There were three games last weekend for the adults, the Outriders pulled off a stunning 42-0 win over London Irish 2nd XV, whilst our Men’s 1st and 2nd XVs travelled to Esher.
Unfortunately, both teams came up short, the 2’s so close to pulling off an away victory, ultimately losing by 2 points 31-29. A brilliant match report from Coach Tommy Burkett is below.

On the neighbouring pitch, the 1’s faced an uphill battle after turning around at half time 22-0.

After a purple patch where we closed the gap to 22-17 in the first 20 minutes of the 2nd half. However Esher then woke up again, scored a couple of belters before we added one ourselves at the death, final score 41-22, which reflects Esher’s dominance - we have work to do still clearly!

So what do you need after coming off your biggest defeat for many a year and having lost the last three games in a row – something not seen also since the distant past – I know, how about the visit to Barnes of the runaway train at the top of the league, unbeaten Oundle – that’s what we have this weekend at Barn Elms!

Last weekend, stuffed with ex Prem and Champ players, Oundle overcame in-form Canterbury, 36-22, whilst we spluttered through a 41-22 loss at Esher. Last season we had two close games against Oundle, but lost both home and away, and since then, we have meandered off course somewhat whilst Oundle have become laser focused on winning this league, and frankly already it is hard to see anyone beating them.

So, on paper, Oundle are clear favourites, and we are not.

But rugby isn’t played on paper, it is played on a pitch, and we love our goose poo filled pitches with a passion., Having played in, and watched, hundreds of Barnes games over the years I know we have resilience and guts in bucket loads, we love nothing better than being written off, and the lads will not be intimidated or fretting going into this game.
Everyone loses sometime, this weekend we look forward to being the team that beats them.

I will leave you with King Henry’s speech on the eve of the battle of Harfleur:

Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;
Or close the wall up with our Barnow dead.
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
Stiffen up the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd rage;
Straining upon the start. The game's afoot:
Follow your spirit, and upon this charge
Cry 'God for Captain Angus, his Barnow brothers, and Saint George!'

Good luck lads, in Barnow we trust!

The lads really need your support, please do get down for the 3pm kick off, and shout and cheer your heads off!

Here's to a great weekend of Barnow Rugby!

Rhino x

Michael “Rhino” Whitfield – President Barnes Rugby Club

Details of this weekend’s games:

Saturday 3rd October Fixtures
• Barnes Men’s 1st XV vs Oundle Men’s 1st XV - 3pm KO
• Battersea Ironsides vs Barnes Outriders - 2pm KO

Esher 31 – Barnes 29 - words by coach Tommy Burkett

The 2s are back… and apparently nobody told them to make it easy

Another glorious Saturday morning for rugby, and Barnes made the short trip down the road to local rivals Esher for something we haven’t been able to say for a while - our first 2nd XV game in two years.

And we weren’t turning up just to make up the numbers.

The 2s were stacked with plenty of depth, a strong-looking bench and a nice balance of youth, experience and blokes who had spent the week assuring everyone that they were “definitely still fit.”

Esher, meanwhile, looked young, keen and suspiciously energetic. The referee checked both sides were ready, blew his whistle, and away we went.

Barnes received the kick-off and immediately discovered that Esher had absolutely no intention of easing us gently back into 2nd XV rugby.

The opening exchanges were brutal.

Barnes struggled to make metres and soon found themselves under a barrage of early pressure. A string of penalties allowed Esher to kick into the corner and set up camp.
The first catch-and-drive came. Barnes defended it superbly. Penalty.

Back to the corner. Another lineout. Another defensive stand.

Another penalty. Then another. And another.

At one stage it felt less like a game of rugby and more like we’d accidentally signed up for an RFU practical demonstration entitled “101 Ways to Concede a Penalty Within Five Metres of Your Own Line.”

Eventually, after Barnes had seemingly defended everything Esher could throw at them, the hosts decided to try the radical tactic of passing the ball somewhere else.

They shipped it across to the opposite corner and went over for the opening score. Esher 5 - 0 Barnes.

Barnes responded with a deep restart and finally began applying some pressure of their own. A penalty gave us the chance to return the favour and kick into the corner.
Lovely. Lineout. Not lovely.

A poor throw handed possession straight back to Esher and the opportunity disappeared faster than a front-row forward when someone mentions fitness testing.

What followed was a proper physical battle in the middle of the park. Big carries, big collisions and neither side particularly interested in taking a backwards step.

But on 25 minutes another lapse in concentration gifted Esher a penalty deep inside the Barnes half. You can probably guess what happened next.

Kick to the corner. Lineout. This time Esher peeled around the back, found the gap and dotted down.

Conversion good. Esher 12–0 Barnes.

Now, Barnes are many things. Quiet is not one of them.

And with heads threatening to drop, Captain Rory Kassapian produced one of his trademark roars.

