver which will be on display in the trophy cabinet.

Gerry Bowthorpe           407 1^st XV caps – seasons 1955 to 1975.