Worthing Rugby Football Club
# Worthing Rugby Football Club

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 South. 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. In doing so, the club became the first club from Sussex to play in the third tier of English rugby. 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. 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. They had no ground or equipment, and initially borrowed a field from a local farmer off Wallace Avenue in West Worthing before moving to the Rotary Ground at Broadwater. 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 $m^2)$ site was purchased in Castle Road, West Tarring. 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

2022–23 National League 2 East Table

vte :

| | | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points for | Points against | Points diff | Try bonus | Losing bonus | Points | Points adj |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Blackheath | 18 | 16 | 0 | 2 | 715 | 226 | 489 | 14 | 2 | 80 | |
| 2 | Worthing Raiders | 19 | 13 | 0 | 6 | 653 | 486 | 167 | 14 | 2 | 68 | |
| 3 | Dorking | 18 | 12 | 1 | 5 | 626 | 363 | 263 | 12 | 3 | 65 | |
| 4 | Barnes | 18 | 12 | 0 | 6 | 576 | 352 | 224 | 13 | 3 | 64 | |
| 5 | Henley Hawks | 18 | 12 | 0 | 6 | 513 | 368 | 145 | 9 | 4 | 61 | |
| 6 | Bury St Edmunds | 18 | 12 | 0 | 6 | 548 | 445 | 103 | 11 | 2 | 61 | |
| 7 | Tonbridge Juddians | 19 | 11 | 0 | 8 | 501 | 419 | 82 | 10 | 2 | 56 | |
| 8 | Old Albanian | 18 | 11 | 0 | 7 | 472 | 439 | 33 | 12 | 0 | 56 | |
| 9 | Guernsey Raiders | 19 | 7 | 1 | 11 | 528 | 467 | 61 | 9 | 4 | 43 | |
| 10 | Canterbury | 19 | 7 | 0 | 12 | 481 | 574 | −93 | 9 | 2 | 39 | |
| 11 | Sevenoaks | 18 | 4 | 2 | 12 | 359 | 504 | −145 | 6 | 5 | 31 | |
| 12 | Rochford Hundred | 18 | 4 | 0 | 14 | 327 | 699 | −306 | 9 | 2 | 27 | |
| 13 | North Walsham | 18 | 5 | 0 | 13 | 367 | 616 | −252 | 4 | 1 | 25 | |
| 14 | Westcliff | 18 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 249 | 949 | −700 | 2 | 2 | −1 | −5 |
| 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 |||||||||||||||
| Green background is the promotion place. Pink background are the relegation places. Source: "National League 2 East". RugbyEngland. Updated: 18 February 2023 |||||||||||||||

## Honours

1st team:

* London Division 3 East champions: 2001–02
* London Division 2 South champions: 2002–03
* 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. The choice of the present royal blue with chocolate and gold hoops was made in 1927. 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.

## Notable former players

* 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

## Current squad

In July 2011, former Ireland international Kieron Dawson was appointed head coach of Worthing Rugby Football Club, succeeding Will Green. Charlie McGowan previously made an appearance for the Barbarians against the Combined Services at Plymouth in the annual Remembrance Match in November 2013. He has also been selected for the England Counties squad for their match against Scotland Club XV at Fylde’s Woodlands Memorial Ground on 27 February 2015. Matt Miles (ex Raiders captain) had previously played for Northampton Saints and Ulster before joining Worthing RFC. For the 2016 season, former Worthing RFC 1XV 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.

