Yes Sir…….

Though before covering off our last two very different encounters against Cobham and Henley, let’s cast our mind back to the annual Vets Lunch held on Saturday 25th January and exceptionally well attended by well over 130 Vets from many eras. An occasion in its tenth year which brings so many past players and friends together sharing stories of days gone by and enjoying great food and entertainment, whilst raising hugely important funds for the Club. A massive thanks particularly to Gus Graham who works tirelessly to make this event happen and each year it gets better and better, as well as Zoe and all the girls who looked after us so well!

The following week saw us travel down to Cobham for another popular fixture being our Friday night encounter, which will now be the third year we have done so; this year not a friendly but a Cup match, which as it (now) transpires, we absolutely needed to win.
Since we last played there in Nov 2018 Cobham have had a 4G pitch laid which was hugely beneficial as the heavens opened and poured relentlessly on arrival.

Prior to arrival though plans weren’t as smooth as the 4G!

On the Tuesday of that week we only had about thirteen players available and so the weekly begging exercise began to try and find players past and present who could pull themselves away from other distractions ensued! By Friday afternoon we had picked up a few top guys from Effingham RFC – huge thanks to Ted, Paulo, Mark and Dan, as well as our old faithful Occies in Rowan. The bizarre twist in the afternoon was to find out that Robin Long, a valuable Hooker, who hadn’t played for 18 mths was dead keen for a run out and was originally just going to come and watch! Then, even more bizarrely was to see Pete Norvil pop up on the wattsapp group at 16:15, three hours before kick off…..!!!

“Hi Rich - didn’t see the email I’m free tonight if needed for Cobham….let me know?”!!!

For those of you who don’t know, Pete is a Prop who can play both 1 & 3, he’s actually a very good prop who can play 1 & 3 rather well having done so in earlier years at a very high level! Further, Pete validates his front row credentials by virtue of the fact I haven’t been sending squad emails out, oooohhhhh…..for about a year and half now, but have instead been bombarding wattsapp almost daily, Pete was not to know though, but as a fellow front rower he is automatically immune from any rebuke!

And so, with the rain slowly abating we took to the 4G like ducks to water and converted a well drilled warm up into a strong start against Cobs.

A number of things worked really well, namely…..

Theo and Mark Harrison in the row were massive engines and upfront with Beans and Pete and yours truly at hooker we absolutely demolished the Cobs pack time and time again. That provided the back row with great ball to work with throughout and so we were able to dominate. Though it felt like an age before we actually got points on the board, but when we did it felt as if they just kept coming.

Cobs did breach our defence with a strong try and the score margin flatters us as we did work hard against their backs who in phases looked very threatening with ball in hand, but we managed to keep them out.

What also worked really well was having an outstanding referee who managed the game impeccably by constantly talking to both sides almost orchestrating our playing efforts, so they were optimised. Being fit and able to get around the park and not in the way of play also makes for an excellent referee who manages the game to the standard being played in front of him, not based on what Nigel Owens is saying on TV! Such referee’s, at our level, are indeed a rare breed and so Referee Simon Tarr is definitely one of them; thank you Sir!

The other contributing factor was that Prop I mentioned earlier; Mr Norvill who when not working hard in the scrum got around the park, ball in hand in magnificent style! I know he is in serious cycling training for some arduous events coming up later this year and that has certainly contributed to his fitness but kept him away from the paddock; most defiantly man of the match!

The only low point was another set of injuries for both the second rows in Theo and Mark and poor old Dean picked up a broken nose which took him up to Kingston Hospital. I should remind readers that exactly the same occurred to our much-loved WELSH WINGER Morgs last year in the same fixture, who took himself to hospital that night and was not seen until three weeks later! Conversely, Dean is an ENGLISH BACKROW and being the one who booked the curry house for afters, he soon made it back to join us in good time for a well-deserved feed!

We won convincingly 5 : 36, but I wonder if convincingly is the arch evil that leads to complacency!

