OMWRFC - summaries

A rather fittingly drab end to the season, with the visitors managing the winning try with barely ten minutes to go, up to which point the highlight of the game had been a penalty which Mids missed. And some deer ran onto the bottom cricket pitch.

For the first quarter of the game, you would be hard pushed to guess which side was challenging for the league title, as Mids dominated possession and controlled the game, although only a penalty was secured to show for it. There was one near miss on a try, which happened before I arrived (all the best correspondents turn up ten minutes into the game). But once the visitors made the break through, Mids again collapsed, conceding three scores in quick succession. The problem, not for the first time, was that the open field tackling went to pieces. When it gets down to the grunt work in the last 5 metres, or scrabbling about on the ground, Mids have done well most of the season, and on occasions performed with super human effort against much bigger rivals. But when people start flinging the ball around (cheating this was known as when I started playing) we end up all over the shop. Again, a disappointing outcome from a game that promised so much more in the early stages.

Helen Dean provides the comedy moment, which came when Alex Humm came to the sideline with a large amount of blood coming from his mouth. Our sharp as tacks physio (without the excuse this week of an absinthe inspired hangover), asked, 'So what have you hurt?'

The Mids fielded a team with a mixture of youth and experience against a Warlingham side that boasted far more of the former than the latter. It was a well earned win for the Mids who battled throughout against a side that in hindsight may feel that their cockyness would have been best saved until they were at least winning the game.

The game kicked off with Mids playing into the wind and they were soon playing soon pretty decent rugby tight to the rucks and in the tackle - but it was against the run of play that Warlingham scored; finishing well after intercepting a pass that would have seen Andrew Dean touch down under the posts.

Mids then turned the heat up, hitting hard in the tackle and playing at a higher tempo off tap penalties and beginning to move the ball wider. A series of penalties in the Warlingham half eventually took their toll when after a good flick pass from Russel Jones (there is a first time for most things!?) the backs moved the ball swiftly drawing their men to set up Simon Jupp for a simple finish (again - there is a first time for most things!?)

The game then somewhat degenerated into a mixture of the weird, the weirder and the very very odd in terms of decision making by the man in the middle (see below)

Highlight of the first half though sits with Brian Cook - who in Forrest Gump style decided that when chasing a kick the best option is to ignore the player with the ball and to run as fast as possible towards the opposition line. To say that he was sidestepped by a slightly rotund winger would be to suggest that Brian was near enough to the player to be stepped - I suspect that the player in question was embarrassed for Brian and pretended to sidestep after Brian had passed just to make him feel better.

The second half began with Warlingham on the attack - their forwards running and linking well. They looked threatening as their forwards hit wide and had their prop decided to actually put the ball down over the line rather than think he was playing American Football and try to spike the ball Warlingham would have taken a well earned lead. Eventually though Warlingham did score with their pacy winger finishing well after he was ankle tapped close to the line.

Mids then decided that they needed to up their game and a neatly executed chip over the Warlingham back line led to Tom Gingell racing on to finish well under the posts. Mids were now in the lead and Warlingham for some reason decided to again try and play the game tight - but hitting up the centre was never going to pay dividends as Andrew Dean repeatedly drove them backwards. Mids again drove Warlingham back using the boot wisely and a storming run by Nathan Bacon allowed the Mids to move the ball wide to again set Simon Jupp up with an uncontested run to the line.

Then for oddest moment of the game - even odder than Brian Cooks kick chase! - Mids were camped in their own 22 and a ball sat at the back of a ruck. The referee called the ball out and Mids rucked through and stole the ball - Penalty. From the penalty Warlingham elected to scrum - 5 scrums in a row turned through 90 (closer to 180) and on each occasion - rescrum Warlingham ball. As the final scrum turned through 180 the ball was at the Mids Number 8 feet - so he picked up - penalty try!!!!!

Alas, this result confirmed Mids relegation, as Lewes beat Dunstonians. The OD skipper did text an apology for their poor performance, but not for the first time this season Mids posted a sub-par performance which cost them a game that they were capable of winning. The margin was 0-7 at half time, and poised for Mids to take the points back to Sanderstead. However, a Matt Higgins try and a couple of kicks were not enough as the home side kept chipping away at the scoreboard. As for the try, taking the average of all the distances Higgo claimed he ran in from, the average was 78m, the median 40m and the mode 55.5m. I am led to believe that it was really about 12m.

A very disappointing performance from the Mids, for a disastrous fifteen minutes mid-match. Playing uphill, the game was in all honesty not very good for the first 25 minutes. Mids worked well to run the ball out of trouble, whereas the visitors were struggling to master such tricky things as passing and catching, relying on their rolling maul. Then the game began to swing on one moment of ill fortune. Neil Irving charged down a kick, and the ball could have gone anywhere. It chose to bounce into the hands of one Chobham player who had two supporting team mates and only one desperate covering defender between them and the line. The second score was a Mids error, with a ruck on their own line, the home defence had three men marking fresh air, allowing a three man overlap on the other side. As half time approached, a 0-10 deficit would have been far from disastrous, and not flattering to the Mids, but two scores were conceded in the last minute of the half.

The second half began as the first ended, with 24 points given up in less than fifteen minutes, the defence breaking down pitifully at timecps. In fairness, the team rallied, and from that point the only further score came with the last touch of the game. Mids attempts to counter and at least get on the board were spoiled by inexperience, lack of a specialist scrum-half, and the inevitable odd dropped ball in the slippery conditions.

Comedy moment of the game was the third try. A grubber kick went into the Mids dead ball area and Neil Irving trundled after it. He fell on the ball, and somehow failed to ground it. To make matters worse, it squirted out of his hands into the air and dropped into the grubby mitts of the one attacker who had bothered to to chase. His reaction showed both how bizarrely fortunate the score was and also how significant the score was in the context of the game, which had been fairly even up to then.

{As well as providing the report, the chaps asked for ‘A huge thank you top Martin Rees for stepping in at the last minute to referee the game. Although Martin is a former player he admitted that he had never refereed a game in anger, but I think all spectators would agree that he did an absolutely brilliant job.’ - Ed}

The under 15’s carried on from where they had left off against Croydon, namely playing exciting rugby with a tremendous spirit. Unfortunately this was their second defeat, but the score line does not reflect the true pattern of the game. Expectations had been high amongst all the players, before the game, as they received some last minute coaching. All the players were desperate to put in a good effort against Sutton and Epsom, and play to their potential.

