Rochdale RUFC

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Rochdale RUFC v Broughton Park

Rochdale Rugby Union has had a long and illustrious history and they’re still running a number of different teams for various age groups. They currently run four senior teams and junior teams for the under 17s.

The youngsters start off with tag rugby before moving on to the full contact version after under 9s.

Some of their junior teams are short of players at the moment and have issued a plea for more people to sign up.

Ian Coates who is chairman of Rochdale RUFC said: “We’re always for looking for new players. We struggle with the under 14s and 15s sides at times. They’re the ages when children can find distractions away from Rugby.

“We’d like as many players as possible, we’d run two teams if we had the numbers.

“We’re always asked about running a girls team as they can’t play with the boys after 12. Sadly there isn’t enough interest for that moment; we’d love to do it though.”

There’s a variety of events coming which should attract former players. There is a Comedy night involving Les Gibson and others on Saturday 20 July. A week later, there is the annual Colts of Origin tournament which involves former players, some of which are now playing in the professional game.