INSIDE THE CHAMPIONSHIP’S BIGGEST SUCCESS STORY
Nestled in sleepy south Oxfordshire close to the rolling Chiltern Hills, Chinnor RFC will have flown under most radars since their formation in 1963. But those days are dwindling; and chief executive Simon Vickers is delighted.
“This is going to lead to Minty getting job offers left, right and centre,” says Vickers, referring to former England No 8 Nick Easter, his director of rugby. “That’s inevitable.”
It was Ugo Monye, a former Harlequins colleague, who first likened Easter to an EastEnders car mechanic some 20 years ago. The nickname has stuck, though its owner is now headlining a new story – one of ambition and optimism rather than a soap opera.
On the pitch, Easter has guided Chinnor from the bottom of English rugby union’s third tier to the top six of the second. Just after Christmas, they laid siege to Sixways, overturning Worcester Warriors 27-26.
Beat Bedford Blues in Saturday’s rearranged fixture at Kingsey Road, and the hosts will be fifth in the Champ table.
In a league that features a range of spending models, Chinnor are punching above their weight. They run a semi-professional model with a system that combines retainer payments and match fees. There are two evening training sessions each week and the annual squad budget sits at around £300,000; only one or two of 14 Champ sides will have a lower one. No player earns more than £20,000 from rugby and all of them have day jobs.
Chinnor represent an off-field success as well. Vickers, originally from Birmingham, is also principal sponsor via the house-building company he founded in 1991. The 67-year-old estimates that the average gate in National One was around 500. A crowd of 2,231 watched December’s 47-10 thrashing of Cornish Pirates. England Under-18 will be in town to face France in March. Hospitality will be packed and over 3,000 spectators are expected.
Having captained the club in the 1980s, Vickers jokes that he was “dragged back” a few years later in a commercial capacity. He has an exciting strategy to broaden Chinnor’s footprint with a rebrand. Red Bull’s investment in Newcastle has left something to swoop towards.
“Our 15-minute catchment area would have a population of close to 15,000,” Vickers explains. “If we get 2,000 people in, that’s something like 14 per cent, which is really high. But we’ve got to increase our spectator base. Chinnor is a fantastic story, but why would someone from Oxford come to support us? We’ve done very well with local sponsorship. They’ve grown with us, but there’s a limit.
“Every year I think about it and I’ve made a play this year. We have agreed to the principle of a rebrand to bring a geographical angle to take ‘Chinnor’ out of it. The current thinking is ‘Thames Valley Falcons’. The falcon has been our emblem since we were founded. When we’ve taken our story to sponsors, they have said: ‘That’s great… but where the f--- is Chinnor?’ Thames Valley covers Oxford over to Slough encompassing Aylesbury, Marlow and Wycombe. That’s the area we need to target.”
Any name-change needs sanction from the Rugby Football Union, yet seems sensible with Kingsey Road closer to the town of Thame anyway. Vickers takes his time over such decisions, “refining” his approach and “learning from mistakes” on a “slow and deliberate” climb up the pyramid. Chinnor, for instance, had a higher wage bill in National Two, the fourth tier, than they did in National One. Appointing Easter has proven to be a masterstroke; even if it brought about an expensive evening in the spring of 2023.
“When I first came in three years ago, they had two wins from 11 games in National One,” Easter remembers. “I came in, did my spiel and said Simon would pay for a night out in London if we won four on the bounce. He hadn’t agreed to that at all. We got to three in a row a couple of times but won 10 out of the last 15 overall and Simon put his hand in his pocket at the end of the season, to be fair.”
Chinnor romped the third tier, ending up 13 points clear, to achieve promotion in 2024. Easter admits he had to be “cut-throat” when reshaping the squad and has flipped the recruitment strategy. Whereas they historically courted high-profile names in the twilight of their careers – former Northampton Saints prop Soane Tonga’uiha was player-coach for a spell – Chinnor now tend to add younger individuals eager to “springboard” upwards.
“There are a lot of good rugby players in this country and everyone in the Championship, and the leagues below, are fighting to make sure people notice them,” Easter adds. “You have guys who might have been in a Prem academy but thought they would have been holding tackle pads or on loan to a club like this anyway. Why not be part of a club like this... and probably get paid better?”
James Bourton, an inside centre, grew up in Brighton and was a contemporary of Fin Baxter and Louis Lynagh at Harlequins before being released during the pandemic. He subsequently joined Ealing Trailfinders and was loaned to Chinnor for the National One promotion campaign, returning permanently when his three-year stint in West London finished.
