On Saturday both our Men’s 1st and 2nd XVs were in action at Barn Elms, and both lost agonisingly at the death of the second halves. The 1st XV lost to Dings Crusaders 23-30 - conceding 10 points in the last couple of minutes, the winning try literally on the final whistle, and the 2nd XV went down to Jersey 2nd XV 17-19, again a last-minute score being our undoing.

On Sunday though, our Colts gave us the pick-me-up we so needed by winning the Twickenham Chairman’s Cup against Weybridge Vandals Colts 29-13.

Our Under 12’s were in action too, the B Team coming second against a strong London Irish team. Despite the result, it is likely that all three Under 12’s teams will compete in finals day on 24th April, it will be a big day for the club!

All of the match reports are below, there is a lot to read but do try and get through them, so much to digest and celebrate!

And of course, this weekend we do it all again.

The 1st XV are back on the road, away to Barnstaple. Despite their lowly position, and us beating them last time out, this is one of those fixtures that we need to be on our best form to avoid slipping on the Devon banana-skin. The Women’s 1st XV play on a Saturday for a change, away to Ealing Ladies.

Here’s to an amazing weekend of rugby, all played in the original spirit that we all love so much at Barnes RFC.

Onwards and Upwards Barnow!

Michael “Rhino” Whitfield - Chairman Barnes RFC

Here are the rip-roaring match reports – enjoy !

Barnes Men's 1st XV 23 - 30 Dings Crusaders

On a gloriously sunny and warm Spring day, Barnes took on Dings Crusaders at Barn Elms, playing with a brisk wind at our backs in the first half. After only 7 minutes a Dings yellow card for a deliberate knock-on allowed Rob Kirby to open the scoring. With the home team playing with confidence and pace, after a period of pressure in the Dings half, the forwards recycled the ball well and Ash Thomas jinked over to extend the Barnes lead to 10-0. Five minutes later, Kirby added further penalty from the halfway line to put Barnes into a comfortable 13-0 lead.

As Dings began to string together some possession, off the back of a strong scrum and line out, they got themselves on the score board to reduce the Barnes lead to 13-3 after 20 minutes. At that stage we rotated prop Cam Leigh and lost hooker Alex March to a head injury, with Jasper Cameron moving from the back row to the middle of the front row. Dings took advantage of the disruption to the pack and turned the screw at scrum time, notching up another penalty to reduce the Barnes lead further to 13-6 after 25 minutes.

When we had the ball, we were able to exert control and dictate the play, and from one such passage the forwards made good progress in the visitors 22 and skipper Ryan Seabright crashed over to score. Kirby missed the extras and Barnes lead 18 - 6. With several injuries the game stopped and started and was largely played in the middle of the pitch, no side gaining any meaningful advantage and, just on the stroke of half-time, Dings pressure in the scrum told again and they scored, missing the conversion, to edge closer to Barnes 18-13. To add insult to injury, Barnes second row James Bloxham was yellow carded, not a great end to the half (and not the first time I have said that this season!).

Barnes started the second half into the now stronger breeze, and with only 14 men. Initially we weathered the Dings storm well, competing at each breakdown and not giving away possession. After 57 minutes, we spent some time in the Dings 22 and the ball was spun out wide and appeared to be knocked on by a Dings defender, allowing the pocket battleship Pete Weightman, to rumble over, with Kirby failing to convert, Barnes extending their lead again to 23 -13. As the game progressed our front five tired and Dings smelt blood and drove us backwards at will. Further injuries to Len Ashcroft-Leigh and Jasper Cameron increased the pressure and Dings scored and converted to make the score 23-20 after 62 minutes. The spectre of our sixth draw of the season loomed large, and even larger when Dings slotted a penalty one minute from the end.

Whilst the draw would have been disappointing, we would have taken it at that point, such was the visitors dominance in the pack, but that wasn’t to be. From the kick off, Dings returned the ball with interest, and the ball got a wicked bounce to elude Kirby and roll into touch on the Barnes 22. There was an immediate feeling of inevitability as Dings seized the line out and executed their second catch and drive of the game. Fly half Tom Price signed off a man of the match performance with yet another kick, the final score was Barnes 23-30 Dings Crusaders, a deserved win for the visitors.

Barnes Colts 29 - 13 Weybridge Vandals Colts

On Sunday, 27th March at Farnham Rugby Club, Barnes Colts played Weybridge Vandals Colts in the final of the Twickenham Chairman's Cup. The Colts were in buoyant mood ahead of the game despite having already lost to Weybridge in the first round of the competition.

That had been a very scrappy game where Barnes had abandoned their free running style of play and got into an arm wrestle with a bigger, more physical side and had come off second best. This time, though, it would be different …

On a rock-hard pitch, it started as a battle of the forwards with neither team being able to impose themselves. Unfortunately for Barnes, we had two early injuries: first, inside centre Harry left with an ankle injury; and then fly half, Joe, landed heavily on his back and had to leave the pitch after 10 minutes of treatment from the Farnham paramedic. The first half remained a nervy, stop start affair and finished 3-3.