Nobody is entirely sure what he said. People in Cobham probably heard it. Whatever it was, it worked.

Two minutes later Barnes were flying down the other end and Will Miscamble finished brilliantly in the corner. Game on. Esher 12–5 Barnes.

Unfortunately, an injury to Malcolm Nimmo brought his afternoon to an early end, with Will Shanley coming on in the back row. By now Barnes had properly settled into the game.
The ball started moving, the carries became more effective and suddenly Esher were the ones under pressure.

Barnes came agonisingly close in the corner but were held up over the line. Esher probably thought they could breathe again.

They couldn’t.

The resulting goal-line drop-out was gathered and the Barnes pressure wave came straight back at them. Phase after phase. Carry after carry.

And right on the stroke of half-time, Charlie Drew decided enough was enough and crashed over the line. Try Barnes.

The conversion drifted wide - a couple of points that, unbeknown to us at the time, might become rather important later.

Half-time: Esher 12 -10 Barnes. Two points in it. Everything to play for.

The second half started with Esher drawing first blood.

Then, rather inconveniently, they drew second blood as well.

Two scores stretched the home side’s lead to 24–10, and suddenly Barnes had another mountain to climb. But this Barnes side clearly hadn’t travelled to Esher for a pleasant Saturday afternoon and a post-match sandwich.

Back they came. A Barnes score reduced the deficit to 24–17, and we had ourselves a proper game of rugby.

The second half became a tactical chess match — although considerably more violent and with far more people shouting.

Substitutions became increasingly important as both benches were used and tired bodies began appearing across the pitch.

Most of the action was fought between the 22s, punctuated by the occasional line break and some enormous collisions.

Unfortunately, Barnes continued to make life considerably harder than it needed to be.

Discipline remained an issue, while the lineout chemistry wasn’t quite clicking.

Esher took advantage. Another score. 31–17. Time was disappearing. Surely that was it?
Apparently nobody told Barnes. The game descended into an absolute slugfest. Barnes kept coming.

Esher kept tackling. Barnes kept coming again. Then, with around nine minutes remaining, Barnes crossed once more. Conversion good. 31–24.

Seven points.

Nine minutes.

Game. Very much. On.
The referee called five minutes remaining. Barnes emptied the tank.

Every carry became a battle. Every ruck mattered. Every player somehow found another little bit of energy from somewhere.

And eventually the pressure told.

TRY BARNES! 31 – 29.
Now came the moment.

A conversion. In front of the posts. To level the match.

After 80 minutes of collisions, penalties, comebacks and chaos, it all came down to one swing of the boot.

The kick went up……and stayed out.

Absolute heartbreak. The final whistle followed.

FULL TIME
Esher 31 - Barnes 29

Two points.

That was it.

After two years without a Barnes 2nd XV fixture, the boys produced an absolute thriller against our local rivals and came within a kick of walking away with a draw.

There will certainly be frustration. Discipline hurt us, the lineout wasn’t where it needs to be, and we gave Esher opportunities that we simply didn’t need to give them.

But there was also a huge amount to like.

At 12 - 0 down, Barnes fought back.
At 24 - 10 down, Barnes fought back.
At 31 -17 down, Barnes fought back.
And with five minutes left, they were still coming. You can’t ask for much more commitment than that.

Well… apart from maybe those extra two points.

Final score: Esher 31 – Barnes 29.

Barnes Man of the Match: Ben Lodge. ?

Congratulations to Esher on the win. Enjoy it while you can.

Because there’s a return fixture at Barn Elms to come… …and we’ve got a very good memory. ?

Esher Men’s 1st XV 41-22 - Barnes Men’s 1st XV - words by Rhino
“It’s the hope that kills you!

After a pretty average first half, in which we gave away too many penalties, we turned around at half time with a mountain to climb and 22-0 down at Esher.

Of course then we decided to play! In the first 20 minutes of the second half we looked like a totally different team, playing with pace and intention, a yellow card against Esher helped too!

We scored three tries in that period, our forwards in the ascendency, led again magnificently by that warrior Angus Farqhar. At 22-17 we were back, focused and defending and attacking with purpose.

It was then that the game turned back to Esher. An exit kick from outside our 22 went straight into touch, immediately putting us back in our 22 and under pressure. Esher scored after grinding us to the line and then scored two further outstanding tries, one coast to coast, scored in the blink of an eye and one individual effort from their winger, who waltzed through almost all our players at a sprinters pace to score under the posts. Those were all killer blows and it was effectively game over.

Except we didn’t give up. We carried on battering away and did score the final try of the game after tireless work by the forwards.

In the end it is a case of what could have been, Esher were the better team but we did have a chance, and won the second half, not that that counts for much!

It doesn’t get any easier this weekend, with run away leaders Oundle visiting Barn Elms, they have to lose one day, let’s make it this Saturday!