Eastern Counties Rugby Union
Returners Festival Colchester
16 -24 as part of the RFU Innovation funding
over 10 years ago | Lisa Greetham
Colchester Rugby Club hosted a game for Former Colts on Easter Thursday.
Played under lights, in 3 periods, a team drawn from the current Academy & Development Colts squads they faced a team of former colts, mostly from the 2013 team, but also including members of the 2012 and 2014 squads.
Most of the Former Colts were at University, and returning to their home club. A number of other former colts from the same vintage, who for varying reasons, were unable to play, supported the match.
Some of the former colts were playing at university, but for many this was their first game of rugby for over a year.
Both sides tried to play rugby, running the ball with abandon from their own halves – and a very entertaining game and very close game ensued; the Colts took a 5-0 lead in the first period, but the “old boys” scored 3 tries in the second period to take a 17-5 lead into the third; the younger side caught up to 12-17 at the start of the period, but the “old boys” extended their lead to 22-12 before the Colts brought the score back to 19-22 in the final minute.
The game was refereed by Ieuan Davies, himself a university returnee, a level 7 referee at Durham University.
There was a fantastic atmosphere during the game and afterwards, with the game and post match refreshments funded by the RFU Innovation Fund through Eastern Counties. Many of those who had not played for a while were surprised at how much they had missed playing. Dave Edwards, current Colts manager commented “great night and fantastic to keep all these guys involved with the club”.
Afterwards, it was agreed that a similar game must be played each season, and Colchester committee stalwart, Stuart Pritchard agreed that a Trophy should be acquired in his name, to be played each year on Easter Thursday.
Played under lights, in 3 periods, a team drawn from the current Academy & Development Colts squads they faced a team of former colts, mostly from the 2013 team, but also including members of the 2012 and 2014 squads.
Most of the Former Colts were at University, and returning to their home club. A number of other former colts from the same vintage, who for varying reasons, were unable to play, supported the match.
Some of the former colts were playing at university, but for many this was their first game of rugby for over a year.
Both sides tried to play rugby, running the ball with abandon from their own halves – and a very entertaining game and very close game ensued; the Colts took a 5-0 lead in the first period, but the “old boys” scored 3 tries in the second period to take a 17-5 lead into the third; the younger side caught up to 12-17 at the start of the period, but the “old boys” extended their lead to 22-12 before the Colts brought the score back to 19-22 in the final minute.
The game was refereed by Ieuan Davies, himself a university returnee, a level 7 referee at Durham University.
There was a fantastic atmosphere during the game and afterwards, with the game and post match refreshments funded by the RFU Innovation Fund through Eastern Counties. Many of those who had not played for a while were surprised at how much they had missed playing. Dave Edwards, current Colts manager commented “great night and fantastic to keep all these guys involved with the club”.
Afterwards, it was agreed that a similar game must be played each season, and Colchester committee stalwart, Stuart Pritchard agreed that a Trophy should be acquired in his name, to be played each year on Easter Thursday.
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