MATCH DAY
7th Mar 26
Witney XV v Cleve XV Programme
Centurions
Witney RFC
Sun 8 Mar 2026 th
Chairman’s Welcome
I extend a very warm welcome to everyone attending Hailey Road today for our fifth Chairman’s Lunch of the season.
We have another mouth-watering and exciting day ahead of us, and it’s great to see the first signs of some muchneeded spring sunshine as we prepare to watch our 1st XV take on league high-flyers Cleve RFC. My guests today include Stefan and Sophia Voloseniuc from SF Stefan, along with Matthew Blow and Oscar Darby from Jamesons Accountants, both valued sponsors of our club. I’d also like to warmly welcome the representatives from Cleve RFC. We hope you enjoy your visit to West Oxfordshire and our hospitality today—and, with any luck, that the game is a little closer than when you hosted us earlier in the season.
Joining us for lunch today is JP, our brewery man—some might say one of the most esteemed guests in the club today. Just so you know, JP, we take the beer very seriously here… although perhaps the price even more so! Thank you for your continued support.
Chairman’s Welcome
My final formal welcome goes to one of my favourite brothers, Terry, who is here with Nick Brimsford from International Ply. My thanks to Jez Hicks, Joe Rowles and Tony Smallman for looking after them today, we hope you both have a fantastic afternoon. Following lunch and the match, we’ll be heading to the city of love, Rome, for the game, before finishing the evening with some live music from the excellent Alex Chapman. The music has kindly been provided by club stalwart Mike Edworthy in celebration of his birthday. Cheers Mike, and very best birthday wishes from all of us at the club.
Please do support the teams vocally this afternoon, but also remember the values we represent, fairness and respec, so that everyone can enjoy the day.
I’ll drink to that!
Andy Merriman Chairman Witney RFC
Dob in Dabber !
Dabber Willis has taken up hiding in the programme. All you have to do is find him and win a pint. Dob in Dabber at the Bar on match day, and if you’re the first to do so, you win a pint of ale or a glass of wine. Cheers Dabber!
GREATDAY Awesome Xmascameearly Somespacesavailable Lovewasintheair
1st Things First!
Well our Firsts were on the road to Thornbury and whilst the pitch appeared to have held up against the weather, it was probably mainly down to the undulations with more hills than Holland.
Our boys went 7 : 0 down early on but showed great resolve to get back in the game and in fact take a commanding lead, taking advantage of the prevalent down hill run to the Thornbury line and taking 7 : 26 lead into the second half. Then the wheels came off.
The second half saw Witney kick away possession, not command the breakdown and see loose 50/50 balls pop up in Thornbury hands. Final score, 47 : 36, probably fair over the 80 but disappointing considering Witney’s early dominance.
Our points came from: tries, James Merriman, Matt Webb x 2, Angus Brown x 2. Charlie Dunbar converted 4 of the 5 and added a penalty.
1st Things First!
This week our fighting firsts are hosting Cleve who currently sit comfortably in 3 with a game in hand. They have won 14 from 17 , one of which was a 49 : 5 thumping at home against us. rd
Nobody is pretending this is going to be easy, but our boys could do with the points, sitting as we do, just 12 points above Royal Wootton Bassett with 4 games left, that is too close to the drop zone for comfort. Come on you Black and Blues.
A massive thank you to all our fabulous sponsors!
Player Sponsors
We have secured tickets for all 3 England Home games and both Saturday and Sunday Finals Days. Want to be there?
Sponsors, Players and Members contact:
Nations Championship Cup
england home games and finals day tickets
As a Club we have secured tickets for each of the England home games in November, and in addition, tickets for the Saturday and Sunday Finals’ Days. The England Home games are as follows:
Sunday 8 November Australia
14 November
Saturday 21 November
pm
We have tickets for the Saturday and Sunday Finals as follows:
Sponsors, Players and Club Members wishing to attend should in the first instance contact me at:
Fiji have decided to play their summer home fixtures here in the Northern Hemisphere with the England game being played at the Everton FC ground on 11 July. Tickets for that and for the games in Wales and Scotland can be obtained at:
Player Sponsors
Chipping Norton v
2 Be or not 2 Be Vipers 27 : 57 Banbury II
Our Vipers welcomed league leaders Banbury II to Hailey Road and for a good portion of the game, gave us reason to believe an upset was on the cards. Callum’s yellow card, whilst not definitive, did mark the start of the slide. Whilst the score line was convincing, our boys can take heart that the game was more evenly balanced than that score suggests. Our points came from Zach Way, Ollie Walker, Cal Godfrey and Jakey Hater, with Ed Bee landing 3 from 4 conversions. A well-deserved try bonus, just a shame we could not of added a losing bonus as well. Ollie Walker a deserved Man of The Match.
Today our Vipers head to Chipping Norton, it doesn’t get much harder than this. Sitting in third, Chippie got the better of us at Hailey Road in a very tense encounter. Things have not too well for the home side of late, but I am sure they will want to stop that trend when our Vipers visit. Come on you Vipers.
