The club plays in Counties 1 Durham & Northumberland, the seventh tier of the English rugby union system after being relegated from North One East at the end of the 2010–11 season.

The club itself hosted many high profile matches including the inaugural Barbarians match on 27 December 1890,[1] the New Zealand Maoris on 15 November 1888 with the Maori winning 1 try to nil, and the legendary All Blacks who played against a combined Rovers and West team on 11 October 1905.

Although the tourists won that game comfortably (63-0), on what was to become a legendary tour, the fixture's place in history is assured as it was after the match that the name 'All Blacks' first appeared in the press, the Daily Mail including it in their report - according to legend a typo which should have read 'all backs'.

Players such as Will Carling, Tony Ward (rugby union), Jim Glennon and John Robbie, have played in the game.

Over the years the 'Oakes game' has become a prestigious match for players, reaching its heyday in the late-1970s and 1980s under the supervision of the then club Chairman Tony Lowe.