What a start to the season for the club!
Last week the club got off to a good start, with five adult sides taking the pitch, including both the Men’s and Women’s 1st XV playing. The Men won a tough game against Canterbury 26-14 and the Women in an equally tough match at Marlow, winning 21-34 under lights on Friday. This weekend it is the turn of the Women’s 2nd XV to take to the pitch, away against Wasps on Sunday. The Occies made an early season appearance against London Media, despite a valiant effort, they just fell short 24-33, but a good outing nevertheless!

There was also the debut of our new Academy side, Barnes Outriders, who had a tough first encounter against the seasoned pros of Battersea Ironsides 2nd XV, ending up on the wrong side of a 45-19 result. They will be older and wiser for that experience in advance this weekend’s home game against Richmond Normans.

The match reports are below for your enjoyment.

Last weekend Barnes Youth also kicked off the season this weekend. On Saturday, the Minis were rampaging everywhere at BEST, filling the pitches. The sun was out, but what really stood out was seeing so many kids back into rugby, full of energy. Parents lined the touchlines with coffees, catching up after the break and watching their kids get stuck in for another year. It really felt like the club was back.

On Sunday, it was the Juniors’ turn. Training focused on fitness, skills, and lots of ball work. With the first round of matches approaching, the players got stuck in, pushed each other, and demonstrated the effort, teamwork and sense of enjoyment that will count when the games begin.

This weekend the Men’s 1st XV play their second home game in a row. This one will be equally tough as last weeks’ opener, against Henley Hawks. Last season it was honours even, with us losing at Barn Elms 19-21 but winning at their place 22-32. Who knows what will happen on Saturday. It is far too early in the season to assess either club’s performance levels, or the depth and quality of each team, particularly as both clubs will have players unavailable, and at different levels of fitness. However, one thing we do know for certain is that the games between us are always close encounters, and heavily contested, and this one will be no different.

If you are around this weekend please do come down and watch one of the three homes games on Saturdays, when we also celebrate Ladies Day at the Club.

Onwards and Upwards Barnow!

For Rugby! For Friendship! For Life!

Michael “Rhino” Whitfield – President Barnes Rugby Club

Marlow Ladies 21-34 Barnes Women's 1st XV - report by Captain Jess MacLean-Wright
After a summer of 7’s and 10’s Barnes were ready and raring to go for their first 15’s pre season fixture.

Under the Friday night lights Barnes women played against a tough Marlow opposition.

With a quick start and some pace along the wing Marlow were first to put points on the board. Following this with some great hands Barnes equalised.

Big carries from the forwards drawing in defence gave our backs heaps of space to practice all their moves and then the tries started to come in.

The match ended in a win for Barnes 34-21. It was a great win and a good way to start the season.

Forward of the match was Fiona, back of the match (scoring a cool hat-trick) was Beans and coaches player was Beth.

We're back in action next week for our first game of the Junior cup campaign away at Wasps. Let's go Barnes!

Battersea Ironsides 2nd XV 45 - 19 Barnes Outriders - words by Academy Chair Jason Betteley
Barnes Outriders First Foray into the London Premiership. On Saturday it was the first ever match for the brand-new Barnes Outriders, the new Barnow Men’s 3rd XV squad.

The Outriders is a very important part of the “bridge” that all of us have all been building from Youth to Senior rugby at Barnes RFC. The core is made up of the former Barnow Youth players who are now too old to play for our Cup Winning U22’s (e.g. Jake, Oscar, Jack etc). They are joined by as many of the U22’s that are available on a week-by-week basis (i.e. those living in the local areas and those who fancy popping back from Uni during the season to play the odd game on a Saturday). They will be supplemented by new recruits (especially mates of players in this group) as well as players from the wider Barnes Men’s squads who need match time.

To give prominence to the importance of our new 3rd XV squad, we decided to give them their own name, and we followed the same pattern as the other two squads that have names: the Originals (the Vets) and the Occies (the occasional, non-training team). We decided to call this squad “The Outriders”. It’s a special name as it implies a number of relevant key qualities: vanguard, leadership, protection, support, speed, agility, initiative and daring! Hope you all like it.

