Horsham V London Welsh 09.09.23

Horsham

Match Sponsors

Photograph Courtesty of

Thakeham

President’s Welcome to London Welsh

What actually happened to the Summer?? Good weather seems to have passed us by since that wonderful day at Twickenham when we almost won the Papa John’s Community Cup. Now we’re in September the good weather is back again. Wonderful to be English. That is unless you play with our opponents today, who are, in name at least, Welsh. London Welsh to be exact, and a huge welcome to Horsham RFC for your second visit here.

And another huge welcome to all of us returning club members. Where did the time go? We certainly earned our promotion to this level, as did our guests the year before. It’s good to be playing the Exiles again.

For those of us of a more mature age, we can remember London Welsh as the team where JPR, Gerald Davies, John Taylor, John Dawes and many more from the Welsh National side played. We can recall them being the stars of the British Lions victory over New Zealand in the 1971 series, a very unusual feat at the time.

From those heady days to the present time turmoil seems to rule the fortunes of the Exiles (as the club is often called). From holding a place in the Premiership (in two different seasons) to appearing in Cup Finals, struggling with points deductions for registration mistakes, and facing some very lean years, London Welsh have learned to roll with the punches. Tough opponents and we can expect a tricky encounter today.

We are very lucky today to have John Baulch from Red River Solutions with us. They are large sponsors of the club and indeed have backed this game today with a very generous donation. This is a wonderful gesture and means a huge amount to the club.

There has been a lot of talk in recent times about the success of the club, both in terms of income which makes projects like the current changing room extension possible, but also playing success. We are growing in numbers at all levels of the club, notably this autumn with numbers growing at the Junior levels. However, we should be careful not to become complacent with this success. Many clubs are struggling, and we are nothing if we have no-one to play. We should be supportive of the efforts being made by Gary Henderson and his team to keep competitive rugby going in the County. Our success is no accident. It’s the combination of so many volunteers who put time and effort into all levels of the club. Led by a management team who are creative and inspirational. Welcome to the new season. And if you’re not a volunteer yet, give me a call.

And finally can I put in a plug for our Walking Rugby team. We meet and train on Tuesday nights at 6:00 pm. Most of us are 60+ with some even a little older. If you’d like to try it out, come along about 5.45 pm when we start our warmup. You’ll be most welcome.

Have a great day!

Alan Fisher President, Horsham RUFC

HORSHAM RUFC Men’s Fixtures 2023/24

Notes from the Head Coach

Welcome to the new season and with it a new challenge - the highest ever level of rugby played by Horsham. Our first game back at Coolhurst since the heady days in April and May as we made our first ever National Cup Final and played at Twickenham. That rounded of a perfect season and with the whole club behind the boys, it was a wonderfully unifying event. We have a great opportunity to rekindle some of those memories again this afternoon as we open up our home account on what is set to be a beautiful day.

We could not ask for better opponents this afternoon to welcome you all back to Saturday afternoons at the club. The world famous London Welsh who we first crossed paths with two seasons ago in the final year of the old London 1S when Welsh gained promotion (2nd to Camberley) to the current Regional 1 South Central. Having secured multiple successive promotions since the well publicised financial woes that saw them start afresh, their first year in Regional 1 was more challenging. They eventually finished a credible 6th and given their active summer recruitment, it is clear that their designs are to push for honours this season. In this regard, they will be fighting it out with the likes of Camberley and Havant who themselves will have their eyes fixed on the promotion spot. Whichever way we look at this, the away trip to Havant last week, followed up by this home fixture against London Welsh, Horsham will have had the proverbial baptism of fire as we take our bow in the new league.

Although still very early days, Welsh have already experienced an upset, losing on the road to Hammersmith and Fulham. Indeed, by failing to score 4 ties or lose within 7 points, Welsh currently sit on 0 points and will no doubt be keen to get their season back on track. Especially when their competitors will have already stolen a march. Rumours are that their DOR has rolled the dice and made numerous changes to the squad which is an indication as to how serious they will be this afternoon.

Horsham on the other hand managed to secure 2 valuable points away at Havant and could consider themselves unlucky not to get all 5. Like all teams at this stage of the season, we too have had our injuries and availability issues and at Havant, with as many as 5 regular 1st team players missing, including our try scoring phenomenon, the performance showed that the squad is well set for the challenges ahead. This afternoon is all about building on t hat excellent start last week and the boys are fully focussed on doing just that.

With the 3rd team playing on the adjacent pitch, with outside bars and food outlets all present and the World Cup Rugby matches to follow, it promises to be a great day which we hope you all enjoy.