MARCH
2026
7 Witney v Cleve
8TH ANGELS v BASINGSTOKE
21 Vipers v Hungerford st
Witney III v Chipping Norton II
28 Witney v Newbury Blues
29TH Angels v Newbury
All KOs 3pm unless otherwise annotated PLus the remaining 6 Nations fixtures being shown on the big screen TVs in the Bar, you know it makes sense.
Player Sponsors
Player Sponsors
Who Shall We 3s Beat Again?
Who Shall We 3s Beat Again?
A group of Wizards, and would be Wizards, are braving the weather in support of homeless Veterans. Following training on 19 March, a group of Wizards, some veterans, all Club members will spend the night out in the elements raising money for a very th good cause. Every night, thousands of veterans ri here in the UK face the harsh reality of sleeping r Together, we can help change that. We’ll be swap the comfort of our beds for one night, under the st No frills, No luxury. Just us, our sleeping bags, an the cold. Every pound you donate will go directly to Royal British Veterans Enterprise (RBVE), helping to provide safe homes, mental health support, employment opportunities, and a strong community where veterans support one another. T fundraiser — it’s a statement: we don’t leave our veterans behind.
To donate Click Here: Team Wizards:
Ian Loughborough David Cluley
Gareth Lewis Russell Simpson
Mike West Steve Aldridge
Angels v Basingstoke
Where Angels Fly!
Our Angels continue to fight to field a team and have ladies rugby active at Hailey Road, the management team really need to be rewarded for their efforts, so why not pop up on Sunday and see what it’s all about, oh, and did I mention the bar is open?
Our Angels play host to Basingstoke in what will hopefully be a thrilling encounter as the ladies look to build on their recent performances. Continuing the ‘Barbarian’ ethos, the Angels are joined by 4 ladies from Faringdon & Grove, so hello and a big thank you to Emma Hume, Ella McCarthy, Dora Husnova and Toni Delaney. Hope you all enjoy your day at Hailey Road.
Academy The Future’s Bright!
No game to report on but plenty to look forward to. Next up: Beaconsfield — a sterner test, and one that will require a full 60-minute performance. Beaconsfield sit comfortably in 3 , with a 6-point gap there is no chance of displacing them there. Hungerford have leapfrogged us into 4 place and just one-point marks the difference, but with a much better points difference, a bonus point should be enough for us to regain 4 .
This game means so much more than the sum on the scoreboard. Come on you Black and Blues.
Right then, another big round of Six Nations Championship action coming up, so here are this week’s completely unqualified pub predictions.
First up in Dublin, where Ireland host Wales. Ireland sit third but will still be eyeing up that second-place spot, and at home they should be far too much for Wales to handle. The Welsh campaign so far has been about as cheerful as a Monday morning alarm clock, on a wet day in Barry, and unless something miraculous happens they’re heading straight for the wooden spoon. Their one small hope is that their last game is against Italy at the Principality Stadium. Which raises something rather special; tomorrow Welsh fans will be doing something never seen in rugby history… cheering England on in Rome. That alone tells you how desperate things have become.
Club prediction: Ireland by 12.
Next up at Murrayfield Stadium, Scotland take on France. France are currently the best team in the Northern Hemisphere and when they click they look unstoppable.
That said, Murrayfield has a habit of producing the occasional strange afternoon where Scotland suddenly remember how good they can be. Sadly for Scottish fans, France remembering how good they are tends to overrule everything else
Club prediction: France by 10.
Finally we head to Rome and the Stadio Olimpico, where England face Italy and on paper England should win this comfortably. But if England somehow manage to lose, then Steve Borthwick may want to avoid opening the newspapers on Sunday morning… and possibly start rehearsing the phrase “I still have the full support of the RFU.”
Club prediction: England by 7.
Right then — that’s the predictions done. Time to sit back, enjoy the rugby, and confidently watch at least two of those predictions go completely wrong.
M & Js
Investing in the Future
Player Sponsors
Player Sponsors
A bit of Wizardry
Next Friday our Walking Wizards park their zimmer frames and head to Banbury for a hotly contested Friday night fixture. The squad are really looking forward to the trip and hope to get one over on our close rivals.
Think Walking Rugby is for you? Please get in touch, Thursday nigh the Club are so much fun, an hour training followed by supper, a fe beers, and a lot of banter. Conta Derrick Fox at; derrick.fox@witneyrugby.co.uk. You won’t regret it. Contact: Derrick Fox on 07922 626332
Email: derrick.fox@witneyrugby.co.uk
What’s On @ Hailey Road!
Veterans @ Hailey Road
Contrary to poular belief, you do not have to have:
Served in the Trenches of WWI
Be over 60 with a pacemaker!
Although being either of those does not preclude you from playing, we do ask for a letter from your parent.
A massive thank you to all our fabulous sponsors!
How would you like 10% off everything you buy over the bar? With a WRFC Members Discount Card that’s exactly what you get. 10% off all your beers, teas, coffees, sandwiches etc. For a small anual fee, currently £25, you get a year’s worth of discounted products. That’s approximately 50p a week, so one pint of lager a week and you have made your money back, 2 pints and your saving at a level appreciated by Yorkshiremen.
To qualify for the card you need to be a signed up member of the Club.
Interested? email me or speak to any of the marvellous bar staff. ian.loughborough@witneyrugby.co.uk
Building Science, Attaining Excellence
