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Raven Mad! International Rugby, Try-Lights and Christmas Market nears closer!

Raven Mad! International Rugby, Try-Lights and Christmas Market nears closer!

Laura Parker17 Nov 2017 - 16:00
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Our Senior sides take a well-earned rest this weekend, however we still have plenty going on this weekend at Mill Road.

International Rugby ✔ Curry ✔ Beer ✔ You..?

Despite no senior games on Saturday it's still worth coming up to Mill Road to watch the Internationals

Is there anything better than a belly full of a curry, a pint in your hand whilst watching the English beat the Aussies?! We argue not!

In the absence of any senior games this Saturday we’re putting on a curry lunch for anyone who wants to come and watch the England v Australia game on our big screens at the club.

For £10 not only will you get to watch the game in the 2nd best venue after Twickenham, you’ll also get a bowl of steaming curry with all the trimmings and a free pint to get you started! What more could one ask for?! The game kicks off at 3pm.

We'll also have the Scotland vs New Zealand game on following the England match. 

No need to buy tickets, just pop up to the club, the bar's open from 1.30pm and we’ll see you there!

Youth on Sunday

We unite with Wymondham this weekend for our Youth fixtures with most teams either traveling to Norfolk or hosting them at Mill Road. Our Colts Academy take on Chelmsford in a friendly on Pitch 1 at home, kicking off at 12.30pm. Our Colts team is growing in strength every week so come down and check them out- with many Colts making the step up to our Ravens squad- this team really is the future of Colchester RFC. All the weekend's activity below:

Upcoming Events at CRFC

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Christmas is around the corner and here at CRFC we're full of festive cheer already!

After the success of last year's market our traditional Christmas Market is returning! With beautiful gifts, Colchester RFC stocking fillers, sweet treats and of course mulled wine, our Christmas Market is the perfect occasion to get yourself into the Christmas spirit.

Join us from 6pm onwards on Wednesday the 29th of November to browse through everything we have to offer and catch some fantastic rugby at the same time as we'll have our youth section floodlight sessions as we welcome St Joseph's College to Mill Road.

This is an evening you won't want to miss out on so make sure you've got it in your diary!

Bring in the New Year with Colchester RFC

2017 has been a great year for CRFC and we're determined to get 2018 off to the best possible start with a huge New Year's Eve party up at Mill Road.

From 7.30pm until 1am we're providing special drinks deals at the bar to rival every venue in Colchester including a free glass of prosecco on arrival. We’ve got a brilliant DJ to supply the tunes, a delicious buffet and a photo booth, all we need is YOU! Gather your friends and family and join us for this mega event. Colchester RFC knows how to have a good night- and our New Year’s Eve Party will be no exception!

We also have extremely reasonably priced taxis available exclusively for this event which you can pre-book with Claire beforehand, saving you the headache of finding a taxi.

You can buy your tickets with Claire now, and at only £15 for an adult and £7 for a child you’re getting a real bargain! You can buy your tickets online here, but please note there will be a admin fee applied- for fee free tickets (try saying that after a few pints!) come up to the bar to buy your ticket direct with us!

1st XV: The Review, with John Smith

Every week Senior Chairman Jon Smith writes a review of the 1st XV's last game and a separate preview to the next game. These articles will give you the behind the scenes low down on what goes on with our 1st XV and in an insight into the inner workings of our club. This week, Jon reviews the details that lead to such a great win against Old Priorians last weekend. Further in Raven Mad you can check out the awesome tries that lead to that fantastic win!

"I am sure that everyone at Colchester Rugby Club on Saturday will join me in thanking Lee Soper for the speech he made before the club lunch and the tribute he led on the pitch before our 1st XV kicked off against Old Priorians. It was an emotional moment and a stark reminder of the sacrifices and risks our armed forces willingly accept so we can live our lives in freedom.

On the pitch, it was a game of two halves. With a 19-0 half time lead a big score and a bonus point win looked on the cards, but Old Priorians came back hard in the second half and their backline threatened to make a comeback that looked very unlikely at half time. Despite an admirable fightback, our forwards staged a strong driving line out in the final quarter of the game and Eli Castle bagged his second try and seized the four-try bonus point and, ultimately, secured the win.

After conceding a raft of largely avoidable penalties early in the game (including a ten-minute spell in the sin bin for Matt Wadling) the deadlock was broken by a well worked try from Will Brown. The try originated from a line out and five-phase move when George Liversidge found some space on the right flank after Man of the Match Joe Beckett ran interference and consequently opened a channel for Brown to exploit with his blistering turn of speed. This move showed the virtues of Brown's pace and the often "unseen" work that loose forwards like Dan Whiteman, and in this case Joe Beckett, do for the team.

After starting the game largely in defensive mode, by the fifteenth minute the pack wrestled control of proceedings and then began to dominate their opponents in almost every aspect of the game; they were especially dominant in the scrum and it was soon abundantly clear that the front row of Mitchell, Hartley and McMillan would be able to exploit this advantage in the Priorians "red zone" and a seven-point penalty try in the 20th minute reflected this dominance. In the last three games our scrum has looked rock solid and, in my opinion, the best front row in the league. At this level it is rare to have a front row that can dominate a scrummage with such assurance, yet also contribute so much to open play.

The coaches have arrived at a front row that is balanced and very much a reflection of the skills and attributes of the personnel. James Mitchell at tight head provides the solid base and driving point in order to prevent the oppositions surge. The tight head has both shoulders fully engaged into the scrummage so they have to maintain a straight and square line on their opponents in order to avoid conceding penalties. Joe McMillan has the right frame, skills and attitude for a loose head prop. Typically, the loose head will have more of an 'open' role around the pitch and because they engage with just one shoulder they have the freedom to look for gaps and chinks in their opponents front row to generally disrupt, aggravate and needle their opposition!"

You can read Jon's full report on our website here.

Stock up on all your CRFC stash at our Clubhouse Shop

Our CRFC club shop is open Thursday evenings 7pm-8pm and Sunday mornings 9.30am to 12.30pm for you to grab all the CRFC goodies you need.

We've got playing kit, hoodies, socks, gumshields, new hats and scarfs and much more all ready for you to buy. With the weather getting colder, we recommend you check out the shop so you can stay warm in CRFC style!

Colchester Rugby Club gets social; all the try footage from the Old Priorians game...

There's plenty going on across our social media all the time. Keep up to date with all CRFC news, rugby content, events, and video highlights. We announce the Man of the Match every weekend over on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter so make sure you're following us to keep up to date! You can see all of the four amazing tries from last weekend here.

So, make sure you follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to stay in the loop. You can also find videos of all the tries from this season and last on our YouTube channel and all the behind the scenes action and live game highlights are on our snapchat: colchesterrugby.

Good luck to all our players in action this weekend and we look forward to seeing you at Mill Road soon!

Further reading