Nick Stocker

Based in Kirdford, West Sussex, our business has grown by working with a large range of businesses and local authorities within the private and public sectors. In the private sector we typically work with many small and large businesses and in the public sector with many local and district councils, educational establishments and the emergency services.

We offer design, supply, installation and maintenance of the following:

Suspended Ceilings

False Ceilings

Acoustic Ceilings

Office Partitioning

Interior Glazing

Commercial Carpet Tiles

Commercial Vinyl Safety Flooring, including cap and cove

Contract LVT

Traditional Carpet, underlay and gripper rod

Smoothing Compound and Screeds

Maintenance and Repairs

Entrance Matting, Nosing’s and Stringers

Our impressive list of clients includes: Large business and commercial customers, Property maintenance consultants, Local Building contractors and Local businesses.

We also work and support a number of charities including: Jigsaw, Samaritans and The Butterfly Project, Home Farm Community Project as well as Schools that work within the SEND sector.

For more details and a FREE no obligation quotation please do not hesitate to contact us on 01932-874568

Let us help you save money and create a better workplace for you and your employees.

HORSHAM RUFC - REGIONAL 1 SOUTH CENTRAL RESULTS & SCORERS

2023/24 SEASON

Havant 30–26 Horsham

Tries: Blake, Chennell, Johnson, Woods

Conv: Chennell 3

HORSHAM RUFC - REGIONAL 1 SOUTH CENTRAL APPEARANCES 2023/24 SEASON

1 Bell N

1 Blake

1 Chennell

1 Denhart

1 Endacott

1 Fung

1 Greatwood

1 Jeavons

1 Johnson

1 Kilfeather

1 Linfield

1 Makasi

1 Morris

1 Osgood

1 Paterson

1 Powell

1 Smith

1 Woods

HORSHAM R.U.F.C WOMEN FIXTURES 2023/24

League 17 Sep Guildford Gazelles A

League 24 Sep Tonbridge Juddian H

Cup 01 Oct Havant H

League 08 Oct Canterbury A

League 22 Oct Guernsey H

League 05 Nov Heathfield & Waldron A

League 12 Nov Aylesford Bulls H

League 03 Dec Dartford Valley A

League 10 Dec Farnham

League

League 07 Jan Tonbridge Juddian A

League 14 Jan Canterbury H

League 28 Jan Guernsey A

League 11 Feb Heathfield & Waldron H

League 18 Feb Aylesford Bulls A

League 10 Mar Dartford Valley H

League 17 Mar Farnham A

League 07 Apr Pulborough H

League 14 Apr Guildford Gazelles H

Team Competition Date

Women

A t H o r s h a m C r e a t i v e w e o f f e r c u s t o m i s e d d e s i g n a n d m a r k e t i n g s e r v i c e s t h a t m a k e a

b i g i m p a c t a n d h e l p

y o u s t a n d o u t f r o m y o u r c o m p e t i t i o n .

M a r k e t i n g E s s e n t i a l s

M o n t h l y e m a i l m a r k e t i n g u p t o

2 , 0 0 0 c o n t a c t s

K e y w o r d r e s e a r c h & b l o g t i t l e l i s t

W e b l a n d i n g p a g e

1 G o o g l e B u s i n e s s P a g e P o s t

1 S o c i a l M e d i a P o s t

F l i p b o o k

only £50 per item

B r a n d B o o s t e r s

P e r s o n a l i s e d Q R c o d e

P e r s o n a l i s e d V R c o d e

P e r s o n a l i s e d W i - F i c o d e

E m a i l s i g n a t u r e

Z o o m b a c k g r o u n d

S o c i a l M e d i a c o v e r b a n n e r

only £25 per item

c t l i t h

v i s i t o u r w e b s i t e

f o r m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n

w w w . h o r s h a m c r e a t i v e . c o m

H o r s h a m C r e a t i v e - f a s t , a f f o r d a b l e , a n d r e l i a b l e

REGIONAL 1 SOUTH CENTRAL LEAGUE TABLE

LAST WEEK’S LEAGUE RESULTS

Saturday, 2 September 2023

THIS WEEK’S LEAGUE FIXTURES

Saturday, 9 September 2023

Bracknell vs Bournemouth

CS Stags 1863 vs Hammersmith & Fulham

Havant vs Tunbridge Wells

Horsham vs London Welsh

Maidenhead vs Camberley

Marlborough vs Brighton

Regional 1 South Central K.O 3.00pm

Referee: Chris Rodwell

WEBSITE DESIGN GOOGLE ADS SEO

Need Online Marketing

The Black Jug

Horsham

After an exhausting afternoon watching the game, you’ve earned it.

