Club History
The concept of the club was formulated in 2015 by our founder Pete Oram from West Yorkshire Police.
Pete along with a number of other serving Police officers from across the country who were also passionate about rugby and policing decided to create the first committee. They recognised that there was not only a place for county police rugby and GB police rugby but also a desire to have a Four Nations scenario. Ireland, Scotland and Wales police forces already having established teams they recognised England needed to have representation too.
They felt fervently that what should be different about this England Team is it needed be fully inclusive, that there should be no “closed shop” and the team based on open selection, both on a trial basis and by players showcasing their talents through playing Police rugby. Allowing anyone within the policing family the opportunity to be selected based on their abilities and the desire to be a part of the England Police rugby programme. Thus, permitting the highest level of international rugby to be played within the team approximately 5 times a year, both at home and away culminating in the Home Nations Championship.
2019/2020 season we kicked the year off in July with a trial camp; as a prelude to the Hong Kong Tour, situated at Cheltenham Tigers, based over 2 days. The key purpose of this camp was to allow the players (old and new) to demonstrate their talent and enable the selection into both the Hong Kong Tour Team and ultimately the Home Nations Team.
This trial camp was neatly followed by the Tour to Hong Kong in September 2019. 32 players and 18 committee members, plus supporters took the trip out to the Far East to face the formidable forces of both the Australian and the New Zealand Police Teams. Due to the political troubles the host Team sadly were unable to participate themselves however they still facilitated an excellent tournament for both the men’s and women’s police teams, for which we were and are hugely grateful. We had mixed fortunes on this tour, losing our first match against New Zealand 30-14 however this was a great springboard for us and there were multiple learnings from that game that lead to a number of changes, resulting in a fantastic win 27-14 against the Australians in our second fixture!
After the Tour we held a game against the English Fire Service in Daventry where EPRUFC produced a great result and won 25-21. This game’s ultimate purpose was to allow the opportunity for new players to display their abilities and where applicable add them to the already dominant Home Nations Team. Nearly 70 percent of the players on the pitch that day were playing their first game for EPRUFC.
The Tour (and the subsequent Fire Service game), really created a huge step change for us as a club and allowed the total gelling of the core of the team and has been a fantastic catalyst for the rest of the season.
In November 2019 we headed to Cardiff to play the Welsh Police at Cardiff Arms Park. In this historical stadium a fantastic game played out and the Welsh put up an excellent fight on their home turf however the final score highlighted our overall skill and dominance, with a 40-27 win.
We kicked off 2020 by heading up to Scotland to take on the Scotland Police in Glasgow. The cold Scottish January climate did little to dampen the boy’s spirits and yet again they showed that further skill and knowledge had been gained by this strengthening team and we ended the 80 minutes with a resounding and convincing 50-7 victory.
March 2020 saw us travelling across the Irish sea to Dublin for our final match where we faced Ireland Police, with both teams undefeated the match was to decide the Triple Crown and winners of the competition. In conditions which could only be described as ‘biblical’ both teams fought hard with defences on top and chances limited, but it was the Irish who came out winners 25-7, although the final score beguiled a strong performance from both teams.
The 2019/2020 season has been the most successful to date for this England team, the progression from last season combined with some phenomenal results and fantastic rugby was a joy to watch. It is testament to the players hard work and dedication that we have also had a number of players selected for the British Police team in their fixtures, a feat that will hopefully become normality as this section progresses.
The team then suffered the same fate as all other sport around the world and we ground to a standstill whilst we dealt with the pandemic.
Rugby finally started back up again for the 2021/22 season and we were honoured to be invited to take part in a charity match against an international select side as part of the Matt Ratana Foundation. A charity close to our hearts that celebrated the life of the late Police Sergeant who was sadly shot whilst in Police custody. The star-studded opposition probably didn’t anticipate the standard of the England team and with a bumper crowd of thousands turn up to London Irish training facility, Hazelwood, it became somewhat of an exhibition game with England winning 79-29.
This was the start of arguably the most successful season as the team went unbeaten, completing the grand slam against the home nations and beating the Army Masters and winning both games on tour in Vancouver in Canada.
The 2022/23 season started with a North vs South trials game which saw several players selected and called up to the full international squad. It was quickly followed up by a second invitation to complete in the Matt Ratana Foundation match which again saw England win, but this time, it was not such of a walk over.
