Chinnor RFC

When Nick Easter arrived at Chinnor in December 2022, they had won just two games all season, leaving them at the wrong end of the National 1 table. In his first game in charge, they beat the league leaders, beginning a climb to a mid-table finish. The next campaign, they took the title and with it a place in the Championship.

The house had been cleared, the boxes had been packed, and a new life was on the horizon for Nick Easter and his family. Having joined Worcester Warriors as defence and forwards coach at the start of the 2022/23 season, after months of commuting the five-hour, 270-mile drive from their home in Newcastle, their dream move to nearby leafy Cheltenham was finally happening. Joining Worcester from Newcastle Falcons to work alongside the distinguished Steve Diamond had been an opportunity hard to turn down for the former Harlequins and England number eight. After an impressive pre-season and some shrewd summer player acquisitions, the Diamond/Easter partnership looked set to transform the Midlanders’ mediocrity into a wonderland of Warrior spirit. 

“It was 19th August,” recalls Nick to Rugby Journal. “Our house was packed up and my wife, Kerry, and I were splitting the drive from Newcastle, staying the night halfway with one of my best mates, Alex ‘Bosh’ Bennett [the former Saracens flanker Nick had played with at Orrell RFC]. We felt both excitement and trepidation in equal measure – it was the first time Kerry and I had bought together, and we knew that this was a huge step for the entire family.

“I was due to leave early in the morning, we had training that day and we’d agreed Kerry would follow me down later with the kids – you know, make it an experience for them, grab a bit of breakfast and then meet me at 12 o’clock. I’d already organised the time to leave training after the main session to go and pick up the keys so that we could do this as a family.”

But, just before he left, Nick got a call from his new boss. “Sorry mate,” Steve told him in his gravelly voice, “it’s not good news. There are strong rumours that Worcester is going into administration.” 

“It hit me like a hammer blow,” admits Nick. “I knew things were flaky, but I simply didn’t expect Dimes to be as certain as he was. When I got to Sixways, Dimes called us in for a meeting and said, in his typically blunt way, ‘look, this isn’t the first time we’ve had these suggestions, but I think this time it’s happening’.”

When Nick arrived to meet his family and pick up the keys, his wife knew something was up. “People say a problem shared is a problem halved, but part of me felt this was a problem of my own making, a decision I’d called,” he says. “Maybe, looking back I was going through that self-blame moment, the top of the stress curve. I just blurted out the story as Dimes had told me. It was far from the way I’d visualised that moment of new keys and entering your new home as a family, I can assure you of that. But Kerry is strong, she has to put up with me,” he laughs. “She just looked at me and said, ‘fuck it, there’s nothing we can do, get the champagne out and let’s celebrate our move’. And we did; we had a fantastic day playing with the kids in the garden of the new place in the sun.

“It hit me like a hammer blow. When I got to Sixways, Dimes called us in and said, ‘this isn’t the first time, but I think this time it’s happening’.”

“Moving is stressful enough as anyone knows, and we used those emotions in a positive way, immersing ourselves in unpacking and so on for a month, but I knew that the levels would go up when I realised I wasn’t picking up a salary at the end of it.” 

The rest of the story is well documented. A few weeks later Worcester Warriors went into administration, and Nick found himself unemployed just weeks into his family’s new life, with the financial burden of a new house looming over their heads. “In Worcester’s case, there were always rumours, but it was always a case of, ‘nah, they’ll find a way out of this’. They’ll either get support from the RFU, Prem Rugby, PGB [Professional Game Board] or someone will come up with the money they need.

“Worcester had legacy issues galore,” continues Nick. “They’d always overpaid their players despite promising backing, there was a vast turnover of coaches, but the facility was top class, and the location was one that could serve Birmingham and West Midlands rugby fans, it was perfect to build an elite club and had a great catchment area. Put simply, it’s accurate to say they were perennial underachievers, managed poorly.

