Contents
The Gallery
Rugby
The 1st XV
The Chant
The Pitch
Team Colours
The 1st XV Rugby Team would never be the first on to the pitch at the start of the game. We would always wait until the opposition had run out and would the make a grand entrance following the team chant.
For home games we would collect by the shot putt circle, at the edge of the woods, just outside the changing rooms. We would gather in a tight circle and start the chant as load as possible. I presume the echo from the Sports Hall wall help to "amplify" the sound. We would complete the first two lines of the chant and them would start running along the path through the woods, continuing the chant as we went. If this was timed correctly we would be exiting the woods, and coming into view of the opposition, just at the end of the chant. We would then continue running, in close formation, all the way to the 1st XV pitch.
We would maintain this same ritual for away games also. Before each game a suitable location was selected, which had to be out of sight of the pitch and was usually simply behind any conveniently located building, and that is where we started.
I remember the chant as follows:
Pull 'em down you Wymondham Warriors, Pull 'em down you Wymondham Chiefs, Zigger zagger, zigger zagger, oi, oi, oi, We will beat them, if we can, Zigger zagger, zigger zagger, oi, oi, oi.Anyone remember when it started?
Steve Grant
1st XV (1964) runs out of the woods before the game against Millfield School
I was walking down the train platform today and found that I had started singing, quietly to myself I hasten to add, the words of the song the 1st rugby team used to sing to petrify the opposition when we ran down to the pitches, through the woods.
I think they went as follows:
Zigger, zagger, zigger, zagger, oi, oi, oi. Zigger, zagger, zigger, zagger, oi, oi, oi. We can "windem" (Wymondham) if we try, Zigger, zagger, zigger, zagger, oi, oi, oi.The timing was all important because we had to emerge from the woods near the sports hall on the last "oi" and jump fearsomely to add to the drama.
Alan Corrigan
To the best of my recollection this was it, wasn't it?
Pull 'em down you Wymondham Warriors, Pull 'em down you Wymondham Chiefs, Oi! Oi! Oi! Zigger Zagger, Zigger Zagger, Oi! Oi! Oi! We will beat them if we can! Zigger Zagger, Zigger Zagger Oi! Oi! Oi!I remember Andy Hogg, the captain the year before me giving all us newbies a type written sheet with the words the Thursday before my first game for the 1st XV. (We had to learn it "on-th-job" - Steve Sub-Ed)
Tim Prouty
When Kelvin Wyles became captain the year after me, he banned this chant because he thought it was stupid. Changing times... that was the era of New Romantics and trendy people, of which Kelvin was definitely one. I wonder if it ever came back?
Ben Carter
The 1st XV Rugby pitch was hallowed ground. Once the white lines were drawn only team members and staff were allowed to put a foot onto that grass. If anyone cut a corner when running round the pitch they would soon know about it and usually have to run extra laps to make sure they could do it right.
Steve Grant
1st XV (1964) takes the field for the Millfield School game
See pictures from the match here and here.Note: In 1967 the playing fields were enlarged to include the area beyond the hedge on the far side of the 1st team pitch. The hedge was removed but the line of of trees remained. This new area, called "The Jungle", was used for additional rugby pitches during the winter and for the athletics running track in the summer months.
For most teams the required kit was the regulation navy blue jersey, white shorts, black and white hooped socks and clean boots. Each player was responsible for ensuring that their own kit was suitable clean for each game. This task would often be delegated to other misbehavers as punishments though, especially the boot cleaning.
The cloth badge used on 1st XV Rugby Jerseys (and for other sports too).
The 1st XV was different though. Now the jerseys were white and laundered by the school before each game. Also the socks changed to black with white tops. Anyone know why these different styles were adopted? Did anyone get into trouble for wearing the wrong style socks?
Steve Grant
Wymondham College Remembered