Author Archives: Paul Clarke

Mission Statement

1. Vision

The Referees Section promotes the highest standards of refereeing throughout the club and the highest standards of conduct on the field of play. It will contribute to the knowledge of both coaches and players as to the laws of the game of Rugby. It will strive to ensure that the game of Rugby is played according to the laws and spirit of the game and the values of Ealing Rugby Club which are:

  • Excellence
  • Inclusiveness
  • Sportsmanship
  • Safety

2. Mission

The Referees Section will:

  • encourage and develop referees in each age group throughout the Mini, Youth and Women sections of the club;
  • promote our best referees to support the senior sides;
  • provide training and opportunities for development to all who are interested in refereeing;
  • ensure that player’s safety is paramount;
  • promote a high degree of knowledge and understanding of the laws of Rugby Union and quality, integrity and consistency in their application on the pitch;
  • promote the interests of referees within the club environment and encourage the highest standards of support and respect for referees amongst players, coaches and spectators;
  • encourage and support referees to referee at the highest level according to their ability.

3. Membership

All coaches and others who are interested in refereeing can join the referees section. All members will be required to contribute actively to refereeing at ERFC in some capacity during the course of the season. Members will be required to confirm their interest and their current level of RFU Referee qualification annually. Those who are new to refereeing will be advised on training and education and next steps.

4. Training & Development

Anyone interested in joining this section will be able to do so at any time. Everyone who joins will either already have a recognised RFU Referee qualification or will be expected to undertake an official RFU Referee training course. Entry Level Referee Award (ELRA) and Continuous Referee Development Award (CRDA) courses will be held at various times during the year as required  and the section will make funds available for training.

The section will periodically arrange for more senior referees to watch junior referees and provide feedback which is positive and encouraging to facilitate real progress in development. The section has committed to develop aspiring referees through the new Ealing Development Group (EDG). This group will comprise those who wish to develop their skills at 15-a-side level. It is anticipated that many of these people will also become London Society Referees. The EDG will benefit from coaching, assessment and mentoring. They will be provided with a range of experience starting with friendly games at the U.13 level and leading right through to league games at colt level.

At the Mini level it is hoped to create a mentoring system where the referees will mentor those in the year below them.

Members will be encouraged to develop their skills to the highest levels and to use them at every opportunity.  There will be talks from club members and external presenters, including International Referees, about aspects of refereeing. There will continue to be a general lightness of touch and an emphasis on safety and enjoyment for players and referees alike. 

5. Recognition

Referees will be awarded ERFC Referee’s kit and will be expected to display their RFU Referee status on their right sleeve. This kit has been especially designed to mark out those who have chosen this route and to add stature to their efforts.

 

Join the Jades – all ages, skills and experience levels welcome!

Even if you’re completely new to rugby, we can bring you up to speed quickly with our specialised beginners’ training sessions on Wednesdays from 6.30pm – 7.30pm. These are not physically demanding sessions, but designed to equip you with basic rugby skills. You can then put these into practice at the full team training sessions which follow from 7.30pm.

We’re now conducting pre-season training every Wednesday at 7.30pm, in preparation for our first league game against Woodbridge on the 13th of September. Come on down and join in!

Contact us at  womensrugby@ealingruby.co.uk, or else just turn up at the club on Wednesdays; you can find us here.

Jason Leonard presents RFU Award

Ex England and Lions star Jason Leonard presented the RFU President’s XV Recognition Award for More Coaches to Ealing Rugby Club during the club’s end-of-season celebrations on Sunday, 3 May.

As well as presenting the award on behalf of the RFU, Leonard played a full part in the celebrations – signing shirts and balls, and posing for photos with players from the rugby rats (Under 5s) through to Under 12s.

The award recognised the club’s ’Coaching Pathway’ coach development program, led by Nick Lambert, that aims to fill the skills-gaps by capturing the wealth of knowledge held within the club’s existing coaching community and utilising such to develop the confidence, ability and skills of newer coaches. The Pathway consists of a series of levels, akin to Judo ‘belts’, with each level comprising a number of coaching modules as well as refereeing and child protection components.

The Pathway delivers sessions that add value for all attendees in an informal and enjoyable format scheduled to dovetail with crowded diaries. To this end, coaches may enter the program at any level and attend any of the sessions irrespective of their experience. Lambert said: “We are extremely pleased with the tangible improvements in coaching that the Pathway has already delivered.

“The Pathway has played a part in preparing those candidates who put themselves forward for formal RFU assessment with 20 coaches achieving RFU Level 1 or Level 2 status since the Pathway’s inauguration.

“We cannot afford to stand still though… we are already making extensive use of the RFU’s Rugby Ready session to motivate and encourage new coaches to join the 150+ existing coaching volunteers at the club and we are looking forward to the release of the next generation of RFU CPD modules and building these into the Pathway, to ensure that Ealing stays ahead of the ‘Coach Ed’ curve and is well prepared for the anticipated roll-out of Coach Licensing.”

Ealing’s Coaching Pathway will be highlighted as a Case Study of best practice in the RFU’s Touchline magazine.

The award is Ealing’s second in two years after winning the More Referees category in 2008

REPORT: Ealing Exiles 31 – 24 Former Exiles

On Sunday 10th May the Ealing Exiles Present played Ealing Exiles Past in an end of season game. The hot sunny conditions provided a perfect day for fast flowing rugby and the fans were not disappointed.

Both sides fielded strong back lines and this was to produce some excellent end to end rugby. The youth, pace and enthusiasm of the Present Exiles was matched by the cunning of the Past Exiles who defended particularly well, communicating effectively to make some solid double tackles.