Despite the referee being from Weybridge Vandals himself (although he is a London Society Ref), it was the Weybridge team who could not maintain their discipline and consistently fell foul of his whistle, receiving 3 yellow cards through the game. Conversely Barnes kept their cool and their discipline and kept on the right side of the referee and were praised at the end of the match by him for their positive and constructive interactions. Credit for this must go to Shea, as captain, who managed the Barnow Colts well on the pitch, and has been a thoroughly impressive and mature leader throughout the season.

After a rousing half-time talk by coach Cameron Ruddock and some key substitutions, Barnes started the second half in determined fashion, playing a positive, free flowing attacking style of rugby. Our game changers certainly contributed well: Tristan came on to take up his loosehead role, Owen moved back into the 2nd row, Stan took over the scrum-half duties and our No9, Daf, moved to fly-half. With these changes we looked the more cohesive team, executing the jab and punch structure that Cam has been drilling into them all season. In fact, shrieks of joy could be heard from him after spotting a perfectly executed drag call.

After 5 mins of constant attacking play by the Barnow Colts in the Weybridge 22, Tris made a huge impact, carried well and crashed over for his first try of the season, and the Barnes touchline erupted!

Our Club photographer, Jonathan Knight, captured the joys of everyone involved, including the coaches on the touchline. Shortly after on the same wing, it was fitting that our Captain, Shea, got the next try after wonderful forwards and backs interlinking on the right wing.

Weybridge heads were down, and within another 5 minutes Heaver, just back from three months off with injury, was next on the scoreboard, rounding the flagging Weybridge defence to show great pace and power to score. Hal was last on the scoreboard for Barnes as the no 8 chipped the Weybridge defence, caught the ball and used his long limbs to stretch over the line.

Daf’s kicking from the tee was very impressive and finished the day with 9 points and an 80% success rate. With the game won, the Barnes team’s intensity dropped for the last 5 minutes giving the Weybridge Colts the opportunity to mount a last attack. Weybridge certainly dug deep, and they should be congratulated for not giving up and pushing until the final whistle. In fact, they dug so deep they managed to get 2 consolation tries.

This has been a long season for the Barnow Colts, and results have not always gone the way we would have liked but this was a great end to the competitive season: runners-up in the Surrey Waterfall Cup and Winners of the Chairman’s Twickenham Cup (organised and sponsored by Quins). The coaches have all enjoyed working with this group of boys and whilst pleasing to see them play such a positive brand of rugby, it was their discipline, maturity and togetherness that was the most enjoyable to watch.

East London Ladies 7 - 41 Barnes 1st Women’s 1st XV

On Friday 25th March Barnes women 1st XV took on East London, in a much-postponed game. This is the first time we played them this season. We were coming into the game off two hard defeats, and everyone was gunning for a win.

The first half was a demonstration of everything we have been working towards all season. We were clinical, following our game plan exactly, and it soon paid off with a try from Eleanor. Not long after that we got the ball out to Angie on the wing, and she sprinted more than half the pitch, stepping at least two defenders in one of the more spectacular tries we’ve had this season. Not to be outdone, our other wing Zoe G had a brilliant run of her own. She was brought down just short, but a couple of phases later went over. Fantastic stuff from our backs. We went into half time 15-0 up.

Our forwards were on good form, with strong carries from everyone and spectacular runs from Taz and Sasha throughout the game. The second half saw us continuing our dominance, and Taz soon scored off a breakaway run. She soon went over again with an 8 pick from the back of the scrum. 27-0 to Barnes.

East London put up a solid fight all game, and eventually broke through our defence to score under the posts. However, they couldn’t keep us out, and scores from Eleanor and Sophie saw the game end 41-7 to Barnes.

Forward of the match: Sasha
Back of the match: Zoe G
Players player: Eleanor

Barnes 2nd XV 17 - Jersey 2nd XV
Barnes 2’s took on Jersey Athletic, who have had an excellent season, even beating local rivals and fellow National 2 South side Guernsey this year.

Jersey took an early lead, after their flyhalf spotted an opening from scrappy ball, but Barnes struck back with Jack Stratham scoring a try to being the score to 5-7. Jersey then scored again, to bring the score to 5-12, before Barnes seems to take control. Both Nick van Buuren and Ed Berridge scored tries, with Nathan Holmes converting one to make the score 17-12.

This seemed to galvanise Jersey, and the last ten minutes was end-to-end stuff, with some excellent running from Conor Harbison and Jack Walsh. In the end, Jersey scored a push over try and kicked the conversion to secure the win 17-19.

Barnes will look forward to playing Jersey away on Saturday 23rd April for the second leg!

Under 12’s qualify for Surrey Cup Final

Last Sunday saw the last of the Waterfall Cup pool matches for the Under 12’s, with just our B (“Green”) team completing their fixtures away against London Irish B, and the rest of the squad training at home. The match proved a tough, but competitive game, with Barnes playing with energy, and great spirit against a larger Irish team.

In the end, we lost 8 tries to 4. Having started a bit slowly, it might have been different had the team played throughout with the quick rucks and slick handling that earned them two late tries, as they finished strongly.