The toss was won and Old Mid-Whitgiftians chose to kick off. Instantly they were able to put Sutton and Epsom under pressure and demonstrated good rucking and mauling skills as they got ever closer to the try line. Unfortunately the more experienced Sutton and Epsom players, were able to turn the pressure of defence into attack, and they scored a break away try. This tended to be the pattern of the first quarter, as Sutton and Epsom were able to score three tries in the first quarter, all of which originated from moves deep within their own half. After the first quarter the score was Old Mid-Whitgiftians 0 – 17 Sutton and Epsom.

The second quarter was without doubt Old Mid-Whitgiftians finest period of the game. All the players contributed in both attack and defence with some exciting back play and hard forward play, frequently resulting in good ground being made. Unfortunately Old Mid-Whitgiftians were unable to turn this pressure into points, but they too prevented Sutton and Epsom from scoring any points. This was despite Sutton and Epsom bringing on fresh players, from their squad.

The third quarter saw further changes to the Sutton and Epsom team, as new players were again introduced. Old Mid-Whitgiftians conceded a further two tries, resulting from Sutton and Epsom breaking deep from within their own half. After the third quarter Old Mid-Whitgiftians trailed by 29 - 0.

The larger squad of Sutton and Epsom was beginning to pay dividends, as yet again fresh players were introduced for the fourth quarter. The 15 original Old Mid-Whitgiftians battled on manfully, eventually losing 41- 0. Had there been some additional Old Mid-Whitgiftian players available, the score would have been much closer, as the rotation of the Sutton and Epsom players was a major factor in the difference between the sides.

It is to all the players credit that their determination never waivered throughout the game, a fact that was remarked upon by the opposition coaches. If the players continue to play with the same enthusiasm and determination, a win is not very far away.

Team; Pomery, Honda, Fox, Johnson H, Upson, Perrett (capt), Caplin, Hill, Lewis, Dean, Rees, Johnson P, Wright, Langston, Price. Sub; Ridgers

In the time that it took to stroll from bar to pitch, Mids found themselves 0-10 down, due to a drop goal and try under the posts. With confidence having not been at it's highest of late, this set back could have been disastrous, but Mids buckled down to the job in hand, eventually realised that for once the oppo pack was not much bigger, so the tight set pieces could be held and tried to claw their way back into the game. Alas, it was only partially successful, with the rest of the first half producing a very stagnant game, with only very occasional threats to either try line. With the rain having begun just before the start, and the wind blowing across the pitch, Mids were by no means out of the game at the mid point, but an early injury at scrum-half meant some disruption in the back line, and as a team, they never got to grips with it.

The second half was not much more exciting than the first. Mids never managed to contrive a good try scoring chance, and rather predictably, D&B did get points of the board on one of their ventures into the Mids half. Not much of a spectacle for the large crowd, including the travelling support, and from our perspective a game that could have been won had we produced a more dynamic performance. The league table suggests that the visitors are capable of better as well. Perhaps a rematch in May?

Due to late, including Saturday morning, dropouts (what is the mentality of these people?) the A only had 13 players but did borrow one from the oppo. Cookie is working on a match report.

Mitcham Mini Rugby Festival, reported by Sue Surbey with the proviso "as I saw it, anyway"

This is my first ever match report, so please bare with me on the technicalities of a rugby match. I hope to have captured the momentum and excitement of the day’s events. It was a dry but windy Mothering Sunday at The Bulls ground and as we established ourselves on the touchline of pitch 8, an absence of a team tent became obvious, as we gazed upon rivals huddled in theirs out of the bracing wind.. (something Mandy said we could work towards). {Team tent? This is worse than footballers wearing gloves in March - Ed}

We were up first against Guildfordians whose team looked a lot bigger than ours (nothing new there then) Our boys went out with fighting spirit and after a try by the Guildfordians, Charlie got us one back. Unfortunately they got another in the second half and it ended 10-5 to Guildford.

The Barbarians did not show up so our team had the opportunity to put some boys forward to make up the fourth group, an opportunity for extra practice and meant our boys all got more match play. Our first match as Bar Bars saw us lose to Wimbledon 5-0, but displayed some good passing and tackling by all involved. Wimbledon and Guildford then drew 5-5 and our next match was against the Bar bars. A strange one this as we had 4 of our boys in the Bar bars and the rest were Guildfordians.

There were some great passes by Jamie and Daniel, however it was Charlie who got to the touchline twice for the Old Mids. This was however not quite enough as the final score was 20-10 to the Bar Bars (which was effectively half Old Mids anyway). {The only sure antidote for defeat - be both sides of the conflict - Ed, possibly quoting the Bulgarian Prime Minister in 1944}

The boys were still in good spirits and Jim put together our next selection for the final match in this group against Wimbledon, who at this stage seemed the strongest in the group. Charlie was straight in with a sprint from one end of the pitch to the other to put us ahead. Unfortunately the sheer size and weight of the opponents drove them over the line 3 times. We nearly lost our little James under something that looked liked he may have belonged in the U15’s. The boys battled on all the while and we saw some great tackles by Hayden, Daniel, and Jamie. The match ended 15-5 to Wimbledon.

We put together another team of Bar Bars to play in the final group game against the Guildfordians, which only contained 1 Wimbledon player. So it looked like another training session for the Mids Boys. This match ended 40-0 to Guildford. It was decided by officials that because there was not an official Barbarian team that Streatham and Croydon would go through to the Plate finals and we would play a Plate semi final against Mitcham.

Jim gave a pre match talk to our boys and the game commenced. It was soon obvious that we were in with a chance on this one. The Mitcham team had some big players but they were nothing on speed compared to our boys. The boys played well and the first try by Jamie spurred them on.. The second half saw another super run and try by Jamie followed soon after by a try from Daniel. Charlie did it again for the Old Mids and this one ended 20-0 to The Mids. The boys were elated, but gentlemen through and through as they gave three cheers for their opponents.

This put us in the plate finals against Streatham & Croydon. Freezing Mums and Dads, with lack of good voice by now, rallied once again for this final match. The boys with a well deserved win under their belts went out and played a blinder. It was one end to the other for the whole match, However again speed and agility pulled us through and Charlie scored a try for the Mids. Streatham & Croydon got one back. The second half saw The opposition go 5 points up and the Charlie again got the equalizing try. Just a min from time Streatham & Croydon had a final push and took the match 15-10.

All the boys played really well. Most of the referees were really good taking time to tell the boys the mistakes they had played and how to correct them. Each player received a medal and certificate for their contribution to their team. As our boys were presented with a Plate and had their photograph taken. They had made us mums some of the proudest Mums around on this cold, but exciting Mothering Sunday.