In the extreme heat fitness was the key. The Present Exiles had the edge in this area, and in a game that resembled a sevens match they went on to win 31-24.

A special thanks to all the Exiles who attended Help a London Child at the Hilton on Saturday and managed to play when the bar was open till 0600. An extra hand to all those who played in the game against the Vets on Saturday 9th May.

Fine work in the true spirit of the Exiles. All Exiles will be trained in arm wrestling during the off season by Barry ‘Fast Arm’ Cousins. Few will be aware he is currently the undefeated World Champion!

Ealing win second RFU Award

 

Ealing have scooped an RFU President’s XV Award for the second season in succession.

Following up last season’s award for our ground breaking Referee Section, this time our excellent Coaching Pathway programme to develop our own coaching talent has scooped the award in the More Coaches category.

Huge praise and thanks go to our very own Nick Lambert for the tremendous work he has put into this initiative.

Best Colts Team?

 Just nosing around other clubs websites….

 
… and came across the picture of your Colts with the Middlesex Cup (I think) – was that the final with Old Meadonian Colts, if it is, then I would have played in that game and remember it being a close match at our place. Would have been around 1980/81.
 
A good deal of those players from both clubs went on to represent their 1st XV’s not long after.
 
I remember the battles with the likes of Gytvei, Edmunds and Higgins to name a few and enjoyed playing together for Middlesex U21s a couple of years later. From an outsiders perspective, this was definitely a vintage year for both clubs.
 
Best Wishes to All, James Oliver (flanker) and Chiswick Vets skipper and Club Secretary.
 
PS any more of those photos?

My Hat It Has Three Corners

Interesting to read Mike William’s and Mike Jackson’s notes on the club song.

George Priechenfried also introduced a couple of youngsters (Mike Williams and I) to My Hat It Has Three Corners, Three Corners Has my Hat which caused great fun after a few beers had been sunk!

Most of us were up at the club, because those were the days when Ealing Nighties played their Sunday games. It was a very interesting period. Wasps, Quinns, Richmond & London Scottish were the big boys. I managed to get some ‘visitors’ from these clubs to play on a Sunday for us and some of their players ended up as members of Ealing – Jumbo Harrald, Grant Brendon (Wasps Vandels) also Mike Girdlestone and Tony Gates joined us from Quins.

How times have changed. Good luck this Saturday against Richmond. Bill Munks and Brian Stoneman were two names from the past who played for Richmond.

Ealing have had a good season and with luck next year will even be better.

Regards to one and all,

David Inwood

Best Colts Team?

Chris Andrew’s photographs and comments do bring back memories of the Colts! It also brings back memories of the tours we went on. It would be unfair to put down in writing comments about the great characters we had, as they are now adults in their own right. Memories are best talked about when we meet up again – and of course the stories will get longer and longer over the years.

As regards the best Colts team, to be honest I think it is impossible to name. Each year we put out the best teams we could. For those of you who were in the colts remember that Big Jake started off in the colts second team! Was it bad selection by me or did we have some very good players? No other colts ran two Saturday sides – not even Wasps – so each one of our sides always played a 1st XV.

I think we all put in a lot of hard work which resulted in us all having a good time. In a way you all started it off.

David Inwood

Best Colts Team?

I played on the first colts team to win the Middlesex cup, that has to be the best team. The Bugeja brothers, John Critchfield, Mark Giddings, Jake Edmunds, Ian Komor, Danny Bickerton to name but a few. Great team back then. I would like to hear from Dave Inwood about the tours we went on. Maybe he has some fond memories.

 
Chris Andrews
 
Mark Bugeja
Mark Bugeja
 
Danny Bickerton, Ed Hickey
Danny Bickerton, Ed Hickey
 
Ed Hickey, Armstrong
Peter Armstrong, Ed Hickey
 
Mark Lynch
Mark Lynch (holding flag)

Best Colts Team?

It looks as though the club have had a good season in Division 3 South, plus of course a good cup run – well done!

In November last year I had a Saturday afternoon’s entertainment at the club. It was quite an eye opener to say the least. I was fortunate to meet up with Phil Gytvei and Dave Higgins, so the beer did flow whilst watching one of the games.

My main interest however was the ‘after match’ performance. The selection of gourmet food dished out to the players and the jugs of water on the table was quite an eye-opener and very impressive – or was it? The days when I used to drag girl friends to the club to cook and dish out pie and beans have long gone! Most of them now are getting the old age pension!

It is so easy to lose touch with the modern game and I think I have. It reminds me of Sam Larkin? Good Lord the boy is wearing blue shorts! But when I look back over the years other clubs did exactly the same.

It was when we started to lose on a regular basis to Maidenhead (Thames Valley), Upper Clapton, Henley and the local Derby against Osterley, that our training of two laps around Ealing Cricket Club was not enough – to progress we had to train and we did.

The odd game of hockey with the flag posts in the wee small hours of the morning, was extra to training (Anybody remember that?). The club even in those days used to come up against County Players, Internationals and not forgetting players from United Banks XV  – Albert Agar captained Lloyds bank and played in the centre for England.

The support and ideas Ealing had must have been correct, for to be in the position the club now is in, is wonderful.

To beat Waterloo and Rosslyn Park, two clubs who have numerous former internationals, is hats off to one and all.

If you can consolidate your position this year……..

The club did not just spring up at Trailfinders over night.

The colts did not just appear. I was fortunate in having contacts with two local schools and success breeds success. It was pointed out that a lot of them became club captains Any of you younger ones – playing no doubt for the evergreens nowadays – care to name the best colts XV?

Good luck to the club for the rest of the season

Regards to one and all

David Inwood