2022-23: Pizza the Action

The summer of 2022 was a hot one and as we started to move on from Covid, we maximised the use of the clubhouse and pitches to accommodate a number of emerging forms of Rugby. This included a second season of Leamington Royals and the RFL Midlands Premiership final was played at Moorefields in record heat on a bone hard pitch, in mid-August. Coventry Bears knocked out the Royals

in the semi-finals but were overpowered by Birmingham Bulldogs in the final. Rugby League tag became very popular on midweek evenings and a walking version of the Union code was played.

Regular Wednesday evening practice sessions paid off for the walkers when we entered the Bourneville Walking Rugby Festival in July and won the event. To show it was no fluke, we entered the Stourbridge festival in February and with mostly the same squad, beat Kingswood Titans in the final. The winning team at Bourneville was: David Ward, Pete Mulherne, Dudley Turner, Tony Philpott, Melanie Harvey, Ian Thompson-McFarlane, Andy John, Richard Watkins and David Limmer

The RFU introduced some changes in the league structure for 2022-23 which they claimed were in response to what people had said they wanted, via widespread consultation - reduced workload for players with less games, extending the variety of fixtures with more cup games (to be played as an end of season finale) and reduced travelling distances. Their proposals were not universally welcomed and although there seemed to be little achievement of the stated objectives, the changes went ahead anyway.

The leagues were restructured slightly. We remained at level 7 [renamed Counties 1 West South] with 4 teams going up and 4 coming down. Another change was to allow clubs to enter their second teams in the league structure and Broadstreet and Bromsgrove were admitted into our league. Given the lack of restrictions on movement between their first and second teams there was an obvious risk of distorting outcomes and this proved to be the case, as referred to later. The league programme was compressed to finish by mid-March to accommodate a new national community cup competition sponsored by Papa John Pizzas which was to run during April. We didn’t enter the early-season Warwickshire or Intermediate Cups because of the extra Papa John commitment.

Craig Smith was captain for the new season, with the coaching team as before. After friendlies against Barton under Needwood and Stratford we opened the league season at Old Coventrians and after trailing at half-time, we fought back well, but failed to take our chances and went down 17-19. Our first home game was played in beautiful weather on a perfect pitch. Sadly, the game was overshadowed by the death of Queen Elizabeth II, two days earlier. Our opponents were Broadstreet 2nd XV and after an even start we took control and won easily by 55-10. The next week we travelled to Bromsgrove to play their Seconds and we were far too strong, achieving a comfortable 46-19 win.

In week 4, we took on newly promoted Old Leamingtonians in the first derby game since 2015 and there was a big crowd. Both defences played strongly and chances were hard to come by. We opened the scoring with a try by James Dunne, but a number of opportunities to build a good lead were squandered and OLs went in front before half-time with two penalties. The game was decided when Rich McKowen made an interception and raced to the line for a try which he converted. There was no further score and we won 12-6.

With 3 wins on the trot, we looked to be getting into our stride, but an away trip to Ledbury didn’t turn out as hoped, as a much-changed side conceded tries in the opening quarter. Although we went on to score five times ourselves, we couldn’t recover the deficit and lost by 29-45. It was a much-changed team again against Barkers Butts, but we put in a great performance to win by 19-0, Berkswell & Balsall were the early league leaders and we played them away. We started brightly and went ahead but B&B scored with an interception right on half time and then went on to dominate the second half and won by 24-12, with a try on the final whistle.

Ist XV 2022-23 -Hugh Smith (Linesman), Richard Watkins (Chairman) Brad James, Josh Jones, Mark Symmons, Ed Gray, Chris John - Jim Reed, Jack Hughes, Toby Bruce, Louis Dunbavin, Nathan Batchelor, Simon Harry, Tom Lane, John Brear, Hayley White (physio) – Phil Evans (coach), Harry Johnston, Gareth Shuttleworth, Craig Smith (capt) Joe Kinghorn, Greg Atherton, Conor Chamberlain, Chung Hei Cheng (physio) Alex Carroll (coach)

At Moorefields, the following week, we entertained Coventry Welsh, who were the team that defeated us in our first Warwickshire Cup final, in 1980. We had not played them since the 1990s. They proved to be stolid opponents, but unable to cope with our speed and flair and we ran in ten tries, to win by 56-5. Craig Smith and Gareth Shuttleworth both celebrated their 200th first team games at Earlsdon where we fielded probably the youngest front-row in the history of the club, with 21-year olds, Jacob and Dan Sennah propping up 19 year old Oli Boyes at hooker. Earlsdon were having problems of their own but they were a solid unit and had us in all sorts of trouble in the scrum. We only stayed in the game thanks to a couple of long-range tries and were behind going into injury time before another long-range effort, by Chris John, snatched a 24-21 result.