Due to an early kick off (2.45pm) your correspondent arrived with the score already at 5-5, Grant Beresford-Miller having opened the Mids scoring. It was a good job that scores were level, as with the two teams in almost identical kit, it gave the entire affair a certain degree of pleasing symmetry. By half-time Mids had secured an advantage, with Matt Shields landing a penalty on his debut and Clive Rowland getting accidentally mixed up in some forward stuff and emerging from it with a try. However, the 13-5 lead was always bound to be rocky as Mids faced playing uphill and partially against a strong wind in the second half. What went in their favour is that the backs had shown an aptitude for running the ball, whereas PJF had not really got their passing adapted to the weather.

Once the second period started, the visitors got their mauling game going properly, and their size advantage and organisation began to tell against Mids rather unfamiliar side. It took very little time for the scores to turn around, and with still over twenty minutes to go, PJF were 17-16 up. A serious rib injury to a new face in the line up, quickly followed by another try for Purley put Mids really up against it, but the team showed some excellent spirit, if a little attacking tactical naivety, to get back within one score, thanks to Mark Case. In fact a golden opportunity to win it appeared but was wasted, one of three incidents that Mids lost the game on.

i) After a defensive turnover on their own 5m line, Grant made a break, fed Adam Newman, who kicked ahead. The bounce fooled the Purley full back, Adam got the ball back, but in the scrap he was just unable to break free or pop the ball to the support for a certain score. A slightly better bounce and Mids would have had a commanding half time lead.

ii) The go ahead score for Purley came from a break in the centre when Mids tackling broke down badly, whereas for the rest of the game the last ditch defence was exemplary. This time, even one last covering player seemed set to stop the run for the line, until another desperate defender collided with him (no names, but they sound like Nook and Cewman) leaving an easy score

iii) With only a couple of minutes remaining, Mids worked a 4 on 2 close to the visitors line, from a quick free kick. Instead of taking the easy option, a long, floated pass went to the winger, who was gratefully wrapped up by the defender.

Had even one of these been more ruthlessly executed, a much needed win would have come Mids way. Surprisingly, considering the kit farce, there were few comedy moments in the game, although Mids lineout, solid to start with, ended up chucklesomely random. And Matt Farlow suffered what was described by Helen Dean as 'the worst case of cramp I've ever seen.'

Things did not go well in the build up to the game as a result of players picking up injuries in the mid-week CLOB game and also players having to drop out late on due to work and family emergencies. As a result we were forced into travelling down with a squad of 16 players including 1st team coach Mick Jones.

The preparations were not helped by the difficulties in the journey, a number of guys got stuck in traffic and our fly-half Dan Crouch, who had raced to Dover straight from work, only made it on to the pitch as Dover were about to kick off!

The score line may make it sound like a very one sided game but this was not the case, it was more a case of goods Mids pressure especially in the tight from the pack followed clinical finishing from Dover as they caught us on the break.

Mids try came from centre, Andrew Dean following his chase of an up-and-under and it was converted by the ever reliable boot of Dan Crouch.

Our bad luck continued as Gareth Barker was forced of the pitch injured in the 1st few minutes of the 2nd half.

All players involved should be proud of their efforts as their were plenty of positives to take from the game.

Man of the match was well earned by Iain Munro who has been playing at 6 for the AXV for most of the season but stepped in to rescue the first team by playing prop and meaning we were not fined 2 points for not being able to field a front row.

Team: Flint, Pennington, Munro, M Higgins, Oliver, O’Keefe, Bruggemann, R Jones, Newman, Crouch, Duncan, A Dean, P Garvey, S Jupp, Barker. Sub: M Jones

Due to the controversial end of the game, the match report has been temporarily withdrawn. I presume those who are interested have seen it and know the facts.

After a massive amount of effort in recent training sessions all the under 15 year old players were looking forward to their first competitive match. A total of 17 players were available and keen to put into practice what they had learnt on the training pitch. Croydon's team however was made up of a number of over-age players which unfortunately meant that Old Mid Whitgiftians were immediately under pressure from the start of the game.

Despite the obvious major difference in size, age, strength and experience between the two teams, Old Mid Whitgiftians never gave up. It is to all the players' credit that their enthusiasm never dwindled throughout the game. The game was played over four 20 minute quarters, which allowed the Old Mid Whitgiftians to regroup and tend to their injuries which unfortunately took their toll, as the game progressed.

Throughout the game the forwards were never intimidated by their larger opponents, taking some scrums and line-outs from the opposition put-ins and throws. The backs tackled feverishly and what little opportunity they had to attack, was exploited well.

At half time Croydon were leading 27 points to nil, and their supporters were convinced that the flood gates were about to open. Old Mid Whitgiftians had other ideas and continued to play well, with all the players determined to show they were made of sterner stuff. The second half carried on in a very similar vein as the first, with Old Mid Whitgiftians defending as if their lives depended on it, and demonstrating their attacking skills whenever the opportunities arose.

After a series of quickly taken tapped penalties, where Croydon were penalised for not retreating quickly enough, Old Mid Whitgiftians were extremely unlucky not to score. This would have been justice for all the players' sterling efforts. After a total of eight players having to leave the field due to injuries the final whistle blew, with Old Mid Whitgiftians losing 53 – 0. The effort of the Old Mid Whitgiftians, throughout the game was exemplary and something all of the players should be proud of.

To say that the score line flatters a much younger and quicker Guilford side would be to put it mildly.

With the referee more mitre player than rugby player before kick off we were expecting an interesting afternoon and yet for the first 35 minutes of the game Mids played some excellent rugby - moving the ball wide and threatening the Guildford back line, punching short and close to rucks, making good yardage off the boot and being solid in the set piece. The number of dropped passes in key positions will no doubt haunt some of our outside backs - but it was also a testament to the Guildford team that the Mids were only able to show 3 points for the considerable domination.

The Mids then decided that with only 5 or so minutes to half time that now was the time to take a rest......12-3 down at half time due to some poor tackling and one has to say an unlucky bounce at the back of a scrum was a score line a million miles away from where it should have been.

