After a break for the Men last weekend, they are back with a bang this weekend, and it is the Women’s turn to have a rest this weekend after their amazing victory last time out at Barn Elms, winning against Welwyn Ladies 24-10, a great result and the report is below if you want a good read. Also, successful last weekend were our Colts in the quarter-final of the Surrey Cup Level 2 against fierce local rivals Richmond, running out as winners 24-14, roll on the semi-finals!

This weekend sees three games at Barn Elms on Saturday, the Men’s 1st XV takes on local rivals Esher at 2pm, Barnes Outriders are back in the saddle away against Wimbledon 2nd XV at 1:30pm whilst the Occies make up the home triumvirate, taking on Old Tiffs at 2pm.

The big game this weekend is undoubtedly the Valentines Day clash between Barnes and Esher, the latest in the series of our clashes with the Surrey side. Last season we won home and away, this season we have already played them early on in October, winning 28-36 in an exciting contest which left the home side gutted, and they will no doubt be incredibly motivated to exact revenge against us at Barn Elms on Saturday.

Esher have had an unusually lack lustre season, and find themselves languishing in 11th place in National 2 League East. Barnes stemmed a recent run of losses with an emphatic win away against bottom of the league Oxford Harlequins, albeit that we only turned on the afterburners to score 4 tries in the last 20 minutes of the game.

Esher have not won so far in 2026, but we know from experience that neither recent results or league position matter one jot in this league, any team in the league can beat one another.

A wounded beast is a dangerous one, and Esher are now powered with England rugby legend Mike Brown at the helm, so we will 100% not being taking them lightly in this encounter, this one matters, and the Barnes boys will be ready for a brutal, enthralling encounter!

Please do get down and support the lads - they will love your support, and it will hopefully help drive them on to a great victory! Kick off is at 2pm at Barn Elms - see you there!

Onwards and Upwards Barnow – To Infinity and Beyond!

For Rugby! For Friendship! For Life!

Michael “Rhino” Whitfield – President Barnes Rugby Club

Here are the details of all three games on Saturday at Barn Elms:
• Barnes Men’s 1st XV vs Esher 1st XV - 2pm KO
• Barnes Outriders vs Wimbledon 2nd XV - 1:30pm KO
• Barnes Occies vs Old Tiffs - 2pm KO

Barnes Women 1st xv 24 - 10 Welwyn Ladies - words by Co-Captain Kitty Robinson

On Sunday, the weather gods finally looked down on us and paused the endless rain allowing for an exciting match between Barnes and Welwyn.

Barnes beat Welwyn away in November by just 4 points and the visitors were coming to us having won their last 3 matches so we knew this would be a closely fought contest.
Welwyn came out the blocks quickest and scored the first try in the opening 10 minutes. The play was fast and physical, Barnes’ defensive efforts were valiant, but Welwyn scored again 30 minutes in.

Barnes responded well before the break. Fiona powered over the line to put the hosts on the scoreboard, and Liv’s successful conversion narrowed the gap. At half-time, Welwyn held a slim 10–7 advantage.

Following a half time reset, Barnes came out fighting in the second half and quickly turned the momentum. Lou claimed a well-earned try, once again converted by Liv, giving Barnes the lead. That advantage was extended soon when Barnes were awarded a penalty; opting to kick, Liv calmly slotted the three points.

Barnes continued to build pressure and sealed the win late on with a final try from Maddie. Liv maintained her perfect kicking record, converting for the fourth time to cap off an outstanding individual performance with a 100% success rate from the tee.

The final whistle confirmed a deserved 24–10 victory for Barnes after a dominant second-half display. An outstanding game with one of the coaches commenting that this was the most physical display of women’s rugby they have ever seen.

Barnes Women’s 1st XV 24 - 10 Welwyn Women’s 1st XV - words by Co-Captain Kitty Robinson
On Sunday, the weather gods finally looked down on us and paused the endless rain allowing for an exciting match between Barnes and Welwyn.

Barnes beat Welwyn away in November by just 4 points and the visitors were coming to us having won their last 3 matches so we knew this would be a closely fought contest.

Welwyn came out the blocks quickest and scored the first try in the opening 10 minutes. The play was fast and physical, Barnes’ defensive efforts were valiant, but Welwyn scored again 30 minutes in.

The coaches awarded their player of the match to Maria for her huge impact off the bench.
Forward of the match was awarded to Kitty for her strong carries and back of the match awarded to Ash for her penalty speed and control under pressure.

Barnow Cares - Rugby Against Cancer Day 21st March 2026
Last year we supported Rugby Against Cancer, an initiative suggested by 1st XV Captain Tom Spencer Jones, who tragically lost his mum to the disease a couple of years back. Together we raised over £3500 for this brilliant cause and this year we will be looking to top that if we can.

Rugby Against Cancer is a charity that supports both patients and relatives on their cancer journeys - this is their website: Barnow and Rugby Against Cancer

There is a full day of activities planned on 21st March, with Rugby Against Cancer present with our Minis in the morning at training, and then at our lunch before the Men’s 1st XV game against our friends from Bury St Edmunds, during which we will hold a raffle too.
During the game Rugby Against Cancer will be pitch side to support the team and afterwards too the RAC team will be back in the clubhouse - it should be a fantastic day for a fantastic cause.

You can donate to RAC on the Barnow Cares website here: https://www.barnowcares.com/rugbyagainstcancer
Onwards and Upwards Barnow!

Barnes Colts 24-14 Richmond Colts - words by coach Paul Spencer
Barnes Colts hosted local rivals Richmond in the Surrey Cup Level 2 quarter final on Sunday.
With a number of injuries and unavailability this was going to be a stern test for the Barnes Colts.

Straight off the kick off, Henry stormed through running 40 yards before the Richmond fullback managed to tackle for him, only for Henry to off load off the ground to Andrew who scored under the posts within 10 seconds of the kick off. With the Barnes tails up and half backs George and Jac managing the game well, Sam caused havoc for the Richmond fullback who dropped the ball and Alfie profited from the error to go 14-0 up. Barnes were not done yet and more good play and pressure from the forwards resulted in a try for Felix. Barnes went into halftime 19-0 up.

Richmond inevitably responded strongly after half time and with some strong play on their right-hand side scored to take the game to 19-7.

Barnes in turn responded and played some excellent rugby against a Richmond defence that was much stronger than the first half.

A very well worked try was scored by Jac to take the game to 24-7. The rest of the game was largely about Barnes's defence and Richmond’s comeback, with the final score 24-14. The semi finals are in April, so the boys have a well-deserved rest next weekend.