The third round (quarter finals) the Papa John cup against Towcestrians on Saturday was a real thriller as both sides moved the ball about in an open and exciting game . Leamington took the lead with an early penalty but Towcestrians responded with the first try of the match to go ahead for the first and only time, as we kept in front from tries scored by Joe Johnston (2), Freddie Spencer (2) and John Brear, with kicks from Josh Tokley and Alex Johnston. Towcestrians had us under pressure late on and pulled back to within 3 points as we entered injury time but 2 late tries clinched the game and a 39-24 win. See John Warner’s full report on th website

We now move into the semi-finals, the stage we reached in the two previous years of the competition and we entertain Loughborough on Saturday – kick off at 3.00. We beat them in the quarter finals last year and are looking for a repeat

Leamington Royals will be kicking off their season on Saturday at home at 2.30 – so two first team games to watch

For this year’s autumn internationals, England are playing 4 games at Twickenham – Australia (Nov 1) Fiji (Nov 8) New Zealand (Nov 15) and Argentina (23 Nov). We have a set allocation of 28 tickets for each of the 4 games. Our tickets have been purchased as usual for the Australia and New Zealand games in the expectation that we will have the required demand. The arrangement is different this year for the Fiji and Argentina games, in that previously we have had no allocation for them but we could order as many as we liked, subject to availability. Given the high prices of the Australia and NZ tickets and the more modest prices for Fiji and Argentina, with the option of a reduced price for juniors, there may well be the full demand, but I intend to order them on a first come first served basis. Applications for Australia and NZ should be made by the closing date of Monday 16 June. Applications for Fiji and Argentina should be made asap whilst the RFU still has availability at different prices. An application form showing eligibility and prices is attached

Johnlizlyons@btopenworld.com