Worthing RFC

Worthing
Full name	Worthing Rugby Football Club
Union	Sussex RFU
Nickname(s)	Raiders
Founded	1920; 104 years ago
Location	Angmering, West Sussex, England
Ground(s)	Roundstone Lane (Capacity: 1,500 (100 seats))
Coach(es)	Fred Pierrepoint; Luke Wallace
Captain(s)	Jack Forrest
League(s)	National League 2 East
2023-24	12th
	Team kit
	Team kit
Official website
	worthingrfc.co.uk

Worthing Rugby Football Club is an English rugby union team playing in the fourth tier of the English rugby union league system; National League 2 East. The first XV, nicknamed The Raiders, were runners-up to Henley Hawks in the National League 2 South 2012–13 season and qualified for a play-off against the runners-up of National League 2 North, Stourbridge winning 28 – 26.^[2]^[3]^[4] In doing so, the club became the first club from Sussex to play in the third tier of English rugby.^[5] The club also has a number of other teams, and while their 2nd XV is non-league, their 3rd XV currently plays in the Sussex Spitfire 1 league.^[6] Worthing also have a successful Ladies 1st XV who are currently in 2nd place in the National Challenge South East South 2 league

History

A group of local sportsmen meeting at York House formed the club on the 10 September 1920.^[7] They had no ground or equipment,^[7] and initially borrowed a field from a local farmer off Wallace Avenue in West Worthing^[8] before moving to the Rotary Ground at Broadwater.^[7] In the 1924–25 season the club moved to Rugby Road in West Worthing. The Rugby Road ground was the club's home until 1927, when a 6-acre (24,000 m²) site was purchased in Castle Road, West Tarring.^[7] The club moved to its current location at Roundstone Lane in Angmering in 1977 and the ground is now designated a Centre of Excellence for rugby in Sussex. The ground is approximately 5.5 miles (8.9 km) west of the centre of Worthing. Worthing has a proud history of mini and junior rugby, having been the first club in England to offer mini rugby and having held the first mini rugby festival in England which attracted hundreds of teams in the early 90s.

Current standings

2023–24 National League 2 East table
Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TB	LB	Pts	Result
1	Esher (C)	26	22	0	4	1108	598	+510	21	4	113	Promoted
2	Barnes	26	21	0	5	883	631	+252	18	4	106
3	Dorking	26	19	1	6	971	676	+295	23	3	104
4	Henley Hawks	26	16	2	8	784	680	+104	19	2	89
5	Tonbridge Juddians	26	14	1	11	844	714	+130	20	7	85
6	Bury St Edmunds	26	14	1	11	813	653	+160	17	6	81
7	Canterbury	26	13	0	13	808	736	+72	16	5	73
8	Old Albanian	26	12	0	14	802	828	−26	17	4	69
9	Westcombe Park	26	10	2	14	735	741	−6	16	9	69
10	Guernsey Raiders	26	11	0	15	685	856	−171	16	2	62
11	Sevenoaks	26	11	1	14	605	724	−119	10	4	60
12	Worthing Raiders	26	7	0	19	761	963	−202	18	5	51
13	Wimbledon (R)	26	6	1	19	686	899	−213	13	5	44	Relegated
14	North Walsham (R)	26	1	1	24	432	1218	−786	6	0	12	Relegated

Updated to match(es) played on 27 April 2024. Source: National League 2 East RFU ^[9]
Rules for classification: If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:

Number of matches won
Difference between points for and against
Total number of points for
Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams
Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled
(C) Champion; (R) Relegated

Honours

1st team:

London Division 3 East champions: 2001–02
London Division 2 South champions: 2002–03^[10]
London 1 v South West 1 promotion play-off winner: 2007–08
National League 2 (North v South) promotion play-off winner: 2012–13

Worthing Senior I:

Sussex Late Red 3 West champions: 2011–12
Sussex 2 champions: 2013–14

Worthing Senior II:

Sussex Late Red 3 West champions: 2012–13

Club colours

The original club colours were green and white stripes, which were also sported by Old Guilfordians RFC.^[7]

The choice of the present royal blue with chocolate and gold hoops was made in 1927.^[7] The scheme is an amalgamation of the colours of Dulwich College, Mill Hill School and Cranleigh School where many of the team members had been to school.^[7]

Notable former and current players

Dino Lamb
Tom Bowen - England 7s
Matthew McLean - Wales U19s
Joe Marchant
Joe Launchbury
Joe Marler
Martyn Elms - England U16s
Semisi Taulava
James Chisholm – England U20s
Piers O'Conor – England U20s
Harry Sloan – England U20s
Amy Wilson-Hardy – Team GB Olympics Women's 7s 2016, England Women's 15s & 7s

Coaching team and player highlights

In July 2011, former Ireland international Kieron Dawson was appointed head coach of Worthing Rugby Football Club, succeeding Will Green.^[11]

Lock forward Charlie McGowan made an appearance for the Barbarians against the Combined Services at Plymouth in the annual Remembrance Match in November 2013. He was also selected for the England Counties squad for their match against a Scotland Club XV at Fylde’s Woodlands Memorial Ground on 27 February 2015.

Hooker Matt Miles (ex Raiders captain) had previously played for Northampton Saints and Ulster before joining Worthing RFC.

For the 2016/17 season, former Worthing RFC 1st XV Coach and former Director of Rugby at Cornish Pirates Ian Davies rejoined the Raiders as Director of Rugby with former Raiders wing Ben Coulson and former Raiders Captain Jody Levett on the coaching staff.

In 2020 Rene Draude took up the role of Director of Rugby with former Harlequins centre Jordan Turner-Hall as Head Coach and they took the team to two consecutive 4th placed finishes in the league.

Former player Matthew McLean retired at the end of the 2022/23 season, having played 308 games for the club and amassed 3,038 points (a National League 2 record) including 173 tries during his playing career with the Raiders.

For the 2023/24 season, Fred Pierrepoint took on the position of Head Coach, assisted by Luke Wallace and current players Frank Taggart (forwards) and Tom Bowen (backs). A difficult season for Worthing due to retirements, long-term injuries, suspensions and unavailability meant that Worthing struggled for much of the time but eventually secured their place in National League 2 East finishing in twelfth place.

References

^ "Championship Rugby on The South Coast". Rolling Maul. 4 March 2013.
^ "Results - SSE National League 2S". The Rugby Paper. 12 May 2013. p. 32.
^ "National League 2 South". Rugby Football Union.
^ "RFU National Leagues (levels 1-4)". Sussex Rugby Football Union.
^ Legg, Mike (13 September 2013). "Worthing Raiders Fired Up For Historic Home Clash". The Argus. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
^ "Sussex Spitfire 1". Rugby Football Union.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g "Worthing RFC official website". Worthing Borough Council. 30 September 2008. Retrieved 28 January 2010.
^ Elleray, D. Robert (1998). A Millennium Encyclopaedia of Worthing History. Worthing: Optimus Books. ISBN 0-9533132-0-4
^ "National League 2 East". England Rugby.
^ "L2S 02/03". www.hampshirerugby.co.uk. Archived from the original on 21 May 2014.
^ "Raiders Get Underway for 2011/12". Retrieved 20 July 2011.