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| Full name | Richmond Rugby Football Club |
|---|---|
| Union | Fraser Valley Rugby Union |
| Nickname(s) | The Dragons |
| Founded | 1957 |
| Location | Richmond, British Columbia |
| Ground(s) | King George Park |
| Official website | |
| www.richmondrugby.ca/ | |
The Richmond Rugby Football Club (usually shortened to RRFC) is an amateur rugby union team based in Richmond, British Columbia which competes in the British Columbia Rugby Union. The club has represented the city since 1957, and has been a successful mid-sized club for the past decade. Currently they are the only competitive rugby club south of Vancouver and east of White Rock, and provide a viable outlet for rugby enthusiasts throughout the city and outlying areas. The Richmond R.F.C. also work closely with local high schools and the community to foster the growth of the game on Lulu Island.
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Senior Men
Richmond fields three Senior Men's teams. The First XV and Second XV play in the Province Wide First and Second Division, respectively. This competition is also known as the Okanagan Spring Brewery League.[1] Richmond's first XV competed in the 2011 Okanagan Spring Final played at Klahanie Park in North Vancouver ultimately losing to the Capilano RFC. Richmond's Second XV won the provincial title in 2009. The RRFC's Third XV, colloquially known as the Flatliner-Heroes, are a joint effort by the Richmond Rugby Club and the Flatliners Paramedic RFC [2] to provide social level rugby to the growing rugby population south of Vancouver. The team was an exhibition side for the 2011 season, but will join the BC Third Division in the Spring of 2012.
Junior Rugby
The RRFC has a mini rugby program (ages 5 – 12) which teaches young rugby players the basics of running and passing, as well as the laws of the game. The club also fields teams in the U-14, U-16, U-17 and U-19 leagues. Recently, both Richmond's U-19s and U-17s have won provincial titles.
Girls Rugby
Richmond currently runs a girls U-18 team with a long-term plan of entering the BC women's second division.
The Richmond Rugby club was born in August 1957 when a group of nine rugby enthusiasts met at Richmond City municipal hall in response to a small notice in the Richmond Review newspaper. Among the founders were Ron Cameron, a Municipal Engineer from Ireland who had played for the nearby Meraloma Rugby Club, town planners Bill Kerr and Herb Douglas, city-workers Mel Frith and Glen Beauchamp as well as school teacher Maurice Smith.[3] The team originally played their home games at Thomas Kidd field in South-East Richmond. After 1967 the team played their home games in Steveston. In the 1980s the club moved to Sea Island playing their home games on a field adjacent to Vancouver International Airport. After lengthy discussions with the City of Richmond, a permanent facility was created at King George Park in East Richmond. Richmond has two change-room facilities, as well as storage on-site, and a well-lit, sand-cell field with uncovered seating for about 100 spectators. The club routinely uses the East Richmond Community Hall for its socials.
Richmond has been a member of the Fraser Valley Rugby Union since its inception although it supplies age grade players to both the Fraser Valley Venom and Vancouver Wave junior representative teams.
In 2009, Richmond began a partnership with the Flatliners R.F.C. a social side of BC paramedics. The two clubs jointly hosted the Flatlander Sevens tournament, a new fixture on the BC Rugby Union Social Sevens summer schedule.[4]
The RRFC has produced numerous players of distinction who have played representative rugby both in BC for Canada at the junior men's and women's as well as senior men's levels. These include current national team 15's and 7's player Nathan Hirayama, and former team Canada stalwarts Bill Spofford and Jim Donaldson. As well the club has provided the Canadian Maccabiah Games rugby team with many players over the years.
Other notable players include:
The club draws heavily on the local high schools for their player pool, in particular AA level powerhouses McRoberts Secondary School and more recently McMath Secondary School. The club also draws many players from South Vancouver, Queensborough/New Westminster, Ladner and Vancouver College a private school in Central Vancouver.
The club is coached by former Bath Rugby Club and Newport player Mike Shellard,[5] and assisted by former Canadian International cricketer Dave Tate.