Stockwood Park and Luton players star in Beds triumph
Local clubs are well represented during victory
Stockwood Park RFC and Luton RFC both had players representing Bedfordshire RU Senior Men during their 31-19 victory at Hunts and Peterborough RU on Saturday.
Brilliantly led by skipper Michael Powell and coached by Tom Edmunds, Park had no less than seven of the squad in a highly entertaining encounter to finish off the 2025-26 season, with Jordan Fadjou, Mark Smith, Nick Dundee, Olly Daly, Jerome Isles and Will Edmunds included as well. They were joined by Joe Curtis and Harrison Yang from neighbours Luton RFC, who also had solid games throughout, as Beds fought back from trailing 19-7 midway through the second half to wrap up a convincing victory.
Isles, Smith and Daly, who was winning his first cap for the County, all weighed in with a try each, Dundee ending what was an excellent personal campaign with the boot by adding three conversions. Meanwhile, five Park players played as part of an invitational touch rugby side at the prestigious Allianz Stadium, Twickenham at the weekend, facing teams with current and former internationals, as they got themselves to the quarter-finals where they were knocked out by the eventual winners who included Wales legend Tom Shanklin.
There have been further County honours for the club recently too, as Dundee and Smith both played for the East Midlands Men as they took on Staffordshire Men, beaten 36-19. Riley Nash also featured for East Midlands U17s in their 52-19 victory against Warwickshire U17s.
Last week, Stockwood found out their opponents for the Counties Two Midlands South 2026-27 season. They will be up against near neighbours Dunstablians once more, also taking on Brackley, Old Laurentians, Old Northamptonians, Leicester Lions, Northampton Casuals, Peterborough Lions, Rushden & Higham, St Ives, St Neots and Stewarts & Lloyds.
With new head coach Ronald Speakman in place, the club expect to announce some pre-season friendlies soon, before the first league game on Saturday, September 12. Anyone interested in coming to pre-season training for Stockwood, joining the club in a senior, social or junior playing capacity, should get in contact at [email protected], as all abilities are welcome.
Park are also running free Social Touch Rugby for All sessions on Thursday evenings at London Road. The event, which starts at 7pm and runs for the next five weeks, is open to everyone and is a great opportunity to try rugby for the first time in a non-contact environment, or to hone existing skills ready for pre-season.