Whitstable Red Shanks visit Czech Republic's Ricany for historic walking rugby match - and return victorious

History is thought to have been made when a walking rugby side from Kent became one of, if not, the first to play an international fixture.

The Whitstable Red Shanks travelled to the Czech Republic and Ricany, a town twinned with Whitstable, with the trip arranged with support from the Whitstable Twinning Association and the Ricany Twinning Association.

They faced a Ricany RFC team - the Czech Republic champions and an outfit which even included an Olympic wrestler - during a five-day tour last month, with Whitstable winning eight tries to six.

It’s thought the game was one of the first international encounters, albeit England did play Scotland in Kendal, Cumbria, in 2020.

Simon Haseltine, who played in the match and scored two tries, said: “We started off as an Age UK walking rugby team and have trained at Whitstable Rugby Club.

“So we are affiliated to them but we are called Whitstable Red Shanks because we play in red.

“We started about 12 months ago. If you’re thinking about getting back into sport, it’s just awesome.

“It’s not just for over-60s and over-50s, it’s for all ages and all genders. We went to the Czech Republic on tour and played some walking rugby there and we are going to Spain next year.

“As far as we know, the match we played in the Czech Republic is the first international match [outside of British soil].”

Whitstable’s squad includes men and women aged between 50 to around 70, although only the team’s male players were able to get to the Czech Republic.

Haseltine said: “I think we have four women in our squad of about 15 players. But one was injured and one had children starting school, and the other two had job commitments.

"But there was a good age range.”

In similar style to tag rugby played at