# Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents RFC

Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents RFC is a gay and inclusive rugby union club based in Brighton & Hove in Sussex, England.

## Club history

The Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents were formed on 4 November 2015 at a meeting at the Camelford Arms pub in Kemptown, Brighton, to give gay and bisexual men the opportunity to play rugby in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere.

### Season 2015/2016

The Sea Serpents played their first match against the 4th XV of London's gay and inclusive rugby club, the Kings Cross Steelers, on 20 February 2016 at Hove Recreation Ground, losing by 25 points to 0. Over the next two months during March and April 2016, the Sea Serpents played a return match in London against the Steelers' 4th XV, an away match against the Birmingham Bulls, and were admitted as members of International Gay Rugby (IGR.)

### Season 2016/2017

The Sea Serpents kicked off their second season in existence with a summer touch rugby tournament in Birmingham organised by the Birmingham Bulls - Touch My Brum 2016. During the tournament the club registered their first ever win, a 2-1 victory against the Amsterdam Lowlanders. The club continued to play friendly matches against other IGR teams, and local Sussex teams. The Sea Serpents registered their first win in a full XVs match on 21 January 2017 against the Reading Renegades, a 37-3 victory, including 7 tries, also witnessed by the Mayor of Brighton & Hove. At the end-of-season Union Cup in Madrid, the Sea Serpents caused quite an upset by winning all of their group matches in the third-tier Union Bowl and making the Gold Final ahead of their closest rivals Kings Cross Steelers IV, the more established Bristol Bisons and Manchester Village Spartans III and the newly formed Munich Monks. They lost in the final to French side Rebelyons, finishing runners-up in their first international tournament.

### Season 2017/2018

Once again the Sea Serpents kicked off their season with a trip to the Birmingham Bulls touch rugby tournament finishing in the middle tier competition, a level above the previous year. The club was accepted into the Sussex Leagues and are competing in the Sussex Division 4 East against 9 other teams home and away. Their first league match was on 9 September 2017 against Heathfield & Waldron III at Hove Recreation Ground, the visitors winning 58-12. Their first league win came at the end of the season on 28 April 2018 against East Grinstead III in a double header match with the Sea Serpents winning 33-31.

### Season 2018/2019

The Sea Serpents were moved to the West division of the Sussex League's Division 4. After registering three losses, they won their 4th match of the season away at Burgess Hill by 62-12.

## Club Crest & Colours

The club's emblem depicts a rampant green sea serpent, carrying a white rugby ball, with a blue, rolling wave in the background, to signify the fact that Brighton & Hove is a seaside city. The club's colours are light blue and green, taken from the colours of the respective railings on the seafront in Brighton (light blue) and Hove (green), with the double symbolism of representing the English Channel and the South Downs which surround the city to the South and North respectively. The first kit used from the 2015/2016 season onwards was sponsored by the Camelford Arms, a pub situated in Brighton's gay village, and site of the first meeting of the club in November 2015.

## Domestic League

The Sea Serpents took part in their first league campaign during the 2017/2018 season in the Sussex Division 4 East. The following season they were swapped to the West division.

### League History

| Season | Tournament | P | W | D | L | F | A | +/– | Pts | Pts % | Position |
| 2017/2018 | Sussex Division 4 East | 14 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 209 | 665 | -456 | 31 | 49% | 7/10 |
| 2018/2019 | Sussex Division 4 West | 19 | 9 | 0 | 10 | 421 | 658 | -237 | 47 | | 3/8 |
| 2019/2020 | Sussex Division 3 West | | | | | | | | | | |
4 points for a win, 3 points for a draw, 1 point for a loss, 1 point for an away match, 1 point for losing by 7 points or less