You’ll find open fires, oak floors, rugs, books and good honest furniture, and an easy going, unpretentious atmosphere.

We serve fresh food throughout the day, seven days a week, have five cask ales on tap, and are recommended in the Good Pub Guide and Good Beer Guide.

English Sparkling Wine made in Sussex

WELCOMING VISITORS ALL YEAR ROUND

TODAY’S VISITORS

A HISTORY OF LONDON WELSH

Early years

London Welsh was formed in 1885 by and for London’s Welsh community, and has played senior-level rugby since then.

1960s

London Welsh enjoyed great success in the late 1960s. John Dawes was appointed captain, and effectively also as coach, for the 1965–66 season. He initially significantly increased fitness levels, and then led the club in an open, running, quick-passing, attacking style of rugby, including an overlapping full-back, and relatively skilled forwards. One 196869 performance was described by journalist John Reason as “one of the most brilliant exhibitions of club football it has been my privilege to see,” and by journalist Terry O’Connor as “the finest display by a club team I can remember’, further describing London Welsh ‘switching attacks with speed and handling skill.

Seven London Welsh players were selected for the 1971 British Lions tour to New Zealand (a Lions record which remains unbroken to this day).

2006-9

In December 2006, London Welsh revealed their ambition to leave the English league and become the fifth Welsh team in the Celtic League. The club later appeared to go back on this report, claiming they had been misquoted and said this would only be considered if the English Premiership decided to prohibit promotion/relegation, but confirmed their hopes of ground-sharing with Brentford FC either at their current stadium Griffin Park or a new 20,000 seat ground to be built at Lionel Road, near Kew Bridge.

2009–12: Championship era

In June 2009, the club went into administration shortly after turning professional. They were bought from the receivers in July 2009 by Saudex Global, owned by Neil Hollinshead, and allowed to continue in The Championship, albeit with a five-point deduction. According to the BBC in March 2011, court documents show that Hollinshead is “alleged to have submitted forged documents and fake bank account details in order to continue his control of London Welsh and that he repeatedly lied to ensure that ownership of London Welsh was transferred over to him.” The former shareholders of London Welsh RFC rescinded the 2009 agreement, by which they sold the shares of the club to Hollinshead and had regained control by January 2010.

2012–15: Premiership era and relocation to Oxford

In June 2012, it was revealed that Crystal Palace co-chairman Steve Parish had approached senior figures at the club about a possible ground-share at Selhurst Park, as the club’s plans to play their matches at Kassam Stadium in Oxford were deemed unsuitable by the RFU, after securing promotion to the English Premiership. However a legal appeal by the club against the RFU’s actions was upheld on 28 June 2012, after the appeal panel ruled that the criteria were in breach of EU and UK competition laws. Promotion was ultimately secured when it was announced that Newcastle Falcons, the club facing relegation from the Premiership, would not appeal against the ruling. A move to the Kassam Stadium was then confirmed for the 2012-13 season.

In 2013 London Welsh caused controversy by fielding an ineligible player (Tyson Keats) in nine league matches during the season, eventually receiving a 5-point deduction and £10,000 fine.

In April 2013, London Welsh were relegated from the English Premiership in their first season (pending the winners of the RFU Championship meeting the Premiership entry requirements) after a 14–31 defeat at home to Northampton Saints. Newcastle Falcons were eligible for promotion and therefore confirmed Welsh’s relegation.

In June 2014, London Welsh won promotion to the English Premiership again, defeating Bristol 27–8 at home and 21–20 away, 48–28 on aggregate. However, the club endured a difficult season back in the English top flight, and suffered defeat in all of their 22 league fixtures of the regular season, claiming only 1 bonus point throughout the entire campaign. The team therefore finished bottom and was relegated to the RFU Championship for the 2015-16 season. The team was also defeated in every single European Challenge Cup game, as well as every single Anglo-Welsh cup game. As a result, they became the first top-flight English side for over 10 years to suffer defeat in every single competitive match over a season.

2015–present: return to Richmond and liquidation

The club left Oxford and returned to Old Deer Park at the end of the 2014-15 season. Following the return the club, led by Head Coach Rowland Phillips, went on to win the British and Irish Cup, beating Yorkshire Carnegie 10–33. Phillips then moved on to take up a coaching role with the Welsh Rugby Union. He was succeeded by forwards coach James Buckland who took the role of Head Coach, assisted by Sonny Parker and Richard Tonkin.