“I believed that Dimes was the right man to steer that ship through to calmer waters, a guy with vision and experience, honesty, a huge work ethic and a no-bullshit approach to professional rugby. What he’d achieved on a shoestring at Sale Sharks proved his ability and we were close as mates, and as coaches we had an aligned vision of Worcester’s success. 

“He was committed to cutting down overspend, managing to get some star players to reduce their contracts, and then maximising coaching efficiency; as an example, I took on both forwards and defence, almost two separate roles. He is a big believer in clarity and the reduction in moving parts allows you to gain that simplicity. I, and many of the others, were excited in the vision we were creating and, best of all, he communicated it to the fans who were quick to buy into it, thrilled for a new future at Sixways.”

Eighteen months on, what remains most frustrating for Nick is that part of the Worcester story has still been left untold. “Steve put together a bid for the club with credible backers that could have secured the future of rugby at Worcester. How Atlas and Jim O’Toole walked away with that club is beyond my comprehension.

“It disappointed me that DCMS [Department for Culture, Media and Sport], the RFU and PRL didn’t listen; it was obvious that only one backer, Dimes, was true to the vision of the continuation of rugby there – and for me personally, I will always look back at this period in my life as a chance wasted and an opportunity unfulfilled.”

Unemployed within a closed market, and with job opportunities rare thanks to post-covid Premiership cutbacks, Nick was one of many desperately looking for a gig.  “I had a couple of offers, one in the United Rugby Championship [URC] and one in the Prem, but neither were practical in terms of commuting, especially after I’d relocated the family to Cheltenham. I also felt I needed the challenge of managing my own gig, a DoR-style role over the specialist skills jobs I’d had in the past. Sure, the game rallies around you in this situation and I got short-term work at schools and so on, but without anything concrete, until my agent told me Chinnor were interested.

“Chinnor? I wasn’t even sure where they were,” admits Nick. “The first thing I did was look them up on a map – I thought they were in north London, but much to my surprise I realised they were just over an hour door to door, and it was then my interest piqued.”

“Chinnor? I wasn’t sure where they were. The first thing I did was look them up on the map - I thought there were in North London.”

Chinnor RFC are a young club. Established in 1963 at the local Bird in Hand pub, the club grew quickly, winning the Oxfordshire Cup in 1977. With the inception of the English league system Chinnor were placed in Bucks and Oxon Division 1, but by 2006 they had achieved promotion to the National Leagues, the youngest club to do so. Progress continued over the next decade, ascending to National 1 in 2018. They’d become quickly competitive, finishing fourth in 2020 and third in 2021, before a drop to seventh seemed to halt the progress. When Nick arrived in late 2022, the club were languishing second from bottom in a 14-team league, facing relegation. 

The confidence was low, but Nick saw this as something fixable with the right leadership. “It was great to have the opportunity, a chance to try and rescue this club with two wins out of eleven when I arrived,” he says. “The key thing for me personally was that Chinnor was a chance to act as a director of rugby, after being beholden to others in my previous roles. I wanted to be my own person and leading the agenda of the club from top to bottom.

“It’s a big step up in terms of responsibility,” he admits. “As an assistant coach, you don’t have anything to do with the player recruitment, budgets, you are not the agony aunt for everyone. In those roles, all I had to do was make sure we got a coaching session right and aligned ourselves as coaches to the lead vision. But as DoR, you become the leader of the rugby club, you have to create that vision for others and that was the basis on which I joined. I had the complete support and backing of the Chinnor board from day one, for which I am eternally grateful.” 

Nick’s introduction to the realities of lower league rugby was immediate, the first four weeks of training called off thanks to a frozen pitch, but in many respects, it was the perfect way to get accustomed to his new surroundings. “It was something of a godsend, it allowed me the mental space to look at the cultural stuff. I realised that the club were, simply put, trying to play semi-pro rugby with their heads in an amateur space. 

