A very poignant weekend for the club as we supported Rugby Against Cancer for the 2nd year running. We had a brilliant day supporting Rugby Against Cancer, it was Barnes Rugby Club at its best. RAC is a grassroots charity helping patients and families through their cancer journey. It’s small, it’s impactful, and it connects the game we love to an illness that affects 1 in 2 people in their lifetime. So far, we are on track to match last year's total raised of £3,500 and it would be great to go even bigger. If you can give anything please do, every penny goes directly to someone who really needs it.

You can donate here:

https://www.barnowcares.com/rugbyagainstcancer
Come on Barnow, let's do it!

On the pitch our Men’s 1st XV came unstuck against the likely league winners Bury St Edmunds, it was a tough encounter which ultimately we lost 24-50, our Occies also struggled against fierce rivals London Media, going down 52-36.

The good news was the Men’s 2nd XV double the double home and away against London Welsh, winning 33-21 whilst the Women’s 1st XV was magnificent in victory 0-46 against Battersea Ironsides, again doing the double home and away against our close neighbours.
The Juniors had a myriad of excellent performances to round off an altogether splendid Barnow weekend on and off the pitch.

Match reports for all the games are below.

Easter Bunny has come early.
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We thought this could be a great gift idea for partners and families.

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This weekend’s rugby
On Saturday the Outriders travel to Belsize Park with a 12:30 kick off whilst on Sunday both our Women’s 1st and 2nd XVs are in action, both away, the 1s at Bec Belles and the 2s at Wimbledon.

Have a good Easter everyone, and thank you for making Barnes Rugby Club so special, you make it possible.

Onwards and Upwards Barnow.

For Rugby! For Friendship! For Life!

Michael “Rhino” Whitfield – President Barnes Rugby Club

Juniors update - by Juniors Chairman Boris Pomroy

Another big weekend for Barnes RFC, with the whole youth section out in force and representing the club brilliantly.

Our Minis led the way, supporting Rugby for Cancer on Sunday before heading straight into the Surrey Values Festival. It was fantastic to see every age group involved, with more festivals still to come as we build towards what promises to be two brilliant tours for our young players.

On the pitch, there were some standout performances:

Under 12 Boys Finals
A dominant display from Barnes A, beating Richmond 60–0. Barnes B were involved in a thrilling 35–35 draw with Teddington.

Under 13 Boys
A tough finals day at Esher, with both teams losing their matches. The Oak team impressed by topping their pool and finishing with the silver trophy in the Gold Final.

Under 14 Boys: A brilliant day for both teams. The Bs narrowly lost 22–24 to Richmond, while the As secured a strong 40–10 win over Cobham. Both sides played some of their best rugby of the season, showing real character and resilience.

Under 15 Boys
A challenging league match, losing 0–45. A reminder of the importance of consistency, but with a final still to come, there is plenty to play for.

Under 12 Girls: Lost in a thrilling match against a strong Reeds cluster to finish third in the pool and are building well towards finals day in April

U14 Girls: Outstanding 68–0 win over Richmond, securing a place in the Gold Final at The Stoop on Monday 13 April. A huge occasion for the squad and we look forward to seeing as many people as possible there to cheer the girls on

U16 Girls: Excellent win over Dorking 55–38 in a high-scoring match. Finals weekend ahead this Sunday against a cluster formed of Ironsies, S&E and Old Ruts.

Across all age groups, the commitment, teamwork and spirit on show were outstanding. A huge thank you to all coaches, volunteers and parents who made the weekend happy,

Barnes 2nd XV 33 - 21 London Welsh 2nd XV - words by Coach Tommy Burkett

The final weekend before a well-earned break saw both Barnes 1s and 2s strutting their stuff at home.

The 2s had a proper local derby on their hands and were eyeing up the double over London Welsh – never a bad way to head into a break.

We kicked off and, as is tradition in these fixtures, it was about as tidy as a teenager’s bedroom. Welsh pinned Barnes back early doors with a relentless kicking game that would’ve made a Wimbledon groundsman proud. Eventually, the pressure told – a loose moment, a sharp pick-up from their 8 five metres out, and over they went. 0–7.

But Barnes weren’t in the mood to play supporting cast. Enter Ian – the young Irish assassin – who decided subtlety was overrated. Spotting a gap the size of the M25 on a quiet Sunday, he sniped down the blindside from the Welsh 10-metre line with a cheeky pick-and-go and dotted down untouched. 7–7, and game on.

The rest of the half was a bit of a stalemate, both sides enjoying their fair share of ball but defending like their lives depended on it. Neither team could quite unlock the other… until the final few minutes, when suddenly both decided defence was optional. Two quick-fire tries later and we were all square at 14–14 going into the break.

But the real highlight of the half? Pure theatre. A rogue football landed bang in the middle of the pitch mid-game. Without hesitation, a Welsh prop channelled his inner Sunday league enforcer and absolutely leathered it in the opposite direction of the footballers. Think classic John Smith’s advert: “Have it!”

