The Occies took part in a rip-roaring encounter at Battersea Ironsides and went down 41-27 in the process whilst our Men’s 2nd XV took part in even more of a rip-roarer, drawing 42-42 with the young bucks from Oxford University out for a frolic at Barn Elms.

The Colts bounced back on Sunday after the previous week’s disappointment against Chobham and won convincingly away at Old Cranleighians 8-47.

This weekend our Men’s 1st XV will be hoping to get back to winning ways with a trip to bottom placed side Oxford Harlequins, If there is one thing this highly competitive league tells us week in, week out, each game, against each side is highly unpredictable so we will b not taking their position lightly, that would be both disrespectful and unwise - I know the lads are really sore after the last two games against the 1st and 2nd placed teams in the league and they will go into this game fully focussed and ready to rumble!

Our Barnes Outriders entertain Dorking 3rd XV XV at Barn Elms on Saturday with a 2pm kick off.

Best of luck to both teams this weekend, onwards and upwards Barnow!

For Rugby! For Friendship! For Life!

Michael “Rhino” Whitfield - President Barnes Rugby Club

Congratulations and thank you to Michelle Morton, our Roebuck Estates Barnes Champion of the Month.
Michelle is one of those who works relentlessly to ensure our club is a fun, safe and enjoyable place to be. As well as being our Safeguarding Officer, she’s a committed Under 15s coach, bringing energy, care, and standards to everything she does. Her passion for rugby, helped by her Kiwi roots, is second-to-none.

The award was presented at the Vets lunch. There has been no word as to whether the bottle made it home.

Barnes RFC is incredibly lucky to have Michelle. Thank you for everything you give to the club.

Barnes Women’s 1st XV 51 - 15 Thamesians - words by Jess MacLean-Wright
Barnes Women secured a strong 52–15 victory over Thamesians in a hard-fought encounter. Despite building a solid lead in the first half, the match proved a tough contest, with Thamesians switching on in the second half and bringing increased intensity.

Barnes’ dominance up front was a key factor, with the scrum providing a powerful platform that allowed the backs space to attack and convert opportunities. This forward momentum paid dividends throughout the match, keeping Barnes on the front foot.

A standout performance came from Liv, who crossed over the try line three times and secured 6 conversions to help seal the win and cap off an impressive team display.
Forward of the match went to Aishia and Back of the match to Zoe.

Barnes Men’s 2nd XV v Oxford University - words by Coach Tommy Burkett
This past Saturday saw the high-flying Barnes 2s welcome a brand-new opponent to the fixture list in the shape of Oxford University. A young, eager outfit who arrived full of energy, legs and optimism the sort of team that still stretches properly and believes the warm-up matters.

We were quietly confident that James McCarthy’s superior rugby brain (and general life experience) would have them second-guessing themselves before the first scrum was packed.

Barnes once again fielded a back line absolutely dripping in talent, marshalled by James Crabtree and aided by our Bath University speed merchants Rory Crumb and Jake Williams, whose legs clearly hadn’t yet realised it was mid-season. Club legend Len Ashcroft Leigh a man whose surname alone could have earned him a scholarship found himself in the starting XV due to some questionable transport logistics elsewhere. He would later go on to complete a full 80 minutes, which remains a closely guarded secret from his wife.

Oxford, fresh-faced and keen, started quickly and pinned Barnes deep in our own half. They moved the ball well, chased everything and generally looked like a team who had all met each other sober. The wind made life difficult, and our backline endured a prolonged bout of kick tennis, until the Oxford 15 perhaps distracted by a forthcoming dissertation missed touch. Jake Williams gratefully collected the ball, applied gas, and wandered over for the easiest try he’ll score all year.

Barnes 7 – Oxford 0

Confidence surged and James McCarthy, floating several inches above the turf after three weeks in Thailand, delivered the second. A beautifully worked set-piece lineout saw him glide through the defence, almost recreating Pat’s effort from the previous week. Straight under the posts, extras added, and a few Oxford heads beginning to tilt.

Barnes 14 – Oxford 0

Naturally, Barnes then remembered the golden rule of rugby: never concentrate immediately after scoring. A fumbled restart gifted Oxford a scrum. Despite a dominant front row featuring Ethan Hurst and Jai, our over-enthusiasm cost us. An early shove, a free kick, a quick tap, and Oxford were suddenly back in the game youthful legs doing youthful leg things.

Barnes 14 – Oxford 7

On 30 minutes, James Crabtree’s shift was complete and on came Ian Leonard. The cries of “super sub” rang out from the mighty Barnes crowd of ten as Ian sliced through the Oxford defence right on the stroke of half-time to score a superb solo try, leaving several Oxford players looking like they’d just been told it was a compulsory 9am lecture.