Kidderminster visited us next and they were in great form. We started well with an excellent try by new centre Jim Reed (picture) but were then blitzed by a 4-try burst in 10 minutes with some spectacular running. Apart from that period, the game was even, but as we pressed the Kidderminster line at the end, they picked up a loose pass to run the length of the field for a 44-22 win. We finished the first half of the league programme with a trip to Spartans at Bassetts Pole. They were struggling in 10th place and we were looking for a win. Fielding a youthful and all-changed three-quarter line we were level at half time, but with the elements in our favour for the second period we failed to take advantage and two late tries sealed our fate at 8-20.

So, after a promising autumn, when we were 3rd , we had slipped down to 6th at the half-way stage with some inconsistent performances. We played the first return fixture at Broadstreet at the beginning of December. Rich McKowen made a welcome return after a spell of paternity leave and made a big difference in mid-field as we controlled the game and won comfortably by 25-10. Jack Frost then began to play a significant role and the games against Bromsgrove and Old Leamingtonians, were called-off and the Christmas/New Year break was extended to 4 weeks.

Games resumed on 7 January with the visit of Ledbury, who were just above us in the table. After resisting early pressure, we hit them with three quick tries to go 21-0 up at the break. Ledbury dominated possession in the second period and scored twice despite our brilliant defence, but couldn’t pull things back and we won 21-12. In muddy conditions, we made it three on the trot with a rare away-win at Barkers Butts, who were slipping into relegation trouble. Jim Reed opened the scoring and the tries kept on coming. We eased off after the break but won 34-7.

After another cancellation, we took on Coventry Welsh away and the pattern of the game was very much like the October match with the Welsh dominating possession through their powerful, but porky, forwards and Leamington living off scraps but defending strongly and scoring six outstanding tries by our classy backs. Garrett Bell in his comeback game scored twice and Conor Chamberlain repeated his hat-trick in the earlier game. The Welsh were rewarded with four close-range tries as we lost players late on and the score was 40-26. We continued our good form with a 50-point win over Bromsgrove 2nd at Moorefields. Early tries put us ahead from the start and the highlight was a hat- trick from Jim Reed

We were expecting much of the same the following week with the visit of tail-enders Earlsdon, who had been losing heavily. But somehow, they were rejuvenated and helped by a generous penalty-try in the opening minutes, compounded by a yellow card and a broken ankle for Harry Johnson, we had to reshuffle and never really got going as we chased the lead and were on the end of an horrendous penalty count as we lost 28-24. Without Harry Johnson and most of our other first choice backs we struggled at third place Kidderminster, going down by 41-27. We were four tries down at the interval but a try by Conor Chamberlain got us going and we added three more to get a bonus point.

The return game against Old Leamingtonians was played at the end of February. Since we had beaten them five months earlier, they had achieved a 13-match winning run, including all the top sides. It was close, like the first time, and the lead changed hands with every score - unfortunately they got the last one, to win by 19-15. With regard to local bragging rights, although we lost, it was one win apiece over the season and we were ahead on the aggregate score by 27-25!

A new electronic scoreboard, donated by former player Simon “The Beast” Roper”, showed the home team to be leading 21-0 early on against Spartans, and we looked to be heading for a comfortable victory. Spartans didn’t see it that way however and started to put points in the Visitors column with two tries just before half time. There was no further score until the last 10 minutes when Spartans got another try, quickly followed by a penalty to take the lead by 22-21. With minutes remaining we launched a final attack and skipper Craig Smith squeezed in at the corner to retrieve the win

Our final game was against league leaders Berkswell & Balsall who were going for the title. We were in a positive mood and were 20-6 up at half time. B&Bs title chances were slipping away and they began to up the pace of the game as heavy rain started to cause errors and they finally got a try with 15 minutes to go. Still two scores down going into injury time, they pulled another try back, but we kept control and saw out time to win 23-18.

