News & EventsLatest NewsCalendar
Barnes lose to Canterbury and face Henley at home in the last game of 2018 this Saturday

Barnes lose to Canterbury and face Henley at home in the last game of 2018 this Saturday

Michael Whitfield16 Dec 2018 - 21:25
Share via
FacebookTwitter
https://www.barnesrfc.org/news

Barnes poor run of form continued last week as they went down 38-5 to high-flying Canterbury

Despite being 33-0 down at half time we showed a lot of character in the 2nd half to restrict them to one score, I am proud of the boys
- Michael "Rhino" Whitfield

A tough week for our senior sides this week, in generally freezing rainy conditions, with both the 1st and 2nd XV losing. Better news for our Occies and Vets though, with the Occies winning a league and cup double-header against KCS and the Vets overcoming the Irish down the road in Sunbury.

Here is how the weekend unfolded.

Canterbury 1st XV 38 Barnes 1st XV 5
In Baltic conditions, Barnes poor run of form continued on Saturday as we went down to Canterbury 38-5. The game got off to a poor start from which we never recovered after only two minutes when a cross-kick ended up in the arms of the Canterbury winger who scored. From 7-0 down the half went from bad to worse as we conceded four more tries making the half time score an unpleasant looking 33-0 to the home side, I am not sure I can remember a half where we failed to register a point for many a year!
We proved more resilient in the second half, which was effectively a 5-5 draw, with Frank the Tank Macarthur scoring our only points of the game, but the damage had already been done in the first half.

This week we play Henley at home in our last game of 2018 and we will be looking to turn around our fortunes and finish the year on a high. We lost 26-24 at their place in the second game of the season, living off scraps and losing every one of our lineouts, We will be looking for a much better alround performance this weekend.

2nd XV 21 Richmond Vikings 33
Starting with a squad only fifteen strong in total, we were always going to struggle in the second half with zero replacements. The first half was full of promise. Barnes playing with the wind roared into a 21-5 lead at half-time but then the Richmond juggernaut rolled over us, with both injuries and the conditions making it a torrid second period, Play by play Richmond took control and soon overhauled us to win deservedly in the end 21-33. For Barnes, well we will have to lick our wounds, and we simply must get more players available. We need a strong, large, squad to support the ambitions of both the 1st and 2nd XV’s this season. This result is a testament to the fifteen players who did turn up, with a full squad out there is no doubt we could have won the game.

Occies 12 KCS 8

This was billed as the battle of the titans with the Occies taking on KCS in a league and cup double, which they duly won 12-8, and with it not only do they proceed in the Cup but are now in second place in their league, a great way to conclude 2018.

London Irish 17 Barnes 34

The Vets braved Artic blizzards to take on London Irish. In horizontal driving sleet, Barnes performed brilliantly in atrocious conditions to overcome the Irish, making it three league games out of three for Rich Fenech’s side. Here is an extract from Skipper Rich Fenech’s match report.
“By half time shivering and soaked we were comfortably up and I think Irish had scored one try; the water was settling creating puddles like Lake Como and so Skips was half expecting the Irish to give way to a nice hot Irish Coffee and a good old chuckle – wishful thinking!
Second half came and Irish wanted to play hard contested rugby, and they did and they scored and then they scored again. For a phase that felt like 60 minutes we just seemed to give pens away galore and let them right back in the game.
We fought back and found some structure in the worst possible conditions ever, but these boys knew a win was all we deserved. Put simply Harrodian Vets dug so deep, and played with utter determination, but my stand out players were Beans at Loose head, Mace and Jacko again and such hard work form Marek – take a bow Gents!”

Barnes Girls Under 13’s

It was a very special day on Sunday as Barnes Girls squad had their first ever game against Battersea Ironsides, less than a year after the Girls section was formed at Barnes RFC. With the junior girls section being set up last season, we’re lucky to have as many as 20 girls participating in our Sunday morning sessions across age groups of u9 through to u14 - and we’re always looking to expand. Thanks to all the coaches who’ve stepped in to get the girls to this point and who will no doubt continue to help them develop. And a big thank you to the parents who endure the cold mornings to bring the girls to training. We’re looking forward to more matches for the girls in 2019, with the first of those being the return fixture of Ironsides playing at Barnes on the 13th January, ahead of the Barnes Ladies 1st XV game against Ironsides Ladies 1st XV.
It is a massive tribute to the girls and the dedication for their Coach, Ashley Brandon, and the Director of Junior Rugby, Jason Betteley, who’s vision this was. Amazing things have been happening at Barnes in the Minis and Juniors section for the last ten years, this is the last amazing thing to happen, and it is why Barnes RFC is so so special as a club.

This weekend there is just the one fixture, Barnes 1st Xv vs Henley Hawks at Barn Elms, it is a 2pm Kick Off.

This game is massively important to the club so please do come down and support the lads.

Have a great Christmas, and see you in 2019.

Michael "Rhino" Whitfield - Chairman Barnes RFC

Further reading