“It was about introducing the non-negotiables,” he continues. “The ground rules were work-rate, communication, being selfless for others and, above all, no backing down from any challenge or situation. There was a need to change things up too, making sure we had a clear line between the coaching staff and players, so that whilst we will always be self-critical and honest, the coaching wasn’t being done by senior players.” 

While Nick spent the majority of his career at the top level, twelve seasons with Harlequins and 54 caps with England to be exact, his early career had given him an understanding of the semi-professional life he’d stepped back in to. “I think I was lucky in understanding where those lads were at in terms of their personal development,” he says. “From my own experience, I played semi-pro at Orrell, entering into the game in the early stages of professionalism and that allowed me to understand that the boys were coming into training from their day jobs, a brutal day in an office, and that they wanted and needed to enjoy themselves without further mental strain. 

“So, there were no meetings, just get right out onto the pitch into the fresh air and get on with it. They’d probably been stuck in conference calls and the like all day and I wanted them to get out and express themselves physically.”

With the new culture beginning to take root, Nick’s new responsibilities as DoR came to the forefront as his first matchday approached, an ominous challenge against then table-toppers Rosslyn Park. “I’m the director, I’m the boss, I’m responsible, right? That can be quite scary if you get it wrong, you can end up quite lonely. I’ve got to set the gameplan, I’ve got to select the team, I’ve got to do the recruitment, I’ve got to manage whether we need to train harder or ease off due to workload and fatigue – these are things I’d perhaps contributed to at Falcons, Sharks and Worcester, but not topics where I’d had the final say and held the ultimate responsibility for judging what was right for the lads.”

However, despite reduced training time, Nick’s first game as Chinnor boss couldn’t have gone any better. “I guess there’s always that ‘new voice syndrome’, where players react to a new figurehead and want to impress,” he says, “but to beat Rosslyn Park 43-12 was something very special. It showed me not only were the boys getting into a better place mentally, but that I had the raw materials to work with in terms of talent. Seven tries and conceding one is a coach’s dream.”

“Twenty two wins from 26 matches and a points difference of 636 saw record after record fall as Chinnor racked up 1,039 points, an average of 40 a game.”

This result was no flash in the pan – the remainder of the season brought eight wins from fourteen games, finishing a respectable eighth in the table and, crucially, learning a lot on that journey. 

“The key for me was we finished on an upward curve of improvement and with momentum [winning their last three games on the bounce], and that counts for a lot when prepping for a new campaign. It gives players reference points of success and belief in their own skills – so yeah, I was pretty happy with what we achieved in that second half of the season.”

In order for Chinnor to push on, an attacking edge was needed. Determination had powered them to safety the season before, but that wouldn’t be enough to challenge for the league – Nick needed the right troops in his army to mount his campaign. “I realised that most of the games were won through bloody mindedness in defence and experience of our forward pack,” he reflects. “But we were finding it hard work to score tries – I think we just need to build a cutting edge and get dynamism and power in the backline.

“I knew that ten was the key role. You only have to look at this season’s Premiership semi-finalists where we see Fin Smith, Finn Russell, Owen Farrell and George Ford to understand how a quality fly-half gives you opportunities to win silverware, and I know from my times at Quins alongside Nick Evans just how key finding the right man is. For us, that man was George Worboys.”

The Bath youngster and former England under-18s player, struggling for game time with Finn Russell at the club, had played against Chinnor during a loan spell at Taunton, and Nick was desperate to bring him in. “I thought he was the best player we came across in our league,” he says. “Speaking to him I realised he’s a very humble guy who’s very straight up and honest and just wants to play rugby. I said, ‘mate, we’d love to have you down at Chinnor’, and he did exactly that.” 

Sixteen games, eleven tries and 194 points later, George proved himself an astute signing. “But recruitment is only one thing,” adds Nick. “I’ve always been taken aback since I’ve come into Chinnor by the attitude and work ethic and the focus that guys put into some very, very tough and intense training sessions, especially on the back of a day’s work. It’s part of the club’s DNA and that ethos is very much driven by the players themselves, a real hunger to be the best version of themselves possible.”

