 | |
| Full name | Cranbrook Rugby Football Club |
|---|---|
| Union | Kent RFU |
| Founded | 1958 |
| Location | Cranbrook, Kent, England |
| Ground(s) | Tomlin Ground |
| League(s) | Kent 1 |
| 2019–20 | Runners up (promoted to London 3 South East) |
Cranbrook Rugby Football Club is an English rugby union club in Cranbrook, Kent, England. They were founded in 1958 and play in London 3 South East having recently been promoted as runners up from Kent 1.[1]
Though rugby had been recorded as being played in Cranbrook in the 1930s,[2] Cranbrook RFC in their current form were founded in 1958. They were founded by Mike McMinnies after taking part in a rugby match between students of Cranbrook School and some former Cranbrook School pupils in 1957.[3] The club play at the Tomlin Ground which was planned to undergo a £1.69 million redevelopment in 2019.[4]
Cranbrook won the Kent Vase in 2014[5] and retained it the next year.[6] In 2019, Cranbrook hosted a training camp run by Premiership Rugby team Harlequins. This was subject to a mistaken report issued by the Midweek Herald newspaper which mistakenly claimed it was being run in Cranbrook, Devon, some 200 miles (320 km) away, rather than at Cranbrook RFC.[7] During the 2019–20 season, the club reached the regional final of the RFU Junior Vase but lost to Hendon at the home of Premiership Saracens, Allianz Park.[8] In the league, they won promotion from Shepherd Neame Kent 1 to London 3 South East after the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom cancelled the season but Cranbrook earned promotion under the Rugby Football Union's best playing record formula.[1]
Ruaridh McConnochie started his career with Cranbrook before representing the England and Great Britain national rugby sevens teams and later the England national rugby union team.[9] Nathan Earle also played for Cranbrook before joining Saracens and playing for England.[10]