Honour in defeat

The game of rugby is a deeply rich one especially when you can applaud your opponent with the utmost respect for their ‘character’, further still when you can learn a few lessons from your opponent and hope to apply it to our own style of game.

Thank you London Japanese for another spirited encounter and as ever your are warmly welcome to our humble abode next season – thank you also to our players Ben and Tom who ran out for the oppo. Likewise much thanks to the FOUR new guys who rocked up to play for Harrodians Vets, Paul Willcocks, Paul Holdsworth, Chris Bufton and Nick Hamilton as well Will Hughes from the Development side.

Tries: Morgs x3, Cris x2, Chris Bufton x2 Cons: Marek x2 Duncan x3!

So no formal match report this week as the season comes to a close with our final escapade on 27th in a little Vets Tournament in Cobham preceding our end of season dinner, so instead thought I would capture a few of those more amusing stories…………..

It’s been a great season with great people all which contributes to making such a great Rugby Club and so don’t forget the AGM on Tuesday 16th at 2030…….

Skips/Finch

…..and the night before as the sun set, Polish workers downed their tools, City high flyers declined the regular after work drinks and Welsh men from the valleys put their sheep down, (mind you they both work in the City and have nothing to do with farming!!!) to prepare for the gathering of the first Vets 12/13 fixture.

……I picked up Gus who had only just got back in from another Friday corporate lunch and so he hung his head out of the window all the way with his jowls flapping in the breeze like a Saint Bernard on heat! Splints and Duncan text from Junction 7 of the M25 suggesting they might be late!
We arrived at Redingensians in good time and St Bernard had sobered up, only to realise his calf was not in good shape!!! With Barney arriving late from a more complex knitting class we were almost ready to go, though Duncan text from Junction 7 of the M25 suggesting they still might be late!

…..Fifteen good players and mates stepped on to that pitch at 3pm and a Magnanimous Team came away with heads held very high. We have learnt early on in the season that we must stamp our mark on the game in the first twenty minutes and with intensity.

……In the closing stages of the game Jonny went up for a high ball from the restart and clashed with the opposition catching his head and being knocked out for a short while, he fortunately came round quickly and couldn’t have been in safer hands than Dr Alex who held him steady and gave us all clear instructions before the Paramedics arrived. Within half an hour or a little more, Jonny was safely on his way to Kingston for a full check out and was later discharged with a clip around the ear from Mrs Spears for wasting everyone’s time!

Jonny is my Man of the Match for playing with a level of commitment to the end that never wavers and Alex is by far my Team Player of the day for reminding us all that playing and looking out for each other are the characters required to make a true team.

…..There were a few exceptions, namely Barney who continues to be plagued by young father duties, Splints who pulled a muscle whilst putting out the seasonal winter vase in the main formal dinning room and Barnaby who is simply waiting upon perfect playing conditions before he joins us for his debut game this season. On which point the athletic Alex Davey stepped up for his first game this season…………..more on that later.

……Duncan proudly posted photos on face book of his beer consumption; a scene that resembled a waste recycling plant in Scunthorpe and so has now taken up membership with the AA! Jose has picked up a nasty case of elephantiasis, which he is trying to convince us was from a stud scratch against Quins in December! We all know Jose to well and have come to the conclusion that he read my last match report with such intrigue, he decided to pay a visit to Madam VB’s boudoir…….but in Swansea!

……For some time now I have carried the heavy burden of being aware of Jose’s ‘extra curricular training activities’! Now for new readers amongst you, Jose is our Welsh Spaniard with the most authentic of Celtic accents and on Saturdays plays Centre, but all is not what it seems, as on Tuesday evenings and for some time now, Jose has been playing Wind Defence (WD) for the local ladies Netball team! Now, for some, we might regard this a highly committed ‘spade work’ with a clear strategic objective in mind, but this has gone for six months now and I (a connoisseur on these matters) tend to think no spade work is being done at all, worst still, to pick up an injury which precludes you from rugby selection and I quote……….”Hi Rich I'm unavailable. My calf went again - I've made it worse in fact. This could be me done for the season. Sorry mate”, is a most heinous crime! I hear the dog bowl ringing…………

.....Though starting with last weekend I have it on good authority, (and worryingly not a dream!) that an ex London Irish and self proclaimed Otago player, was serenading through the streets of Lanzarote wearing pink speedos and a gimp mask aided by the voice of our one and only singing Barney, whilst Eugene, ‘stop calling me Cilla Black’ Grimes looked on in disbelief!!!! Well done Si Curran sounds like a great stag weekend and I can’t wait till your next one!!!

……Jonny had just returned from an alleged business trip to Hong Kong and was keen to see if London offered an equally colourful nightlife, understandably his decadent curiosity led him to Duncan who is an authority on seediness’! Meanwhile Marek and Harley were on a different, yet equally underground quest, seeking out authentic looking British Passports, or at least permanent residency Visa’s!!
And so in true Hobbit style the four became ‘One’ and stumbled at the first hurdle in Old Compton Street…..Harley spotted in one of the late night shops an almost identical looking ‘VB’ , (new readers – see 20 October Match report!!!), and was convinced they must be related. And no sooner had Marek spoken there was a familiar Eastern European dialogue and so the Hobbits piled in to the establishment grinning in glee at the prospect of a new adventure!!!

…..Splints could now get his hands on some fast ball and unleash the backs, which thankfully was just as they had shaken off their handling deficiencies, which in the first half had led them to resemble a blind epileptic octopus on a stag night in Atlanta!!!!

…..Heavies are to be commended for not only being great sports on the field, but outstanding hosts in the bar afterwards. Many of our side said to me this was one of the best rugby weekends ever despite the score and with the warmth and hospitality afforded to us, it could just be that the mutual respect between our two esteemed Clubs rightly forged a stronger bond. So in my mind Heavies won the first half and we won second half, but the real winner was ‘rugby’ as friends and acquaintances were rekindled and made!

....So it only remains for me to close off this year with some seasonal tips!
If you are a Harrodian Vet, be sure to stuff your Bird properly and I know for many of you the Bird in question will have waited all year for this stuffing and for you to at least get this bit right, so literally……..step up to the plate……oh……… and stuff the right end!!!

See you all at Summer Touch starting in early June!