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Club History 2 of 16

2. 2024/25 - The Rise of the Rose


The 2024-25 Season started well for the club with a new Director of Rugby, Sean Harrison, at the helm. Members’ and Players’ Voice meetings being held to ascertain what were the key aims should be for the club in the coming seasons.
It was clear that everyone felt that Sutton Coldfield Rugby Club should continue to be a Community Club offering as much as possible to locals in the area. It was also clear that everyone present wanted to play or contribute to the highest quality rugby they could but to continue to support talent to greater opportunities if they arose, even if it was with other clubs or counties.

The league season for the Men’s 1st XV was a particular highlight. Under the stewardship of Head Coach Nathan Burchall and Forward’s Coach Dave Smith, the team went unbeaten in their league campaign. Scoring an impressive 1160 points whilst conceding only 302, derby victories against local rivals Spartans and Veseyans were telling parts of the season. In addition, Zak Tyler broke Nathan’s own try scoring record of 28 in a season when he reached 32 in the league and Matt Smith also surpassing this milestone (30 tries) but also clocking up 365 league points and 411 in the season. This placed him in second place Nationally for point scorers in the country and recognition in Rugby World. The team followed this up with victory in the Warwickshire Shield and reached the quarter final of the Papa John’s Cup.

The Women’s team faced another challenging season with a fledgling coaching team led by Gem Porteous and former player Charlie Byrne.

The Colts had, by their standards, a mediocre league season. School, part-time jobs and other issues around availability meant selection lacked the consistency required to make a run for the title. That said, there were some really determined performances which gave the coaching team belief for the Fred Rowley Memorial Trophy. A nail biting Semi Final went down to a kick off after the final whistle where Alfie Corbett, Will Van Praag and Zane Hopley converted theirs to witness a final kick miss from Wolverhampton to secure a final place. In that final the Green machine was too strong for the opposition and won comfortably after a few jitters in the middle of the game.

The Men’s second team and casuals had productive seasons, developing player numbers throughout. Another season in the Warwickshire league should provide the opportunity to enter the RFU leagues in 2026.