A pretty good weekend for the club last time out with the Vets getting their creaking bodies out for a run out against old friends and foes Richmond Heavies, coming out slightly the wrong side of the score 31-19. Two great results on Saturday saw our Men’s 1st XV get back to winning ways at Havant, coming out on top in a high scoring encounter 29-44, whilst the Outriders put in another impressive performance, winning 12-38 at Cobham.

On Sunday our 1st XV got their league season off to a winning start with an impressive away win at East London Ladies 26-43, even more impressive was the individual performance of Liv Ponsford, who notched up 6 tries and 4 conversions, a magnificent tour de force.
The match reports for the Men’s and Women’s 1st XVs and the Outriders are below for your delectation.

This weekend we have another 5 adult games, kicking off on Saturday when the Men’s 1st XV entertains Canterbury at Barn Elms. Before the game we are holding a 90’s players lunch which is combining with a Commercial Property lunch - if you want to come to the game and lunch, you can buy your tickets here:

Barnes v Canterbury

The Outriders are at home too, playing Weybridge Vandals, the Vets are at home too against Farnham, whilst the Occies travel to Kingston.

Please get down to Barn Elms on Saturday and cheer your heads off to support the Men’s 1st XV and the Outriders - they love it.

On Sunday, our Women’s 1st XV play Wasps in a cup game, the game against Wasps last season was a cracker, and one of our best wins so let’s get down there on Sunday and cheer the Women on please.

Back to the Men’s 1st XV crucial league game at home on Saturday against Canterbury. We have had some brilliant games against the City side from Kent, none more so than last year when the old war horse Rory Kassapian crashed over in the last play of the game to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat 29-31, much to the chagrin of the Canterbury players and supporters.

This season Canterbury have had a better start, winning last week 34-31 against Leicester Lions, and sitting in 6th place on 19 points whereas we are in 9th on 14 points. T
This game has all the hallmarks of another classic encounter between two talented teams, who both finished in the top 4 last season. With a rest week next week, our lads will be keen to close off this block of 7 initial games with a win, and we can already see that this year’s band of Barnow brothers has a brilliant bond. With over 50 players training regularly in the 1st XV squad, and a host of players out injured still, competition is strong in all positions and one thing is for sure, the lads will be very keen to put in a shift for what is expected to be our biggest crowd of the season so far.

Please get down and support all of the home teams this weekend. They feed off the Barnow passion!

Onwards and Upwards Barnow!

Michael “Rhino” Whitfield – President Barnes Rugby Club

Sunday 17th October Fixture
• Men’s 1st XV vs Canterbury Men’s 1st XV - 3pm KO
• Barnes Outriders vs Weybridge Vandals - 1.30pm KO
• Kingston vs Barnes Occies - 3pm KO
• Vets vs Farnham - 3pm KO

Sunday 18th October Fixture
• Barnes Women’s 1st XV vs Wasps 2:30pm KO -

East London Vixens 26 -43 Barnes Women’s 1st XV - words by Captain Kitty Robinson

Barnes take the first win of the season and Liv Ponsford scores 38 of the points!
On Sunday, Barnes Women 1XV finally kicked off their season with a first league game away at East London Vixens.

We beat them twice convincingly last season but realised soon after kick off that this was a vastly improved side and that this was going to be a tough game.

After an initial period of good defence, Barnes came away with the ball. The backs made good ground out wide, getting into the East London 22. A big carry from Aisha got Barnes within 5 metres of our own try line and a quick pick by Kitty got over the line.

Barnes were dominant in the scrums, creating a great platform for the backs. The ball was quickly moved through the hands to Liv on the right wing who couldn’t be caught, running in a try before converting it.

East London would not be beaten that easily and hit back hard. Barnes' tackles were not up to scratch and one of the big East London forwards got through for a try.

Into the second half, Barnes held possession but were pinned in East London’s half. The forwards hit up well with big carries from Lou and Cam. A great line by Holly opened up space for Liv who paced off down her wing scoring under the posts and converting her own try. She did this 3 more times over the next 15 minutes.