HMRC petitioned the High Court to wind up the club in September 2016 due to unresolved debts. The debts were paid and the petition was dismissed by the High Court. HMRC returned to court with a second winding-up petition in October 2016 and the insolvency court granted a stay of two weeks to arrange refinancing. After failing to pay their debts, the club went into voluntary liquidation on 23 December 2016 under disgraced Chairman Bleddyn Phillips. Phillips claimed to have sold the club to a California-based investment group led by Welshman Trevor Owen Shaw, but no contract or funds ever materialised. It was since reported that former lawyer Phillips did not carry out any due diligence on Phoenix, the California-based investment group and that Owen Shaw was a con man with no backing funds

The club ceased to be a member of the RFU at that point and the liquidator stated that London Welsh would not be fulfilling the club’s fixtures in the league. A separate entity, “Rugby 1885 Limited”, was created on 21 December 2016. The club were deducted 20 points from the Championship dropping them from 5th to 12th. Rugby 1885 Limited were granted a temporary licence to complete London Welsh’s two fixtures until a further decision on their future in the Championship. When the temporary licence expired on 17 January 2017, the RFU Board met and extended a deadline to allow the new entity to show it could meet RFU regulations. After a further deadline was not met, on 24 January 2017 it was announced by the RFU that London Welsh had been removed from the Championship and their results expunged. The RFU stated that their place in the league was “untenable”. The remnants of the defunct club were amalgamated into their amateur set up.

London Welsh are currently following an ambitious 5 year plan to return to the National Leagues under the RFU pyramid, with a squad packed with talent and led by Cai Griffiths (Ospreys, London Irish and of course London Welsh), Will Taylor (Ospreys, Wasps) and Steven Shingler (Scarlets, Cardiff Blues and Ealing Trailfinders).

Local Material Support

Smiths Horsham is a local stockholder of engineering raw materials, including high-quality alloys and engineering plastics.

We provide unrivalled material support for local businesses, including added-value services such as in-house processing and UKAS accredited testing services. We also offer bespoke material supply packages which will improve your business supply chain.

Horsham Rugby Union Football Club

Clubhouse for hire, for all special occasions

Flexible hires are available

One or all of the Bars also outdoor space available. Please let all of your friends and relatives know.

Please see website for contacts

Regional 1 South Central Saturday 2nd September 2023

Havant 30-26 Horsham

Report by Nick Stocker

Last Saturday, Horsham took their bow at level 5, and in doing so created club history by playing at the highest level in the club’s 95 year history. Faced with perfect late summer conditions at a packed Hooks Lane in Havant, the excitement of the new season was mirrored by our hosts who had laid on a Captain’s Table lunch and a curtain raiser seeing the 2nd XV play the Navy U23’s in front of a sizeable crowd. With Havant one of the promotion favourites, finishing the league in 2nd last time around, this would be a real test of newly promoted Horsham’s credentials. That Havant were clinging on to secure the win in the final throes says a lot about Horsham’s spirit having come back from a 22-7 deficit and putting the disappointment of a couple of very odd linesman decisions behind them to gain two valuable points on the road.

The game started somewhat tentatively and with Horsham gaining possession from kick off, the subsequent phases of play were error strewn such that a chip designed to transfer pressure bounced favourably into Havant’s fullback moving at speed. With the line broken down the left, Havant’s backs supported the break to finish strongly in the corner for a try that went unconverted. From kick off, Horsham regathered the ball and with it a little more composure. Going through the phases, the Havant defensive line was stretched and when under advantage for a high tackle, Horsham moved the ball to the backs who struck down the right when Joe Blake spotted the mis match and glided through a gap to put Oli Chennell away to score a try that he converted himself. 10 minutes played and Horsham with a slender lead of 5-7.

Havant struck back immediately as an error, a feature that was to plague Horsham all afternoon saw the ball dropped from kick off. With the knock on changed to a penalty as a player in front picked up the ball, Horsham had granted easy access to their 22m and despite defending the drive valiantly for 3 minutes, the Havant 9 finally squeezed through a gap for a converted score - 12-10.

On 22 mins Havant showed their quality with a fine try direct from a first phase attack with Horsham’s defence caught out. Again the line break was well supported with a fine finish out wide, and with the Havant kicker having an off day, the try went unconverted leaving the score 19-7. Horsham now had periods of dominance with regular entries into the Havant 22m zone. However, with the lineout performing intermittently the pressure was not converted to points. In one such passage of play on 27 minutes, scrum ball on the Havant 22m was moved to the backs only for the move to falter with the ball dropped carelessly eventually granting Havant possession on the halfway. With the ball moved from the scrum through several phases, the Horsham defence got caught too narrow and again the Havant backs punished Horsham with a try acrobatically finished in the corner. Horsham players were adamant that the winger had stepped into touch but with the home linesman in attendance, the referee awarded the try which again went unconverted leaving the score 22-7 and Horsham with a mountain to climb.

