Rugby squad awarded England team of month gong

A Teesside rugby club is celebrating scooping a national accolade and being named team of the month for October.

The level 6 men's team at Middlesbrough Rugby Club was named by England Rugby as the team of the month using the national Electronic Match Card data.

The data is the Rugby Football Union's way of recording match details, increasing competition integrity and allowing clubs and players to keep track of their statistics. It is key to understanding how much rugby is being played, how often and by whom.

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Ollie Hodgson, head coach at Middlesbrough Rugby Club, said: "After a strong pre-season with high attendance and outstanding effort, our team has really come together, playing for both the club and each other. That preparation laid the foundation for our current run of wins.

"The winter months will be challenging, a time for true commitment and determination. Being named England Rugby's Team of the Month was the icing on the cake. This past month has been filled with proud moments—players reaching milestone appearances, three senior teams competing weekly, girls' fixtures on Sundays, and our junior and mini age groups growing stronger than ever.

"We are very proud to achieve this award and hopefully it will inspire the younger players to keep playing rugby at a senior level."

Team Captain Jack McPhillips, said: "We've had a really good start to the season with some great performances home and away. We've had 60+ lads available to play on a Saturday regularly and nearly all of them have come through our junior section which is currently thriving with some great volunteers doing the unseen work.

"We sadly lost our friend and club member Richard Ward earlier this year, he would be very proud of this award and how the club is doing."

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