We ended up in 5th place, with 13 wins, a big improvement on the 6 wins and 9th place finish the previous year, although the league was not as strong. Promotion ended up as a three-club race between Berkswell, Old Leamingtonians and Kidderminster. Our win over B&B on the final Saturday appeared to have knocked them off the top spot, leaving the way open for OLs, but they lost to Bromsgrove 2nds, thereby, restoring B&B as winners. OLs complained, with some justification, that their result should be scratched as Bromsgrove had fielded half of their first team, who had no match that day. They hadn’t broken any rules, so the result stood and B&B were promoted.

The season now moved into its new mode with the start of the Papa John Community Cup competitions. Some clubs didn’t enter or scratched and the results were full of walk-overs, due mainly to long travelling distances required. We were placed in the Counties 1 (North Plate) competition which comprised clubs in the Midlands and North at the same league level as ourselves and finishing between 4th and 6th their league. This ensured competitive fixtures. We were drawn at home to Stafford and this was given priority over our outstanding league match scheduled against Old Coventrians on the same day. That fixture was scratched as it had no consequence for league positions, so we only played 21 league games.

We dominated most of the game, led 20-7 and were looking home and dry going into the last 10 minutes. But Stafford scored a converted try with 10 minutes to go and then threw everything into attack and scored again in injury time with the conversion putting them a point in front. Having blown it, we went straight back onto the attack and won an instant reprieve when Ed Gray charged down a relieving kick and got a winning try with moments to spare – the much-relieved side is shown below.

The second round was away at Stamford. We went behind early on, but tries from Garrett Bell and Gareth Shuttleworth put us in front and the tie was clinched either side of half time with two for Logan Deeley and a virtuoso effort from James Dunne. Stamford scored in the final play to make the winning margin 31-21. This took us into the quarter finals and we drew Market Rayson & Louth at home. A break through the middle by Rich McKowen in the first minute opened the scoring and we stormed through to the semi-finals by 51-7.

In the semi-final we were again at home again and our opponents were Widnes from Cheshire, who had not yet played a game, having been granted a bye in round one and their next two opponents crying-off. As expected, Widnes turned out to be a strong team and although we started promisingly , they scored twice after quarter of an hour. We matched them score for score from then on, but we couldn’t catch up and lost by 20-32. Widnes defeated Aldwinians by 40-20 in the final.

In summary, in the the forwards, we struggled in the front row during the opening weeks of the season and were shoved around quite a bit by some of the grizzlier sides. Stability was achieved by converting Simon Harry to prop and Nathan Batchelor to hooker. Along with Louis Dunbavin they developed into a competitive unit, supported by a back five of Joe Kinghorn, Tom Lane (or John Brear) and Ed Gray, Craig Smith and Gareth Shuttleworth. Ed and Gareth both played 24 games and Gareth topped the try-scorers with 17. In reward for his efforts, Gareth was chosen as the club’s Player of the Year and Louis was voted as Players’ Player. Both are pictured below.

The backs swapped around all season, as a consequence of injuries and availability. Josh Jones was a solid presence at full-back, playing 22 times and he proved to be a reliable kicker, scoring 93 points (plus 42 for the Seconds). Toby Bruce anchored the midfield alongside others such as Logan Deeley and Kofi Miller, whilst Sam Nunn and Chris John were the usual half-backs, with Chris playing 24 times. Rich McKowen was unavailable for much of the season but along with short-term newcomer Jim Reed and Garrett Bell, who returned from Kenilworth, when we could field them and Conor Chamberlain, our back play went up to a different level and we scored some spectacular tries. Conor was second-top try scorer with 10 followed, by Rich McKowen, Garett Bell and Jim Reed, all on 9, at roughly a try a game

2nd XV 2022-23 – Ross Waterhouse, Kevin Barkway, Mitchel Davies, Harry Vaughan-Phillips, Alex Johnston, Josh Tokley, Jimmy Creith, Joel Sinnott, Lewis Kelsey, Mark Baldwin, Hayden Waller, Ian Williamson, Lauren Grant, Mary Conquest, Jake Andrews – George Harding, Sam Russell, Aaron Crockford, Oli Boyes, Rich Mullis (capt), Mark Bray, Jez Blakely, Jacob Sanneh, Archie Clarke, Jim Robertson, Matt Humphreys

