With just over five weeks to go until the new campaign gets under way, our Men's First XV and Falcons are busy preparing for their respective seasons.

While there is a great deal of continuity from 2021/22, we welcome back a familiar face to the Club.

We are pleased to confirm that our former captain Joe Winpenny joins as Forwards Coach. Joe previously spent 20 years here at Chinnor, progressing through the age groups and helping the Club win promotion to the National Leagues for the first time in 2007. He has recently spent eight successful seasons as the Head of Rugby at Oxford Brookes University, playing a key role in their strategic partnership with Oxford Harlequins. Recently taking up a new role as Rugby Professional at St Edward's School in Oxford, Joe joins our coaching team with a wealth of experience and we are delighted to see him back at Chinnor.

Craig Hampson heads into his second season as Head Coach, continuing to balance this role with his professional playing career at Championship high-fliers Ealing Trailfinders. Our former Men's First XV skipper Caolan Ryan is now fully on board as an Assistant Coach, with Dan Harris remaining a part of the set-up and in a new role as Head of Performance. Another familiar face in Greg Goodfellow has also been added to the coaching team, with the scrum-half combining his playing duties with that of Falcons Head Coach.

More than 83 per cent of our Senior Squad coaching team has played for Chinnor and our Head of Strength & Conditioning is in that category. It is great to see Daz Oliver - co-owner of Powerhouse Performance Club - in this role once again and he has certainly been putting the players through their paces during pre-season.

Chinnor RFC Thame Director of Rugby, Richard Thorpe explains: “Whilst our players were exceptionally well coached last season, we were exposed in a few key areas. We now feel we have addressed these issues and I am delighted to announce both the recruitment and retention of key personnel in the coaching team for the 2022/23 season.

"Joe Winpenny joins us and brings a huge amount of experience back with him to Kingsey Road. A rugby coach through and through, he now takes charge of our forwards and overall responsibility for the set piece. Welcome back to Chinnor, Joe!

"Following a tough year with injuries, I am delighted that we have been able to retain last season's First XV Captain, Caolan Ryan as Assistant Coach. Caolan proved his worth as a coach at the end of last season after he made the tough decision to retire, and has already made a huge impact on the players during pre-season.

"Dan Harris steps into a new role of Head of Performance where he will work individually and collectively with players across the Men's First XV and the Falcons to ensure they are able to sustainably perform at their best. This role ranges from on-field coaching, to 1-2-1 sessions with players, as well as taking a leading role within our coaches review sessions.

"I am also delighted to announce that long-standing Chinnor player Greg Goodfellow remains with us, albeit in a new coaching role. Whilst Greg successfully integrated playing with coaching the Colts in 2021/22, this season he also takes on the role of Falcons Head Coach. Whilst I have no doubt we will still be seeing him lace up his boots, his main focus now is that of developing the next generation of Chinnor Men's First XV players.

"Perhaps the most notable ’new’ addition for the players during pre-season has been the return of Daz Oliver as Head of Strength & Conditioning. He has now taken over the entire player conditioning programme and anyone who has worked with Daz at Powerhouse will attest to how exceptionally hard the players will have been working!

"This just leaves me to confirm that Craig Hampson will remain in his role as Head Coach. Craig was instrumental in our successes on-field last year, and with a deeper team of coaches around him, this season he will no doubt have an even larger impact on the Men's First XV & Falcons squads."

SENIOR SQUAD COACHING TEAM
Richard Thorpe - Director of Rugby
Craig Hampson - Head Coach
Joe Winpenny - Forwards Coach
Caolan Ryan - Assistant Coach
Daz Oliver - Head of Strength & Conditioning
Dan Harris - Head of Performance
Greg Goodfellow - Falcons Head Coach