The 2023/24 season began as the previous one had ended with a 22-10 win at Darlington Mowden Park. However, an early test in week two came away to Rams, who’d only missed out on promotion the season before on points difference, and that ended in a 29-19 defeat. Despite the result, it was after this game that Nick knew his plans were falling into place. “We always knew Rams would be a force to be reckoned with and one of the front runners,” he says. “We had them second game of the season, and I always thought it was a little bit early to see where we were, but despite a loss by ten points we were the better side for 65 minutes and it was only a front row injury that really cost us that game. It gave me faith – I knew that I could tweak a few minor things but that overall, we had the quality in the squad to go all the way.

“Sure, there were a few hiccups – a loss up at Sedgely Park [27-21], a gritty northern team, was one that will stick with me. At this level I’m not a fan of huge amounts of meeting room analysis, but going over that with a fine-tooth comb allowed us to identify simple defensive and set-piece fixes. It’s testimony to the way the guys responded that we dominated the league from that point forward.”

And dominate they did. Twenty-two wins from 26 matches and a points difference of 636, 424 more than second-place Rams, saw record after record fall as Chinnor racked up a remarkable 1,039 points at an average of forty per game, former Ealing Trailfinders hooker Alun Walker grabbing twenty tries. Chinnor delivered a memorable season, ending the year thirteen points clear at the top of the table, sealing promotion to the Championship on the penultimate weekend of the season with a 52-0 away win at Birmingham Moseley. 

“For Chinnor, this was nothing short of monumental. It’s more of a country village, so having a local sports team achieving such success is huge.”

“For Chinnor, a community club, this was nothing short of monumental for the town and the rugby fraternity,” says Nick. “Chinnor is more of country village than a town, so having a local sports team achieving such success is huge – around the area there’s only really Oxford United Football Club, who actually won promotion as well this year [from League One to the Championship].

“The local council were incredibly supportive,” he continues. “Open top bus parades and the like around all the local villages, down the high street and so on. When we heard about the plan for the parade, we thought we’d probably see a scarecrow in the field or something along those lines, but it seemed like the whole community came out in force to support us.

“Mind you, we didn’t hold back on our celebrations,” he adds. “Saturday moved into Sunday and the lads, well, let’s say they had a great time – I think we did about six socials in all. I wanted the lads to celebrate and not many ducked out. And it’s all about that, it’s all about creating memories together and bonding because you don’t win things very often, if at all. I told them, ‘Celebrate this, a lot of hard work and quality training has gone into this and you are a special group of players that have earned this so go hard, go fast, and don’t go home early’.” 

For Nick personally, it was testament to his efforts, moving from a specialist coach to running the rugby affairs from the DoR hotseat, a journey that’s believed to be attracting the attention of a number of top-flight clubs in both the Premiership and the URC. 

Alongside his Chinnor commitments, Nick has also managed to keep one foot in the elite game with a role as the forwards and defence coach with the USA Eagles, joining them in May 2023. “The USA gig is one that is so much bigger than its current billing,” he explains. “Everyone in the game knows that the USA has the highest development potential in the sport and with the 2031 World Cup hosted there, the spotlight is firmly on the rebuilding of the Eagles, and I’m very much part of that.

“Sure, at times it’s difficult to balance everything,” he admits, “especially with two small children, but Chinnor give me the freedom to have this ‘portfolio’ career and they recognise that it keeps me sharp and current in terms of my coaching.” 

With interest swirling, would he like to take up those top-flight offers? “Of course, there’ll be a time when I’d love to return to the top flight,” he says, “and it’s my experiences at this wonderful club Chinnor that have given me the armoury and knowledge to feel comfortable in taking on whatever rugby can throw at me next. I thank the club, its players and supporters for being part of their journey to date.”

Story by James While

Pictures by  David Howlett

This extract was taken from issue 26 of Rugby.
To order the print journal, click here.