Turning to our first match of the season, it certainly was a daring match that needed all of that speed, agility and initiative. The Outriders have been entered into the London Premiership with strong teams from both the local area and slightly further away, including Battersea Ironsides, Richmond, Belsize Park, Horsham, Worthing etc. Our first match was against Ironsides 2s at their gaff. Ironsides looked like they were packed with experience and maturity; we, on the other hand, had oodles of wonderful, infectious youthful confidence, even from Barnow’s very own living legend Prop that is Frank the Tank – he fitted right in with the “kids” and showed them how to do it by playing the full 80 and gave our Front Row a real edge!! We’re hoping that Frank will now be in for the duration!

The Outriders started strong and with fleet of foot, battling constantly with everything that Ironsides could throw at us. After 30mins it was still 0-0 but that was only because for the first time ever Jack Seymour decided to be kind and pass (a woeful) ball at the 5m line rather than do his usual and continue running to the try line! But then after 30 mins of ferocious combat, the tries started to come: Henry Wallace (debut men’s match and FR Prop) scored first with a lovely pick up from the back of the ruck and stormed over – a nice conversion from Charlie Norton. It was only minutes later that Ironsides came straight back at us and made it 7-7 and just before HT Ironsides managed to grab another try to make it 12-7.

In the second half The Outriders were strong and determined and came out with pace and strength with Jack Seymour (thankfully) reverting to type and properly showing the opposition how a skilful fullback can destroy a defensive line – 12-12 after 50 minutes!! It was at this point that I thought youth was going to outweigh maturity! How wrong I was … Unfortunately, we hadn’t accounted for injuries, late nights and losing our shape. Ironsides demonstrated that “experience” and “game sense” remain key attributes in Men’s rugby.
They knew what to do and how to do it and boy did they put on a few tries in quick succession, scoring 5 tries to take it up to 45-12 with 10 mins to go. But then, out of nowhere, these youthful warriors, led by Jake Shaw as Skipper and Tom “Frank the Tank” McCarthur in the pack put on a finale to make this writer smile!! We put the pressure on through the middle of the park, brought all of their defence in tight and then ran a series of short, fast line breaks, bringing Freddie McCormack into the attack with his speed and strength to get through for a wonderful final try, converted by Oscar Wainman.
Final score Battersea Ironsides 45-19 Barnes Outriders.

Our thanks go to Battersea Ironsides 2nd XV for hosting, for showing us how it needs to be done and for giving us the opportunity to play our first match as The Outriders. Thanks also for their post-match hospitality. Despite the scoreline, this writer was really proud of these lads. We all decided not to focus on the score but to focus on the fact that they came together as unit, fought hard and played (for the most part) as a team. Onwards to this Saturday (13 Sept): The Outriders are at Home against Richmond Normans!! KO 1:30pm

Barnes Men’s 1st XV 26-14 Canterbury RFC - words by Rhino
Barnes deservedly won a scrappy opening game encounter 26-14, their forwards on balance having the upper hand in the tight and the loose.

With the early encounters cagey, it was Canterbury who settled first, pressurising the Barnes defence, which held firm against the early onslaught.

The first quarter was played largely between the 22’s, pretty scrappy fare to be honest with a smattering of errors from both teams.

A poor line out by an excellent kick from the visitors saw Barnes go from attacking the line to defending own, Canterbury aided with a further 10 metres which put them near enough to the Barnes line to drive over to break the deadlock after 25 minutes, the try scored by Eoin O’Donoghue and converted by Frank Reynolds to give the City side a 0-7 lead.
This score stung the home side into action and Barnes began to play in the Canterbury 22 with more purpose, resulting in a maul which half the back line joined in to drive Daniel Robertshaw over the line. Elliott Haydon converted to make the score 7-7 after 30 minutes.
With more urgency and physicality now in their game, Barnes turned the screw in a maul near the Canterbury line, once again proving too powerful, Robertshaw getting his second try of the game with two minutes of the half left. With the conversion missed Barnes led 12-7 at the break.