The home nation’s games quickly followed against Wales and England continued their winning run by beating their rivals 31-28.
Then came England’s toughest game and opposition in its history. England management are always looking to test the team and chose to play a fixture against the semi professional RAF team. Having not lost since the 2019 season, England found themselves down at HT 41-7. The second half saw a revival and EPRUFC winning the half but ultimately falling short and a final score of 48-19. It was a sobering moment but a great lesson of where we need to be to compete against the very best service personel.
Another fixture was around the corner that season against Scotland where England got back to winning ways with a 34-5 win at Kingston Park Stadium, the home of Newcastle Falcons.
The 2023/24 season started with an air of excitement. The inaugural naming and recognition of the 4 Nations Police Championship with official silverware to play for and a tour of a lifetime scheduled in for the end of the season to the southern hemisphere in the shape of Cape Town, South Africa.
The season however, didn’t get off to a good start. Ireland were first up on English soil and the game went right down to the wire in the last play. The Irish scoring in the corner and kicking the points to win the game 18-19.
Shell-shocked at the defeat, the England team needed to pull out all the stops in their next fixture against Scotland in the home of William Wallace, Stirling. Whilst the 29-36 score-line may seem a close affair, England were in fact in control for large parts of the game and never really felt like they would lose the game. A much needed win to boost the confidence of the team.
The next fixture and the first of the 2024 calendar year was against England Fire Service at the amazing Sixways Stadium in Worcester. This fixture had been on a sabbatical in recent years as England had looked for stronger opposition but that relationship was deservedly rekindled in a full-bloodied blue light emergency service game. The England Fire team had clearly improved their player base and looked set to cause an upset in front of another bumper crowd.
England couldn’t get into any rhythm and stuttered in the game. Eventually, England started to get some patterns together and got to half time up by 6-19. The fire service couldn’t cope with the quality of rugby that England was treating the crowd too and at full time, England Police had taken the bagging rights at 18-33.
Meanwhile, with the Welsh winning their first two 4 Nations Police Championship games and topping the table, the pressure was on England when the two teams came together in the first home nations police rugby double header hosted by Ireland in Dublin, the conclusion to the championship. The Welsh, understandably confident, just needed to avoid defeat and avoid letting England getting a bonus point more than them. With a fantastic Irish crowd turning up to watch a rugby spectacle, the England team, on St Georges Day, rose to the challenge.
Physically dominating the Welsh in all areas, they took the sword to their rivals and during the second half, were 19-0 up with the much-needed bonus point.
The title was in the hands of the English, but an error in judgement meant England went down to 14 men which let the Welsh back in and brought them back close enough to England to get a bonus point of their own.
The final score was 19-12 to England but the title went to the Welsh team.
A matter of weeks later, England flew off to the Southern Hemisphere and Cape Town, to a country mad on rugby whereby they would test themselves against a new opposition in South Africa. Two test matches were arranged along with community work and some excellent sight-seeing, a welcome reward for a hard season.
The first match was against a combined services team. The game was played at the oldest rugby club in South Africa, Hamiltons and saw England run out winners in the sunshine 29-38.
A few down days in-between the next test match saw England representatives conduct some of their core values and travel into the townships to get involved in coaching children. Several visits were made to work with schools and clubs and leave a small footprint in Cape Town from England Police Rugby.
The second test match lived up to the hype. The full international South African Police side turned up to the hugely significant Drakenstein Correctional Centre (Nelson Mandela’s final incarceration site before being released). In what was probably the most physical game of rugby each of the rugby players had ever been in, the game got off to a frenetic start in sweltering conditions. Both sides traded blows throughout the game but as we reached 80 minutes, England were up by 2 points. The referee unbelievably found 10 minutes of added time and eventually several penalties were conceded allowing the South Africans to work their way up the pitch into the England half and subsequent 22. The home team opting to now take 3 easy points, duly kicked the points and the ref then blew the final whistle. Final score South Africa Police 31-29 England Police.
England, absolutely devastated with the loss, pulled themselves together and got together with their southern hemisphere brothers and were able to enjoy a fantastic evening laid on by their hosts.
What will the 2024/25 season bring the team………
