2020-21: Covid 19 Rugby 0

The summer of 2020 was meant to be a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Club’s move to Moorefields, but the Covid lockdown, in March 2020, became the main focus of our attention as it ran into the 2020-21 season and the Club was required to close for business.

As Covid levels gradually started to ease and the process of restoring social activity began, the club re-opened in early July, under strict conditions for wearing masks, social distancing and bar serving etc. We enjoyed good summer weather and were able to complete the project to remodel and extend the clubhouse patio. This proved very popular with members and became the core of our alfresco eating and drinking over the summer. It wasn’t to last however, as another wave of Covid, from September 2020 onwards, resulted in a lockdown during November, followed by strict local restrictions during December and a third lockdown in January 2021. This required us to close down again for a further three months, until April, after which we were gradually able to restart our activity.

Throughout the Covid period, we had to operate the bar and clubhouse in line with government regulations and guidance for pubs, clubs and restaurants, but the playing side, as with other sports, was subject to arrangements agreed between to the Government and the sports’ national governing bodies. Most of the summer’s main sporting events were cancelled or postponed, including Wimbledon and the Olympic Games, but some sports were able to resume, albeit with adapted protocols and rules. Professional rugby restarted in August 2020 and clubs played a full season, but stadiums were closed to spectators and it was supported by an expensive quarantining and testing regime - thanks to TV Income.

In the absence of such resources for testing, the grassroots game of Rugby never got restarted and was seen by Government as a particular problem amongst community sports, due to the perceived risk of spreading infection through close-quarter contact in scrums and mauls. The RFU entered into long-running (and ultimately fruitless) discussions with the Government to try and resolve this and facilitate a restart. The RFU produced a six-stage Roadmap, involving a gradual increase in training and contact, but there was no agreed timetable for a return to play and as the Covid situation continued to change it became a game of “snakes and ladders” and we failed to get past stage four.

We commenced pre-season training in July 2020, based the Roadmap, which allowed a modified version of touch rugby called Ready for Rugby and this did at least enable players to maintain some fitness. The composition of the leagues for 2020-21 was announced on schedule in June 2020 but contingency plans were developed in case of delay and how many weeks might be available. Promotion and relegation were dropped. The potential start date for the leagues was gradually put back before the RFU finally decided to cancel them altogether at the start of the November lockdown. This recognised that playing a meaningful competitive league season was no longer feasible, due to time running out, travel restrictions and the need to ensure the safety of players, coaches, referees and volunteers

The RFU was keen to replace the cancelled leagues with something to keep the game going and avoid a drift of players into to other sports or early retirement. In December, after further discussions with the Government, they came up with an adapted version of the game, providing contact, but no mauls or scrums and restricted lineouts. Many thought it looked suspiciously like another code of Rugby, but the consensus was that it was better than nothing. The January lockdown put an end to this, but as things improved and the lockdown eased at the beginning of April, clubs were allowed to organise friendlies amongst themselves using the adapted rules. A Warwickshire Colts competition was quickly organised which we took part in and won 1 of our 4 games. We also played a one-off friendly with Barkers Butts. These were the only senior games played, with no matches at all under the proper rules or within the regular season.

Mini and Junior Rugby fared slightly better and was able to start as usual at the beginning of September 2020 with U7s and U8s continuing to play under their normal rules, except that he tag tackle was replaced by the touch tackle. Older age groups played under Return to Rugby rules with some adaptations. Although they kept going for a few weeks, activities were restricted to internal club training and as anxiety about the re-spreading of Covid-19 increased and crossed over between clubs and schools, activities were suspended prior to the November lockdown. They restarted again in April and played through to the end of May, when the age group season formally ended. Games were played against Harbury in most age groups and the promising U15s went out with a bang, beating Old Coventrians on the final day of the season.

Although there was virtually no rugby union played, the end of the third lockdown in April 2020 coincided with the start of the Rugby League season and we were approached by Leamington Royals about hosting their games over the summer. The Royals were formed in 2009 and we had provided a number of players to their team and management over the years. We were pleased to agree to this to help form stronger links between the two clubs and provide some rugby to watch during the summer months

Although the season was almost a complete wipe-out there was still plenty for the Committee to focus on and it continued to meet regularly via Zoom conference calls. Its principal task was to keep the club going in a situation where the succession of lockdowns and lack of playing activity meant that bar takings and subscription income was well down and we were unable to hold our normal fundraising events, such as the fireworks display, car boot sales and club hirings.

