A busy weekend again for Barnes RFC which kicked off on Saturday with the inaugural Bosch-Crabtree memorial game between Barnes Originals and Richmond Heavies, which our local rivals won 14-17. The game was well supported by the friends and families of both late men and we will be back for Round 2 in January. Captain Rich Mayson’s report below is a cracker.

The Raiders (the side formerly known as the 2’s) were away at Rams, and put on a strong display despite losing 35-10, this side is making great progress every week, a successful first XV is contingent on having a strong 2nd XV of players who can step up without missing a step, and we more than have that.

Which of course brings me on to our Men’s 1st XV, who were in Norfolk at North Walsham, a side more than able to deliver a case full of banana skins to slip up on as Henley will pay testament to. They walked away victors 10-36, frustrating the home team with outstanding defence and clinical try scoring when the opportunities presented themselves.
On Sunday our Women’s 1st XV played a powerful Wasps side and came second best 55-5, but put in one hell of a shift in the process.

Also on Sunday, we took a squad of Under 11’s girls to their first festival at Weybridge Vandals and they acquitted themselves brilliantly, as did the Colts, who overcame Chipstead Colts 31-11.

Reports on most of the games are below this introduction.

Before moving onto this weekend, there was a nice piece on the England Rugby site about our Minis Friday night rugby which was run in September for the local state schools.
https://www.englandrugby.com/news/article/barnes-rfc-shines-a-light-for-local-schools

It is another full weekend of Barnow rugby, with the Men’s 1st XV, at home to Rochford 100. With Rochford are 7th in National League 2 East and Barnes in 3rd, this game is set to be another challenge for the green and gold, and with no room for complacency at all, Rochford too coming off a good home victory against local rivals Sevenoaks 24-19.
Last year was Rochford’s debut in National 2 and we won both home and away, 24-15 at Barnes in November and 7-46 at their place towards the end of the season in March. This season they have won 3/6 games and we have won 4/6 so it is going to be a tougher encounter than last time and we need to be on our mettle for certain to continue our good start to the season.

Here are all our fixtures for the weekend ahead - please do come down and support the players, they love having us on the touch line! In particular both our Women’s 1st and 2nd XVs are at home this Sunday so you can make it two full days, jam-packed full of Barnow Rugby!

Saturday 22nd October Fixtures
- Barnes Men’s 1st XV vs Rochford 100 - 3pm KO
- Barnes 2nd XV vs Maidenhead 2nd XV - 1pm KO
- Farnham vs Occies - 3pm KO

Sunday 23rd October Fixtures
- Barnes Women’s 1st XV vs Teddington Antlers - 3pm KO
- Barnes Women’s 2nd XV vs Tabard Women - 2pm KO

See you all at the weekend!
Michael “Rhino” Whitfield - Chairman Barnes RFC

Here are the match reports for you to enjoy:

North Walsham 10 - 36 Barnes Men’s 1st XV
Our Men’s 1st XV, were in Norfolk at North Walsham last weekend, a side more than able to deliver a case full of banana skins to slip up on as Henley will pay testament to.

They walked away victors 10-36, frustrating the home team with outstanding defence and clinical try scoring when the opportunities presented themselves. It was even more impressive as we had a host of changes in the starting XV from previous weeks, but this shows the strength in depth of our 1st XV squad, and the players who stepped up more than acquitted themselves. Having a strong squad and 2nd XV is so important for sustained success as the season progresses and we need to rest players or they are injured.

On the day Skipper Josh Davies, his band of merry playing men, and coaches Jack Heald, Mark Matzopolous and Chris Browne and of course physio supremo Colette Goveia, who were all supported by a motely squad of Barnes legends, which included Yolanda Garrett, Angus Graham, Ian “Bubba” McBride, Colum Mannix and Kenny Worrall, and of course the ever reliable JK the photo genius and Martin Conway, a man with equal photographic tendencies - albeit through a shorter lens.

During the game it is fair to say that North Walsham had the lion’s share of possession, and probably deserved more out of the last 25 minutes of the game, when they had all of the possession, than they got (which was nothing ☹).

In terms of points, the home team took the lead with a penalty right at the start of the game but that was the only score North Walsham got in the first half as tries from Will Lewin, Cam Ruddock Raymond Courtney and Cam Roberts (who also slotted two conversions) made the half time score 3-24 to Barnes. As per the first half, North Walsham scored first, winger James Riley beating four Barnes defenders to dot down, the conversion successful reduced the deficit to 10-24, but that was it for the home team, they huffed and puffed but they could not break the Barnes defence wall, who took their chances presented clinically with additional tries from Paddy McDuell and Pete Weightman, on his penultimate game before his sabbatical in New Zealand, which made the final score North Walsham 10 Barnes 36 – job done, cue long journey/pub crawl home!

Barnes Colts 31 -11 Chipstead Colts - words by Jason Betteley
Our new Barnes Colts Squad had a great win against Chipstead Colts at Barn Elms on Sunday. The lads were hugely excited about the match and no one wanted to miss out, so we ended up with a big squad of 25 players with everyone getting at least half a match.

Despite a considered and technical warm up, the lads were very passive for the first 20mins - Note to Self (and the rest of the Colts coaches): definitely spend the last 10mins of the warm up revving the lads up!! Thankfully, Chipstead were also fairly passive (I suppose it could have been the ungodly hour of the Kick Off – for a 17yr old – 11:30am, haha!!). And, after 20mins the score was 0-0 with all the play between the respective 22s.

