Longlevens RFC

Longlevens Rugby officially completed their 2023/24 Pre-season with victory in their second warm up game of the summer last night.

After an historic 2022-23 season that saw the club lift both the Papa John’s plate and the North Gloucestershire combination cup, and the second team win the league, the players all reported for training on July 6^th to blast away those summer pounds and get into shape to attack the new season. Last season ended with the news that head coach, Luke Stratford, was moving on to coach Leicester Tigers women, so a big hole was left in the team. Director of Rugby, Andrew Deacon, was tasked with finding a suitable replacement and he came up trumps with the appointment of former Gloucester player and coach, Andrew Stanley.

Stan had coached at the very top level and was signed from National league side Cinderford, so this was a big statement of intent from The Griffins. He will work alongside player coach, and former Saracens centre, Tom Griffiths.

Each session of pre-season had very healthy numbers, made up of returning players, colts coming through the junior section and new signings. Aforementioned previous head coach, Luke Stratford, was the first to put pen to paper, signing on as a player from Hartpury, followed by ex-Cinderford half-back James Butler and former Matson player and Longlevens junior, Harry Atkinson. The squad has also been bolstered by six former colts, moving up from the junior section. This is a sign of a very successful club and shows the succession planning is working well.

Pre-season was completed with two warm up games to put all the learning into practice. First up was an away trip to Stow-on-the-Wold resulting in a 26-19 win, with two scores apiece from Ben Collier and Jack Cuthbert and three Brad Wilkins conversions. This was a hard-fought victory against a tough Stow side and gave wider squad members a taste of first team rugby.

Hartpury then came to visit on Thursday evening and brought two sides. This meant the first and second teams could both get a final work out. The second team competed well, going down 24-12 to a young and fit team, this would have prepared them well for their first league game. The first team put in a very satisfying performance with a 42-12 win against a well organised and athletic Hartpury side. Scorers were Tom Griffiths, Cam Jones, Matthew Fatica, Kory Holman-Jones, Jake Fox and Mike Yorke, Brad Wilkins converting five and James Butler one.

With the preparations now complete The Griffins will look forward to putting three sides out for the coming season, alongside the Mixed Ability team and a potential women’s side. The first team will compete in Counties 1 Western North and start away at Cleve. They will be aiming for promotion and to repeat the cup success from last season. The second team will compete in Counties 3 Gloucester North against many first teams from the local area and start at home against Widden 1^st team. Their aim will be to consolidate and finish in the top half of the table and to continue their recent success in the combination junior cup. For the first time in five years the club will field a third team in the district leagues. They will have a total of 10 games and it will be a good testing ground for younger players and older ones who want a more social game of rugby.

Everyone at the club is looking forward to what they hope will be another successful season on and off the pitch.

Up the Griffins!