Rugby History

The Rugby History of the Woodpeckers RFC is based on an extensive archive detailing the 70-odd tours they undertook between 1948 and 1960, when they transitioned to being a Golf Society. This archive provides a rich summary of those tours where detailed match commentaries, results, the travails involved in organising them and the transport/accommodation are kept.

 

In its early years, the Club was run by an elected group of officers amongst undergraduate members. The Club founders and early members were from both universities, ex-army colleagues and friends.

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The founding members were from Pembroke and Clare Colleges, Cambridge and Brasenose College, Oxford but Cambridge dominated the membership in those early years, particularly when it came to organising social events. Legend, not necessarily fact, suggests that the Woodpecker name came from a certain pub on the road between the two universities. Some current members have hazy memories of darts matches being played there.

 

New members were invited to play, and then formally elected. A uniform was created, and the teams turned out in green shirts emblazoned with the Club crest and white shorts.

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Largely because the Woodpeckers had set themselves up as a touring club, the Rugby Football Union took a keen interest in their post-war pioneering matches taking rugby into post-war Europe. Sweden (1949) was the first foreign tour with the Woodpeckers travelling "steerage" and staying in Youth Hostels.

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In 1950 they travelled to Italy and beat the Italian National Team in Milan. Former member Bobby King, (Pembroke, Cambridge) remembered the victory over Italy and commented," We had a good side!". His crowning memory was singing the Woodpecker song on the stage of La Scala, Milan after the match.

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More because of, than in spite of this, Sr. Carlo Origoni, the Italian President, requested the Woodpeckers to instigate discussions for them with the English RFU. Origoni was introduced to Wavell Wakefield, the President of the RFU. Eventually this led to Italy joining the Six Nations.

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This was followed in 1951 by matches in the Channel Islands and in France. Robin Tattersall, who was on this tour along with Bobby King, wrote: "I was on tour to the Channel Islands and France. We went on an ancient plane from Jersey to St. Malo. It was my very first flight and I can remember the pilot carefully seating us according to our weight so as to balance the plane, and the machine then skirted the wave tops all the way".

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That tour ended in Paris with a memorable visit to Les Folies etc. A subsequent Southern French tour ended in Toulon and led to a post-match banquet hosted there by the Admiral in command of the French Naval Base.

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1951 also saw a tour to Spain. The Woodpeckers established considerable rapport with their Spanish opponents and subsequently hosted a return visit with matches played in England by the Madrid Team. The Spanish tour was expanded to include Portugal, and tours also went to Holland, Germany, Belgium and Denmark. The latter being in 1955, and was the last European tour. 

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The Club was led throughout this period by the remarkable energy and enthusiasm of Michael West. He was an original 1948 undergraduate founding member and played the vital role of Fixture Secretary, even long after he left Pembroke, Cambridge and played Rugby for Harpenden, in Hertfordshire. Sadly, Mike died in his early fifties, and the Club owes him a huge debt of gratitude. Others who helped him were Reggie Lingwood from Clare College, Cambridge, and Mic Jory from Brasenose College, Oxford.

 

Mike West's article for a Cambridge University magazine, reproduced here in full, explains the ethos and accomplishments of the years up to 1954 in the words of a Founding Father.