Phoenix rising

On October 15th 2022, our local rugby brother came to visit us. They proceeded to attack us, it all happened so fast. They grabbed our collar, ripping our necklace and knocking us to the grass. We landed on the proverbial dog bowl. We lay there for moment, dazed.

Recollections may vary. What doesn’t vary is the result: we had lost the maiden game of the Bosch Crabtree Trophy to Richmond. Whilst Harry and William have no hope of civil discourse, friendly banter or sharing a beer, the Heavies and the Originals do.

Precisely 91 days since we lost the Bosch Crabtree Trophy, we regained it with a solid win at Richmond. The game was fabulously supported by the Barnow faithful, which was led by Bobby and Florence Crabtree. Not to mention Bill Sweeney came to watch us, not L Scottish vs Bedford.

On Saturday morning, the Originals skipper sent Bobby a text that said “The trophy is coming back to Barnes tonight. Facts”. When the team huddled up before kick off the only thing he could think to say was “We lost the first one and I’ve promised that we’d win this one, so let’s not fuck this up”. Not very creative but true, nonetheless.

We had assembled the strongest squad since 2018 and a testament to all the boys who stood to post for the game. Charlie Frost has been a welcome addition to the team. Not only because of his natural talent but he has brought two mates with him (Gareth & Tom) who have both just turned 35 - result!
Sami Younis and Ben Neary who - for separate reasons - have both been a little of touch with Barnes over the past few years are back and most importantly, keen. Kyle Coulter is a free-spirited, wrecking ball who roams between the Occies and the Originals. Not to mention our secret weapon, the Occies.

We won the game 28-18. Our front row had a turgid afternoon and deserve a mention in dispatches. We were playing against a Richmond front row who pulverised the famous 1977 Pontypool front row and atomised South Africa’s bomb squad in 2019. You do the math. What ill-informed plonker says you need parity or better in the scrum to win the game? Dark arts, lark arts.

The media love the fact that the Bosch Crabtree Trophy is now tied at 1-1 and we are in discussions about the televised Spring showdown. No Oprah interview, no ghost-written memoir and no whinging. But there might be a dog bowl. See you in the Spring.

Mase