It was inspired by The Shaftesbury Crusade, a Christian mission which encouraged sport in the Dings area, based in Bristol between Temple Meads and Barton Hill, and was created as part of the Dings Boys Club.
They became one of the founder members of the Bristol Combination in 1901, and have won the competition’s cup on seven occasions, most recently in 2015.
The club moved from their original base to Lockleaze in 1948, more recently switching to their impressive current home of Shaftesbury Park in Frenchay, south Gloucestershire, in 2018.
After leagues were introduced by the RFU, Dings enjoyed initial success with triumphs in Gloucestershire One (1989/90) and Gloucestershire/Somerset (1993/94), three more title-winning promotions from Western Counties (1995/96), South West Division Two West (2001/02) and South West Premier (2002/03) taking them into the National Leagues for the first time.
Their first campaign in National Three South saw them finish in the relegation places, but they were saved by the demise of Wakefield higher up the divisions.
Rams take spoils in first double-header
Dings won South West Premier in 2017/18 and played Rams twice during the Berkshire side’s National Two South title success the following year.
Tries from Jamie Guttridge, Ben Henderson, Ollie Taylor, Conor Corrigan and Drew Humberstone, added to by four Alex Seers conversions, gave Rams a 33-15 home win in November, 2018, while Seb Reynolds’ side triumphed 48-19 on the road the following March.
That contest was best remembered for Ben Henderson’s iconic chip-and-collect try for the hooker, one of two on the day for the front row, while Corrigan was also at the double as Andrew Denham claimed a brilliant hat-trick.
The scoring was completed by a penalty try and three Seers conversions.
The Bristolians escaped relegation with a 13th-placed finish and backed it up in 11th and seventh before a restructure in the 2022/23 season saw them moved to the newly-formed National Two West.
Dings reach Level Three for the first time
Runners-up to Leicester Lions, they then secured promotion to Level Three for the first time with 22 wins and a draw from 26 games in the 2023/24 season, their three defeats coming in the opening five fixtures before a 12-match winning run at the end of the campaign saw them take the title.
Rams won a thriller at Crusaders last September, in a game which saw Robbie Stapley break the record for first-team league tries as his double took him to 102.
The visitors’ other points came via tries from Dan Swain, Tom Vooght, Zach Clow and Axel Kalling-Smith, Fraser Honey slotting four conversions and two penalties.
And Rams won the home fixture 26-17 in January, an early Tomek Pozniak brace and a Honey conversion putting Rams 12-0 up before Jamie Elswood kicked a penalty before the break.
Clow and Nick English exchanged converted scores, Kalling-Smith and Matt Lane doing the same as the hosts took a bonus-point victory.
Back in September Rams turned on the style to record their biggest National One victory with a 73-24 home success.
It was Dings who took a fifth-minute lead through Harry Rowson’s try, yet the hosts responded with Morgan MacRae and Ben Atkins over, Mike Cooke converting the former.
Crusaders levelled through Jeffrey Young and the boot of Sam Worsley, but it was 24-12 at the break as Kalling-Smith bagged a brace and Cooke added to the latter.
And the game was done thanks to a stunning four converted tries in just six staggering minutes, Harry Stone, Charlie Robson, Clow and Max Hayman all crossing the whitewash.
MacRae then doubled his tally before Willo Bicknell and Louis Pereira both collected their maiden Rams tries with Cooke taking his tally to 18 points from the tee.