Sloppy defence five minutes into the second saw crash over under the posts for an easy score, the conversion a formality, Canterbury regained the lead after 44 minutes 12-14 with Hary Sloane scoring, and Reynolds converting the try. Barnes bounced straight back, their straight back, the forwards again muscling over with Robertshaw securing a debut hattrick and Haydon adding the extras to retake the lead 19-14 with 30 minutes left.

There was much more fluency from the Barnes forwards now, retaining possession through multiple pick and drives, moving relentlessly towards the Canterbury line.

With fatigue creeping in, the number of mistakes made by both sides increased too, Barnes missing several lineouts and Canterbury missing targets on their passing. One of those loose passes in their own 22 ended up in the arms of a Barnes back and, with the home side’s forwards rumbling on, Canterbury were too tired to resist and Robertshaw got his fourth try scored with five minutes left. Haydon slotted the extras to make it 26-14 to the home team.

A word about the outstanding refereeing by Peter Buchanan. He was calm, clear and patient, explaining the new laws with refreshing clarity. It is not often a ref gets the plaudits, but Buchanan definitely deserves them for his performance today.

Barnes Men’s 2nd XV 24-19 Blackheath 2nd XV - words by Coach Tom Burkett
The sun decided to make a rare appearance, setting the stage for what promised to be a proper ding-dong between two old rivals. Blackheath had done the double over Barnes last season – home and away – and let’s just say the lads had not forgotten. Revenge was firmly on the menu, and Thursday’s training session had apparently solved everything from lineout calls to the correct temperature of the post-match pints.

With a squad boasting returning heroes from the physio’s table, a sprinkling of youth, and a few shiny new recruits, Barnes kicked off proceedings. Within seconds, back-row enforcer Malcolm Nimmo announced his return by flattening a Blackheath player so hard the poor lad is probably still trying to locate his ribs. The forwards swarmed like caffeine-fuelled bees, Blackheath panicked, went off their feet, and the referee happily obliged with a penalty.

Up stepped Mark McDermott, whose right boot is as dependable as your nan’s fruitcake at Christmas, and he duly parked the ball in the corner. Skipper James McCarthy, never shy of centre stage, called for a new lineout move straight out of the Barnes playbook. Caelan Stanton rose like a giraffe on a trampoline, snaffled the ball, and the pack rumbled forward with a rolling maul of such precision you’d think it had been choreographed by the Royal Ballet. Over went Captain McCarthy for the opener, and McDermott slotted the extras like it was a training drill.

Blackheath, not ones to sit quietly, replied with three tries of their own, but Barnes weren’t done. Enter Matt Branfield, who found a gap the size of a London bus, put the hammer down, and dotted down under the sticks to keep the boys in the hunt.
Then came a moment of pure artistry. The forwards had battered the Blackheath line with all the subtlety of a wrecking ball, only to be held up time and again. Suddenly the ball was flung wide to Olly Walker, who displayed footwork so outrageous Diego Maradona himself might’ve blushed. A deft touch, a cool finish, and Barnes were right back in it – half-time score: 19–21.

The second half descended into a gritty war of attrition, with both sides trading blows like two drunk uncles at a wedding. Young Daniel Roberts even popped on for a cameo before disappearing off to play for the Outriders, leaving the pitch probably without breaking a sweat.

But cometh the hour, cometh the captain. With 72 minutes gone, James McCarthy once again bulldozed his way over the line to put Barnes ahead. The conversion went over, the crowd exhaled, and victory was sealed. Final whistle: Barnes 2s 26 – Blackheath 2s 21.
A cracking weekend all round – the 1s and 2s both in the winners’ column, and the Outriders dipping their toes into senior rugby for the very first time. Revenge, as they say, is a dish best served in green and gold.