The financial effect of Covid had hit the last two months of the 2019-20 financial year, but the full effect was felt in 2020-21. Fortunately, we were in a stronger financial position than we had been for some years, with a reserve fund in place to help us deal with contingencies. This was supplemented by the availability of significant Government grants to help small businesses survive. We also received the support of many of our members who continued to pay their subscriptions despite not being able to enjoy the club’s facilities and our sponsors stuck by us despite having to manage their own problems caused by Covid. We were pleased to welcome the Sheldon, Bosley, Knight estate agency as our main sponsors, taking over from O’Brien Contractors, who had supported us for several years.

Notwithstanding the Covid financial issues, the club was committed to a programme of ground and clubhouse improvements which we were able to commence from April 2020 onwards, once the winter rain had finally stopped. This included the unglamorous but expensive task of replacing our underground septic tank and sewage system, but above ground we were able to remodel and extend the patio with access from the lounge and this proved very popular and became the core of our alfresco drinking over the summer period. The replacement of old wooden windows, a new intruder alarm system and the installation of shelters for coaching staff on the half-way line completed the work. These improvements were funded thanks to specific grants from public bodies – the Veoila Environmental Trust (£32,750) Warwick District Council (£28,000) Sport England (£10,000) and Old Milverton & Blackdown Parish Council (£100) with the balance from club funds. The work was completed in early July and the pictures show how the clubhouse looked in 2020 compared to 1970.

The very heavy and persistent rainfall in early 2020 caused great concern about the state of the pitches which were becoming waterlogged, to an extent we had not experienced before. This was making it difficult for us to play and train on them, despite Groundsman Jim Poynter’s best efforts. The same problems were apparent during 2020-21, although the impact was not as great given that we were not using the pitches for games. However, the continuing problems suggested that this was caused by more than global warming and freak rainfall levels. Our thoughts were that it might be due to underlying drainage issues linked to lie of the land above the ground and in particular, the Arnold Lodge landfill and levelling scheme along our top touchline boundary some years ago. In order to try and get a proper diagnosis of the problem we therefore commissioned a Hydrogeological Assessment by a specialist company, with the help of club member Joe O’Meara [which is ongoing].

Finally, the Club suffered more than the usual number of losses among the membership, past and present, during the season including two Honorary Life Members and club legends in Norman David and Maurice Goymer and former club captain John Lyne. Others were - Terry Wheeldon, Barrie Hopkinson, Bobby Solt, Pascal Jeavons, Jim Drury, Vinny McGreevy Rex Montgomery and Sandy Galloway. In order to recognise their passing and to help launch the 2021-22 season we held a memorial event in July [in tropical heat] which included a slow-motion and very informal touch rugby competition, fielding five teams, namely - Veterans, Seniors and Colts, Leamington Royals and Barrie Hopkinson’s old club, the Cougars, who came up from London. The results were not important but getting the club back together again after such a long gap certainly was.

2021-22: Rugby Resumes

After a 20 month “close season” we resumed matches at the beginning of September with a warm-up trip to Barton-under-Neaswood. This was followed by a double header against Old Leamingtonians to celebrate their 90th anniversary and both games were won. Tom Chandler continued as Rugby Chairman, with Alex Carroll as Head Coach, supported by Phil Evans. For the first time ever, we selected joint-captains, with Gareth Shuttleworth and James Dunne (pictured) doubling up although James was injured for most of the season and Gareth took on the bulk of the responsibility. The two-year gap meant that a number of our longest serving players had reached the natural end of their careers and others had drifted away. Therefore, we had to reconstruct the side with some new recruits and the promotion of young players coming through, as well as keeping what we had got. We were unable to run a Colts XV, so those we had were assimilated into the senior sides.

League rugby returned with the visit of Nuneaton Old Edwardians and in a game that ebbed and flowed, we were winning until we conceded a pushover try in the final move of the game. This relatively good performance was soon forgotten when we conceded 53 points at Old Coventrians the next week, in a game we were expected to win. There was a much-improved performance for the visit of Old Laurentians, with Rich McKowen scoring three tries. The lead changed hands several times and we had a kick to win it at the end – but missed. After being pipped at the post twice it was a relief to come away from Pinley with a 48-0 victory. Another potential win then slipped through our hands when we went down 19-25 to Silhillians where we couldn’t get over the line at the end to make the winning score. Our luck didn’t change at Barkers Butts when a penalty right on the final whistle denied us what would have been a deserved draw.

