South Shields Rugby Football Club

07/09/2026

WEEK AHEAD

A big week coming up at Brinkburn as we get ready for Saturday’s fixture.

Tuesday
Training, 6pm, Brinkburn

Thursday
Training, 6pm, Brinkburn

Saturday
South Shields RFC vs Blyth RFC
Kick-off: 2:30pm
Brinkburn

Two sessions to get the work in before we go again at home on Saturday.

07/09/2026

𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐎𝐑 | 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐘 𝐎𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐒

Matty Oates is proudly sponsored for the season by former South Shields RFC player Lee Dixon.

Lee has been a supporter of the club for many years and continues to back South Shields both on and off the pitch. It’s great to see former players still getting behind the club and supporting the current squad.

A huge thank you to Lee for sponsoring Matty and for his continued support of South Shields RFC.

07/09/2026

KNOW YOUR OPPOSITION | WINLATON VULCANS RFC

Next up in Know Your Opposition, we take a look at Winlaton Vulcans RFC, a club with more than 130 years of rugby history behind them.

Founded in 1896, the Vulcans have had quite the journey. The club was disbanded on four separate occasions during its early years, with the two World Wars and the lack of a permanent home both playing a part, before being firmly re-established in 1962.

Their history includes an impressive connection with Durham rugby. Between 1906 and 1930, Winlaton supplied at least 10 players to the Durham County side, making more than 160 appearances between them. Vulcans players were also selected for representative sides to face Australia, South Africa and New Zealand.

Their home is Axwell View in Winlaton, where the club eventually secured three pitches and built the clubhouse that remains at the heart of the Vulcans today.

Axwell View has seen its fair share of famous rugby names too. In 1978 it hosted a Gateshead XV against an International XV containing seven British & Irish Lions, including Ian McGeechan, Roy Laidlaw, Elgan Rees, Steve Fenwick and Bobby Windsor.

Perhaps the best description of Winlaton comes from the club themselves. The Vulcans have long had a reputation for being hard to play against on the pitch, but one of the friendliest clubs off it.

There are just 20.4 miles separating Axwell View and our home at Brinkburn Street / Brinkburn CIO in South Shields, and the two sides will meet for the first time this season on 12 December at Brinkburn.

A proud North East rugby club, a long history and plenty of stories behind the famous Vulcans name.

Now we know a little bit more about our opposition.

07/09/2026

🏉 WORD OF THE WEEK 🏉

Whether you’re brand new to rugby, a parent trying to work out what on earth everyone is shouting about from the touchline, or you’ve been watching for years but still occasionally just nod along, this new feature is for you!

Each week, we’ll pick a rugby term, explain what it means and hopefully make the game that little bit easier to understand.

This week’s word is…

SCRUM

A scrum is used to restart play after certain minor infringements, most commonly a knock-on or forward pass.

Eight players from each team bind together and compete for possession of the ball. The scrum-half feeds the ball into the scrum, and both packs try to drive and hook the ball back to their side.

Basically, 16 massive blokes push against each other while everyone else waits to see who comes out with the ball. 😂

Simple… until you start learning all the scrum laws!

Know someone who’s new to rugby? Tag them below and follow along with our Word of the Week.

06/09/2026

𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇 𝐑𝐄𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐓 📝
Rampant South Shields run in 10 tries to secure first win of pre-season against an inexperienced yet spirited Hartlepool side

Read the full report..⤵️

South Shields produced a dominant display on Saturday afternoon, running in ten tries as they swept aside Hartlepool.

06/09/2026

BIG FISH MAN OF THE MATCH

After yesterday’s huge 62-0 win, our Big Fish South Shields sponsored Men of the Match go to Chris Lisle sponsored by The Cyprus and Ashton Gray.

Two massive performances in a dominant team display from start to finish. Both lads put in the work, made their presence felt and fully earned the recognition.

A brilliant result, a clean sheet and two very worthy Men of the Match.

Massive thanks as always to Big Fish for sponsoring our Man of the Match award and continuing to support the club.

Fancy sorting tea without the hassle? Give our sponsors a try:

Big Fish
1 Readhead Avenue
South Shields
NE33 3AW

Call: 0191 816 0799

Delivery:
Monday to Sunday: 4:00pm – 9:45pm

Collection:
Monday to Saturday: 11:30am – 1:45pm and 4:00pm – 9:45pm
Sunday: 4:00pm – 9:45pm

Order online at bigfishtakeaway.co.uk

05/09/2026

FULL TIME | SOUTH SHIELDS RFC 62–0 HARTLEPOOL RFC

A huge performance from the lads today as Shields put in a dominant display from start to finish.

Strong in defence, clinical in attack and a clean sheet to top it all off. 62 points on the board and a big result for the team.

Plenty to be proud of, but we keep pushing.

South Shields RFC 62–0 Hartlepool RFC

05/09/2026

MATCH BALL SPONSOR

A massive thank you to Scottish Warriors for sponsoring today’s match ball as South Shields RFC take on Hartlepool III at Brinkburn.

Support like this makes a real difference to grassroots rugby and helps us continue doing what we do both on and off the pitch.

We really appreciate Scottish Warriors backing the club and supporting today’s fixture.

🏉 South Shields RFC v Hartlepool III
📍 Brinkburn
⏰ 3PM

05/09/2026

A WORD FROM THE GENERAL MANAGER

The work being done behind the scenes is starting to show.

Training has stepped up, recruitment has been excellent and, most importantly, the lads are buying into what we’re trying to build at South Shields RFC.

There’s a real buzz back around the club at the minute and that only happens when people are putting the graft in, both on and off the pitch.

General Manager Jamie Everett believes that hard work is creating something positive for the season ahead.