Three new team Captains were voted in by the players at the AGM on 24th June, whether you were there in person or not here is your chance to learn a bit more about our club Captains!

1st XV Captain - Rob Trigg

Rob Trigg is well known to everyone at the club, having grown up in an Old Cryptians shirt and played for the 1st XV for a number of years, here's what Rob had to say about the club and becoming 1st XV Captain.

"Rugby has been a passion of mine for as long as I can remember. The majority of my family have either played, or are social members at Old Cryptians and I have grown up around the club. It is truly a huge honour for me to have been selected as captain for the forthcoming season and I can’t wait to get started.

I played my youth rugby at our closest neighbours Widden. This was mainly down to the fact we never had a youth setup. Something which I am proud to now say is one of our strengths. As soon as I was 17 I made the switch and played my first ever game for the club. It was in the 3rds against Cheltenham civil service. It was a real proud moment for me at the time, I was able to play alongside my dad and it was made even better that we won! I was fortunate that not long after I was selected to play for the 1sts team, one I’ll always remember! We were away against Westbury on their old pitch, which was away from their clubhouse and the conditions were freezing! We managed to win this in a closely fought 0-7 score line marking both debuts with victory.

In my 14 seasons as a senior player 13 of these have been with Crypt. I briefly had a spell at Coney Hill in the 2011/12 season. Where I gained valuable experience playing in a higher league, with some great players before coming back to crypt at the start of the 2012/13 season. This just so happened to mark the start of our rebuild under James King which put us on the path to where we are now.

We’ve had some great success over the last 10 years. Kinger helped coach us to promotion to Glos 1 and a combo cup final, which we won for the first time in 40 years. During this period, I was able to proudly represent our 2s for a season as captain. Where we had a double promotion and the start of our mighty turds! Jake McMahon then brought us more success with 2 national cup semi-finals, the second only ending due to covid and promotion to Glos Prem our highest ever league position. Finally, Gav Worrall last season led the club to our highest ever finish in the league, only just missing out on the top 4.

My goals for next season are simple, try and help the team in any way I can to improve on what we have already achieved. Get the players wanting to play for each other, and bring back the buzz with exciting rugby and great socials. Anyone around the club knows my mentality is to win and this is something I want every player to have next season. That desire to finish first and be the best. I feel confident looking ahead that our new coaching team Lewis & James will help improve us and can’t wait to see what we can achieve next season!"

2nd XV - Steve Areington aka Zulu

Steve brings a wealth of rugby experience to the role having played youth rugby in South Africa before moving to England playing for Cambridge before coming to Gloucester.

Being a qualified level 2 coach, the 2nd team will be whipped into shape by both the new club coaches in training and Steve on Saturdays!

Here's what Steve had to say about his new appointment.

"I have played for Old Cryptians RFC on and off for the past 6 seasons, making appearances for the 1st,2nd, and 3rds XVs.

I am looking to build on the past while leading from the front, growing commitment, passion, and team spirit.

Getting the boys to find the love for rugby again after a rough few years of lockdown, I want each 2nd XV player to be competing with their 1st XV counterpart." #risetogether

3rd XV - Matt Meadows

Last, but by no means least, of our newly appointed Captains is Matt Meadows who takes over our mighty thirds!

Matt has played week in and week out with our 3rd XV in previous seasons filling those all-important front row shirts!

Matt is looking to keep the buzz going in our third XV on and off the pitch ensuring not only our players perform on the pitch but in the club house after too!

Here's what Matt had to say about Captaining the Mighty Thirds!

"I joined the Old Cryptians Family around 10 years ago, after being brought to the club by Eric and Tracy Reddy, I’ve never looked back since playing the odd game now and again.

I then started coaching the juniors as my son Ollie was really enjoying the club and I have been coaching since that day and couldn’t be prouder of the team the under 11’s / 12s are growing into.

From that it’s made me want to play more rugby, I discovered my passion for the game again and in the last 2-3 seasons I have been more committed to playing most weeks, so I have decided to commit to captain the mighty thirds this season. I am so grateful to be voted in at AGM.

Thank you for taking time to read this.