The second team was managed by Ross Waterhouse, assisted by Jake Andrews and Kevin Barkway. Rich Mullis (pictured) captained the side for most of the season. They began at Rugby St Andrews in defence of the Warwickshire Shield and went through by 43-28. After a walk-over against Old Coventrians they played Barkers Butts in the semi-final and scored 49 points, with Stu Campbell getting a hat-trick. The final was against Berkswell & Balsall and a first half sending-off (later rescinded) in a game we were beginning to dominate, tipped the balance against us and we lost by 12-20.

In the Warwickshire League, more games were decided by walk-overs than on the field and games were cancelled for all sorts of reasons - availability, injury, promotions into the first team , lack of front rows or no referee available. Despite the cry-offs and the frosty weather which made the fixture list look rather bare, 19 games were played with 14 wins and only 5 defeats. Highlights were a 68-point thrashing of Silhillians with guest star Garrett Bell slotting in to score five and a 42-7 win at Old Laurentians when Jim Reed made his debut and scored twice. The games against Old Leamingtonians were shared, Overall, we featured around 80 players, including a few guests and relics. Mitchell Davies led the way with 16 starts and in recognition of his efforts, he was chosen as the club’s Most Improved Player of the Year. Rich Mulls played 15 times and he received the 2nd team Player of the Year award. Mark Baldwin, Mark Bray and Sam Russell added their support with 12 appearances each and Josh Tockley played 10 times. Jim Robertson was the top points scorer with 53, just ahead of Stu Campbell on 51. Jim Reed topped the try scorers with 7 from 3 matches and Garrett Bell got 6 from only 2, to add to their first team totals.

The Under-16 side completed a memorable season by winning the Warwickshire Shield in April, defeating close rivals Harbury in an exciting final at Barkers Butts. Early tries by Archie Thompson and Jack Golding took us into the lead but Harbury came back and led at half-time. Our forwards got on top after the break and a third try, by George Wilkinson, evened up the scores and Alfie Delves-Payne went over in the corner near the end to clinch the game.

The winning Under-16 side plus coaches – Tom Van Der Hoven, Gareth Wilkinson, Kyne Milbourne, Connor McCarthy, Harry Olds, Jamie Loffman, Owen Treanor, Archie Thompson, Calum Mullen, Isaac Ward, Arsenii Kelbas, Carter-James Bayley, Findley Cassidy, Lachlan Davies, Alfie Delves-Payne, Dan Johnston, Greg Davies, Stuart Burbidge - George Wilkinson, Luis Erinmez, Jack Golding, Syd Harvey, Alex Burbidge, Ollie Spearman, Joe Johnston, Tom Van Der Hoven, Alex Harvey

Another success at junior level was by the Under 14 group who won the inaugural South Warwickshire Sevens at Harbury, beating Stratford 33-12 in the final after going through their pool undefeated and then accounting for Shipston and Harbury and Stratford in the knockout rounds to lift the trophy. The squad was -Sam Evans, Harry Unsworth, Eden Buswell, Luke Stephens, Oli Powell, Josh Powell, Thibaud Servant, Martin Scherer, Billy Caulder, Archie Dunne & Santi Malia.

January saw the official switching-on of new floodlights on the third team pitch and the netball courts.  The lights were funded by grants from Warwick District Council and donations from within the club - from TAG Exclusive Properties, Top Banana Catering, and others, as well as a contribution by the club itself. Andrew Day, the Leader of Warwick District Council, did the honours. The new rugby lights provided a much-improved training facility but were also aimed the wider local sporting and fitness community who use Moorefields. The new lighting system for the netball courts was a significant upgrade, enabling the club to maximise the use of the courts and ensure that both competitive and recreational netball could be enjoyed by many people from across our local community.

