Rugby stands tall in Norfolk County

Norfolk Harvesters’ Jeff Butler is surrounded by Windsor players during a 2’s men’s rugby game Saturday in Waterford. 

Chris Abbott

Editor

Welcome to the home of rugby in Norfolk County.

An official member of the Niagara Rugby Union (NRU), Norfolk Harvesters RFC has a full slate of teams – two men’s (Tier 1 and Tier 2) and a women’s team, as well as junior boys, junior girls and minis.

“Our men’s 1’s kick off at 2 p.m. and our 2’s at 3:30 p.m., every week pretty well except for long weekends. The 2’s, it kind of depends, sometimes team other team does not have enough people,” said Howard Wise from the first team Saturday at Waterford District High School’s rugby field. “Today (July 11), we have some of our players playing with Windsor.”

The men’s teams play in a six-team division against Sarnia, Windsor, Hamilton, Stoney Creek and Stratford.

On Saturday, the Harvesters 1’s defeated Windsor in their second last home game.

“We’ve got one more home game, August 8th against Stratford,” said Wise, noting their season started end of May. “That will be the end of the regular season.”

Playoffs determine who is promoted.

“To me, I find it’s not just about rugby,” said Wise. “We always say we’re not one team. We’re not a 1’s team, we’re not a 2’s team. We’re one club, that’s how we always approach everything. After this game, we do a social. We rent the Lions Hall here in Waterford and do our social there, player of the match, that kind of stuff. Connect over the game and go from there.

“For me, it’s more about the camaraderie. It’s not just ‘you’re there to play rugby.’ You’re there to make those connections.

“Another thing I really like about rugby is that essentially all body types can play,” Wise added.

“There’s a spot for you,” a teammate nodded.

“We’ve got guys who are 120 pounds, and we also have guys like myself pushing 260 (pounds),” Wise smiled. “And anywhere in between.”

U6 is Norfolk Harvesters’ youngest program (as young as four-year-olds) playing flag rugby. 

The youth continue with flag rugby until U12, which is the introduction to contact rugby.

“The focus of that (U12) is safe contact technique.”

For more information on the Norfolk Harvesters, visit their website at www.norfolkharvesters.com. You can also follow them on Instagram and Facebook.