Welcome to East Grinstead Rugby Round Up. If you are reading this on the website, or via Facebook, please sign up to receive this Newsletter via email, which contains loads of pictures and other content, please email m.marriott@btconnect.com and we will add you to the list.

SENIOR RUGBY
No senior games last weekend as all eyes were on Cardiff!! What a game! As a Bath fan, Sunday was pretty good too!!

This weekend sees all three senior sides in home rugby action. The last league lunch of the season precludes the visits of Cobham and Horsham to face our 1’s and 2’s respectively (The deadline to book your seat is today - See below!!!). Then on Sunday, our Women host Dorking. Please get to the club to support all our squads.

An early shout out to get Saturday 29th in the diary, as our Vets are hosting a round robin tournament with players from St Francis, Crawley, Eastbourne and Lewes, joining us for a feast of rugby at the club. The first game will kick off at 12, so please come and cheer our aging warriors on as they strive for Sussex supremacy!! If you are over 35 (Or nearly!!) and fancy a trot out, contact James at: jamesadkin@hotmail.com

AGE GROUP RUGBY
Sunday was a quiet day at the club with the U9s, 10s and 11s all at away fixtures. There was a small contingent from the U10s and it was a beautiful day for it. The rain had stayed away for a prolonged period and mixed with some warm winter sunshine the pitches were all in good condition and perfect for play.

U9s
On Sunday 16th March (unusually another stunning day in the sun), East Grinstead and Crawley Under 9s rugby squads came together for some pre-festival match practice, hosted by Crawley RFC. With over 50 players taking to the field, the session started with both squads doing 45 minutes independently to prepare their teams. For EG this included some warm up activations and then on to contact and passing focussed drills to get the kids game ready. We then went straight into three quick paced games over a 45 minute window. It was great to see the kids put tackling, handling, support play and teamwork skills into practice against live opposition.

Some positive feed back was received from the Crawley coaches as well who described the EG players as “being on form”. Coach Karen added: This session was great preparation for the upcoming festival at Uckfield (this Sunday). The countdown is on!

Thank you to Crawley RFC for hosting and to the many parents and families who came out to support.

U10s at Horsham RFC Festival.
Team: Finlay, Seb, Thomas, Jack, Bradley, Ollie, Erikas, Alexander, Owen and Theo K.

Coach Georgie Knight reported, "It was a great day of rugby at Horsham for the U10s. Some excellent passing, offloads, tackling and rucking - every player took part and did their bit. It was especially amazing to see all their hard work over the winter on tackling and rucking paying off and being transferred into competitive games. The players listened to the coaches and the refs and were a huge credit to the club".

The coaches were super proud of the players’ teamwork, determination and sportsmanship. A big thank you to parents for their support and of course our thanks to Horsham RFC for their organisation.

U11s at Horsham RFC.
Sunday brought dry, sunny, and, quite frankly, perfect rugby weather.

East Grinstead U11s sent two teams over to Horsham for a fantastic morning of dedicated, committed, and high-quality rugby.

As we have come to expect from our U11s, every player rose to the occasion, battling through some gruelling encounters that suitably highlighted their cohesive spirit, unwavering determination, and burgeoning abilities. Team One battled hard for every inch and every second throughout some tough games, admirably holding their heads high despite finishing with a game that presented some challenges in terms of the on-field interactions! Team Two flew out of the blocks and maintained that momentum, finishing with a perfect and well-deserved record of four wins from four, with plenty of brilliant tries scored.

Overall, it was a day of exceptional effort and achievement for East Grinstead U11s. In short, the U11s played with pride and skill, they should all be very proud of themselves as East Grinstead RFC is proud of them.

Next week, all junior sections are dotted around the county for the Sussex Minis festival.

Other notable results from Sunday were our U14’s who hosted a strong Guernsey side, the Channel Islanders eventually triumphing 34 - 45. Our U15’s had a fantastic day as they beat rivals, Worthing, 45 - 26.

LAST PRE MATCH LUNCH OF THE SEASON
You have until the end of today (Wednesday 19th) to book your seat at Saturday’s last league pre-match lunch of the season as our 1’s host Cobham. We have a few VIP guests, so come and join them.

For more information and to book your seat, click this link: https://www.egrfc.com/news/sussex-cup-winning-reunion-lunch-22nd-march-2903598.html

PLEASE RESPECT OUR CLUB
Our club thrives on its volunteers, and we appreciate everything you do for the club to enable all the children, men and women to play rugby at Saint Hill. However, it seems that not all are doing their best to uphold our club values.

We are receiving many complaints from the grounds team about rubbish and equipment being left on the pitches which they are having to clear up and this often follows evening training sessions rather than game days. We have also recently seen graffiti on club property and walls, players urinating on pitches and a general disrespect for our facilities.

In the 2024/25 season we have seen our wages bill soar and we are also finding staff and volunteer recruitment more difficult. We just cannot afford more staff.

Can we please ask that if you are playing in, managing or running a training session or indeed a game, you leave the pitches clean and clear, pick up all clothing, water bottles and rubbish and wherever possible leave the club both internally and externally as clean as the prevailing weather allows. If you witness any antisocial or disrespectful behavior of this nature, please let us know.

Thank you

OTHER NEWS
If you have any news about any aspect of our rugby family here at East Grinstead, get involved and email m.marriott@btconnect.com. See you next week!!