After the installation of the new training floodlights in January there was further development work over the summer with a major refurbishment of the clubhouse, masterminded by committee member Gareth Wilkinson, who took time-out from his property development company to give the club the benefit of his skills and knowledge and his ability. This included getting favourable deals and inputs from sponsors, club members and friends to achieve some spectacular results. In summary, the project included the upgrading the clubroom, lounge and foyer by lowering the ceiling, redecorating and re-fitting throughout with a new floor, removing un-needed pillars, and repositioning the bar, giving more space and a modern look. We also added a small bar on the outside, underneath the arches, to enable serving direct to the patio area. The cost of the project to the club was around £35,000 which we met from our strategic reserve but this was much less than the full cost which was “subsidised” by great support within the club from members willing to give their time, labour and expertise and donations and help in-kind from sponsors, friends and members.

Sadly, some of our past players passed on during the year – namely John Regan, who was an outstanding centre during the 1960s; Phil Marsland, who filled the same role during the 1970-90s; and Jeremy Wheeler who played at prop during the 1960s and captained the Extras in 1998-99. The Committee decided that two members should be elevated to Honorary Life Member status in recognition of their efforts and achievements on an off the field – these were Phil McGaffin, former first team prop and later Club Chairman and sponsorship secretary; and Alex Carroll for his outstanding 20-year playing career from 1997 to 2017 playing an estimated 500 first team games and captaining the side before hanging up his boots to taking over on the coaching side.

Clubhouse Refurbishment 2023 – Before and After

2023-24: Salubrious Surroundings

Tom Chandler stood down as Rugby Chairman after seven seasons and he was succeeded by Rugby League convert Bill Unsworth. Joe Kinghorn was the new club captain (photo) and the team was mostly the same as the previous year, although we lost key players such as Toby Bruce and John Brear who went on sabbaticals for much of the season and Tom Lane hung up his boots. New players included fly-half Louis Vaughan from Cardiff, who joined us for a year whilst on a work-gap. He formed a strong half-back pairing with rejuvenated Patch Northover. Freddie Spencer, a powerful centre, joined just before Christmas and other new players included New Zealander Jonty Duncan in the backs, and Jimmy Creith, Chris Wiggin and Charlie Harness in the forwards. Another new recruit was an environmentally friendly club mascot - Leamy the Lion.

Although we were installed in our salubrious new surroundings, with the completion of the clubhouse refurbishment, things looked a bit incomplete on the playing side before the start of the season, with summer training numbers down. It seemed that half of the club had crossed the channel to watch the Rugby World Cup games rather than commit to the pain of training. Despite this, all was well when we started with comfortable opening wins against the Bromsgrove and Broadstreet second strings. This led us into the first derby game against Old Leamingtonians at the Crofts. Danny Phillips and James Dunne both came out of retirement for the day to fill gaps in our ranks and they did well. After an early OLs lead we got into the game in the second quarter with some dazzling running and scored four tries either side of half-time to go 31-8 ahead and although OLs fought back, they never looked like making up the deficit and we won 31-21

Fellow car-wash hosts Alcester, visited us the following week, for what was our first-ever meeting with the newly promoted villagers. They had already given notice of their threat by beating OLs and in a hard-fought battle, we pulled away with 3 tries going into the final quarter to clinch a 36-29 win. A short trip to bottom club Earlsdon came next and they provided stiff early resistance, but 2 tries before the break set us on our way and another 7 followed as our slick backs carved them open for a 59-7 win.

1st XV 2023-24 Simon Harry, Craig Smith, Charlie Wiggin, Jimmy Creith, Freddie Stewart – Rich McKowen,

Conor Chamberlain, Mark Symmons, Sam Russell, Louis Vaughan – Charlie Harness, Rich Mullis, Chris John,

Joe Kinghorn, Louis Dunbavin, Gareth Shuttleworth, Josh Jones

This completed the first group of fixtures and despite constant changes we had a perfect record of played 5, won 5, with maximum bonus points – our best start since 1993. Despite this, we were only third in the table, with Luctonians and Ledbury having the same points and there were more difficult games to come. This proved to be the case, as our next one was at promoted club Manor Park from Nuneaton, who we had only previously played in the Warwickshire Cup. They were difficult opponents with a strong pack playing on a narrow sloping pitch that suited their style, but not ours. We were 17 points down early on and never looked like winning, although we did eventually get back to a respectable 17-22. We were back at Moorefields the next week to play Old Coventrians in what proved to be a frustrating game. Level at three tries each at half-time, we had numerous chances to win the game but OCs sneaked ahead with two penalties and despite us scoring another try near the end, the conversion dipped just short and left us a point in arrears at 24-25.

