1. Art and Diseño

Parknews
The e-Magazine for Rosslyn Park Supporters - Issue 23 2014/16 - 28 January 2015
BONUS WIN KEEPS PARK IN THE RACE
W
elcome to Parknews. Another 4-try bonus point win last Saturday saw Park remain in third place in National One but, credit
to Blaydon, they made us fight for it in the second half. The first 40
minutes saw Park pretty well much in control to the extent that a
3-try 15-3 lead seemed almost a paltry return. Blaydon defended
superbly at times but were not in the match as an attacking force.
In the second half the visitors reverted to their more traditional style, and
with great effect. Fly half Andrew Baggett is the master of hoisting the ball
to touch in the opposition 22 to set up as good a catch and drive as there
is. There must have been the worst kind of déjà vu among those who went
to Blaydon a few seasons back, when we played some sparkling rugby, but
only for our opponents to constantly hit us with the kick, catch and drive
and win comfortably. Sure, you know what they are going to do – but stopping it is another matter!
Fortunately Park kept their heads, shape and concentration on Saturday and
– taken over the 80 minutes – fully deserved to win. But it was a hard-earned
victory against tough opposition. Alex Codling said, “I thought some of the
ambition and interplay with ball in hand in the first half was outstanding. To
only be 15 - 3 up at half time with Blaydon having not visited our 22, we knew
that the next score would be crucial and unfortunately it went to Blaydon and
we made too many errors to kick on. Credit to Blaydon, they are well organised
and physical so to get the 5 point win was great, but there is still plenty to
work on.
“This week we face a big test away at Wharfedale and it will crucial to reduce
our error count it we are to give ourselves an opportunity to get a result”.
This weekend
P
ark have been undone on the sloping Threshfields pitch too many times
to take this coming match anything but absolutely seriously. On their day
Wharfedale can beat anyone, as they amply demonstrated a couple of seasons
back when we visited them off the back of a long unbeaten run only to be
met with their best display of the season and a resounding defeat. Your vocal support on Saturday would, of course, help to prevent that happening.The
address is: Wharfedale RUFC, Wharfeside Avenue, Threshfield, Skipton North
Yorkshire, BD23 5BS. The nearest station is Skipton.
Please do note the previous warning: you must catch the 18:05 out of Leeds at
the latest – otherwise you will get caught up in weekend rail works. That means
catching the 16:47 or 17:02 trains at Skipton. It’s quite an expensive cab ride to
and from the ground (about £20 each way). Otherwise the local 72 bus service
leaves Skipton station at 12:05, arriving at Wharfedale School at 12:30 (the next
bus is 2 hours later and it’s a 2:00 KO). After the match there’s a bus from the
school at 16:13 that is due back at Skipton station at 16:40.
If you are not going to Wharfedale this weekend, then why not get some fresh
air with a stroll in Richmond Park to support the Bs. If you’ve not done so before you will be pleasantly surprised at the standard of the Rugby on offer and you can always retreat to the comfort of the Clubhouse afterwards. Or
perhaps get your Rugby fix on Sunday when the Slingbacks face Reading in an
important Championship 2 match. Conditions permitting, that should be on
the main pitch, with the Clubhouse open before, during and after the match
and admission is free.
Another 5 point win [match photos by David Whittam]
Forthcoming fixtures
Saturday 31st January
Wharfedale v 1st XV
National 1
Away KO 2:00
Ealing Amateurs v Hatters
Zoo Sports 3
Away KO 2:15
B XV v Grasshoppers 2
Middlesex Merit 1
Richmond Park KO TBA
4s v Bank of England 2
Match cancelled
Guildford 3 v Nomads
Surrey Combination
Away KO TBA
Sunday 1st February
Slingbacks v Reading
Championship 2
Home KO 2:00PM
Saturday 7th February
1st XV v Cinderford
National 1
Home KO 3:00
Club EGM at 11:30
To book for the pre-match lunch please call the Club
Office on 020 8876 6044
Send all articles, reports and correspondence to: [email protected] (click for e-mail)
1
Parknews
Parknews
Luke Carter makes a break
against Blaydon [Photo: David
Whittam]
Clubsides
W
ill Thorogood reports that it was Middlesex Merit Table Cup
weekend for the 4’s and B’s. The 4’s had a satisfying win
against Chiswick 2’s, who play in the Merit Table above. With a
15-0 half-time lead, the 4’s looked safe, but never take anything
for granted. Chiswick fought back to 15-12, but the 4’s regrouped,
to hold off Chiswick’s attacks, and scored a couple of tries themselves. 4’s 25 Chiswick 2’s 12. The 4’s will play their Semi Final away
to Crags Crusaders on the 14th March.