Horsham rang a few changes with the aim to take the game to Havant. With the Horsham scrum strong, another promising field position outside the Havant 22m saw Horsham’s centre pairing take the ball on with Oli Chennell hitting a hard line off his partner Tom

Johnson and then return the ball to his skipper who burst through the final tackle to finish under the posts. Bizarrely this try went unconverted as the the Havant linesman claimed the ball went under the cross bar despite both the referee and Horsham’s linesman believing otherwise. With this action, the score had moved to 22-12 which was taken into the halftime break.

With the benefit of the slight breeze in the second half Horsham began well pinning Havant into their own half. A succession of penalties however saw Havant enter the Horsham 22m and with a well executed catch and drive, took the score to 27-12 and with it breathing space for Havant. Horsham however entered their best period of the game where errors reduced, the lineout started to become more accurate and the kicking game more effective. With Havant ceding territory, a driven maul saw Havant penalised and when under advantage, newly signed prop Joe Woods burrowed his way over for a try to the left of the posts. With an easy conversion, the score moved to 27-19 with a quarter to play. On one of Havant’s few attacks in the last 20 minutes, a penalty conceded in the tackle was kicked to push the score out to 30-19 and with it, clear indication that Havant had been rattled. Horsham continued to work hard. With fresh legs brought on in the unforgiving heat, on 72 minutes, with the ball moved at pace, the Horsham backs demonstrated their own firepower by taking full advantage of the narrowed Havant defence. With Joe Blake now running amok, new signing Ryu Fung moved the ball into space and delivered the try scoring pass to Joe Blake to finish well. With the try converted, Horsham had secured their bonus point and were within a score of taking all 5. 73 minutes played and the score 30-26. Horsham continued to press and with the ball turned over on the Horsham 10m, Tom Johnson kicked beautifully to secure an excellent 50-22m and with it the opportunity to take the match. However the lineout failed and with it, seemingly the opportunity to win. There was still time for more late drama as Havant were penalised for holding on in the act of running down the clock. With Havant’s backs reduced due to an earlier yellow card, the team decided to take the scrum to try to force a try. Unfortunately, Horsham’s earlier inaccuracy returned and a knock on at the base saw the referee blow for time and with it the chance for a memorable debut in the league.

Head of Rugby Nick Stocker had mixed emotions. “I am very pleased with the 2 points secured away at Havant. This is possibly one of the toughest places to visit in the league and given that all away teams lost in the league this weekend, the value of these points cannot be understated. Indeed, there will not be many teams that come to Havant and secure points. That said, it is similarly frustrating that fine margins conspired to see the win slip through our grasp. For example the missed conversion earlier in the game would have altered the decision to take the scrum at the death and how the linesman thought otherwise is puzzling. I hope he gets a chance to review the video footage because it could not be clearer that the ball went over the bar. Ultimately however, this simply demonstrates how competitive this league is and that error counts will have a big impact in the outcome. We made too many basic errors today and on another day we would have converted several of the opportunities that were created and with it a potentially different outcome. This experience coupled with the fact that we have significant firepower still to return to the squad having been unavailable for one reason or another, will hold us in good stead.

We will learn the lessons quickly with the aim to push for a win as early as possible in this campaign. We have just that opportunity next week with another very stern test in our first home fixture against London Welsh. It promises to be a mouth watering occasion that the whole club is looking forward to.”

Nick Bell

Joe Blake

Oli

Chennell

Jacob Denhart

Josh Earle

Joe Endacott

Will Fowler Ryu Fung

Jonny Goward Maximilian Greatwood

HORSHAM RUFC SQUAD 2023/24 SEASON

George Jeavons Freddie Kilfeather

Tyrese Makasi

Taylor Morris

Charles Newey

Tom Johnson Declan Nwachukwu Jack Osgood

Max Paterson

Elliott Powell

Jordan Smith Henry Warwick

Leaflet and Brochure Litho Printing

We offer high and low volume print runs for both leaflets and brochures, so we can quickly and efficiently offer the best solution.

Postage Solution and Delivery

This is where we come into our own. Our mail solutions team will find a postal service that delivers on cost and timing.

Bespoke Fulfilment and Hand

Our fulfilment team are among the best in the business – whether it’s fully machinable solutions or cost-effective hand enclosing.

Direct Mail and Data Processing

We’re a one-stop shop for all your direct mail solutions, big and small. Our data team can work with a multitude of variables, ensuring each is unique to the recipient.