Table toppers Ledbury and Luctonians were our next two games, with both sides still on maximum points. At Ledbury, two controversial scoring decisions went against us in the first half, leaving us 5-3 down at the break, but the opposition clinched the game with 3 tries in the second half, to win 24-3. Luctonians 2nd XV visited Moorefields on a run of 45 wins. They left on 46, but they certainly knew they had been in a game. We dominated the first quarter but fell behind around half-time, mainly due to our own errors, but we kept on attacking and were eventually rewarded with two tries and dominated the final quarter, but lost 15-32.

So, following our good start we were now on a run of 4 defeats. This was halted with a comfortable win at Droitwich at the beginning of December. Skipper Joe Kinghorn got us off the mark early on and we scored steadily to build a 34-point lead before Droitwich scored 2 consolation tries near the end to pull back to 21-34. We completed the first half of the league programme at home to Evesham, who were on a winning run and although we went ahead twice, in what was a fast and open game, a dodgy ten-minute spell just before the break left us trailing, as a succession of penalties gave Evesham the lead and a try on the final whistle secured them a 33-17 win.

Broadstreet provided us with a comfortable start to the second half of the league programme with a 45-10 victory, including 7 tries. Newcomer Freddie Spencer scored a hat-trick in a man of the match performance. It was double Derby delight and an early Xmas present the next week when in front of a large VP crowd, we won the return game against Old Leamingtonians by 38-13. It was 14-13 at half- time and all to play for, but after Patch Northover extended the lead, our backs hit their stride and further tries from Jim Reed (2) and Rich McKowen wrapped up the game.

After the Xmas and New year break, a much-changed and surprisingly out of sorts line-up played at Alcester, where we found the locals at full strength and in very good form. At one try apiece we were beginning to get our game before Alcester scored just before the break and with a slope in their favour they scored three more times in the final quarter to run out winners by 35-5. We were back on form the next week with a free-flowing performance at struggling Earlsdon. Although they gave our much-changed pack a good game, they couldn’t compete with our backs and conceded 10 tries, several from long range. The best one was scored by Conor Chamberlain who fixed them with his stare (see photo) when he got the ball in front of our posts and ran the length of the field, navigating the midfield traffic to touch down. 60-10 was the final score.

With some dazzling back-play, we were 4 tries up by half time against Manor Park who had beaten us in October. Whilst Park kept going through their forwards and scored 2 tries (one right at the end) our lead was not really threatened and we finished 35-20 winners and swapped 3rd and 4th places with them. The return game against Old Coventrians was just like the one in October, with the lead changing hands throughout, but this time we ended up on the right side of the score-line in an exciting finish. Going into injury time, we were 27-34 ahead but then conceded a penalty try due to a “deliberate” knock-on. This equalised the scores at 34-all but from the re-start we went back onto the attack and Simon Harry got the winning score right at the end.

After a week off, we entertained second placed Ledbury and the post-VP lunch crowd enjoyed the best game of the season. The Herefordshire side went ahead three times in the first half as their powerful forwards drove over from short range, but we pulled them back each time via our speedy backs. 17-21 down at the break, another score put us ahead and the try of the match followed when Garett Bell crashed through the Ledbury defence along the touchline before slipping the ball to Ed Gray to score and extend our lead to 6 points. In the finale, Ledbury scored a penalty and were awarded another in the final minutes, but rather than take a draw, they went for the try, but we held out with some magnificent goal-line defence, to win by 27-24.

With catch-up gaps in the programme and cancellations caused by flooded pitches, our long trip to league leaders Luctonians was put back a week and we were rather depleted on the rearranged date. We were only able to field a front-row by Ant Batchelor volunteering to make his first team debut in a position he had never played before. The bench was made up of young players stepping up from the Colts: namely Alex Johnston, Archie Thompson and Owen Treanor and they all played well. We held out for 25 minutes before Luctonians swamped us in the middle of the game, but we came back well at the end with two tries, to reduce the gap t0 12-47

It was a day of records against Droitwich at Moorefields the following Saturday. Scrum-half Patch Northover was clapped-on for his 300th appearance and showed that he was far from clapped-out as he scored 2 tries in the routing of the visitors. We ended with 15 tries for a record league win of 95-7.