Anyway, after a key tactical change in the back row and some of the senior players recognising the need to galvanise the squad, the passive play quickly turned into the controlled/disciplined aggression and decisiveness that we have seen in recent weeks during training: the lads essentially turned up the heat and went for it! In particular, our forwards thought about their shape more (and more importantly stayed in shape) and as the game went on the lads started to run from deep in straight lines and worked hard on making the link between the forwards and backs more successful. It was simple stuff but effective. We ended up scoring 5 tries, with Ollie C getting his hat trick with the other 2 tries from Hal K and Tristan McK respectively and Hal L scoring 3 conversions.

That said, Chipstead Colts fought hard and never gave up; they should be congratulated for playing good rugby, having a great spirit and making their club proud. The Coaches from both sides agreed that the match was played at a high standard and that we would like a return fixture at their place early next year.
Next match will be at Home (Barn Elms) on Sunday 13 November against Reeds Weybridge Colts!

Barnes Originals 14 - 17 Richmond Heavies -words by Captain Rich Mayson
The moral of Aesop’s fable, The Ass and his purchaser, is that you can know a lot about a person by the company they keep. Scan your immediate circle of rugby mates and you may squirm at this thought. Don’t panic about the stolen valour, social faux pas or drunkenness you have been part of over the years. Zoom out from the graphic details and you see a richer, more socially responsible tapestry.

On Saturday, we were certainly in good company. Our great local friends and rivals, Richmond Heavies, came to play us for the first match in what I hope will be a long-running celebration, The Bosch Crabtree Trophy. The idea of this match was simple: to celebrate two great rugby men. And celebrate we did. In fact, one of the Heavies celebrated so hard that his hedonic pulses caused spontaneous sleep in The Sun Inn (and ejection from the establishment). One of the Originals saw it fit to lie down on the floorboards of The Bull and drink a pint of Guinness whilst maintaining a fully horizontal body and head. And he did not spill a drop.

The game itself was well-supported and played on the vast expanse of the 1st XV pitch at Barn Elms. We are not used to so much grass and are much less well-equipped to cover it. The Heavies won 14 – 17 after the Originals led the first half 14 – 0. The loss stings considering our commanding position at halftime. Alas, we have a shot at redemption on January 14th 2023 - mark your cards.

This game didn’t happen by accident. A lot of effort on both sides went into it. Ed Altierac was named as Barnes’ man of the match. He almost didn’t play as he was waiting for some consequential MRI results. The results were delayed to which his response was ‘sod it, I’ll play’. Daniel Atkinson-Hope played despite his wife being due to give birth.

Tom Cazalet and Sean Gibson both invested in large lobbying operations at home to navigate the tricky domestic arrangements that life throws at us. The Occies lent us some of their more senior players who would have otherwise had a free Saturday. Archie Cunningham and Colin Osborne travelled up Chichester and Cardiff respectively. Simon Curran made the long trip from Mortlake and managed to bring with him a bag of oranges, which he failed to distribute to the teams at halftime. But to give him his due, the Bosch Crabtree Trophy was his idea and for that, we are thankful.

The Heavies Foundation have helped get defibrillators into rugby clubs as a result of Bosch’s passing. Last October, an Ealing Evergreens rugby player, John Fenlon, collapsed on the pitch and the players around him saved his life with the help of a defib located at the club that was provided by the Heavies Foundation.

So why all this effort?

Because in rugby, it matters to look out for the person next to you. The shared hardship, physical jeopardy and collective effort give us something special. And while Stephen ‘Bosch’ Fairn and Patrick Crabtree are no longer with us, we can still look out for them, and remember them. And that is the type of company I want to keep.

Barnes Girls Under 11’s words by Boris Pomroy
Last weekend marked the end of our first half-term of the new season and it’s fair to say the Minis went out with a bang. If you were up early enough on Saturday morning, you might have seen a steady trail of our youngest Barnes players heading to the clubhouse for bacon sandwiches and to cheer on the Red Roses in their World Cup victory against France before training. Speaking of which, we are now consistently over 400 children aged from 4-11 on a Saturday morning, supported by 70 parent coaches and helpers - a huge thank you to each and every one of them.

Sunday was a truly memorable day, as we took a dozen of our Under 11 girls to their first ever girls-only festival, hosted by Weybridge Vandals. I’m not going to lie, it was an emotional moment for coaches, players and parents alike as our girls ran on to the pitch for the first time. Minis rugby isn’t officially scored, which was perhaps just as well for the opposition. Across the three matches, we scored 21 tries and conceded just three as they tackled and rucked their hearts out, before running round, through and, at times, over the opposition.

Our focus for the rest of the season is to build this amazing group into a sustainable girls youth team. We currently have 12 registered girls, with another five on trial. Ideally we would like to build this to 20 by the end of the season. If you know of any girls in Year 6 (or in any other year group) who would like to come and try rugby at the friendliest Minis section in London, then drop me a note.

A word before I go for our U11 boys, who had to do without their girl team-mates this weekend at the London Irish. Despite this, they competed well against strong teams from London Irish, Hammersmith and Rosslyn Park. Scoring more tries than they conceded and, unlike some of our neighbours, doing it in the proper and original spirit.
A well deserved lie-in this weekend. Minis rugby is back on 29th October.