Vagabonds teams start season on the road

Vagabonds Rugby Club's men's and women's teams both start their 2026-27 seasons with away trips this weekend.

The men head to Clitheroe in Counties Three ADM Lancs/Cheshire, while the women visit Didsbury TOC H in Women's NC North (West).

Vagas men have been training hard since July and, if social media references are reliable, they seem to be having fun too. They were on the up at the tail end of last season and this, coupled with fun summer training, suggests that they could well be competitive in Counties Three.

Clitheroe will be a good test for them. The Lancashire side finished 25-26 in the top half of the standings and ended up in what was called the Major Conference, although they were bottom of this and lost six out of six.

Vagas have met them twice before and lost both. The margins aren’t massive though and a spirited Vagas side could pick up some points here.

With the exception of Cam Findlay who has moved away, the Manx side have retained their core players.

Dan Bonwick will lead the side for another season, although from which position is anyone’s guess. Reece De Oliveira will anchor the scrummage and Cal Donnell will provide some midfield punch.

Away games are always difficult but Vagas have the players to make an early impression.

Vagas women find themselves in a new league this season but this is simply down to a restructure and there doesn’t appear to be any new opposition. That said, this is now a 10-team league, meaning a total of 18 fixtures and should be a test for squad depth.

Vagas were just a couple of results shy of promotion last season and, with Sammie Macdonald again leading the team, they could go one better.

Bea O’Neill and Freya Crowe were the star players last season but they missed Maylyn Campbell who should return this campaign. Additionally, Isla Curphey has now returned and her Women's Premier league experience will undoubtedly have a big effect.

Didsbury and Vagas have met six times previously, with Didsbury winning all six. This season could break that streak.

There’s only one game in the Hartford Homes Manx Shield this week and it's at QEII where Vikings host Ramsey.

Both sides have lost their opening games, Vikings to Nomads and Ramsey to Douglas Celts, which means that this week, one side will get rid of the proverbial monkey.

Vikings were well beaten by Nomads in their curtain-raiser but did show flashes of inspiration. Ed Knight and Jack Goodwin both impressed with the ball in hand and Tom Randall was also solid.

Ramsey will probably be too strong though. Skipper Josh Corteen partnered with Matt Meechan in the back row are a proper handful and youngster Dan Kelly from either scrum-half or fullback, can turn a game with a single pass or kick.

This is on paper a Ramsey win.

Saturday, September 26:

Regional Two North West

Birkenhead Park v Douglas @ Birkenhead Park ko tbc

Counties Three ADM Lancs/Cheshire

Clitheroe v Vagabonds @ Clitheroe ko 12pm

Women's NC2 North (West)

Didsbury TOC H v Vagabonds @ Didsbury ko 12.30pm

Hartford Homes Manx Shield

Western Vikings v Ramsey @ QEII ko 2.15pm