Nico’s direct running proved difficult for the opposition to stop, and we saw some good handling out wide. Lots of lessons learned, but the team can be proud that they competed well, with strong tackling, including a spectacular last ditch try-saving tackle from William W.

Both clubs had missing players due to Mothers’ Day, school trips and holidays, and whereas we filled gaps by giving some newer players opportunities, several of the opposition players showed an uncanny resemblance to their A team which we beat three weeks ago!

I am delighted to confirm that our Barnes A (Red) team is through to the overall Surrey Cup Final for the top-ranked Under 12 pool, against Battersea Ironsides A - a fantastic achievement, and a big match against a very strong team to look forward to!

With some results still to be confirmed, we expect the B /Green team will play Sutton & Epsom “Black” in the Trophy final of their section, and the C /Gold team will also play a final in their section – all on Sunday 24th April – what a weekend to look forward to!

Cobham Vets 19 - 60 Barnes Originals

Below are the wise words of Original's skipper, Rich Mayson with his take on the game, before you read those, I wanted to add my own tribute to two Barnes RFC legends.

Firstly, to Rich Fenech who is on his way to Ukraine to help put up a field hospital in Lviv with a group of 12 others, our thoughts are with him and his fellow travellers, and of course the people of Ukraine.

Secondly, Friday night saw the (probable) retirement of a Barnes legend, Angus Graham. Gus has been at the club since he was knee high to a nipper, and I have seen him grow from spotty youth to first team captain, playing in all manner of positions from prop and hooker to scrum half and all points between. Not only has he been a mainstay of the Vets, (now Originals) on the pitch, but he is also the team manager and general factotum for them.

Gus also does a huge amount for the club in other areas, be it the annual Vets lunch or managing the international tickets each season. With him no longer playing (probably !!!) I am sure I can find lots of other things for him to do! Gussy, on behalf of the club, thank you so much for you 750 + games, everyone a winner!

Now on to Mase's words on the game:

On Saturday morning Marek came downstairs with a (more) deformed nose than usual. His wife Magda politely asked him if he had insulted Will Smith's wife. Marek chuckled and instead informed her that last night was the Cobham fixture. Magda nodded knowingly and said, "The Nose Bowl at Cobham, claims another victim".

The Originals are very fond of their traditional Friday night fixture at Cobham followed by a Curry. As fond as we are, anyone who has played in it before is always a little apprehensive. It would appear that part of the tradition is for an Original to receive some amateur nose reconstruction during the course of the game. Alas, we fulfilled (and won) the fixture and put together a performance that suggested we had played 15 games this season, not three.

Aside from it being known as The Nose Bowl, this fixture took on special significance. In the weeks leading up to the game, my predecessor Rich Fenech (Finchy) had informed me that he was intimidated by Cobham and their penchant for our noses and wanted to protect his fine looks. So Finchy had decided to duck the fixture, but he needed a reasonable excuse. So, he decided to drive his own vehicle to Ukraine with medical supplies and support the effort on the ground.

I jest about his reasoning but not about the trip itself. Anyone who knows the man, knows his altruistic nature, big heart and fearsome ability to transform ideas into action. Finchy: I speak for the Originals and the Club at large, we are all incredibly proud that one of our own has stood to post in Ukraine. We await your dispatches and safe return.

We decided that we wanted to acknowledge Finchy's endeavour with a photo at the end of the game showing a Ukrainian flag and a Maltese flag (Finchy is from Malta). As we huddled up with our Cobham mates for the photo, we were informed by the Cobham skipper, Hugh, that one of the Cobham boys - Craig Robson - had just got back from a volunteer transport trip to Ukraine. Craig is in the middle of the photo holding the Ukraine flag. The spirit of rugby and rugby players is personified by Rich and Craig.

This brings us to the game itself. Our oppo had assembled a strong squad for our game. And, Cobham have been more successful than the Originals in fulfilling fixtures this year. But sometimes in rugby, a team clicks. And unfortunately for Cobham on a perfect Friday evening on a lovely surface, things just clicked for the Originals. It ended 60-19 but as is often the case, the scoreline flatters one team (us, in this case).

It would be remiss of me not to mention our brethren from the Occies. We lent on them to bolster our numbers - thank you Monty and Luke. We also had two debutants in Daniel Atkinson Hope who has not played rugby for 15 years started in the front row. He received a mild concussion for his efforts, but at least he left with his nose intact. We also welcomed John Williamson who looks like he is cut from the same uncompromising cloth as Nick Morgan, thank you John. And a special mention for Mark Harrison who put in a serious shift for the team in the row.

This brings us to the changing room after the match for another significant event. 'Mr Rugby' Gus Graham cracked open beers for the boys and informed us that Cobham was going to be his last time wearing the green and gold of Barnes. After circa 750 games wearing the shirt (Yes, 750 !), the last orders bell had been rung. Although some Veterans will recall that he has rung this bell before.... we will keep a shirt warm for you Mr Rugby. Gus is perhaps imitating Tom Brady and will be back next season. But like Tom Brady, he should continue to work on his pass.

After a, errr, tricky season as Originals skipper, I am looking forward to us all regrouping over the summer for touch rugby followed by a thorough analysis in the Red Lion.