Eastbourne RFC are champions - win at Uckfield sparks celebrations

They travelled to Uckfield last Saturday for the penultimate league game, needing a win to secure the title with a game in hand.

Uckfield were not in a giving mood and went hard at Eastbourne from the outset. Eastbourne scored early through Paul Smith and Eastbourne had most of the possession, but couldn’t seem to convert the pressure into any more points.

Eastbourne’s second try came on the stroke of half-time, with Ian Padgett scoring a superb solo try from scrum half.

Captain Jake Howe scored a good intercept try and converted it to make the score 0-17 after 49 minutes, and ten minutes later Marital Chaput crossed the line and Howe converted.

The last 20 minutes saw Uckfield tire and Eastbourne keep up the relentless pace they have shown all year.

Big Jerry Montes came off the bench to power over for another try converted by Howe, then Dylan Viles scored two fantastic tries, both converted by Howe. This wrapped up the game 0-43 to Eastbourne.

See some of the post-match scenes in the video player above – footage by Soracreative – and you can see the full video on Eastbourne RFC’s social media channels.

Eastbourne picked up two yellow cards, but you had to smile at the second for Chris ‘Ernie’ Hoskins – it was his eighth yellow card for the season meaning he has missed an entire game in total. Unsurprisingly it was a case of mistaken identity…again.

The MoM was shared by an astute, experienced performance by Luke Thomas who showed real leadership, and full-back Mason Dowle, who harassed the Uckfield defence when attacking, but defensively made several massive tackles.

On the final whistle Eastbourne celebrated their first league win in eight years and now look forward to a stress-free last game at home against Crawley (3pm KO), where they will be awarded the league trophy and then turn their focus to the National Cup and Sussex Cup.

Senior Manager Adrian Norwood gave an emotional, heart felt speech, with a bit of singing, to the first and second team players huddled together on the Uckfield pitch , which demonstrated the strength and unity the club has.

The youthful squad is testament to many coaches over the past few seasons bringing players in to the senior side. T hey have been embraced by the seniors and love the culture Adrian has built.

Matthew Pysden, head coach, said: “We set out last year to build a philosophy of play that I jokingly called the three Fs – Fit, Fast and Fun.

" We really wanted to entertain our loyal supporters and play at a pace the opposition couldn’t live with. This, coupled with a developing defence, has served us well, with only one blemish on our record this season. Not only do we have a young, exciting playing squad, we have a superb coaching team who really enjoy working together.”

Eastbourne twos – the Nomads – beat Uckfield twos 49-0. They finish their league season tomorrow at home to Heathfield 2s (3pm) with the winners securing potential promotion.

East Grinstead 54 Haywards Heath 17

After taking an unlikely win against Uckfield, Heath were beaten away to second-placed East Grinstead.

With the home side having picked a strong side and Heath having to make eight changes through injury and unavailability, the visitors travelled in hope rather than expectation.

But Heath looked strong with ball in hand and took an early advantage after an opportunist try from Dan Shotton after a break from skipper Wilf Bridges, converted by Tom Wharton for 0-7.

The home side picked up their game and were soon level at 7-7 and started to put phases together, resulting in two further tries before the break for a 21-7 lead.

The second half saw the odd individual mistake punished ruthlessly by EG and Heath suffering from a lack of impact off the bench. Tries from Bridges and Chris Neill could not get Heath anywhere near the EGscore and a steady stream of tries brought a 54-17 final result.

Heath hope to get some of their squad players back this weekend for the final league game, at Seaford.

Eight players from Eastbourne Rugby Club’s under-16s have finished their ‘Developing Player Pathway’ season with Harlequins Rugby.

It has been a full-on season with all of players undergoing intense regular training sessions, and festivals at Worthing and Surrey Sports Park, on top of school and club commitments.

All the players were scouted and underwent trials to obtain their place with the aim of improving themselves as players, hopefully with the ultimate goal of playing elite-level rugby.

With this part of their development complete four players have been released and will have the honour of representing Sussex, playing neighbouring county squads in the coming months until the end of the season.

Three other players have been selected for the county giving ERFC seven players representing Sussex – a massive achievement. These players are Theo Summers, Archie Fox, Riley Marshall, Jackson Bowles, Lucas Papagna, Miguel Lopez and Ethan Coombe.

The four remaining players who have survived the cut from an estimated 210 players across Sussex and Surrey will go on and play for the Harlequins U16 team against Bath, Saracens, London Irish and Bristol in the PDG league.

This is a giant step in the next phase in their development. These players are Jaryd Swanepoel, Oscar Males, Oscar Byrne and Toby de la Mare.

ERFC’s under-16 coaches said: “We are very proud of all our players especially the eight who have represented our club so well within the Harlequins set-up.

"Many have been with our team since they were five. It shows hard work on and off the pitch really does pay off ... just to have to recognition from one of the best Premier clubs in the country for so many is a privilege.

"In addition many of our young athletes have been awarded scholarships to schools such as Gordons, Hartpury, Brighton and Eastbourne Colleges.”

Nick Chambers, Director of Rugby, said: “We’re extremely proud of how these young players have progressed. We’d like to express our thanks to the coaches and their parents.”

Haywards Heath Colts 45 Hove 8

Heath colts defeated unbeaten leaders Hove.

Heath were very focused and had a 28-3 lead at half-time. Heath kept their discipline in the second half adding some more really well worked tries. With four league games remaining Heath have a great chance to win the league.

Meanwhile Heath Colts are through to semi-final of the Sussex Cup after a 36-15 win at Eastbourne. Heath will visit Hove in their semi-final.

Girls’ rugby

A group of U11 and U12 girls have come together from Lewes, Uckfield, Seaford, Chichester and Haywards Heath to play competitive rugby and, with minimal training together, the squad is starting to boss rugby on the pitch against experienced opposition.

So far, the Baabaas have run Horsham very close, learnt a lot from a friendly with Tonbridge, won at Pulborough and, on Sunday, put another team to the sword.

Highly regarded Hove RFC were the visitors but for the Baabaas, this reputation did not daunt them.

The girls came together before kick off and committed to support each other, work hard in the breakdown and protect the ball.

The Baabaas were on the attack straight away though Hove had a good and effective defence. The Baabaas had to work hard.

It was a lesson in patient rugby management and the Baabaas took to it with ease. The support at the breakdown was effective, gain line after gain line was broken.

It was the Baabaas who came away with the first try. A melee at the line, bodies piling in and the referees whistle blew and a smiling Barbarian player was at the bottom of the pile with a ball in hand.

Hove were working hard to protect the ball when an opportunistic rip took the ball away from them and the Baabaas moved it through the hands for another score.

The Baabaas’ centre pairing was working incredibly well creating a break that resulted in another try. The recycling at the ruck, the ripping of the ball, the pick and go was working.

They laid siege to the Hove line for a few minutes and broke through to score a fourth try for a 20-0 interval lead.

The second half started in similar fashion and another five points were scored.

The Baabaas turned the ball over again and through some more direct attacks another try came.

The Baabaas scrum-half wouldn’t let Hove get the ball away and the whole team pressured the opposition at every opportunity. The final try came from the Baabaas pressurising Hove in their ’22, 35-0 the final score.

This Sunday the Baabaas host Worthing at Whitemans Green. Contact [email protected] for more or see www.hhrfc.co.uk