Cue outrage. The footballers, clearly not used to such hostility, attempted to chirp back. Watching them try to string together coherent sentences while giving it large to a pack of rugby forwards was, frankly, outstanding entertainment. You had to be there.

Second half, and Barnes came out with a bit more purpose. Sustained pressure, territory in the Welsh half, and the forwards getting properly stuck in – the kind of graft that makes front rows emotional. The pressure eventually cracked Welsh open, and a slick backs move saw Charlie slice through the line like a hot knife through butter to score.

Momentum firmly with Barnes now, and it wasn’t long before another well-worked team try was finished off by Robbo, who did the polite thing and accepted the invitation to score.
To their credit, Welsh didn’t roll over. They kept kicking, kept competing, and managed to claw one back to keep things interesting. But Barnes had the final say, as the forwards rumbled over (as they’ll remind you, all tries count the same) before Matt Carvell put the cherry on top to seal it.

Full time: Barnes 33 – London Welsh 21

Job done, double secured, and off into the break with smiles all round… and possibly a few footballers still muttering about it somewhere

Battersea Ironsides 2nd XV 0 - 46 Barnes Women 1st XV - words by Co-Captain Kitty Robinson
On Sunday, Barnes Women’s 1XV travelled to face close neighbours Battersea Ironsides 2XV.

In stark contrast to the reverse fixture at Barnes Elms back in December, this time the teams were greeted by bright sunshine.

Having secured a 38–5 win earlier in the season; Barnes came into the match aiming to deliver another strong performance and wasted no time in doing so. Scarlett opened the scoring within the first five minutes with a well-taken try, quickly followed by Liv Ponsford, who finished smartly down the opposite wing.

The pace of the Barnes backs continued to trouble Ironsides, with Noor crossing for the third try, converted by Liv. Much of this attacking success was built on powerful carries from the forwards, creating space out wide that Barnes exploited clinically. Liv added two more tries before half-time to cap off a dominant first-half display.

Despite the scoreline, Ironsides grew into the game and mounted sustained pressure, pinning Barnes on their own try line for nearly ten minutes. A series of penalties and a yellow card for Ash, following an attempted intercept, added to the challenge. However, Barnes held firm in what Head Coach Ben later described as the best defensive effort he had seen all season.

Barnes resumed control in the second half, with the forwards asserting dominance at the scrum, despite only having the power of 7 women after Sasha was shown a yellow card early in the second half. The work of the forwards provided a solid platform for the backs.
Scarlett added her second try of the match, while Liv completed her hat-trick soon after. Jess P then broke through the middle for a well-worked runaway try, before Noor rounded off the scoring with her second of the game.

Barnes finished convincing winners, with a final score of 46–0.

The forward of the match was awarded to Aisha for her dominance in the front row break through carries.

The back of the match was awarded to Noor for her hard running crash balls and huge tackles in defence.

The coaches awarded their player of the match to Kitty for strong work in the scrum and for breaking the gain line in attack.

Barnes Men’s 1st XV 24-50 Bury St Edmunds 1st XV - words by Rhino.

Perfect conditions set up a fast and furious encounter. Bury were more physical and robust in attack and defence than the home team and ran away deserved winners 24-50.

It started well for Barnes, Ollie Walker scoring immediately from kick off, but Bury responded straight away with Trystan Andrews scoring and the metronomic pocket battleship Ben Penfold scoring the first of his six conversions.

Bury didn’t take long to extend their lead to 5-14, Alex Earnshaw scoring after intercepting a Barnes attack.

Barnes took a quick line out, allowing Joe Henry to burst up the wing and offload for Mark McDermott to score. With Elliott Haydon converting, Barnes trailed 12-14 but a smart set piece move outfoxed Bury with Dan Robertshaw slicing through a gap created in an attacking line out. Barnes led for the first and only time in the contest 17-14after 25 minutes. The lead was short-lived as Man of the Match Matt Hemma scored the first of his brace of tries and Penfold converted to give Bury a 17-21 lead with half time approaching. As Barnes lost concentration, Bury’s Billy Reid scored right on half time to go into the break well ahead 17-28.

Barnes needed to score first to have a chance of making the second half competitive, but it was the outstanding Hemma that scored five minutes in, Penfold adding another notch on his belt as Bury extended their lead to 17-35 With Barnes staring down the barrel, Bury piled on the pain with Andrew Denham scoring another try duly converted for Bury to lead 17- 42 after 55 minutes.

Barnes drove the ball into Bury’s 22 on a rare sortie, and from a well-executed line out the ball was popped to Joe Henry to score, Haydon slotted the conversion and a glimmer of hope shone dimly as Barnes reduced the deficit to 24 - 42, before it was snuffed out by Penfold, who also added a penalty to his excellent afternoon’s haul.

As the game reached the end, Olliver Walliker scoring in the last minute, to make the final score 24-50, Penfold showed he was indeed human and hit the post to ruin his perfect performance.

Jack Heald, Barnes Director of Rugby said “Bury are the best outfit I have seen in a couple of years in National 2, they were too strong for us and look well set to win the league”