Nottingham R.F.C.

Last updated

Nottingham R.F.C.
Nottingham rugby logo.png
Full nameNottingham Rugby Club
Union Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire RFU
Founded1877;147 years ago (1877)
Ground(s) Lady Bay (Capacity: 3,500)
ChairmanAlistair Bow
PresidentNigel Bettinson-Eatch
Director of Rugby Craig Hammond
League(s) RFU Championship
2023–24 8th
Kit left arm.svg
Kit body whitehoops.png
Kit body.svg
Kit right arm.svg
Kit shorts.svg
Kit socks hoops white.png
Kit socks long.svg
Home kit
Official website
www.nottinghamrugby.co.uk

Nottingham Rugby Club is a rugby union club based in Nottingham, England. The club's first team currently plays in the RFU Championship, the second tier of English Rugby.

Contents

The first XV are nicknamed The Archers, in reference to the famous Robin Hood. Now situated in the Lady Bay area of Nottingham, the club was formerly based at Meadow Lane, the home ground of Notts County F.C. They previously played at Ireland Avenue in Beeston until the end of the 2005–06 season.

History

The club was established circa 1877 by Alexander Birkin after returning from Rugby School, where he was introduced to the sport. The Birkin family later purchased the land at Ireland Avenue that would be the home of the club until 2006.

The club's heyday was in the late 1980s with a number of top international players representing the first XV. These included Simon Hodgkinson, Rob Andrew, Gary Rees, Dusty Hare and Brian Moore (also a Lion) representing England and Chris Gray representing Scotland.

The advent of professionalism[ citation needed ] saw the Green & Whites fall on hard times and the first XV narrowly avoided relegation to the regional divisions in 2002–03. The club has bounced back since then and was promoted into National League One in 2003–04. The club finished a creditable 7th in 2005–06 before leaving Ireland Avenue after 102 years. Alistair Bow was appointed chairman in 2010 after having been a director since 2008.

Martin Haag appointed Dan Montagu captain on 21 July 2015. He replaced Brent Wilson who retired at the end of 2014–15 season. Since then Ian Costello has been appointed as Head Coach, with Neil Fowkes and Alex O'Dowd rounding out the coaching team.

The club play at Lady Bay, previously at Meadow Lane. On 30 July 2010 the club signed an agreement to become part of Notts County PLC. [1] In early July 2012 it was announced that Martin Haag had become the new director of rugby at the club.

A change in funding by the RFU ahead of the 2020–21 season forced the club into become only a part-time professional club. [2]

Honours

Current standings

2023–24 RFU Championship table
PosTeamPldWDLPFPAPDTBLBPts
1 Ealing Trailfinders (C)201604823417+40616282
2 Cornish Pirates 201514589408+18112175
3 Coventry 201406698428+27015273
4 Bedford Blues 201208590563+2713465
5 Hartpury University 201109627551+7611459
6 Doncaster Knights 201118509529209257
7 Ampthill 20100105736073414256
8 Nottingham 20801248761512813247
9 London Scottish 20411551061410410735
10 Caldy 2051144156752608131
11 Cambridge 2020183827964147520
Updated to match(es) played on 25 May 2024. Source: "The Championship". England Rugby.
Rules for classification: If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
  1. Number of matches won
  2. Difference between points for and against
  3. Total number of points for
  4. Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams
  5. Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled
There is no relegation this season
(C) Champions (ineligible for Promotion play-off)

Current squad

The Nottingham squad for the 2023–24 season is: [3]

Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-World Rugby nationality.

PlayerPositionUnion
Harry Clayton Hooker Flag of England.svg England
Jack Dickinson Hooker Flag of England.svg England
Antonio Harris Hooker Flag of England.svg England
Jake Bridges Prop Flag of England.svg England
Tom Manz Prop Flag of England.svg England
Kai Owen Prop Flag of England.svg England
Aniseko Sio Prop Flag of Samoa.svg Samoa
Archie van der Flier Prop Flag of England.svg England
Xavier Valentine Prop Flag of England.svg England
George Cox Lock Flag of England.svg England
Sebastian Ferreira Lock Flag of Germany.svg Germany
Sam Green Lock Flag of England.svg England
Iosefa Maloney-Fiaola Lock Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand
Come Joussain Lock Flag of France.svg France
Jack Shine Lock Flag of England.svg England
James Cherry Back row Flag of England.svg England
Richard Clift Back row Flag of Australia (converted).svg Australia
Jay Ecclesfield Back row Flag of England.svg England
Scott Hall Back row Flag of England.svg England
Josh Poullet Back row Flag of England.svg England
Nathan Tweedy Back row Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand
Jacob Wright Back row Flag of England.svg England
PlayerPositionUnion
Josh Goodwin Scrum-half Flag of England.svg England
Michael Stronge Scrum-half Flag of England.svg England
Will Yarnell Scrum-half Flag of England.svg England
Jamie Annand Fly-half Flag of Scotland.svg Scotland
Morgan Bunting Fly-half Flag of England.svg England
Sam Hollingsworth Fly-half Flag of England.svg England
Ronnie Du Randt Centre Flag of South Africa.svg South Africa
Michael Green Centre Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand
Marcus Ramage Centre Flag of England.svg England
Javiah Pohe Centre Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand
Dafydd Rhys Tiueti Centre Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Wales
Harry Graham Wing Flag of England.svg England
Henry Joule Wing Flag of England.svg England
Ellis Mee Wing Flag of England.svg England
Ryan Olowofela Wing Flag of England.svg England
Jack Stapley Wing Flag of England.svg England
George Daniels Fullback Flag of England.svg England
Jordan Olowofela Fullback Flag of England.svg England
David Williams Fullback Flag of England.svg England

    Notable former players

    British & Irish Lions

    The following Nottingham players have been selected for the Lions tours while at the club:

    Rugby World Cup

    The following are players which have represented their countries at the Rugby World Cup while playing for Nottingham:

    TournamentPlayers selected England playersOther national team players
    1987 2 Brian Moore, Gary Rees
    1991 3 Gary Rees, Simon Hodgkinson Chris Gray Flag of Scotland.svg
    2011 4 James Arlidge Flag of Japan.svg , Sione Kalamafoni Flag of Tonga.svg , Tim Usasz Flag of the United States.svg , Filipo Levi Flag of Samoa.svg
    2019 1 Shane O'Leary Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg

    Other notable former players

    The following players have played for Nottingham and have been capped by their national side.

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    References

    1. "Ray Trew takes over Nottingham Rugby Club". BBC News. 30 July 2010.
    2. "PLANNING FOR NEXT SEASON". Nottingham Rugby. 17 April 2020. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
    3. "Senior Squad – Nottingham Rugby". Nottingham Rugby. Retrieved 3 April 2024.