It’s a Prop thing……

Marek once stood up at the front of a coach on the return leg of a Sinners RFC match and recounted a hilarious joke of ‘two cats’…….not many people have the ability to turn a rowdy, jolly, (we won) suitably liquid rugby squad into something that resembled a funeral gathering with a punch line that left 28 players utterly confused!!! So instead I give you ‘two fat lads’……….more later!

You will all be pleased to know that my self improvement regime has been going well over the last few weeks, other than the fact one his having immense difficulty with the concept of ‘sorry’ and how often this phrase seems to now have cropped up into daily conversation. Though of course I know what’s good for me and have quickly moved on to the grovelling stage, though we are some way off from the most fragile of subjects which would require careful identification of a place to hide rugby boots – keep you posted!

Three weeks off is far too long a break even for the battle tiered Harrodian Vets, though by Tuesday it looked perilously close to having to cancel the game as we only had 8 players available. The usual excuses existed for the lack of enthusiasm ……Corporate gluttony had Springy, Sean G, Stu and of course Duncan all heading off to Twickenham, Clappy had food poisoning from the East Coast mainline breakfast buffet, (the posts he send from FB about being in LA or Cannes are all a figment of his imagination!!) and of course two fat lads were on a their way to discover their Welsh origins! So inbetween apologising and grovelling, I sent out a ‘call to arms’ email to the boys and by Thursday we were at 14 confirmed and just needed to find a Prop.

Easy you would think with no 1s and 3s game being played! Surely there must be a Prop who fancies a run out, you know, to keep fitness up and show willing for the selectors etc! By Friday we were still searching for a Prop and regrettably the 2s game got cancelled……rich pickings I thought! But it was not to be……there was clearly something about Skips that meant no Prop in the entire Club wanted to pack down with me…….gee had they all spoken to my Girlfriend and taken her side too!

But thankfully late into Friday night it was confirmed the unknown friend of the well known Russ Barnes, JP, would play for us.
Sunshine greeted us on Saturday and with an early 1300 KO cleverly organised by our oppo Old Cranleighan’s, we excelled at being fantastically disorganised arriving in dribs and drabs between the official meet time of 12pm and up till about 12.58pm. New faces such as big Al Dawson made their introductions; the bearded face of Spence who had come to vent his fury of witnessing apathy take grip of the senior squad and to all our surprise, Harley strolled in and was not even on the team sheet and Barney made his much awaited return to BRFC after being lost in suburbia!

We took to the pitch and just about squeezed in a warm up before the kick off and had 15 on the field which is all that mattered at that stage.

OC’s were in the main a larger outfit than us and were certainly well up for this fixture, receiving our kick and keen to take the ball up the middle. In fact to be honest I really did feel that with our woeful organisation and throw together side, we could be in for a tough fixture here!

Though we quickly settled in to a rhythm with some excellent defence which essentially choked OC’s and contained them to their own half for long spells.

At the scrum we were up against a very strong front row and for JP, perhaps too strong! Had he not left it to two seconds before kick-off to tell me that he’d not played for five years, I might have suggested he not play at loose head. However, after the second of third scrum his opposition tight head helped JP realise why perhaps 5 more years rest was needed.

So with only to subs JC, our hardened, tough, gnarly Hooker looked at me and then looked at Harley (a No 7!!) who was trotting across to replace JP for an imminent scrum and said, “I’m not playing Prop, Harley can”!! Of course Harley is Kiwi and with so much have Mcaw blood in him and thus he just got on with it and patiently took on board all the helpful technique tips JC now started to offer up!!!

We rucked really well in phases and created some very fast ball that enabled huge holes to open up. Slats in particular, I thought had an excellent game and often doesn’t get the recognition he deserves! Sorry Slats….. See……I can do it!
But of course where we dominated was in the lineout! Personally I think it was the lifting, but some credit must go to new boy Al Dawson who doesn’t jump, but flys so high and won ball effortlessly. He had his work cut out in the row as being behind me is never easy and in the loose he had a good few gallops – welcome to Barnes Al! Rob Allen was also, as usual, very effective in winning our ball and stealing some OC ball too.

Back at the scrum, JC did eventually swap over to Loose head and Harley hooked, but later on that changed and we tried Beans at Loose Head and I cant remember who was hooking next to me!! Maybe my new deodorant was keeping everyone away from me!
When the ball was away from the scrum in the loose, we looked good and started to build some real good attacking phases. Spence vented that anger well, Russ Barnes is Scott Gibbs and the versatile Nicky B had a great game in the No 9, (slim fit version!) shirt!
In fact every single player was outstanding and we came together really well as a very effective unit. OC’s despite great physical strength and determination simply had very few attaching opportunities and when they did we defended really well and very patiently, conceding our lowest penalty count for some time!

There is no ‘I’ in ‘team’ has always stuck with me and what Harrodians achieved on Saturday was the simple result of recognising that humble fact and I know Spence will take that message back to the senior end of the Club to ensure its rekindled.

The score does not do justice to OC’s and my highlight has to be the warm friendly embrace of my opposition Loose Head who at age 35 and near 22 stone ensured Sunday, for me, was with a few aches. We chatted for a while about past battles, family, friends and our special clubs. Yet our contest during the scrum was nothing compared to the warm respect and friendship we shared in an equally inviting Club House as a young England gained a win over the Wallabies. It could just be me, it could just be rugby, but I reckon in fact it’s just a Prop thing. And the ‘two fat lads’…..yeah that’s just a Prop thing too!!

Skips/Finche

The side that played was:

1. JP , JC, Harley, Beany…..any one else…?
2. JC
3. Skips
4. Big Al Dawson
5. Beans
6. Rob Allen
7. Deno
8. Russ
9. Nick B
10. Marek
11. Nick H
12. Morgs
13. Barney
14. Si Curran
15. Slatts
16. Spence

Scores:
One try each – Slatts, Russ, Morgs, Si Flying Horse Curran
Pens – Marek x 2