Truro 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 city of

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 was formed in 1885. The club's colours are blue and gold and they operate two senior men's teams, a women's team, a colts side and various mini/junior teams (ages 7–16). The men's first team currently play in Regional 2 South West – a league at level 6 in the

English rugby union system Men's Rugby union in England consists of 106 leagues, which includes professional leagues at the highest level, down to amateur regional leagues. Promotion and relegation are in place throughout the system. Women's Rugby union in England consi ...

History

Truro RFC are one of the oldest rugby union clubs in

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, ...

having been founded in 1885. Despite being one of the senior clubs in the county the club has only started to experience success in recent times. With the advent of the Courage National Leagues in 1987, Truro were placed in Western Counties - ranked at tier 7 of the English rugby union league system. They remained in this division until 1991 when they were relegated to Courage Cornwall/Devon having finished bottom of the league standings. After seven relatively unremarkable seasons in Cornwall/Devon, Truro finally won the first league title in the club's history, finishing 4 points clear of second placed

Crediton Crediton is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Mid Devon district of Devon, England. It stands on the A377 road, A377 Exeter to Barnstaple road at the junction with the A3072 road to Tiverton, Devon, Tiverton, north w ...

who were also promoted. This league title was the beginning of the club's most successful period so far as they went on to achieve three successive promotions, winning Western Counties West in 1999 and then South West 2 West (winning 21 out of 22 games) to reach South West Division 1, which at tier 5 is the highest level Truro have played. In 2001 after just one year in South West Division 1 Truro were relegated to South West 2 West. They bounced back the following year by winning a league and cup double. First they won the Cornwall Cup 27–20 against Penryn at the Recreation Ground - remarkably the first time the club had reached the final of the competition let alone won it. They then overcame promotion rivals, Berry Hill, to claim the league title after a very close contest which saw the two sides finishing on 37 points apiece but Truro going up as champions due to better for/against record. In 2004 the club were relegated once more from South West Division 1 in bottom place, after two seasons in the division. They would also reach the final of the Cornwall Cup that year, losing 0–22 to

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, ...

at the Recreation Ground in

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 ...

. The demotion at the end of the 2003–04 season would be the first of three relegation's in four years as Truro went down from South West 2 West in 2006 and then from Western Counties West in 2007. In 2017 the club won the South West section of the RFU Intermediate Cup, advancing through to the national semi-finals where they met the London & South East champions, Charlton Park. Unfortunately, Truro were unable to qualify for 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 ...

as they lost heavily away to the London side. In 2019 Truro were relegated from Western Counties West on the last weekend of the 2018–19 season, finishing 13th out of 14. After just one season, Truro returned to Western Counties West, where despite the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

crisis they had done enough to be crowned league champions of Cornwall/Devon.

Ground

St Clements Hill is in south-east Truro at the top of the road that gives it its name, about 35–40 minutes' walk from the train station (be warned it is hilly). St Clements Hill consists of a club-house, main pitch and a secondary pitch for 2nd XV and junior fixtures, and there is plenty of parking available in and around the ground. The main pitch does not have a stand or any covered areas, although there is a tiered bank that surrounds the pitch on two sides offering a good view of the action for spectators. Due to the bank overall capacity at the ground is around 2,000, all of which is standing.

Season summary

Honours

* Cornwall/Devon champions (2): 1997–98, 2019–20 * Western Counties West champions: 1998-99 * Western Counties West promotion: 2021-22 * South West 2 West champions (2): 1999–00, 2001–02 * Cornwall Cup winners: 2002 * RFU South West Intermediate winners: 2017

Notable former players

* Darren Dawidiuk - Truro born hooker who started his career at the club after coming through the youth teams. Currently playing in the Premiership with

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

after a spell with the

Cornish Pirates The Cornish Pirates () are a professional rugby union team who play in the RFU Championship, Championship, the second level of the English rugby union pyramid, and are the premier Cornish rugby club. The Cornish Pirates team are the 'First XV' o ...

. * Lewis Vinnicombe - winger who had short spell with Truro in between playing for

and the

. He has been capped by

and was the top try scorer at the 2014 Bill Beaumont Cup. * Tom Voyce - Truro born full-back and winger who played youth rugby at the club before going on to a successful career in the English Premiership with several clubs including London Wasps, and was also capped 9 times by

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Notes

References

External links

Truro RFC

Cornwall RFU
{{Rugby union in England Rugby union teams in Cornwall Rugby union teams in England Rugby clubs established in 1885 1885 establishments in England Truro