Our 1st XV hit the road this weekend at they return from their rest week to take on Amersham & Chiltern. These two teams are no strangers as both Colchester and Amersham dropped down from National League 3 South last season. Amersham were unable to defeat Colchester last season, however, with 7 strong wins under their belt so far, they're going to be tough competition.

Elsewhere in London North 1 top of the table Chingford travel to 2nd place Brentwood for a huge clash. This weekend could see a real shuffle in the top 4 positions in the league and potentially impact each team's hope for promotion. Colchester have the opportunity to make a real impact, and a win at Amersham could see them rise to 2nd place in the league table and therefore in contention for play-offs in April. It may sound far away, but key games like this could be the difference between elevating back up to the National Leagues and remaining in London North 1. All the players and coaching staff are very aware of this fact which has been reflected in the recent training sessions, including the extra session during their rest week.

The 1st XV kick off at the earlier time of 2pm, and you can find the directions to Amersham & Chiltern here.

Elsewhere in the senior section our Ravens return to the Zoo Sports Shield as they travel to Hertford in their toughest fixture to date. Hertford stand tall at the top of the table, having only been defeated once this season by Wimbledon in their first game of the year. Despite their looming opposition, our Ravens are raring to go and been putting their all into training this week. If you fancy travelling to the game then it kicks off at 2.30pm and you can find the directions to Hertford RFC here.

Our A XV are travelling to an extremely important game tomorrow as they visit Hadleigh, the team which sits only 1 place above them in the league. Our A XV have been working hard this week as they sharpen their skills before Saturday. It's looking to be an interesting encounter so head over to Hadleigh to support our boys, kick off is 2pm and the directions to Hadleigh are here.

After enjoying their rest weekend, our Cavaliers are back on the pitch at Harwich & Dovercourt tomorrow. After a tough loss to Halstead last game, the Cavs are looking to redeem themselves and see this weekend's game as the place to do it. Catch our Cavs in action at 2pm at Harwich & Dovercourt, the directions to Wick Lane can be found here.

Our final travelling team tomorrow is our Veteran team; the Roundheads. They make their way across the strood to Mersea Island to take on their Rhinos. The Mersea Rhinos sit just one place above our Roundheads so this game is all to play for. If you fancy watching some club legends in action the directions are here, and they kick off at 2pm.

Good luck to our travelling teams this weekend- as we've no home teams, the bar will not be open on Saturday and therefore will not be showing the England game- apologies!

Youth on Sunday

We unite with Hadleigh this weekend for our Youth fixtures with most teams either traveling to Suffolk or hosting them at Mill Road. Our Colts Academy take on Hadleigh 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 next week! 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- buy tickets online

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 at the bar 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!

2017 in Review- we need YOU!

We're creating a special 2017 edition programme for next weekend's game against Eton Manor and we've been asking staff and players what their memorable moments are from the year. Now, we want YOUR ideas! Do you have a favourite memory at CRFC from this year- a particular try, a fantastic game or just a funny story from the bar? We want to hear them, and feature them in our programme- we'd love all your suggestions to email us here. We look forward to hearing from you!

1st XV: The Preview, 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 previews !

"Every match is important, but due to a twist of fate, this is a massive weekend for our 1st XV. The top 4 sides (Chingford, Brentwood, Colchester and Amersham & Chiltern) will face each other as we approach the mid point of the season. Without question, Chingford have established a reasonable, but not unassailable lead at the top of the table, and this leaves another four sides jockeying for position. The difference is little more than a bonus point win - everything is up for grabs. On Saturday the league leaders Chingford travel to Brentwood and recent results indicate that the home side are in good form and could pose a serious threat to Chingford and their 100% record.

In every game this season, two factors are having a significant impact on the outcome. Firstly, the game needs a strong and calm referee who is capable of exercising common sense. From my observations most sides test the referee to their absolute limits, and due to the revised laws of the game, the way in which teams handle the tackle, the breakdown and general safety in contact often has a significant bearing on the outcome. The tackle is an area of some inconsistency. Whilst I appreciate that the game is getting faster and everyone can make a mistake, there are significant variations in interpretation of what constitutes 'safe contact' and players need to quickly assess a referee and their expectations and adhere to them. Conceding penalties anywhere on the pitch can be costly, but conceding penalties in the "red zone" simply enables teams to exert additional pressure and keep the scoreboard ticking over three points at a time!

The second factor appears to be availability at Level 6. It is interesting to note the fluctuation in results. One week for example, we were able to put sixty points and eight tries on Fullerians RFC, yet seven days later they recorded a victory over Amersham & Chiltern who, at the time, were 2nd place in the league! I had an opportunity to talk to the Fullerians Head Coach last week and he explained that injury and availability has a massive impact on their performance and this is generally true of every team in our league other than those clubs who have made a decision invest financially in their playing staff.

Due to availability issues there are some enforced changes to our 18 man squad. There are two changes to our front row. Joe Reid comes in for James Mitchell and Charlie Thorogood makes a welcome return at hooker. Charlie was a key member of the team during our spell in National League 3 and he adds aggression, mobility and physicality to the front row. Captain Liam Pickett is raring to go and comes back into the second row alongside Eli Castle. Joe Colcomb retains his place in the match day squad and will start on the bench. Rugby is a squad a game and in every single game this season the replacements have played a crucial role. Joe has made a magnificent start to the season; he came into the squad as a debutant and has been one of our most consistent and reliable performers. Joe's game has progressed significantly, his close quarter contact work is excellent and his interventions have often turned over possession and presented space and openings for our impact players. The bench will play an important role in this week; it is a crucial game and the 18 man squad will need to be relentless for the full 80 minutes to secure the result we need."

You can read Jon's full report including an exclusive look at the 1st XV line up and an introduction to debutant James Parry 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!

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 our last game 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!