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Going into the final day of the National One rugby season, Ampthill & District RFC only needed a single point to secure their promotion slot to Division 1. Having set a ferocious pace in the drive for promotion, the first XV pulled on the famous Ampthill & District RFC jersey and delivered in fine style, securing an historic promotion to the Championship with a comprehensive win over Loughborough Students.
The victory was all but sealed thanks to a blistering first half showing with tries by Maama Molitika, Matt Collins, Aleki Lutui and Joe Berics. Four more tries followed after the break to seal an epic win.
Ampthill & District have played four seasons in National One and now coaches Mark Lavery & Paul Turner will relish the prospect of testing their mettle against the likes of Ealing Trailfinders & Jersey next year and even possibly, Newcastle Falcons.
Ampthill & District RFC were founded 138 years ago in 1881. They play their home matches at Dillingham Park which has a capacity for 3,000 spectators who make their way to the idyllic grounds through a wood. This piece from the Times captured the country scene perfectly:
“The clubhouse is small, neat, warm welcome, lovely bar upstairs. The walk takes you through public parkland and a path with bracken on either side. And there before you is one of the more beautiful rugby pitches in the country, an amphitheatre built into the hill, overlooking the Bedfordshire countryside. No stand, no floodlights, no trappings of the big time. This is pretty special too."
The Ampthill & District team is backboned by their four Tongan internationals. They are; ex-Northampton prop Soane Tonga’uhia, ex-Cardiff back rower Maama Molitka, ex-Chiefs and Gloucester hooker Aleki Lutui and former Calvisano lock Paino Hehea.
Viliami Ma’asi played for Tonga 36 times and he came to Ampthill & District in 2011 moving quickly to become club captain. Although he retired in December 2016, Ma’sai marked the start of the Tongan influence attracting his fellow countrymen to Dillingham Park.
Ampthill & District RFC head coach is Paul Turner, the ex-Wales outside half and a former coach of teams including Sale, Saracens and Gloucester.
Other than Tonga’uhia who is 37, the other three Pacific Islanders are in their 40’s, yet all still make a significant impact on games, with Molitka in particularly fine fettle. To add to the club’s strength, Canada’s James Pritchard is their backs coach. Pritchard played in four world cups and is his country’s record points scorer.
Coach Turner has seven years under his belt at Ampthill & District, bringing in the Tongans has been a master stroke on his part. He knew of the Tongan players from seeing them play with other clubs. Vili Ma’asi came in from London Welsh and was a leading figure until he hung up the boots in 2016. Maama came from Cardiff Blues, Paino arrived from Racing and then Lutui. Soane arrived this season.
There’s a small part of Bedfordshire that is living the rugby dream with a small colony of Tongans at the heart of the club. O’Neills is delighted to partner the proud players of Ampthill and District on their fine journey.