Tries: Pins x 2 Mace, Morgs, Tim and Robin Long one each
Cons: Marek x 2

With Six Nations nicely under the way you’d be forgiven for assuming everyone wants to get out on the pitch to play too; oh NO, not amongst the Barnes Vets 19/20 squad! Yet again despite countless weeks of planning we still had to beg and grovel to find players who could play! So, a few massive thank you’s to a few people who made a colossal effort.
Thank you to James Harris for pulling in Kay, Sean and brother William, thank you to Archie for coming all the way up from Chichester, Alex Worth for stepping up from the Occies late on Friday and immense thanks for Boko who flew in from Rwanda that morning, ran a Club mini’s rugby training session at Barnes and then drive down to Henley!
We also owe a huge thanks to Janey our physio who sacrificed her Saturday at incredibly short notice to be with us, (thanks Jane and for looking after injured Jacko so well).

Henley Vultures had also pulled in a few players so had strength in depth, but perhaps with the advantage of knowing each other better than those of us in the visitors changing room, but we soon tried to adjust that in a warm up session which just seemed to race by and before we knew it, weeks of anticipation was over as we kicked off.

Perfect playing conditions and the 1st team pitch wide enough to suit our intended playing style, yet a formidable opponent who wanted payback for losing to us in our first ever encounter at Barnes in 18/19. As expected, Vultures wanted to carry the ball hard and the defensive game, we spoke about came to the fore immediately and quite quickly started to test us. Part of the being tested was also the 16th man on the field who offered up a completely different officiating experience to the one we enjoyed at Cobham.

Vultures were hugely dominant in the scrum and put us under constant pressure on our own ball and comfortably taking a few of ours with far too much ease; their sheer size and power genuinely impressive. Likewise, in the lineouts we just kept stalling, yet the talent we had amongst the players was top grade, but we just didn’t know how each other played, so again pressure was constantly the norm and we were struggling to deal with it.
That pressure was soon converted to Vultures points, a penalty I think and soon after a try! Rattled we were, but still plenty of time to be patient and a bit savvier. That happened soon after when Jacko got over for a clear try in the bottom left hand corner, though initially the ref was quick to determine it was held up informing me he wasn’t in a position to see it; thankfully a vigilant and truly sporting touch judge in form of Howard Saward of Henley confirmed to the ref it was clearly grounded!

With a sense that we were still in the game we quickly resumed the role of defensive fodder as Vultures continued to make us work really hard to contest for the ball. We did have ball, but simply never really found our form and didn’t move it out wide enough, often put under pressure to kick which Vultures capitalised on and soon after we gave way as they scored to take a more comfortable lead.

Frustration set in and composure started to evade us, even with a revised front row we still remained under huge pressure, then occasionally won penalties where the ability to tap and go was constantly stifled by unnecessary officiating that served no purpose! We were now chasing the game!

James Harris, imperious as ever, but unable to do absolutely everything all the time, did run in another try that couldn’t be disputed and we remained in the game…. just!
Vultures went down to 14 as their excellent yet troublesome No 8 found yellow and an early shower.

Minutes remaining and a scrum 5metres out we had a put in, but just couldn’t convert it, though I’m sure we got a quick tap and go Pen which Mace, somehow danced, twisted and swivelled over the line to score what would surly be a winning try. But it wasn’t to be, as sadly the vigilant and truly sporting touch judge from earlier wasn’t in range to see it; Oh and nor was the ref!

What could have been 17:19 and a jubilant Win with an equally euphoric coach trip back to Barnes was not to be and if it had been; well Henley Vultures would have been robbed. They won 17:12 fair and square in what was a very physical yet clean game and they, as the better side, deservedly repaid us for perhaps being a little too complacent and certainly too quick to complain, when what we should have done was shut up, say “Yes Sir” and play rugby – lesson learnt and well taught Vultures!

So that’s one-all between two Vets sides who unknowingly share a lot in common in terms of ‘club’, family, friends and our community ethos. Both Clubs also compete, with a noticeable gap, in the exceptionally demanding National 2 South league and so I for one, can’t wait to host the Vultures back at Barnes next season for all the right reasons!
Thank you, Henley, for your warm hospitality and the copious Loddon we consumed and for a fiercely competitive fixture!

Our coach pulled into Barnes about 20:30 and Skips eventually got back to West Sussex nearer 2am…..hacked off….No, not really….jaded, aching and sore……you bet and how lucky I am to be so!

Tries: James and Jacko…….no surprise there!
Cons: Mace x 1

Skips/Finche!