Fixtures/Results

The National 2 South League Fixtures for next season are now on this site.

 Another excellent photo from Sue Trower - one of her Ampthill Selection in this site's Picture Gallery

Congratulations to Chris Scott and all his helpers for making the Beach Rugby on the 24th July a successful event, all present had a tremendous time.(Report courtesy Jersey Evening Post)

THE sport of beach rugby made an Island debut of heroic proportions on the sands of St Brelade’s Bay on Saturday. Islanders and holidaymakers were drawn to the three pitches by the Oyster Box in huge numbers as the event, nearly a year in the making, ended with tired, slightly battered, sometimes bloodied, but enormously satisfied players having helped raise funds for Holidays for Heroes Jersey as well as boosting the profile of junior rugby.

With the Lieutenant-Governor, Lieutenant-General Andrew Ridgway and Holiday’s for Heroes’ ambassador Matt Banahan among the special guests, the feel-good factor shone through as Beeches RFC, having triumphed 5-3 in the five-a-side final over United Banks, collected the main award through captain Paul Cryer. Holding on to that handsome perpetual trophy could, however, prove to be rather difficult ... as organiser Chris Scott, absolutely beaming over the success of his baby, has plans to make the event longer, bigger and better next year. The Jersey Rugby Association chairman and former Siam Cup player simply could not hide his delight at how the day had unfolded from its morning start to tea-time finale: ‘Seeing so many people enjoying themselves today has been tremendous. A lot of people have put in a lot of work to get this off the ground, so it’s gratifying that it’s been such a success and so well supported. It’s a great sport to watch, it’s so fast, and I’m sure we can grow this tournament.’

Supported by Brendan McMahon of sponsors PricewaterhouseCoopers, the event clearly has the potential to become much bigger than Saturday’s 11-team entry and, with this version of the game (perhaps closer to rugby league, than either union or touch) being so popular in France, Scott has a vision of the tournament expanding into an annual two-day international festival with visiting sides including forces teams. The latter seems a natural, given the alignment with Holidays 4 Heroes Jersey, with tourism also a potential beneficiary. Co-founders of that extremely worthy organisation, Richard and Dawn Woodhouse, thanked the assembled crowd, pointing out that they had helped raise money for some 26 injured service personnel to spend time in the Island over the coming weeks. Jersey’s England and Bath star Banahan, clearly enjoying his long day mixing on the beach, said of the sport: ‘It’s the first time I’ve seen it live, though I’ve watched it on television, but it’s excellent. It’s got a bit of an edge to it which always helps, while the organisation today has been superb. It’s got the potential to be massive.’

Try Rugby

Banahan was also one of the many helpers in the Try Rugby taster scheme run alongside the tournament, with former England ladies star Jo Yapp also on hand for a session that attracted between 30 and 40 newcomers, many of them women. Try Rugby organiser Dave McCormack, the Island’s rugby development officer and Jersey RFC scrum-half, was pleased with the outcome, saying: ‘It’s gone well. The whole point of the day was for people to play and have fun. It’s a new concept and we can grow and develop it from here.’

The final action produced an excellent contest with Beeches and United Banks locked at 3-3 at half time, with Beeches, shorn of many of their regular squad, squeezing ahead in the final period. Try scorers for the winners were Ryan Barrett, Andy Binet, Stuart Broadhead and Ryan Gibson. Ben de Figeiredo scored twice for the runners-up, with Will Dawson getting the other try. Part of the celebrations for the 15th anniversary of the Jersey Rugby Association it is hoped that the event will help a recruitment drive by the Island’s junior clubs to help build a stronger base still for the superb achievements of Jersey RFC’s National II side.

Beeches: Paul Cryer, Kirk Wisdom, Armando Nobrega, Stuart Broadhead, Nathan Rault, Ryan Barrett, Andy Binet, Steve Mckenna, Phil Mourant and Ryan Gibson.

United Banks: Graham Stokes, Ivan Murphy, Tim de Gruchy, Peter Howorth, Lewis Williams, Ross Michalski, Craig smith, Ben de Figeiredo, Richard Smith and Will Dawson.

Top individual awards went to Lee Godel of HM Prison La Moye and Tracy Balmer of United Banks.

The Summer 2010 Newsletter is now on site; follow this link

Pre-Season Friendlies - 21st August Jersey v Ampthill and 28th August Jersey v Stourbridge (Stourbridge are bringing a party of 66 so it should be a good day!)

 Check out our new 'Shop' section to see the JRFC kit available at the Clubhouse.