Then for 20 minutes of the second half a mixture of injuries to the Mids, very neat play by the Gs half backs and general defensive apathy meant that we had leaked a further 30 points. At this point the Mids decided to play in exactly the same way that they had for the first 30 minutes or so and it was no coincidence that suddenly we were attacking Gs, threatening their line and hitting them hard in the tackle. How Mids did not score a try will remain a mystery - even with Chenery declaring to the ref that as a maul had hit a post (and not the ball) that was obviously a try. The ref made some odd calls but was not swayed in this instance. **

No real comedy moments of note other than Chris Nicol's even stronger resemblance to Shillabeer as time passes {Surely no comedy but a tragedy - Ed}

** Cheners claims: "I actually asked the ref, if when a maul touches the post, is it a scrum? He didn't know. I think it's a scrum 5 attacking ball."

No match report received yet, although anyone after a mad, uninformative one may wish to ask the concussed Mr Pennington what he remembers of the game. Gravesend have hit a patch of hot form and surged to the top of the league, so Mids knew they had a tough task on their hands. At half time they trailed just 7-0, but it clearly all went horribly wrong in the second period. Matt Higgins scored the try.

A very frustrating afternoon for the A, who should have been capable of getting a better result than this with the team fielded. For about a third of the game, roughly the end of the first half and middle of the second, we put our minds to it and played some solid rugby, controlling the game, without getting any points on the board, until Sean Garvey pootled in during the general confusion after a penalty. The scrums went well, as they should against a youthful oppo who had height but not always bulk alongside it, and when we got a bit of possession, the rucking and mauling was not too bad, when we were allowed to get on with it.

However, we made some real boneheaded decisions throughout and they always ended up with us conceding points. Having gone 10-0 down, we conceded 14 points to consecutive restarts as the chasers ran upfield, heads down, not looking where the ball carrier ran. Another came from an aimless crossfield kick that nobody bothered to stroll after and touch down for a 22 restart, and another score came when, with three players down injured, someone took a quick tap penalty, got turned over due to lack of support and the oppo ran it back for a try, shrewdly noticing that 12 against 15 put the odds much in their favour.

Comedy moment came from Mike Frith, who had possibly the easiest chance he will ever see for a debut club try, needing only to catch it and fall over to score. Working himself into the sort of frenzy of anticipation of glory that only usually occurs at a Man Utd Christmas party, he managed to not quite hold on to the ball, but did juggle it several times as a tease to his team mates. Mike's response to this? "I can do three balls, you know." Anyone seeking clarification should contact Mike direct

Thanks also to he referee, who turned out to save the day, despite feeling a bit under the weather. It also explains some of the slightly confusing decisions, or more often verbal descriptions of them!

Please note that the following was also received, but I imagine that due to poor PC security, someone sent this from Mike's email account when his back was turned, a situation completely unlike that found on Saturday...

I would like to take issue with the recent match report (OMW AXv vs Cobham) posted on your website.

From my perspective the match reporter is probably about 250 million years old, allegedly looks like ‘Mad - Eye Moody’ and was almost definitely about 4000 light years from the action and thus could not see just how far in front of the winger the pass actually was, and on top of all that she, being a prop, cannot possibly appreciate the finer points and indeed difficulties of skilfully swift back line interplay. It was said that the flying No 14 actually achieved unparalleled greatness in even reaching the ball with his fingertips. The other version is that it was a deliberate knock-on in an attempt to curry favour with the oppo, given there were only a few showers and the wingman wanted to be first in. The match reporter, whom I believe is also the Club Treasurer, is probably used to massaging the truth and has certainly achieved this in this shameful and pathetic attempt to deflect blame from his own department. It seems very strange that he failed to mention, in any great detail, how Cobham’s slowest player managed to cut a massive swathe through Mids entire forward line, unopposed direct from a re-start, to dive gleefully under the posts!!

The only match report came from a combination of Russ, Sparky and Dan, whose stories were suspiciously consistent. They are all clearly plotting something and the rozzers, in the manifestation of Mr Murfin, are limping after them, taser primed for use. The story is that Mids made an awful, defence free start, gradually improved and started playing some good rugby, including a couple of scores, when it was all too late.

Time may have just trundled into the last month of the year, but both sides in this game set out to play the sort of expansive game usually reserved for more clement weather. Although the rain held off, a strong diagonal wind offset the benefits of the slope, and ensured that the vast majority of the game was played on the lower side of the pitch. Mids knew that they faced a hard time in the set pieces, with the unfamiliar faces in the front row of Joe O'Keefe and Sam Farley, plus Mark Macaskill at lock, so they tried to keep the ball in the domain of a small but sharp back line, and the visitors responded in kind. Our visiting referee, on loan for the day from Norfolk, played his part, keeping the game active with plenty of advantage being allowed to develop after offences, which both sides appreciated. And in defiance of an ancient cliché, both sides were totally unable to cancel each other out.

Mids made the better start, ensuring that most of the game was being played in the opposition half, but the early minutes were marred by both sides committing a series of crimes in the ruck and maul. This did remove most of the chances Mids had to threaten the line, but allowed Dan Crouch to land a couple of penalties, bringing Mids to a 6-0 lead. The solid foundation was spoiled when OEs made their first serious foray into Mids territory. An apparently broken play on the left was quickly switched by the half backs, and an overlap of forwards gave the opportunity for a try on the right wing. The conversion was landed, uphill and against the wind, which looked an excellent kick at the time, and subsequently proved critical.

It did not take long for Mids to reimpose the original order of things, and after a good break from Macaskill, well supported by soon to depart Siba Mpambani, Matt Hoyles rounded off a blind side probe from Dave Stanton. Alas, and woe, the next phase saw the home side have their worst period of the game, making no progress in attack and appearing all at sea in defence. Tries under the posts came after a short kick was not defended by anyone at all, and a simple move in the centres wrong footed everyone. At 11-21 down Mids were glad to see half time come, and although the score did not truly reflect the half, OEs had the psychological initiative.

A new half was indeed a new beginning (apart from the score, obviously) and the will to play open rugby was not dimmed as a strengthening of the wind had a negative effect on the handling and passing. The all important next score went Mids way, when they chose to run a short, kickable penalty and Macaskill barged his way over the line to justify the decision, Crouch converting to narrow the gap to three points. It did not take long for OEs to add a penalty that doubled that edge, and although plenty of time remained, Mids could not overcome it. The last ten minutes were highly entertaining, as Mids ran everything they touched, all fifteen players taking a hand and OEs deciding that instead of killing the game with a series of long mauls, they would fight fire with fire. One or two breaks came within a finger tip of being decisive, but it was deep into injury time before Hoyles picked up a bouncing pass to score his second, but the conversion, the genuine last kick of the game, sailed agonising inches wide of the post. For the second week in a row, Mids can claim plenty of plaudits for the style of the performance, but have no league points to show for it.

