Hartpury College R.F.C.

Hartpury College
Full name Hartpury College Rugby Football Club
Founded 2004
Location Hartpury, Gloucestershire, England
Ground(s) College Stadium (Capacity: 2,000)
Coach(es) England John Barnes, Mark Cornwell, Alan Martinovic
Captain(s) England Chris Fortey
League(s) National League 1
2014–15 5th
Team kit
Official website
www.hartpury.ac.uk/Sport/Rugby-RFC

Hartpury College RFC is an English rugby union club which currently play in National League 1, the third tier of the English league system. The club is based at Hartpury College in Gloucestershire, England, and is made up primarily of the college's students and staff.[1] Hartpury College share a close relationship with Aviva Premiership side Gloucester Rugby, who use Hartpury's facilities as their permanent training base and provide a small number of academy players, all of whom are current or recently departed students, to supplement the Hartpury College team. Several Hartpury College players have gone on to play for Gloucester and other professional teams.[2]

History

Hartpury College Rugby Academy was formed in September 2000 in partnership with Gloucester Rugby, consisting of a University side that competed in the BUCS league system and under-18 teams. In 2004, College Principal Malcolm Wharton's vision of a Saturday side came to fruition, and became known as Hartpury College RFC.

Starting in the eleventh tier of the league pyramid, Hartpury lost their first ever match in the Gloucester Three North league. That was to be the last time that the club lost a league match until 2009, when they lost to Thornbury after four consecutive promotions, an EDF Junior Vase and an EDF Senior Vase. That setback did not prevent Hartpury from gaining a further three straight promotions to their current position in National League 1, during which time the team amassed only two more defeats and won both the Level Six Champions Cup and EDF Intermediate Cup at Twickenham. On 12 April 2014, the College sealed promotion to National Division One after their victory over Ampthill secured the National League 2 South title.

Current standings

2014–15 National League 1 Table
Club Played Won Drawn Lost Points For Points Against Points Difference Try Bonus Losing Bonus Points
1 Ealing Trailfinders (P) 30 27 0 3 1099 518 581 25 3 136
2 Rosslyn Park 30 26 0 4 909 508 401 20 3 127
3 Coventry 30 22 1 7 1011 694 317 16 6 112
4 Fylde 30 16 2 12 844 738 106 18 4 90
5 Hartpury College 30 19 0 11 784 685 99 10 3 89
6 Blackheath 30 16 1 13 758 731 27 16 4 86
7 Richmond 30 14 2 14 837 866 –29 15 5 80
8 Blaydon 30 13 0 17 666 693 –27 13 8 73
9 Darlington Mowden Park 30 13 1 16 782 732 50 14 6 69[n 1]
10 Esher 30 12 1 17 720 738 –18 11 7 68
11 Wharfedale 30 12 1 17 595 801 –206 11 4 65
12 Loughborough Students 30 11 0 19 681 709 –28 12 7 63
13 Cinderford 30 11 0 19 606 686 –80 10 5 59
14 Old Albanian (R) 30 12 1 17 688 771 –83 9 4 58[n 2]
15 Tynedale (R) 30 8 0 22 593 999 –406 6 5 43
16 Macclesfield (R) 30 3 0 27 481 1185 –704 6 3 21
  • If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
  1. Number of matches won
  2. Difference between points for and against
  3. Total number of points for
  4. Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams
  5. Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled
  1. ↑ Darlington Mowden Park deducted 5 points after selecting an unregistered player on 13 September 2014 against Wharfedale.[3]
  2. ↑ Old Albanian deducted 5 points after selecting two unregistered players on 31 January 2015 against Fylde[4]

Green background is the promotion place. Pink background are relegation places.
Updated: 25 April, 2015
Source: "National League 1". NCA Rugby.

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under WR eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-WR nationality.

Player Position Union
Will Tanner Hooker England England
Chris Fortey Hooker England England
Callum O'Connell Hooker England England
Alec Clarey Prop England England
Tim Brockett Prop England England
Mark Irish Prop England England
Wayne Thompson Prop England England
Des Merrey Prop Ireland Ireland
Joe Batley Lock England England
Rob Fuller Lock England England
Jonny Hill Lock England England
Joe Dancer Flanker England England
Tom MacDonald Flanker England England
Luke Stratford Flanker England England
Dan Thomas Flanker Wales Wales
Tom Ailes Number 8 England England
Lewis Ludlow Flanker England England
Player Position Union
Ben Ellis Scrum-half Wales Wales
Ben Vellacott Scrum-half Scotland Scotland
Harry Cochrane Scrum-half England England
Mitch Burton Fly-half England England
Tim Stevenson Fly-half Wales Wales
George Boulton Centre England England
Steve Leonard Centre England England
Ben Roberts Centre Wales Wales
Alex O'Meara Wing Ireland Ireland
Steph Reynolds Wing England England
Jaike Carter Wing Spain Spain
Cameron Roberts Wing England England
Craig Jackson Fullback Scotland Scotland
Sean Marsden Fullback England England
Gareth Thompson Fullback Wales Wales
Dan Norton Fullback England England

Honours

2014

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

Notable former players

Aviva Premiership

RaboDirect Pro12

RFU Championship

National League 3 South West

References

  1. ↑ Team Homepage. Pitchero.com. Accessed 24 March 2012.
  2. ↑ Hartpury College RFC. Schoolsrugby.co.uk. Accessed 24 March 2012.
  3. ↑ "DMP drop five points". The RUGBYPaper (317). 12 October 2014. p. 43.
  4. ↑ Edwards, Michael (18 March 2015). "Five points deducted from Old Albanian". The Herts Advertiser. Retrieved 11 April 2015.

External links