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| 1st XV - League Champions 08/09 (click here to read the full story) |
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 TEDDINGTON 1st TEAM SQUAD 2008/09 - SURREY 2 LEAGUE CHAMPIONS A 5 month winning streak, a national cup run which took us to the last 16 teams in the country, The league title in the bag, and reaching the Middlesex bowl final for the 3rd consecutive year. The 1st team have had a truly remarkable season. Here is the background story. In line with the clubs regeneration plan set some 4 years ago, the goal was to be playing in Surrey League 1 by 2010. All went to plan and we had progressed in successive years from Surrey 4 to Surrey 2. But last season on our arrival in Surrey 2 we hit the buffers and were lucky to avoid relegation. Over the summer we also lost a few key players and with 2 weeks to go before the start of this season our coach left to take up a position with another club at a higher level. These problems were further compounded by the fact that our new 1st team captain and talisman Pete WHYTE was out with a long term knee injury. So with just 2 weeks remaining before the start of this season we were without a coach or an onfield captain and we needed to strengthen our squad with more players. The season had all the potential to be over before it had even begun, and any talk of our grand plan seemed a little foolhardy. So how have we managed to have such a truly remarkable first half of the season? Well in those two weeks before the season started our hard working and totally committed squad of players concentrated on getting themselves fit and they kept faith that the club would sort the other things out. One problem was soon remedied, as last season’s reinvigorated captain and now the club's Director of Rugby Jamie 'Pies' McKAY stepped in as temporary onfield skipper. Meanwhile captain elect Pete WHYTE made use of his rehab time by putting out a rallying call for players via the St Mary’s University old Boys network. This link with our local University in Strawberry Hill has been getting stronger over the last couple of seasons, with ex students from the Uni who have remained in the Teddington area joining us as they search for a friendly local club where they can play serious rugby but have plenty of fun too. This short migration has included in recent seasons several of our current 1st team squad, and answering the Bushy Park call this time were Jon DICKSON, Andrew MACRAE, Jason HOLMES, Nick STEVENS, James SULLIVAN, Olly LAMBERT and Jamie EVANS. If we could get these talented guys to first of all stay and then to blend with the current members of our still young but now coachless team, then we might have the raw materials to be competitive again this season. All we needed now was a quality coach to pull it all together in double quick time, and the grand plan………..well it wasn't quite written off yet. We scoured the country for suitable candidates, all to no avail. We had just about run out of options when at the 11th hour the club chairman Gareth Cross received a phone call that was a real bolt from the blue. It was from one of the top coaches in the land, who was offering to help out the club in our hour of need. They had heard of our plight and couldn’t let us down. The coach in question was Giselle MATHER who was already a busy lady. What with her day job as a full time coach at the London Irish Academy, together with her responsibilities as the head coach of the England Ladies U20’s squad and also managing a home life with her husband Pete and her 3 children. Giselle however said she fancied another challenge and wanted to take the job on. Now this decision by Giselle wasn’t one driven by the prospect of fame or fortune, but more out of a great affection for Teddington Antlers and all that it had provided to both her and Pete many years ago when they both played for the club, in fact it was Teddington Antlers that brought them together. We accepted her offer immediately. Now although Giselle is one of the most qualified coaches in the country, in fact the only female level 4 coach in the country, she was also going to be the only woman coaching a senior men’s rugby team in the country. How would she cope in this male dominated arena and how would the players react. Before the end of her first training session the answer was clear, the players were buzzing and Giselle’s enthusiasm for the game instantly bridged the gap. In no time at all she'd won over a bunch of skeptical but talented players and started whipping them into shape. In her inimitable no nonsense style she got the team playing simple but expansive rugby. The results came, and since those early sessions the players really started to excel under her guidance. There have been some truly remarkable transformations of players both new and existing. Training is now twice weekly and on many occasions late into the night, but all the hard work is producing results. Giselle together with her fitness coach James FERGUSON and physio Aileen KILSHAW have brought a real professional approach to the club and the players love it, except maybe for the ice baths! Thankfully Pete WHYTE is now back and leading the team from the front and the whole club has smiles on their faces. We have won the league title losing only a single game throughout the campaign. This is a club record breaking winning streak. Only our team of the early 1970’s has come close. We reached the 7th Round of the National cup (The EDF Energy Junior Vase), something we have never managed before. In doing so we beat teams from the higher leagues of Herts & Middx 1, Hampshire 1, Kent 1 and Surrey 1. In the 7th round on 7th February we travelled to Cornwall where we narrowly lost to St Austell 6-5. St Austell are currently top of Cornwall 1. This to date is our only other loss of the season. We have also reached the final of the Middlesex bowl, a cup competition that we would dearly love to win having been runners up for the last 2 seasons. So all in all it really couldn’t have gone any better. The coaching staff, players and our wonderful supporters all know that they have been part of something really special this season and we must keep up the high levels of commitment if we want to continue the progress next season.
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Latest News
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New Season up and running in style Results from Saturday 4th Sept at Weybridge Vandals RFC:
Teddington 1st XV (69) v (14) University Vandals 1st XV
Teddington 2nd XV (90) v (0) University Vandals 2nd XV
Teddington 3rd XV (31) v (7) University Vandals 3rd XV
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Teddington Rugby Club has one of the largest, friendliest, and most successful mini and junior sections in the South East of England and last season was one of our most sucessful to date!