Two disappointing losses followed at home: first a close game against Berkswell & Balsall and then to second-placed Evesham, who were much improved from previous seasons. Throughout the autumn we had struggled for availability, particularly in the front-row and this reached crisis point for what had become a vital away trip to Earlsdon. We struggled to field a front-row at all, but up stepped Simon Harry and Phil Evans to play out of position and Ben Findon, who left his sick bed. In awful, conditions, Earlsdon created a 15-point lead with the wind by half time, but a hat trick from Connor Chamberlain in the second half pulled us through by 27-20

Massive changes had to be made again for our away game at Kidderminster, so much so, that we couldn’t turn out a second side at home. Including the usual front row shuffle, we fielded a side with seven players aged under-21, with debuts for Logan Deeley and Josh Lee off the bench. Despite all the changes the team played well and ran Kidderminster very close. The final game before Xmas was meant to be at home to Spartans but with our best availability for weeks, the game was postponed by Spartans under a general Covid dispensation.

The position at Christmas was that we had won only 2 of our 10 league games and those were against the two bottom two sides. With better fortune we might have won several more but at least with the games being close we picked up a healthy number of bonus points and had a good lead over Pinley and Earlsdon. We were aware that the RFU were tinkering with the league structure and there might be more promotions and less relegations than usual but the situation was not clarified until well into the second half of the season, when it was confirmed that there would be no relegations from our league.

We kicked off the second half of the season with a well-earned win over Old Coventrians, which went some way to avenging the hammering they gave us at the start of the season and this was followed by a good game at Old Laurentians, but for the second time we lost to them by two points with us pressing their line for the winning score at the end but ending up inches short. Spartans seemed to be over their Covid problems for the rearranged fixture and they proved to be very difficult opponents at Moorefields. Their forwards dominated possession and position, but we defended brilliantly and levelled the score with a break-out try in injury time. Pinley were still pointless when they came to us in February and we had a comfortable afternoon, scoring regularly throughout to win by 48-0 again, including. some spectacular tries, captured on video. One of these, finished off by Louis Harvey, was picked up by ITV and featured as community highlight of the week in their Premiership round-up programme (see YouTube)

We then went to Silhillians, who had had a makeover since our previous game and were on a winning run which they extended at our expense, by a whopping 64-3. For our next game, at home to Barkers Butts it was back to a close finish and although we pummelled their defence for the last ten minutes, as so often before, we could not get over the line and lost 20-15

The return game at Berkswell & Balsall was overshadowed by an incident in their previous home match against Evesham, when an Evesham player died following an incident on the pitch. The game itself, like so many others, resulted in us losing narrowly despite dominating the final stages but unable to score the winning points. Earlsdon were on their last legs when they played at Moorefields the next week and we scored 11 tries including a hat-trick from winger, Louis Harvey and 2 from Iain Cameron. It was not so easy the next following week when we went to Evesham who were pushing for promotion and although we were level at half-time, we were well beaten at the end.

Hoping for a strong finish to the season we entertained Kidderminster at the beginning of April but we started badly and were never in the game. The return against Spartans was due to be played at their place, but they had hired it out for a wedding party, so we played Moorefields again and this time we put on one of our better performances and won comfortably by 29-14, with Louis Harvey scoring another hat-trick. And so, we came to the final game at Nuneaton Old Edwardians, who were in party mood having secured promotion along with Evesham and Silhillians but needed a win with a bonus point against us to clinch the title. In front of a huge crowd the powerful Nuneaton team went into an early lead and the result was never in doubt but we kept going and put in a strong performance, scoring 4 tries in a 24-46 defeat.

We finished in 9th place (4 places worse than the previous season) with 6 wins and a draw from 22 games but a healthy number of bonus points. It was clear from the start that we were well served in the backs and able to play an open and effective game, but although we had some good forwards, we were short of numbers and bulk, particularly in the front row. Having to play under huge pressure every week took its toll and we had to change two of the three starters every time up till Christmas. Newcomers included props Ben Findon and Louis Dunbavin and although Ben was unavailable after Christmas, Louis played strongly throughout and was named as Player of the Year by our coaches. Youngsters Jacob and Dan Sennah and Ollie Boyes came through and Aaron Hunt and Mark Warrilow gave us some experience. The back row played pretty much unchanged throughout the season with Gareth Shuttleworth, Ed Gray and Ali Weedon. Craig Smith was in the second row with Tom Lane, Joe Kinghorn, Simon Harry and Greg Atherton. Ali made the most appearances with 22 and was the players’ Player of the Year.

