Having been at the club for 20 years since joining as a youth player aged 11, Matt Rozier has stepped up to fill the Head Coach role. Rozier, a full-time coach developer for England Rugby, brings a wealth of rugby experience having refereed National League rugby and coached at club and county level in the women’s game. He also brings development experience from his role training and mentoring coaches for the RFU. When asked about his motivation for taking on the role he said “It was an easy decision to make when the club approached me about the position, I’ve been here since I was 11, it’s my second home. Club members have supported me immensely throughout my rugby career, following my refereeing progress and supporting my development. Now it’s time for me to put my experience to good use and help take the club forward.”

Rozier is joined by backs coach Lewis Williams, who also started his rugby life at Low Road in the youth setup. Williams went on to represent the University of Essex whilst also earning a semi-pro contract in the National Leagues. However he has been plagued by injuries which has lead him to pursue a coaching role whilst recovering from his latest operation. He brings attention to detail, backed up by solid playing experience from a good level of rugby. The appointments don’t stop there. Rozier has also added Mark ‘Sandy’ Sanders-Crook to his team, taking up the position of Forwards Coach. Sandy also brings a wealth of playing experience from his military career and his insights into the scrum in particular are proving very beneficial for Harwich players of all experience levels.

The coaching team is guided by Director of Rugby Jim Hayter who has been with the club for many years. Jim too is very experienced having plied his trade across the country for various clubs, with some impressive games under his belt. The new set-up has an excellent blend of different rugby experiences giving the players plenty of opportunities to learn and develop.

When asked about his new-look team head coach Rozier said “This is a very exciting time for the club. It’s the first time in the 20 years that I’ve been here that we’ve had such a professional coaching structure. We really work well as a team and bring different elements to the coaching structure. It seems to be paying off as the players are voting with their feet at training and making themselves available to play. We’re really looking forward to kicking off the league season, and we’re very excited to see what this group of players can achieve, they’ve made some excellent progress already!”

Harwich & Dovercourt have had an excellent pre-season winning 3 out of their 4 games. After losing the opener to an excellent Ipswich side, the Low Road side went on a 3 game winning streak beating Halstead, Colchester and Mistley, displaying some fantastic flowing rugby. They will be opening their Essex 1 league campaign this coming Saturday at home to Tendring rivals Clacton RFC. The game kicks off at 3pm on Low Road field and promises to be an entertaining affair. Clubhouse open from Midday, with post-match Live Music from Chris & Paddy at 6 pm.