St Austell RFC is a Cornish

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

club based in the town of

St Austell Saint Austell (, ; ) is a town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, south of Bodmin and west of the border with Devon. At the 2021 Census in the United Kingdom, census it had a population of 20,900. History St Austell was a village centred ...

and was founded in 1963. The club run three senior men's teams as well as ladies side, a colts and multiple junior/mini sides. The club's kit is red and white hoops and the first team currently play in Regional 1 South West with home games at Tregorrick Park. Tregorrick_Park_St_Austell_RFC

History

Early history

St Austell RFC was formed on 31 July 1963 by Wilf Vernalls and Des Robins, with home games being played at Cyprus Avenue in Par Moor. There had been a previous rugby club in St Austell called the Hornets who had formed in 1933, but during the 1954–55 season this club relocated to

Newquay Newquay ( ; ) is a town on the north coast in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is a civil parishes in England, civil parish, seaside resort, regional centre for aerospace industries with an airport and a spaceport, and a fishing port on t ...

, becoming known as the Newquay Hornets. The club moved to Circus Field at Cromwell Road in 1967 but would have to wait until the mid 1970s until it emerged as a player on the Cornish senior circuit, defeating established clubs

Truro Truro (; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England; it is the southernmost city in the United Kingdom, just under west-south-west of Charing Cross in London. It is Cornwall's county town, s ...

and St Ives in 1976. Several years in 1978 the club reached the final of the Cornwall Cup for the first time, losing 7–6 to

Camborne Camborne (from Cornish language, Cornish ''Cambron'', "crooked hill") is a town in Cornwall, England. The population at the 2011 Census was 20,845. The northern edge of the parish includes a section of the South West Coast Path, Hell's Mouth, C ...

at the

Recreation Ground A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are green spaces set aside for recreation inside towns and cities. N ...

Redruth Redruth ( , ) is a town and civil parishes in Cornwall, civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. According to the 2011 census, the population of Redruth was 14,018 In the same year the population of the Camborne-Redruth urban area, ...

. In 1986, St Austell sold their Circus Field ground to

Asda Asda Stores Limited (), trading as Asda and often styled as ASDA, is a British supermarket and petrol station chain. Its headquarters is in Leeds, England. The company was incorporated as Associated Dairies and Farm Stores in 1949. It expanded ...

spending several seasons without a ground until they moved into their current ground, Tregorrick Park, in 1988.

League rugby

With the creation of the Courage national leagues in 1987, St Austell were placed in Courage Cornwall/Devon (division 8 of the league system). They had a poor debut season in the new league, finishing second bottom in 10th place and were relegated to Courage Cornwall League 1. In 1991 St Austell reached the final of the Cornwall Clubs Cup (the secondary cup in Cornwall at the time) but ended up as losing finalists after a 13–0 defeat to

Helston Helston () is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated at the northern end of the The Lizard, Lizard Peninsula approximately east of Penzance and south-west of Falmouth, Cornwall, Falmouth.Ordnance Survey: ...

. After 7 seasons in Cornwall League 1 the club finally achieved promotion in 1995 as they claimed their first ever league title and booked a return to Cornwall/Devon. Several years later a second league title and promotion was achieved as St Austell won Western Counties West to reach the dizzy heights of South West 2 West - which at tier 5 is the highest level the club has reached to date. The 2000–01 season ended up in disappointment for St Austell, as although they were competitive in the division, they were unable to stay up, going down in 10th place just two points behind relegation rivals

Ivybridge Ivybridge is a town and civil parish in the South Hams, in Devon, England. It lies about east of Plymouth. It is at the southern extremity of Dartmoor, a National Park of England and Wales and lies along the A38 "Devon Expressway" road. The ...

. This relegation would see the club fall through the league system as they suffered two more relegations, first from Western Counties West and then from Cornwall/Devon. St Austell stabilized itself during the 2004–05 season when it bounced back with a league and cup double - winning promotion from Cornwall League 1 as champions and then winning the Cornwall Clubs Cup for the first time in the club's history, defeating

Perranporth Perranporth () is a seaside resort town on the north coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is 2.1 miles east of the St Agnes Heritage Coastline, and around 7 miles south-west of Newquay. Perranporth and its long beach face the Atla ...

11–9 at the final held at St. Clement's Hill in

. Several seasons in Cornwall/Devon ended in relegation in 2007 as the club finished in 10th place after a tough relegation battle, just 2 points off safety. St Austell then had a period of resurgence as it was promoted from Cornwall League 1 after finishing runners up in 2009. Two years later another second-place finish, this time in Cornwall/Devon, saw the club promoted to Western Counties West. In 2012 St Austell reached the final of the Cornwall Cup for the first time in 34 years losing 20–17 to

Wadebridge Camels Wadebridge Camels RFC is a rugby union club based in Wadebridge, Cornwall which has been in existence since 1955. They play at Molesworth Field. History Wadebridge played in the Tribute South West 1 West, for four seasons having won promotion ...

at the Memorial Ground, Penryn. The 2012–13 season was the most successful season in St Austells history to date. Firstly the club had an excellent run in the RFU Intermediate Cup (a competition for sides based at level 7 of the league system), beating

Wimborne Wimborne Minster (often referred to as Wimborne, ) is a market town in Dorset in South West England, and the name of the Church of England church in that town. It lies at the confluence of the River Stour and the River Allen, north of Pool ...

at home 14–8 in February to win the South-West section, making the national semi-finals. A 31–19 defeat away to

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

at the beginning of April ended the club's chance of making the final at

Twickenham Stadium Twickenham Stadium (; usually known as Twickenham, and for sponsorship purposes known as the Allianz Stadium Twickenham) is a rugby union stadium in Twickenham, London, England. It is owned by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), the English rugby u ...

but they had some compensation as the claimed the Tribute Western Counties West league title with a 38–5 win over Exeter Saracens in front of a club record attendance of 800 at Tregorrick Park. In 2014 St Austell reached the final of the Cornwall Cup held at the

in what was a repeat of the final of 1978, with

once again victorious in a 24–10 win. The following season St Austell were relegated from Tribute South West 1 West as well as experiencing another disappointment in a Cornwall Cup final, losing to nemesis Camborne, 23-13 after extra time at St Clements Hill,

. On 17 April 2017, St Austell won the Cornwall Cup for the first time, in what was their fifth attempt, defeating fellow league side

33–22 at the final held at the Recreation Ground in Redruth in front of a crowd of 850.

Season summary

Honours

* Cornwall League 1 champions (2): 1994–95, 2004–05 * Cornwall Clubs Cup winners: 2005 * Tribute Western Counties West champions (2): 1997–98, 2012–13 * RFU South West Intermediate Cup winners: 2013 * Cornwall Cup winners: 2017 * Regional 2 South West winners: 2022–23

Notable former players

* Matthew Shepherd - Cornish scrum-half/ fly-half who played for St Austell during his early career (scoring over 1,000 points) and who is currently at Plymouth Albion. He has won the

county championship The County Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...

with

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

as well as being selected for the England Counties XV.

Notes

References

External links

St Austell RFC

Cornwall RFU
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Austell RFC Rugby union teams in Cornwall Rugby clubs established in 1963 1963 establishments in England Rugby Football club