Under the League rules, Luctonians, as a second team, could not be promoted any higher which raised the question of who would go up - the 2nd and possibly the 3rd placed sides? It proved to be somewhat academic as our “3rd place play-off” at Evesham did not go to plan. It was an open game throughout with both sides spurning chances before Evesham went ahead just before half-time . Things got worse as loose defence let them in for three more scores after the break and with 20 minutes to go, we were 26-0 down and out of it. The side didn’t see it that way however, and we pulled back 4 tries, (one on the final whistle) which left us 3 points short, courtesy of a penalty Evesham had banked when still well in front. The league season was completed the week after Easter and we had a comfortable 27-12 win over Bromsgrove 2nds, to clinch 4th place. Most of the damage was done in the first half hour with 4 tries, including a hat-trick from man of the match Ed Gray to delight his watching father, Peter, who was at the VP lunch. Luctonians were runaway winners of the league with 22 victories and they only dropped 1 possible bonus point. Ledbury, as runners-up, were the only team to be promoted. Evesham clinched 3rd place, one point ahead of us.

Pictures show Louis Vaughan and Gareth Shuttleworth, Freddie Spencer and Simon Harry

Having completed the league programme, we moved on to the opening round of the Papa John knockout competition and played Camp Hill. Our old rivals from Birmingham were a big strong side but could not match us for finesse and we led by 4 tries to 2 at half time and then pulled away in the second period to win by 43-12. With some players unavailable, including our regular centre pairing, we brought in two youngsters who had come through our junior ranks – Logan Deeley and Will Callard. Will had a game to remember as he used his pace and balance to tear the Camp Hill defence apart and scored a hat-trick. Logan probably can’t remember his game as he was subject of a head collision late on and the game was abandoned a few minutes early.

In the second round we were at home to Old Laurentians who we hadn’t played for 2 years and hadn’t beaten for 11. We put an end to that run with a brilliant running display by our backs and forwards to demolish the visitors in the opening quarter. Although the scoring slowed down as the match wore on, the result was never in doubt and we won by 52-12 to regain the Brian White memorial trophy which is competed for between the two clubs.

The quarter-final was away at Loughborough. Up against a massive pack of forwards, we were without a regular loose-head, but Anthony Batchelor and Danny Phillips came in and inter-changed the position to help us get the ball needed to unleash our backs, who were too good for the opposition, scoring 5 times. Alex Johnston came into the side at centre and apart from playing well, had a great day with the boot, making 6 successful kicks, including 3 from the touchline, to extend our margin of victory to 39-19

Like last year, the season ended at the semi-final stage, and again we were drawn against a Manchester side – Aldwinians. Played in glorious sunshine, the two teams were evenly matched and traded tries in the first half. The game then swung in the visitors’ favour when an injury to loose-head Danny Phillips exposed our lack of front-row resources and Aldwinians were able to dominate possession and position, to close the game down. Both teams scored late tries and the game finished 23-27.

Overall, the 1st XV played 26 games, won 17 and lost 9. In the league we played 22 and won 14. Although the statistics are much the same as the previous year, the feeling in the club was that we had improved and were playing a style of rugby that was skilful and enjoyable to watch and play. 46 players were used in total. Gareth Shuttleworth and Louis Vaughan both started 23 games with Gareth also subbing once. Rich Mullis also featured in 24 games including 9 appearances off the bench. Patch Northover started 22 times and others to play in 20 games or more were Nathan Batchelor, Jimmy Creith, Ed Gray, Simon Harry and skipper Joe Kinghorn. Patch Northover was top points scorer with 133 and was the main kicker for most of the season. The top try scorers were Rich McKowen and Ed Gray on 16 apiece. Connor Chamberlain was next on 11

Player of the Year was Ed Gray who moved to No.8 during the season and became a prolific try scorer in the later games. Rich Mullis replaced Ed on the blind-side and he was chosen as Most Improved Player . Louis Vaughan was the Players’ Player in recognition of an outstanding season in which he played almost every game and controlled games from fly-half. Kofi Miller (pictured in full flight) was the Young Player of the Season.