Mids: Farley, O'Keefe, Flint; Macaskill, M Higgins; Mpambani (Bruggeman), Jones, Gingell; Stanton, Crouch; Hoyles, Newman, Orchard, Sales; S Higgins

If anyone was doubting the benefits of playing regularly, The A Xv are demonstrating dramatically the hindrances caused by not doing so, as for the second time in three weeks, a fine first half performance was totally wasted by an inability to sustain that level through the second half. Mids were losing at half time in this, by a margin of 9-14. Warlingham had run in two long distance tries, the first served up on a plate by Mids errors, which were a rarity in the first half, and the second well constructed once they realised that we were a bit thin on experience wider out in the backs and via some quick support when an otherwise preoccupied Cookie made a last ditch tackle a couple of metres out. Mids reply was via three Broughton penalties, the first of which clearly missed, but the ref wisely decided that the touch judges were deranged buffoons and over ruled their negative response. In addition to these scores, Mids twice broke through by running good lines, only for the pass t go astray when the defence faced a 1 against 2 disadvantage.

The second half was a completely different story. The defence broke down in close play, the threat in attack disappeared, and after a couple of early scores conceded, the game was out of reach. A try from the skipper did give a glimmer of hope, but Warlingham replied with two of their own. The battle between the packs was quite tight, probably edge narrowly by the visitors, but our response to the ball being shown some daylight faded with the low, winter sun. Injuries did not help the cause, with Steve Murfin picking up something to his knee, possibly Badger Plague, possibly something that is a real injury. Suffice to say, that with Mark Dean having been too knackered to carry on in the back row, he was forced to have enough time on the sideline to stiffen up the muscles before returning at centre, and injured hooker Ed Drage saw out the last few minutes at scrum-half. Where is the rule that states that however many subs we have, that many plus two people have to get injured?

There was one highly amusing moment, but in the cold light of Sunday, I cannot remember what it was.

Firstly a thanks to the back up team - Cookie for bringing some dry shirts, Paul Hodges & Graham Crouch for managing the touchline, Helen Dean as physio and loyal, outnumbered supporter Tom Smith. What they will have observed is that Mids, tackling the second team of five of Beckenham, rather than our second team of two, were fundamentally outdone by not having the physical bulk to match up in the pack, and unable to cover pace across the board in the backs. For example, the home side had two wingers who played there because they could run fast, whereas Mids were rotating senile back-rower Mark Lister, returning from two geological ages out of the game Mike Frith, and limping skipper Aaron Pennington. A similar mismatch was seen at second row, where Beckenham had two 6' 6" plus chunky blokes, Mids had Steve 'tall and spindly by front five standards' Murfin, and Alex 'no taller than the front row' Hunt.

However, there are certain things we should be capable of doing to ease the problems. Ball retention is the main one. For the first twenty minutes, Mids did a passable Red Hot Chili Peppers impersonation: Give it away, give it away, give it away now. And as a consequence, the score began to rack up early. Tackling was also conspicuous by it's absence. However, once the game was already out of reach, Mids did put their minds to playing some reasonable rugby. Destruction leads to a very rough road, but it also breeds creation. Nick Hamilton, like all good front rowers, scored a try loitering out on the right wing. He really should have passed, but the defender also knew that, and Nick sort of flopped over the line. Russell Jones had an interception, with 95m of open ground in front of him, but by the halfway line he decided to look for a winger in support. See paragraph one for the folly of this approach.

In the second half, Mids played with plenty of spirit when in possession, Mark Lister scoring out wide on the left, and then a golden chance went astray. Sam Farley stole the ball, broke into the open, got the ball to Steve Murfin, who passed on to Mark Lister, only for the ball to be miscontrolled on the ground. Another positive was that Charlie Clift began to give his opposing scrum-half some aggro at the base of the home scrum, although whether it was all legal is another question entirely! With players trying out new positions (or ones from their distant pasts), such as Tom Patterson at fly-half and Sam Farley at prop, plus Mark Bruggeman to add to Murfin in the lineout, Mids should be able to improve on the performance, but they have to apply themselves mentally to the task!

A special note, and possible record breaker, goes to the Beckenham kicker, who hit the post with no less than three conversions.

Mids pressure the ODs line as Sparky does not quite correlate the position of the ball with his rucking and dribbles a dead wasp over the line

Mids chose an opportune day to post their best performance of the season, as the Former Players Lunch ensure a bumper crowd for the nearest thing to local derby that they encounter in London 3 South East. The home side had the advantage of the slope and wind in the first half, and started out as if they expected it to be essential to take advantage of that. The early probings were distinctly tentative, Mids dominating territory thanks to some well judged kicks from Dan Crouch. However, the backline suffered an early disruption when centre Paddy Garvey took a blow to the hip, and shortly afterwards ODs opened the scoring. Some good hands and running on the right by their pack produced an overlap on the left, which resulted in a try, which was not converted. Mids responded well, with Russell Jones trundling over on the left wing from 20m out. Crouch added the conversion from the touchline, and also grabbed a penalty for good measure, to give Mids a 10-5 lead. ODs continued to keep the ball in hand to try and defy the elements, but found their direct running style unable to break the defence again, Andy Dean and Rowan Newman proving a sound pair in the centres. The visitors narrowed the gap with a penalty, but before the break, Mids extended the lead. Crouch made a break on the right, and having sucked in the covering defenders, kicked ahead and with the wind behind it, John Duncan narrowly won the race to touch down, inches before the ball went dead. A Crouch drop goal gave Mids a 20-8 lead which held until half time, with the back row and stand-in hooker Joe O'Keefe keeping the ODs forwards in check in the open.

Dan Crouch prepares to kick ahead for John Duncan (camp boots) to score, despite Rowan Newman's best attempts to barge him out of the way

The second half saw Mids unable to get the territorial advantage that served them well earlier. ODs took the first blood of the second half, taking a scrum against the head and finding two unmarked backs 5m from the Mids line as a result. The home side bounced back with their only spell of territorial domination of the period, Crouch adding another penalty, and then Stuart Sales was released in space to fool the full back and pounce in on the left wing. Another touchline kick succeeded, to give Mids a 30-13 edge. As the clock ticked away, ODs resorted to a more risky strategy, and also had some fresh legs to deploy, Mids having been forced by injury to use their subs earlier. For a spell Mids defended heroically, most notably Tom Gingell, who popped up to make the decisive tackle on several occasions, as well as pouncing on many a loose ball, and Dave Stanton, who gave his opposite number at scrum-half a hectic time of it. Eventually, ODs did make a score on the left, another in the corner, and the last few minutes became even more frantic. The visitors gambled heavily and eventually one paid off, and the margin was down to seven. Mids nerves held, for a crucial league victory.