With Barnes tiring towards the end, East London capitalised on our mistakes and scored again.

Another great move by Holly with quick hands got the ball out to Liv in plenty of space, on the last play of the game, and she ran in a 60-minute try to end the game.

Final score - East London 26 - 43 Barnes

Forward of the match - Cam
Back of the match - Holly
Coaches Player - Liv Ponsford - she scored 38 of our 43 points!

Cobham 2nd XV 12 – 38 Barnes Outriders - words Jason Betteley

Outriders cruise to emphatic victory on the 4G at Cobham RFC

Barnes Outriders produced a professional display of attacking rugby to dismantle Cobham IIs 12-38 on Saturday, running in six tries in a performance that rarely looked in doubt from the opening exchanges.

Playing on Cobham RFC’s 4G pitch, the Outriders wasted little time announcing their intentions. Josh D crossed for the first try inside three minutes, setting the tone for an afternoon that would belong entirely to the Outriders.

Danny W added a second on 18 minutes and, with barely any time for Cobham to regroup, Alex S extended the lead further still when our driving maul bulldozed over the line and he touched down on 25 minutes. Three tries in the opening quarter told its own story: the Outriders were in no mood for a close contest.

Ben L slotted the conversion after Danny’s score to give the hosts an increasingly steep hill to climb as the sides went in at the interval. Cobham 0-17 Outriders.

If Cobham had any hopes of a second-half revival, Aiden S ended them almost immediately after the restart with an amazing sprint to the try line within the first 2 minutes of the 2nd half. Cobham IIs did manage to hit back though with a well worked try on 54 minutes, converted and they brought the scoreline briefly to life. But any thought of a home comeback was firmly stamped out by Freddie H, who dived over the line on 59 minutes with Ben L again converting.

Cobham grabbed a consolation score on 75 minutes before Jack S completed the fast ball along the back line, put on the after burners and scored in the final minute. Ben’s boot ended a perfect afternoon from the tee as he converted for the final time.

The final whistle brought confirmation of a thoroughly professional away-day performance:
Cobham 2s 12-38 Outriders; with tries spread across the team and the backroom work from Ben with the boot giving the scoreboard a satisfyingly polished look. Three Wins out of Three, so far!

Let’s hope this result builds momentum and confidence as we head into our next match on Saturday v Weybridge Vandals.

Havant Men’s 1st XV 29 – 44 Barnes Men’s 1st XV – words by Rhino

After a disappointing run of four successive losses, Barnes got the monkey off their back with an excellent win away at Havant.

Having lost on their 4G pitch last year, we were definitely staring down the barrel but and excellent first half, which saw us score 4 tries to lead 7-24.

Try scores in that first period were the pocket rocket, Paul O’Dell, elder statesman Giles Bromley Martin and lock Caelan Stanton, who crashed over from one yard! Fly Half Jack Park also slotted a penalty to accompany his three conversions.

The lead gave us a good cushion to build on in the second half, but Havant had other ideas, scoring two quick converted tries to make it squeaky bum time at 19-24.

But three further tries from Milo, Conor Cross, who played his first game in three years after finishing at Loughborough and then Jack Park at the death, secured the victory, despite two further scores by the home team, running out 29-44 winners.

The player of the match was Joe Henry, backing up a good performance from last week with another one, Joe’s go forward game for the team as a key ball carrier is always important and he also works hard on his defence.

All in all, we scored seven tries, mainly through good attacking rugby, which is a testament to Josh Davies’s attack coaching, which is beginning to click nicely with its rapid tempo, which definitely suits our players and is appealing to our supporters too!

Director of Rugby, Jack Heald, said: “Next week is the final game in this seven-game block. Our performances haven’t been as consistent as we would have liked. Our only goal next week is to get 4-5 points against Canterbury, which leads in a well-needed week off. We where far from perfect against Havant, and our set piece isn’t where we need it to be, this and a number of areas need significant improvement against Canterbury IF we’re to come away with a W”.