The Second XV were managed by Jake Andrews, who inherited a difficult situation with a severe lack of players, making it difficult to field a full side every week. Our situation was by no means unique and most local sides had similar problems  and combined with bad weather this led to a lot of cancellations and blank weekends. As a result of all this we played only 14 games of which we won 5 and lost 9. Even this level of activity was only achieved by the hard work of Jake and his team in keeping a core group of players together and making arrangements with other clubs such as Earlsdon and Harbury to borrow players or field joint sides. To provide some stimulus to second teams, Warwickshire RFU set up knock-out competition called Rugby X at the end of April. Although not everyone turned up, we did and we won the trophy. Despite the lack of regulars, we still managed to field around  70 players over the season, plus around 25 guests, friends and various others we could rope in. Callum Sinnott and Josh Tockley both played 11 games and Callum was top try scorer with 7. Josh was top points scorer with 71, mainly from his reliable boot. Stu Campbell  played 10 and Mitch Davies, Robbie Burnside and Sam Russell all played 8. Stu was chosen as 2nd Team Player of the Year with Josh the Most Improved Player

Possibly the best news this season was that we were able to field our first Colts team since Covid, four years ago. We had high hopes for this group of players following their progression through the junior levels but we knew we would have to be patient as the Colts format effectively includes two age-groups (under-17 and under-18) and ours were all in the under-17 year, playing mostly against clubs with under-18s. They began in September with about 18 players and their regular numbers increased to over 25, with approximately 30 players pulling on the jersey during the season.

Colts v Nuneaton 19 April 2024 - Aiden Lowe, Felix Malia, Olly Spearman, Nathan Green, Connor McCarthy, Owen Treanor, Syd Harvey - Archie Thompson, Joe Johnston, Lauchie Davies, Gabe Stoneman, Luis Erinmez, Isaac Ward Jamie Loffman, Kobi Tisdale, Adam Houghton - George Wilkinson, Finn Cassidy, Tom van der Hoven, Alex Burbidge, Alex Harvey, Kyne Milbourne

The Colts played 14 games and won 5, with one abandoned. The top points scorer was Tom van der Hoven with 89 points. Others to figure in the scorers were Felix Malia, George Wilkinson and Luis Erimnez, who scored 8 tries apiece. All of our 5 wins came before the Christmas break when there was good continuity. After that, fixtures were a bit stop-start due to the heavy rain which caused our Warwickshire Colts cup tie against Keresley to be postponed several times before WRFU decided to decide it on the toss of a coin which unfortunately landed the wrong side up.

The other reason for postponements was more positive. It was because we had 8 players selected to play for South Warwickshire under-17 squad, in the Warwickshire inter-district competition. These absences affected our ability to turn out a club side as well. The players were Luis Erinmez, Syd Harvey, George Wilkinson and Archie Thompson in the forwards and Tom van der Hoven, Joe Johnston, Owen Treanor and Finn Cassidy in the backs. South Warwickshire won the competition and Luis, Tom and Joe went on to play for the full County team later in the season. Some Colts made themselves available for the senior sides with Owen Treanor, Archie Thompson and Joe Johnston making their first team debuts. Owen also turned out for the Seconds and scored a hat-trick. Skipper and prop forward Luis Erinmez (pictured) was the Colts player of the Year, Tom van der Hoven was the Players’ Player and Archie Thompson was chosen as Most Improved Player.

Apart from the regular sides the club made increasing efforts to widen the appeal of the game and offer as many opportunities as possible to play some format. Walking Rugby continued to attract the elderly and our team continued to win competitions. Also, a Women’s side began to take shape, including some of their Rugby League counterparts and training sessions and team building started to prepare them for a full team next season

Ist Team and wider Squad - Chris John, Jimmy Creith, John Brear, Jonty Duncan, Rich McKowen, Freddie Spencer - Phil Evans (coach), Tom Lane (coach), Jake Andrews (2nd XV manager), Louis Vaughan, Simon Harry, Ed Gray, Louis Dunbavin, Kofi Miller, Charlie Harness, Josh Tockley, Brandon Kennett, Kevin Barkway (2nd XV manager) , Alex Carroll (Coach) – Libby Prior (physio), Mitchell Davies, Gareth Shuttleworth, Patch Northover, Ben Kinghorn (Captain), Richard Mullis, Sam Russell, Nathan Batchelor. Oli Boyes, Eva Vicary (physio)