Involved in all 12 Champ games so far this season, Bourton believes an “underdog mentality” comes to the fore against full-time sides. Chinnor have ousted Coventry and Doncaster Knights. “It’s having a mind-set of, ‘they don’t respect us, so we’re not respecting them’,” Bourton says.
One of Chinnor’s senior figures, 35-year-old hooker Alun Walker, recognises a “feel-good vibe” among the group: “The easiest way to describe it is that after any game, music is still playing in that marquee at midnight,” he says. Walker and Bourton embody how Chinnor pride themselves on finding work for players. The former is a site manager for Rectory Homes, Vickers’ business. Bourton is employed as a business manager by Carmichael, a civil engineering and construction recruitment company that also sponsors the club.
Rob Hardwick, a 24-year-old tighthead who represented England Under-20 and was briefly affiliated to Wasps, is a regular starter. Prem clubs have shown interest. Loosehead prop Kai Owen, another age-grade international, went from Worcester to Doncaster to Nottingham before arriving at Chinnor and offers obvious pedigree. Keeping his cards close to his chest in case suitors are listening, Easter refuses to pick a stand-out. “I’m trying to re-sign them,” he grins. “They’re all rubbish.”
The Kingsey Road site features an impressive gym and players are fitted with GPS units at training to monitor their running loads. Quality coaching is a prime selling point for Chinnor. Richie Williams, head coach of Cambridge until midway through last season, is on board and overseeing the age-group pathway as well as aiding the first team.
Job-sharing is a theme of the place. Chinnor head coach Craig Hampson still scampers around at scrum-half for Ealing in the same division. This “unique” situation is managed as professionally as possible. Hampson does not attend Chinnor in the weeks that his teams face one another. He even leaves relevant WhatsApp groups temporarily.
Easter juggles his Chinnor commitments as forwards and defence coach of the USA. When away with the Eagles for Test windows and camps, he reviews Chinnor training and matches remotely. Likewise, Easter will observe Major League Rugby, between March and June this year, from afar. Wearing two hats, he argues, stops him going stale. “I probably get one week off per year, but variety is as good as a rest.”
The unpretentious aspects of a community club do not faze Easter, who relishes squad camaraderie. More than two team sessions a week would be “overkill”, he believes, partly because it disrupts home life. While firm and forthright, Easter is fair and dedicated.
“I want to get them thinking and I think they enjoy that,” he explains. “Say their job is getting mundane and a clip of a game comes through on WhatsApp. They can look at it, take it in, maybe disagree with a suggestion I’ve made. Players can take on information as long as you sell it to them.”
Left in the lurch when Worcester went under, Easter now feels “valued” and “trusted” by Chinnor and USA. That said, at 47, he has plenty more to give.
“I want to coach at the highest level I can – for my country or in the Premiership – and I’m not embarrassed to say that,” Easter says. “I’ve never minded the pressure being on, to be honest. I don’t mind the buck stopping with me, because you know you are doing it your way. The important thing is that it is collaborative. My ambitions are big, but the opportunity has got to be right.”
Harlequins, enduring a difficult patch, have not been in touch. Easter would “certainly welcome a conversation” and admits that he “thought they’d kick on when they last won the Prem” in 2021. “It hasn’t happened that way,” Easter shrugs. “I have my own views and if they want to have a chat, I’m sure they have my number. Hopefully the door is open because I want to see them achieve their potential and there is a lot going for that club.”
There is a lot going for Chinnor, too. They have a fully professionalised board and pushing the average attendance towards 2,000 is an aim for the second half of the season. There is a genuine drive to enhance the experience for spectators, with Vickers on board with the desire to raise infrastructural standards around the league. He wants players to be scouted by Prem sides because “that will only encourage the next wave through”. Whether as Chinnor or the Thames Valley Falcons, the club seem to be on an upward trajectory.
“I think we’ve established that we can sustain ourselves and thrive in the Champ,” Vickers says. “We aim to break even or make profit every year. The Prem, with its current model, is not for us. We want to make the Champ a centre of excellence, maybe with a regional stadium that holds 5,000. We could sustain that with a hotel and offices, perhaps aligning with one or two other sports, and holding half-a-dozen concerts or functions.
“One day we might look at the Prem. Until then, we are going to enjoy it.”
Until then, even if Easter is plucked away himself, Chinnor will be an asset for the second tier.
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