THE Board of Chinnor RFC Thame are delighted to announce the appointment of Richard Thorpe as Director of Rugby.
Richard is well known to the Club from his time at Kingsey Road in 2016 as Player/Head Coach when he successfully integrated Premiership-grade game plans, structure and culture.
Richard’s playing career included 150 Premiership games with London Irish, Leicester Tigers and London Welsh. He has won both the Premiership and the Championship, and in what he considers the pinnacle of his rugby career, represented Rugby Canada at the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England.
After retiring from professional rugby, Richard has forged successful careers in both property investment and performance coaching - the latter being his primary focus since 2018. His coaching clients include international athletes, partners, c-suite executives and successful young entrepreneurs. His work with these individuals is focussed on performance, resilience and wellbeing at the 1-2-1 and/or group level.
Chairman of Chinnor RFC Thame, Simon Vickers commented: “When Richard made contact, we immediately took his approach seriously. Richard was extremely well thought of in his time at the Club and shares our reset vision as to how we will move forward in these challenging times and beyond. Richard is a professional through and through and a great communicator and we know that he will get buy in from not just the players but the whole of the Club. Regardless of how much or how little rugby we play next season Richard will be working hard to ensure we are well prepared.”
Richard said of his appointment: “The moment I became aware of this opportunity I knew that I could make a substantial difference to what is already a successful and well run club to enable it to move to higher levels in all respects. Having spoken with Simon and the Board I am enthusiastic and impressed by their new vision, which allows me the freedom to inject a new energy, philosophy and culture to deliver it. I am passionate about rugby and rugby clubs. They are a great force in the community, and I have many fond memories of my time at Chinnor and the friendships I made there. I am excited to return and take control during these challenging and uncertain times we are all experiencing. Chinnor will be a Club that tackles these challenges head-on, and together we will come out the other side better rugby players and better people.”