This appears to be some sort of lineout but explaining what may be going on is impossible

Obviously, being the Mids, it was still not possible to string everything together at once. The confidence visibly soared when a few points were on the board, but the jitters in the last ten minutes were avoidable. The overall defence was pretty good, although the tackling for the last two tries conceded left plenty to be desired, and relying on Gingell and Stanton to impersonate a pair of especially ill-tempered Jack Russells does at times end up with the defending walking a tightrope of success and failure. And the handling of restarts varied from poor to comical. However, there is no reason why the skilled majority of the performance cannot be replicated every week.

Jimmy Orchard* launches a counter attack. Rowan Newman (14) joins in, Stuart Sales (18) does so but with deep reservations (* why is a bloke with a classic Gloucester front row type name playing full back?)

Everyone loves a cliche, and we have a classic game of two halves here. The first period was a decent enough game, with KCS adopting a positive attacking spirit and Mids defence rising to the occasion. Skipper Penners reported that the Mids consistently stifled moves in their formative stages, rucked well, turned the ball over when they needed it, and showed flashes of danger on the counter attack, arriving first in numbers at all forms of loose play, in possession or without. The half-time score was 10-8, a Simon Jupp try and a Bruffy penalty put points on the board.

Then the second period began and Mids went to sleep. The home team scored a couple of early tries, and all of a sudden, nobody was making it to the breakdown, nobody was making tackles in open play and the impact on the score was inevitable.

To fill time until reports are received, the following graphics have been ripped off from television rugby coverage

The score is an approximation as the youths score four tries to three, but did not kick many, whereas the vets made every conversion, although not necessarily legally. In fact, the vets found only this going right for them, as getting five extra players on for the last few moments failed to produce a winning try, and they proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that whilst the hair and pace may be early things to fade, the hand eye coordination is not far behind. Some things never change, and as was always the case in the past, having Shane Roiser on the wing is no real reason to get the ball out wide. Scorers remain a bit vague, although Mark Lister got one vets try from a chaotic scrum, and the winner was scored by Tim Britten, showing pace on an interception that he had hitherto kept well concealed.

Thanks to the big crowd who braved the inclement weather to watch the match, and the raffle raised a tidy sum, with Dan Crouch winning a signed England world cup rugby shirt, kindly donated by George 'The Sanderstead Taliban' Chuter. Also thanks to the guys who ran the barbeque, who at least had the foresight to bring adequate shelter. And as you can see below, there was a healthy turnout of current, recently former, long time former and even physically infirm players to mark the occasion. Note that the vets had a bit of an advantage in bulk, but fared less well in the mobility aspect, and a drier day might have proven a tougher prospect.

Obvious highlight of the game was Chippy Brown trying to sidestep someone and falling over in the most pathetic fashion. And to think that he did all his own stunts in 'The Vikings.'

This match proved to be more exciting in it's closeness than in the thrills of it's playing and Mids will no doubt rue failing to capitalise on a performance where there matched third-placed Gravesend for all but a few, decisive minutes. In fact, the first half-hour was really quite dull, as Mids had an edge in possession but created little scoring opportunity, a missed penalty being all that they could show for it. Then lumbering lock Mark Hanley went on a forty metre trundle and was tackled by the last man, only to find no-one in support, but the incident served to awaken the duelling krakens (or is kraken boh singular and plural?) around him. As action livened up, Mids stand-off Joe Chivers was sin-binned for a high tackle, and for most of the ten minutes, Mids defence held strong, but with five minutes left in the half, the visitors brought their right wing into the line at pace and he hit a seam in the defence well to score, the try being duly converted. And that was that for a fairly uneventful first half.

After the restart, Gravesend put some indifferent handling behind them. but as the attacking threat increased, Mids were able to raise their efforts in defence to match it. The end result was a few scoring chances as in the first half, but better rugby being played by both sides to achieve it! Mids had two brief threats on the Gravesend line, in both cases losing the ball in the loose, but after a third spell deep in enemy territory, Joe Chivers took a simple drop goal to avoid repeating the previous error. This left Mids only four behind with over twenty minutes to play, and soon afterwards a penalty for being isolated in possession, which looked harsh on the accused, allowed Chivers to drill a penalty over from 35m, and narrow the deficit to one.

Gravesend quickly had a shot at goal themselves, in vain, to restore the advantage, and with ten minutes to go, any result was possible, although a draw looked unlikely. Then the game began to peter out in a flurry of yellow cards, the inevitable consequence of a series of mysterious decisions. The players then have no idea what will or will not be penalised, cheating and enforcement ensues and we have what we had here before. Which is the way he wants it. And I don't like it anymore than you men. In this general confusion, Gravesend did manage another try from a quick penalty, which was also converted for a 14-6 lead. This came as much from Mids being forced into taking chances, and although Gravesend did create, and score from, the only flowing move of the match, it was a more closely fought affair than even the score implies.

As for the future, Mids did many things better than they have been doing of late, and if they introduce some consistency - not defend heroically for ten minutes then miss a couple of soft tackles, not show fantastic awareness in support and on the loose ball in spells and then have a period of being well off of the pace in those areas, not have a series of successfully repeated phases and then take it on one too many times - then the results will come.

The venerable fly half declared this a major success for the Mids, as a cobbled together side prevailed on the back of an early lead and some rare tactical nous. As the home side showed some attacking intent and the skill to be dangerous with it, Mids defence rose to the occasion well, and in keeping things tight around the loose forward situations, managed to produce a brace for Sam Timms and one for Sam Farley. Bruffy thought that Aaron Pennington may have scored the fourth try, as he 'did so many stupid things, the law of averages says one thing had to be right.' With a 19-0 halftime lead, the second period was clearly a dour struggle, and Mourinho-like I do not have to be there to known that, but Mids played it how a team with two front rows in the centre ought to do. And next, maybe that elusive home game...

A short trip down to Tonbridge on the day of the World Cup Final saw The Mids turn out in their new playing kit for the first time this season. Unlike former Old Mid George Chuter, who was playing in another fixture later that day in Paris, none of The Mids side had quite as an impressive a beard.