In the backs, George Jacobs played all season at scrum half and was chosen as our Most Improved Player. Sam Nunn played 21 games, either at fly-half or full back and Chris John filled the fly half position in the later games. Harry Johnson, Rich McKowen, Iain Cameron and Toby Bruce played in the centres and Stuart Chamberlain and Louis Harvey shared the wing positions, both having some spectacular days. Louis was a clear choice as Young Player of the year. Other young players to put in a shift included Tom Clayton, Logan Deeley Kofi Miller and Ben Parsons. Louis Harvey was top try scorer with 10 and Sam Nunn was top points scorer with 55, all from the boot

Ross Waterhouse managed the Second team, with the help of Kevin Barkway. It was intended that Danny Ruyssevelt would captain the side but he was injured for much of the time or was wanted by the first team and Anthony Batchelor (pictured) was the de facto skipper. As always, the second team bore the brunt of the first team’s injury problems and the turnover of players was particularly high in the first half of the season. They took a while to get going but still managed to win half of their games in the autumn, including a huge 79-0 win over Rugby St Andrews in the Warwickshire Shield, which the referee cut short. The team had settled down by November, but a month of cancellations in December caused some frustration. They picked up again after the break and met Barkers Butts in the semi-final of the Shield in February. Having drawn with them earlier, a close game was expected but after a slow start we scored outstanding tries by Kofi Miller, Sam Russell and John Brear to take a 22-point lead and only concede a consolation try at the end.

The final was against Shipston, played at Harbury in March. Fielding a mixture of youth and experience, the forwards dominated the opening half hour with Ollie Boyes taking 5 scrums against the head and with the back row of Lewis Kelsey, Danny Ruyssevelt and Ant Batchelor causing chaos we were 26-0 ahead by half time and the result was never in doubt as fly-half Jim Robertson controlled the play and scored a try. Kelsey (2) and Ruyssevelt got the others and Alex Johnson kicked the conversions.

The team continued winning until the end of the season. Ant Batchelor was chosen as Second team Player of the year. The team was built around a core of the Batchelor boys, Mark Baldwin, Josh Jones, Sam Russell, Scott Peters and Chris Morris with a mixture of young players such as Kofi Miller, Ben Parsons, Ollie Boyes and Alex Johnson. Josh was top scorer with 59 points, mainly from the boot, and Kofi was top try scorer with 11, followed by Lewis Kelsey on 10

Warwickshire Shield Winners - Richard Watkins, Mark Baldwin, Sam Russell, Scott Peters, Mattias Willis, Lewis Kelsey, Patch Northover, Harry Vaughn-Phillips, Danny Ruyssevelt, Josh Lee, Chris Morris, Tom Lane, Ross Waterhouse,

John Brear, Tom Chandler, Kofi Miller (hair only) Lauren Grant - Jim Robertson, Josh Jones, Alex Winkless,

Ant Batchelor, Ollie Boyes, Nathan Batchelor, Kevin Barkway, Alex Johnson, Iain Cameron, Finn Bailey

The Under-16s also reached their Warwickshire final and took on the long-time unbeaten Silhillians at Barkers Butts on 1 May. Although they played well and scored three good tries by Ollie Melville, Harry Stanton and Charlie Whorrod, the larger Solihull side controlled possession and won by 31-19

Under -16 Warwickshire Cup finalists - Tom Werren, Nathan Green, Charlie Main, Will Osborne, Louis Facchino,

Harry Stanton, Fin Forty, Ben Keeshan, Jeevan Singh Mann, Archie Thompson, Ralph Island, Charlie Whorrod,

Jai Bahia, Seb Correia, Cole Crowther – James Byrne, Dylan Evans, Henry Fifield, Felix Malia, James Selley,

Ollie Melville, Joel Hewitt, Osh Catlin, James Tomlinson, Lucas Burrows, Shingai Choto

Off the field, the main task was to stabilise the club’s finances following Covid. Fortunately, the receipt of government support grants of £40,000 left us in surplus at the end of 2020-21, but we had an actual operational deficit of £20,000 due to the loss of income from major sources such as car boot sales, the annual fireworks display, membership and bar etc. Our objective was to get back to stability within two years with the help of the remaining grant. As it turned out, the restored fireworks display raised a record profit and the bar income recovered well, with our patio proving a big attraction during the summer months. We also managed to complete a lease to Leamington Car Wash which commenced trading in January 2022 and became a new and stable source of income in the medium to long term