### Domestic League Matches

2017/2018 Sussex Division 4 East :
9 Sep 2017 15:00Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents RFC12 – 58Heathfield & Waldron RFC IIIMatch ReportHove
16 Sep 2017 15:00Lewes RFC II74 – 0Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents RFCMatch ReportLewes
30 Sep 2017 15:00Seaford RFC II104 – 14Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents RFCMatch ReportSeaford
7 Oct 2017 15:00Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents RFC7 – 60Hove RFC IIIMatch ReportHove
21 Oct 2017 15:00Crowborough RFC III0 – 40Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents RFCMatch ReportCrowborough
4 Nov 2017 14:30St Francis RFC II23 – 19Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents RFCMatch ReportCrawley
25 Nov 2017 14:30Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents RFC12 – 52Crawley RFC IIIMatch ReportHove
2 Dec 2017 14:00Heathfield & Waldron RFC III78 – 5Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents RFCMatch ReportHeathfield
9 Dec 2017 14:00Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents RFC7 – 53Lewes RFC IIMatch ReportHove
6 Jan 2018 14:00Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents RFCC – CNewick RFC IIMatch ReportHove
13 Jan 2018 14:00Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents RFC10 – 34Seaford RFC IIMatch ReportHove
17 Feb 2018 14:30Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents RFC5 – 51Crowborough RFC IIIMatch ReportHove
10 Mar 2018 15:00Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents RFC7 – 73St Francis RFC IIMatch ReportHove
24 Mar 2018 15:00Crawley RFC III32 – 24Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents RFCMatch ReportCrawley
21 Apr 2018 15:00Hove RFC III59 – 5Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents RFCMatch ReportHove
28 Apr 2018 15:00Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents RFC33 – 31East Grinstead RFC IIIMatch ReportHove
^A Match result: 36-19 to Crowborough RFC III. Awarded 40-0 to Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents RFC due to Crowborough RFC II cancelling their match.
^B Match was to be played as double header due to Newick RFC II cancelling first match. Newick RFC II also cancelled the second match and were removed from the league due to too many cancellations.
^C Match played as double header due to East Grinstead RFC III cancelling first match.
^D Seaford RFC II were removed from the league due to too many cancellations. Results against Seaford RFC II were nullified. :
2018/2019 Sussex Division 4 West :
8 Sep 2018 15:00Horsham RFC III50 – 7Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents RFCMatch ReportHorsham
15 Sep 2018 15:00Crawley RFC III37 – 34Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents RFCMatch ReportCrawley
22 Sep 2018 13:30Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents RFC15 – 59BSMS RFCMatch ReportHove
29 Sep 2018 15:00Burgess Hill RFC III12 – 62Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents RFCMatch ReportBurgess Hill
6 Oct 2018 15:00Worthing Knights12 – 26Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents RFCMatch ReportWorthing
3 Nov 2018 14:30Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents RFC41 – 39Crawley RFC IIIMatch ReportHove
17 Nov 2018 14:30BSMS (Medics) RFC0 – 40Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents RFCMatch ReportFalmer
1 Dec 2018 14:00Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents RFC40 - 0Burgess Hill RFC IIIMatch ReportHove
8 Dec 2018 14:00Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents RFC28 - 27Worthing KnightsMatch ReportHove
15 Dec 2018 14:00Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents RFC10 - 12Chichester RFC IIIMatch ReportHove
5 Jan 2019 14:00Bognor RFC III68 - 0Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents RFCMatch ReportBognor
12 Jan 2019 14:00Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents RFC19 - 15Horsham RFC IIIMatch ReportHove
26 Jan 2019 14:00Chichester RFC III78 - 14Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents RFCMatch ReportChichester
9 Feb 2019 14:30Bognor RFC III65 - 14Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents RFCMatch ReportBognor
16 Feb 2019 14:30Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents RFC52 - 22Horsham RFC IIIMatch ReportHove
2 March 2019 15:00Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents RFC12 - 52Bognor RFC IIIMatch ReportHove
23 March 2019 15:00Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents RFC40 - 0Chichester RFC IIIMatch ReportHove
29 March 2019 19:30Horsham RFC III36 - 7Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents RFCMatch Report
^A Awarded 40-0 to Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents RFC due to BSMS (Medics) RFC cancelling their match.
^B Awarded 40-0 to Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents RFC due to Burgess Hill RFC III cancelling their match.
^C Awarded 40-0 to Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents RFC due to Chichester RFC III cancelling their match. :

## International Tournaments

The Sea Serpents took part in their first international tournament at the Union Cup in Madrid in April 2017 and were drawn in the third level competition - the Union Bowl.

### Bingham Cup History

| Year | Tournament | P | W | D | L | F | A | +/– | Win % | Round | Position | Overall Rank |
| Amsterdam 2018 | Challenger Cup | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 97 | 61 | +36 | 67% | Challenger Bowl | Winners | 57th of 70 |
| Ottawa 2022 | TBC | | | | | | | | | | | |

### Bingham Cup Matches

Amsterdam 2018 :
Pool Q Matches
8 June 2018 11:15 Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents13 – 12Southern Barbarians Amstelveen, Amsterdam
8 June 2018 14:55 Nashville Grizzlies12 – 10Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents Amstelveen, Amsterdam
9 June 2018 10:20 Les Coqs Festifs15 – 7Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents Amstelveen, Amsterdam
Challenger Bowl/Shield Quarter Finals
9 June 2018 16:50 Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents28 – 5Toronto Muddy York Amstelveen, Amsterdam
Challenger Bowl Semi Finals
10 June 2018 09:25 Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents22 – 5Ottawa Wolves Amstelveen, Amsterdam
Challenger Bowl Final
10 June 2018 13:05 Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents17 – 12Kings Cross Steelers D Amstelveen, Amsterdam :

### Union Cup History

| Year | Tournament | P | W | D | L | F | A | +/– | Win % | Round | Position | Overall Rank |
| Madrid 2017 | Union Bowl | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 76 | 25 | +51 | 75% | Gold Final | Runners Up | 26th of 30 |
| Dublin 2019 | Cu Chulainn Bowl | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 64 | 43 | +21 | 50% | Semi Final | Joint 3rd | 23rd of 36 |
| Birmingham 2023 | TBC | | | | | | | | | | | |

### Union Cup Matches

Madrid 2017 :
Group Matches
29 April 2017 13:05 Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents15 – 5Bristol Bisons Orcasitas, Madrid
29 April 2017 17:40 Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents19 – 0Manchester Village Spartans III Orcasitas, Madrid
30 April 2017 11:00 Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents42 – 3Munich Monks Getafe, Madrid
Gold Final
30 April 2017 15:50 Rebelyons17 – 0Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents Orcasitas, Madrid :
Dublin 2019 :
Group Matches
8 June 2019 08:50 Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents24 – 0Straffe Ketten Brussels DCU, Dublin
8 June 2019 11:50 Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents19 – 12Kings Cross Steelers III DCU, Dublin
8 June 2019 16:30 Libera Rugby/Lisbon Dark Horses10 – 7Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents DCU, Dublin
Semi Final
9 June 2019 09:20 Kings Cross Steelers III21 – 14Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents DCU, Dublin :