The game started well for the Old Mids with some early pressure leading to two early penalty opportunities for fly half Joe Chivers. However difficult conditions saw both attempts go just wide. Sustained pressure continued to cause problems for the TJ’s with several try scoring chances squandered by The Mids. Several times overlaps were not exploited when trys for wingers Rowan Newman and Simon Jupp seemed inevitable. More pressure from the Old Mids followed with Joe Chivers kicking two penalties to settle the nerves and take the score to 6 – 0. With the half almost over, Tonbridge pressed into The Mids half and were awarded a penalty for handling in the ruck. The Tonbridge fly half converted to leave the score at 6 – 3 at Half Time.

For England it started badly and got better, for the others vice versa. My abiding memory will be of Mr Hillburn having a tantrum in the Builders Arms as most of the pub joined in a rousing chorus of 'Allez Les Bleus' in the quarter-final versus New Zealand. And of me not having Cookie's phone number when it was most needed. And as well as Messrs Wrightson, Rossney and McInnes rolling up in Paris, we bumped into Simon Law and Al De Rosa, plus managed to avoid Andy Holder, and saw Jimmy Orchard on the ferry. Almost enough Mids there to have played a tour match...a very slow, static one.

Some rugby was played, and some victories were especially savoured by a couple of key players

John Crate found this photograph which he correctly observes is 'an Australian learning the correct way to address an Englishman.' I would add that if this happens in the street, check your watch is still there afterwards.

And then, when Nick Farr-Jones thought that the world cup could not get any worse...

A) Nick Farr-Jones has a vision of a bleak future where food is rationed based on the performance of your country in the Rugby World Cup

Unfortunately Warlingham pulled out of the proposed Club Xv match at 2.00 on Saturday. Very disappointing, but it is not as if we have not been in a similar position ourselves on occasions...so instead we had an eleven a side game

Basically we split the forwards and backs evenly and had a jolly good run around, even if Mr Pennington did pick a side to dominate the set pieces, which was invalidated by the five man scrums and the fact that there could only have been four lineouts in the entire game. The Tarzans dominated the early scoring, but missed their conversions, although when the Jaguars recovered and slotted a few kicks, it became mysteriously apparent that conversions were not being counted anyway. So why did we continue taking them? To the best of my recollection, it was amongst the backs that the Tarzans had the edge, by mostly using their skipper as a decoy for Messrs Gingell and Broughton, whereas John Duncan opted to keep the game close by spurning scoring chances.

By mid-second half an array of scoring gave the Jags a one score lead, but then the game went away from them. Players like McInnes (old), Farley (comeback from a five year break), Gohall (not very quick) and Dean M (portly) did not have the stamina for the wide open spaces, even though the Tarzans had Frith (also not played in ages) and Hamilton (not very energetic) to cancel them out. There were others playing, Frank, Alex, Russ to name but three, who I cannot now remember which side they were on, as it times the game was frantic and confused. Siba refereed early as he could whistle, but was a little bit wary of making a decision of any shape or form, later to replaced by Stanners, who could not whistle, or see anything.

On a more serious note, despite not getting the game we expected, all 22 in the squad on the day stayed around for what was a) a good fun run around, and ball skills practice session and b) a way of being less out of it by the time England beat France!

There were several factors in the build up to this disappointing result. Firstly last week's enjoyable romp was followed by only being able to select five of the same players - only two changes being promotions to the 1st Xv I believe. Secondly, due to circumstances beyond their control, four of the side that played only ran out onto the pitch ten minutes before kick off, rendering any useful warm up impossible, as for line outs, for instance, they included the thrower and a key lifter. Thirdly, Cookie was finally caught out on the M25 when his tyre of vintage 1927 gave up the ghost after millions of miles of service. And lastly, for the first ten minutes we forgot to tackle anyone.

The concession of points flowed from the beginning, and even when we did start making contact, Dorking proved very adept at unloading the ball from contact. The other thing that initially went well for Mids was that as shambolic as the defence may have been, we did look like we could score points back, with Steve Murfin (Mids player of the match) burrowing over for a score and Stuart Sales hanging onto a zipped pass from Gareth Barker - i.e. it missed out our tubby inside centre! - by his fingertips and wrong footing the defence, who clearly knew him and assumed it would hit the deck.

As for the rest, least said, soonest mended, although it was nice to have a few new faces and around and the return of an old one, in Sam Farley. All in all, not nearly as much fun as last year's game on a waterlogged pitch in the rain.

Old Mids travelled down to Sussex to deliver old league rivals Lewes a very early Christmas present, by way of an abject first half performance, that ultimately handed the points on a plate to the home side. Mids made some very simple tasks, such as supporting the ball carrier, look supremely tricky, and in a half full of tipped lineouts, dropped passes and kicks that miss touch, Mids showed an uncanny ability to react second whenever the play was broken. In fairness, after a slow start to the season, Lewes themselves appeared a bit jittery in possession, but posed a constant threat on the counter from the various broken plays. At halftime Lewes led 6-0, courtesy of a couple of penalties. Mids turned down one kickable chance but Lewes had also opted to run a couple of kickable chances, as Mids were too slow to adapt to the referee's style of being strict on offside, especially by the defending side. As this should result in an edge for the attacking side - generally considered a good thing - the fair size crowd could easily have dozed off by the break had the approach been more lenient.

Mids gradually picked up their performance in the second half, which was still only average but left the first half in the dark, dark shade. The bigger Lewes front five slowly tired out, passes went to hand, and few moves resulted in a defender being beaten, although the cover continually proved up to the task. Three penalties from Dan Crouch actually gained Mids a 9-6 edge, Alli Savage almost broke clear on the right wing, and then Nick Hamilton, like all good props, almost turned up trumps on the left touchline. Shortly afterwards, with Mids surviving a yellow card that left them with seven forwards, Russell Jones got body and ball over the line, only for the massed pack of Lewes to drive him inches back into play before it was grounded. Then it all went wrong for the Mids, who having earned a draw at the minimum for the second half effort, when a charged down kick resulted in yet another counter from Lewes that ended in a try under the posts with only a couple of minutes remaining.

A disappointing and avoidable defeat, and Mids must learn to replicate their good performances against top teams when they are taking on the strugglers, especially for away games.

Due to celebrations of Fiji's glorious victory and somewhat premature ones relating to Italy, all that I recall of Mr Pennington's match report was that it was a string side fielded, and at times like the Harlem Globetrotters. Presumably the oppo were not paid to turn out and lose, but I can confirm that Meadowlark Lemon was there with a ball on a length of elastic. And plenty of bald blokes named Curly. The scorers were two apiece for Mark 'The Nose' Macaskill and Stewart 'The Hangover' Sales, plus The Glorious Chairman got a try and three kicks.

pics from Aaron O'Gorman - see them and 52 of their friends on the Mids facebook site

Andy Dean - so aware of the way the game is going that he is anticipating where the ball will be in twenty minutes

Russ Jones finds 10p on the floor and accidentally flops on the ball as he reaches for it

No match report received but a huge thanks to the walking wounded and front row volunteers who risked life, limb and more realistically, aggravating old injuries, to enable two side to take the field.

