Painswick RFC in Gloucestershire, is the oldest village rugby club in England - a fact commemorated in the Museum of Rugby at Twickenham.
Early games were played in white or work clothes making it difficult
for the players to distinguish who was the opposition, so the Painswick
vicar at the time persuaded his wife to cut up her red curtains for
sashes for the home team and the 'Cherry and Whites' name was born.
Painswick still proudly wear the colours today.
The story goes that Painswick lent Gloucester a set of shirts at their
inception, but the Cherry and Whites from Kingsholm never returned
them. To commemorate Painswick's 130th anniversary, and to return the
favour done by the village side all those years ago, Premiership side
Gloucester presented Painswick RFC with the full set of Zurich
Championship winning shirts (see below) as worn at Twickenham in June
2002, when they defeated Bristol Shoguns.
(Extracted from Cherry Ripe on RFU Site copyright
acknowledged) |
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