Half-time: Barnes 21 – Oxford 7

The half-time chat was brief and to the point. Kas took control. Len was blowing heavily. Will Shanley had taken a knock, news which filled Len with unfiltered joy as it meant another 40 minutes of grappling with young Oxford forwards who were still discovering their adult strength. Francis was deployed into the front row, Ethan shifted into the second row, and the Barnes scrum now outweighed Oxford’s by what felt like a small family hatchback. Unsurprisingly, Barnes didn’t lose a single scrum for the rest of the game.

The second half began and Barnes once again switched off, allowing Oxford enthusiastic, fearless and possibly unaware of the concept of game management back into the contest with a try and conversion.

Barnes 21 – Oxford 14

What followed was a scrappy 15 minutes featuring scrum penalties, missed kicks to touch and some enthusiastic tackling from both sides. Oxford, to their credit, refused to go away. Ian Leonard grabbed his second, quickly followed by Malcolm Nimmo crashing over in the corner to give Barnes some breathing room.

Barnes 33 – Oxford 14

But youth is relentless. Oxford struck back with two quick tries, running everything from everywhere and clearly deciding that defence was optional for all concerned.

Barnes 33 – Oxford 28

With ten minutes to play, Rich Paddock entered for a cameo shift and immediately punched a hole in the line before offloading to young pup Matthew Carvell, who finished neatly under the posts. Barnes could practically taste the cold beers already being poured.
Oxford, however, hadn’t read the script.

The young scholars threw the ball around with reckless abandon, punished our errors and, with the final kick of the game, crossed once more to level the scores. A last-gasp conversion sealed it youthful optimism triumphing over experience, guile and several aching joints.

What a contest. What a game.

Final score: Barnes 42 – Oxford University 42

Man of the Match: Matt Carvell

Old Cranleighians Colts 8 - 47 Barnes Colts - words by Coach Paul Spencer
Barnes Colts took on Old Cranleighians in Esher on Sunday, it was not only a must win, but a must win with a bonus point game. The Colts were still smarting from a 15-25 loss to Chobham, which seemed to fuel the team's motivation.
The rain and mud dictated the style of rugby and throughout the game Jac, Joe and George managed the conditions brilliantly. This was only matched by some excellent kick and chasing from the whole side. Once Barnes found themselves in the Old Cranleighians’s half, they camped there and started to build a score. There were some outstanding performances from a number of players, but special mentions should go to winger Ricky, lock Harvey and lock (and club man) Henry. All of whom were amongst the scorers.
Barnes came out eventual winners 8-47. Barnes finished second in their pool, so will have a home game on 8th February which will be a quarter final.
Barnes Men’s 1st XV 15-21 Oundle RFC - words by Rhino
With our biggest crowd of the season, Barnes continued their recent history of being so close but yet so far, just coming up short again against top-flying Oundle, 15-21 in the end.
This game was all about the Oundle’s forwards versus Barne’s agile backs in this game, but it was the visitors who out-muscled Barnes for the second time this season. Ultimately, our scrum was not a match for the seasoned visitors, who too often drove us back, removing any advantage Barnes might have had on their put in, and gaining penalties that punished the home team.
The first quarter was a game of attrition played in the midfield, Oundle breaking the deadlock after 25 minutes, prop Harry Morley scoring the first of 3 tries by the visitor’s forwards on the dat. Full back Ben Young slotted the extras to establish the 0-7 lead.
Barnes bounced straight back, the ball moving slickly along the back line, allowing try machine Jacques Birch to cruise over. 5-7 on half hour.
On the brink of half time, Barnes hooker Adam Musa seized an opportunity and seared through the Oundle defence to score under the posts, Will Nicholson converted to give the home team a 12-7 lead at the break.
The second half was nip and tuck, again fought in no man’s land between the 22’s until Grant Snelling, Oundle’s hooker, scored another close-range effort, which Young converted to give the visitors the lead 12-14 after 68 minutes.
Against the run of play, Oundle scored again with under 5 minutes to go, Snelling scoring his 2nd try, and Young again converting to lead 12-21.
Barnes huffed and puffed but could not blow down the Oundle house, although Nicholson did slot a magnificent penalty from the halfway line to bring Barnes to within 5 points at full time.
Jack Heald, Barnes Director of Rugby said “Ultimately we were outgunned in the scrum, but I am immensely proud of the lads, this was probably one of our best performances of the season, that’s two good performances in two weeks, unfortunately we played the 1st and 2nd placed teams and came up short both times”
Barnes will rue that fact that they squandered the chance to take a number of kickable penalties awarded in the second half, but this was a great game of rugby between two tough competitors that Oundle just deserved to win.
Barnes Women’s 1st XV 51 - 15 Thamesians - words by Jess MacLean-Wright
Barnes Women secured a strong 52–15 victory over Thamesians in a hard-fought encounter. Despite building a solid lead in the first half, the match proved a tough contest, with Thamesians switching on in the second half and bringing increased intensity.
Barnes’ dominance up front was a key factor, with the scrum providing a powerful platform that allowed the backs space to attack and convert opportunities. This forward momentum paid dividends throughout the match, keeping Barnes on the front foot.