A long trip down to Deal started well for the Britvic & Evolve Homes sponsored Old Mid’s side with some early running rugby created by some excellent distribution from Dan Crouch at Fly Half sending inside centre Andrew Dean crashing through the centre of the Deal defence. A great offload from Dean then put winger Alli Savage in for a well finished try in the corner. With Crouch narrowly missing the conversion the score remained at 5 – 0 to the Old Mids.

Deal then piled on the pressure for the next twenty minutes with little reward. Unfortunately after absorbing the pressure and looking to run the ball back at them the Old Mids were turned over at the breakdown and Deal scored a converted try to lead 7 – 5. A quick penalty from Crouch restored the Old Mids lead at 8 – 7 but another break away try from Deal, this time unconverted, gave the home side a 12 – 8 lead at half time.

The second half got underway with Deal applying almost thirty minutes of unanswered pressure but coming away with only a penalty thanks to some excellent defence, led in style by Old Mids captain Joe O’Keefe, leaving the score at 15 – 8. The play then switched to the Deal half of the field with consecutive driving mauls masterminded by second rows Handley and Higgins, leading to the Old Mids crossing the Deal try line only to be held up by some excellent defensive work by the Deal Number 8.

With the Old Mids chasing the converted try to level the game the inevitable occurred and Deal ran in a try from turn-over ball, and with the conversion attempt hitting the upright and missing, the final whistle blew and Deal ended the game 20 – 8 winners.

(corrected for some factual errors resulting from the reporter sneaking out early and catching the last action from half a mile away...)

A disappointing start to the Mids season against newly promoted and confident Eastbourne, and that gloom came with the first sight of availability, with guys on holiday, and people like your correspondent, who injured himself having a lie in, before even considering the risk of getting out of bed. Once the whistle went, Mids made a fairly sluggish start, conceding plenty of territory and possession, which Eastbourne keenly exploited. A couple of penalties and a drop goal from Joe Chivers kept Mids in touch, with a deficit only 9-14, slightly flattering at that point to the home team, with one visitors' try from a scrum and another from Mids being slow to form up for a short penalty. The main problem was came in holding the Eastbourne pack, which was rather on the hefty side, in the scrummages, although Mids faured much better in disrupting the line outs, and good hang time on the restarts also allowed the pack to cause some confusion amongst the receivers.

match gallery in which Nick Hamilton proves to be as omnipresent as God, but slightly less vengeful

As the game gradually opened up Mids were clawing back into contention, and with fifteen minutes left, the score was 12-20, with the Mids finally holding their own in the tight, if not controlling it, and bringing on fresh legs in the pack from Will Flint and Darren Walker helped. Then the game changed dramatically in five short minutes. A rapid Mids counter attack via Matt Hoiles, going length and breadth of the pitch almost saw Rowan Newman score, and his attempt to keep the ball alive - see below - was broken up by a defender who was given the benefit of the doubt on whether the knock on was deliberate or not (in fairness, the rapidity of the break meant that the referee was not best placed to enforce the harshest sanction). Additional woe was an ensuing injury to Joe Chivers which rather disrupted the back line.

As Eastbourne worked their way up into the Mids 22, Siba Mpambani was penalised for going to ground in a ruck and yellow carded. The card was not controversial for the offence, but many other instances of similar play had gone unpunished in the game, and in that sense, he was unlucky. To rub salt into the wound, Eastbourne took the scrum and scored, with the number eight using his scrum half as a lead blocker, an offence Mids had been oft penalised for during the game. This seemed to knock the stuffing out of the home team, and in the absence of the open side flanker, Eastbourne ran everything and produced two well worked tries. Back up to fifteen for the last couple of minutes, Mids perked up and scored a deserved consolation try from James Orchard after finally stringing together a few elusive moves in the three-quarters - the conversion under the posts was missed, but nobody has owned up to it.

As introduced, a disappointing start in several ways, but with players to return and several aspects of the game going well, it was no reason to get down hearted.

The Samurai Barracudas are an invitation sevens side set up as a joint initiative between the Old Mid Whitgiftians and Samurai in 2007 (most of the work behind this was done by Mark Dean). The premise behind the side was to raise money for the charity SPIRE which looks after players who have suffered serious spinal trauma playing the great game of Rugby. For this season The Barracudas have been sponsored by Britvic.

Day 1 Amsterdam Sevens - Two wins and one loss puts us through into the knock out stages of the Silver Pier on Sunday. 31 - 28 against Dambusters, 50 - 0 against Waterworld and lost to Scufflers 30 – 12

Day 2 Amsterdam Sevens - An early start apparently surprised a few of the players with our first game of the top tier knock out stage of the Silver Pier Trophy (We were only supposed to make the plate competiton so this was a good effort on our first outing in any case) The established invitation side "The Locals" only just made kick-off and we took an early lead playing our best rugby of the tournament so far! The game was closely contested and an unpunished forward pass gave "The Locals" a narrow lead going into the second half. Constant pressure from the Barracudas went unrewarded and "The Locals" scored a break away try, an immediate reply saw the score brought back to 24 - 19 with two minutes left. Unforced errors and a seemingly inability to finish off some fantastic sevens play meant that the Barracudas first foray into the sevens circuit finished just shy of the 1/4 final stages of the premier sevens tournament in Europe. The big boys at our older sibling team Samurai eventually won the trophy for the third time in three years in a closely contested final against the Maurauders.

The Barracudas are currently taking part in the London Summer Sevens League which is held at Wimbledon RFC. There are 15 teams entered with 3 divisions. Each division has 5 teams. To start the league teams were drawn from a hat and placed into 3 pools. After two weeks of play the teams were put into divisions according to their finishing place in their pool. We have put put into the top division. After week four the top and bottom two from each league will be relegated or promoted. And the week six will be the finals.

Assuming we continue our good run please make a note of finals day which is Saturday 21st July at Wimbledon RFC

Also please note The Barracudas have entered the Harpenden 7's on the 2nd September 2007 - details to follow!

Meanwhile, post A Xv match at Dorking, our hearty skipper below sank ever deeper into the mire whilst composing his poetic autobiography ' The Rime Of The Ancient Full Back.'