THE LAST blow of the whistle. The last drink in the clubhouse. The last sweep of the changing rooms.
The dust has not long settled on the community-game season in England and while the hive of rugby activity will be taken down a notch over the summer months, the emotion, the excitement, the thrills and the spills of 2023-24 will still be fresh in the minds of many.
So many clubs and individuals created headlines this season, whether it was Leeds Tykes stitching together a remarkable 22-match winning run in National Two North, or down in Counties Two Midlands East (South) where St Neots’ Bradley McKenna scored a ridiculous 48 tries in 19 league games.
No matter the level or the division, there have been bumper-to-bumper narratives across the past nine months, not least right at the very top of tier three in the men’s adult game, where Chinnor created a slice of history.
Back in December 2022, the National One club were set for a relegation fight. The Oxfordshire outfit were one point above the dreaded dotted line when former England No 8 Nick Easter walked through the doors of Kingsey Road.
That season Chinnor had won just two of their first 11 games, but ever since then the Black & Whites have been on an upward trajectory.
They have flourished under Easter and this year Chinnor clinched promotion to the Championship for the first-ever time.
Winning 22 of their 26 matches, scoring more than 1,000 points and conceding an average of just 15.5 points per game has been a culmination of Easter’s coaching methods, shrewd recruitment and a change in mindset.
Denne historien er fra July 2024-utgaven av Rugby World.
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Denne historien er fra July 2024-utgaven av Rugby World.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
"I remember getting eating guidelines for Christmas Day!"
CHRISTMAS, the most wonderful time of the year? Not if you’re a professional rugby player it’s not.
Rugby firsts
FIRST RUGBY match you went to? I would have gone to RODNEY PARADE to watch a Newport game when I was about six years old, so around 1992 or 1993.
THE JOHN FISHER STATE SCHOOL RUGBY FESTIVAL
The inaugural John Fisher Rugby Festival hopes to Send state-school rugby players into the stratosphere.
The Making Of Robbie Henshaw
How this small-town boy went On to become a big-time player
RG SNYMAN
The giant Springbok is enjoying the best of both worlds since joining Leinster
BENHARD JANSE VAN RENSBURG
Bristol's South African centre has one eye on an England call-up in 2026
RUGBY RANT
Jessica Hayden, author of The Red Roses, says the women’s game can handle criticism
WHAT IT'S LIKE TO ...GO ON TOUR WITH EMERGING IRELAND
Munster's Ben O'Connor tells RW about the eye-opening trip to South Africa
"Welsh rugby treats players like pieces of meat, not assets"
THEY’VE BUILT the women’s game around the men’s game in Wales but it has to be its own thing.
"I don't believe in dinosaurs – the boys think it's nuts!"
The Exeter Chiefs hooker talks Tarmac, time travel and Tyson Fury