Some of you who follow rugby news and specifically the British & Irish Lions website and social media feeds may have seen that Welwyn has been selected as the most recent “Lions Origin” club to have a dedicated article and video produced and publicised by the Lions’ editorial team.

The website article can be viewed at :
https://www.lionsrugby.com/2021/01/26/lions-origin-club-welwyn-rfc-celebrate-past-present-and-future-stars/
and the video feature including segments of interviews conducted with club President Mark Elliott and Communications Manager and Girls Coordinator Jonathan Cirkel can be viewed at https://youtu.be/ufFwvaWMTVY

As you will see from the above items, we are justifiably proud of having produced our very own British and Irish Lion in Joe Worsley plus of course our other internationals, and amazingly for a club the size of Welwyn, the 10 women’s internationals.

Joe Worsley started his rugby career in Welwyn’s U10s and left us at the age of 16 to join his only other club, Wasps FC. He went on to win 78 caps for England and stands 12th in the list of most capped Englishmen. It should be remembered that his career coincided with that of Richard Hill, Neil Back and Lawrence Dallaglio, so to win so many caps in that era is remarkable.

Joe also toured South Africa with the British and Irish Lions in 2009, playing in five provincial games and being capped in the third test at Ellis Park which the Lions won 28-9. The match report recorded Joe’s performance as follows:
“Joe Worsley - Picked to do a job and didn’t disappoint. The Wasps blindside tackled his heart out all game before being forced off with an injury in the second half.”

As a result of Joe’s efforts Welwyn RFC can be branded as a “Lions Origin Club” and our kit suppliers, Tylers, have produced branded leisure wear to reflect this. This can be purchased in their on-line shop at:
https://www.tylers-sportswear.co.uk/Catalogue/Lions-Origin-Club/Welwyn-RFC

Why not treat yourself?!