Rugby St Andrews RFC is one of a number of Rugby Football Clubs currently thriving in the birthplace of the game. Our Ashlawn Road grounds are a little over a mile from Rugby School and The Close, where William Webb Ellis first picked up the football and ran, and in so doing, gave birth to the game of rugby football.

St Andrews was established during the 1929-30 season and played their matches at the original Mill Road grounds, across town from the present location. The grounds were then positioned close to the railway station, and opposite the British Thompson Houston Engineering works site that was home to Sir Frank Whittle during the development of the jet engine. The club then attracted large numbers of working men from the local industries and has remained a club with its roots firmly embedded in the local community ever since.

“The Saints” moved to the Ashlawn Road grounds in the 1981 and started the Minis and Juniors section soon after. The senior club currently run three sides, with the first team positioned near the top of Warwickshire division 1, vying for promotion to the next level. The youth set up has produced many county players and two England schoolboy players, who still play their rugby for local sides.

Rugby St Andrews RFC is a club with a great tradition of providing facilities and fixtures that blend sport with the fun

of playing. We are very much a community club, open to serious players and family groups alike. The minis and juniors section carries on the club traditions by welcoming young players, both boys and girls, from the age of six upwards to join in the fun on Sunday mornings at the Ashlawn Road club grounds. It is a friendly, safe place to learn the basics of the game of rugby football, without placing too much pressure on the players from an early age.

The club play to the “Rugby Continuum” published by the RFU. This document aims at introducing rugby skills safely whilst developing the children at their own pace. The game is developed from tag rugby on small pitches at the age of six (6) and seven (7) through to fifteen (15) man full contact games with contested scrummages at age of twelve (12) upwards, played on full sized pitches. At Saints we guarantee that if a player turns up regularly for training they will get to play in matches whatever their ability. We arrange fixtures against friendly local clubs who play the game for enjoyment and don’t want to win at all cost. Clubs like Earlsdon, Harbury, Keresley, Rugby Lions, Coventry Broadstreet, Leicester Vipers and Daventry.

First and foremost we want the children to enjoy playing the game in a friendly, safe environment.

Mr James Marston
Chairman Minis & Juniors