Chi Yeo of the 4s said, “We dominated the contest early, led from
the front by our front 3. We lead 15-0 at half time but preceded to
do our best to give it away as ill-discipline gave way resulting in 2
yellow cards, a quick 12 points to the opposition and only a 3 point
lead, with 20 minutes to play. We did manage to gain our composure and reassert ourselves to finish with 10 unanswered point and
a 25-12 victory”.
It is obviously probable that the 14 conversions and the total 21
tries scored that day are also records. Moreover, as the match was
in the days of 4-point tries, the total score would be 133-0 in today’s currency and Wrighton’s record, 48.
Now, where did I put my anorak......
Ciao Lloydy
Mini and Youth Rugby
Danny Cipriani returns to his roots
ecently restored to the England squad, Sale fly half Danny Cipriani found time to visit the Rock last Saturday to catch up with
the current crop of Park Minis who may one day follow his path to
the top. With Park’s successful Mini section sponsoring the match
against Blaydon, Danny was delighted to respond to an invitation
to come along and meet and chat to the youngsters, and be pho-
R
The B’s were also doing Cup battle against Grasshoppers 2’s. Having built a “comfortable” half time lead of 21-5, the B’s must have
taken their feet off the gas, and a determined Grasshoppers team
clawed back to 21-20. With, but a couple of minutes left, the B’s
conceded a kickable penalty which ‘hoppers duly converted! 2123. Hard luck lads, but it sounds like a good competition. Anyway,
the B’s have a chance to make amends on Saturday, as they are
playing Grasshoppers again, but in the league this time!
The Hatters had a difficult contest against a very well organized
and disciplined Redingensians 2’s side in their Zoo Sports 3 game
in Richmond Park. Redingensians were just too strong. In fact, they
top the league by a country mile. It was hard work, but no disgrace.
The Hatters did score three good tries. 17-70.
As Bank of England have dropped out of the League the 4s have no
fixture this weekend but will focus their efforts on supporting the
other clubsides who may be short of players.
Reader’s letter
Graham Lloyd corrects a club record
Hi Charlie
Hope this finds you well and not too fed up with the numerous “Je
suis” prefaces that I imagine have come your way?!
Re previous Park News “Clubsides” report and a query as to whether or not the 34(?) points scored by the fly-half was a club record,
he’s certainly on the podium. However, the record points scored in
a single game is 44, set by Dave Wrighton on 4th October 1980. The
day saw 3 records: Rosslyn Park (ironically, the side that became
the lVs) beat Stockwood Park 112-0; winger Jonathan King scored
6 tries; and fly-half Wrighton’s 44, which comprised 4 tries and 14
conversions.
tographed with them.
If Danny is the most famous product of the Rosslyn Park Mini and
Junior Section then he is not the only one. Among others, Quins
prop Will Collier is a recent ‘graduate’ and of our present senior
2
Parknews
Parknews
squad Harry Rowland, Nev Edwards and Charlie Gower all came up
through the ranks. Who will be next?
Slingbacks
Cheltenham 54
Slingbacks 5
Cup 2nd Round
By Maria Castellina
he Slingbacks travelled to Cheltenham on Sunday for the second round of the intermediate cup. It was always going to
be a tough match, travelling away from home to face a team in
the league above, but the Slingbacks kept fighting until the final
whistle blew.
T
From kick off Cheltenham charged aggressively at Park using their
strong runners to break the gain line. Some missed tackles, coming
from Park going too high, gave Cheltenham the break they needed
to get their first score on the board. A second try quickly followed
taking the score to 10-0.
But Park fought back and when they finally started to attack they
looked dangerous, with strong running from the Park 8, Harui McCormack and 2nd row Jenny Hobson. With the help of the boot of
centre, Victoria Britland, they regained territory and worked themselves into the Cheltenham 22. From there a penalty gave Park the
space to surge forward and after recycling the ball from a quick
ruck, Hari McCormack took the ball and crashed it over the line.
10-5 to Cheltenham.
Cheltenham responded to the score by stepping up their game
and Park spent much of the remaining first half defending as Cheltenham used their strong runners like battering rams picking holes
in the Park defence.
I
n the 2nd half Park regained some possession and some momentum. Twice more they reached the Cheltenham line, only to be
denied both times. In the first, runner Jenny Hobson was tackled
just short of the line and though full-back Dani Williams tried again
to crash it over, she was held up. Then after a strong multi-phase
attack Park were again held up over the line – giving testament to
the strong Cheltenham defence.
Forward of the match went to Jenny Hobson for her crashing running lines: Back of the match went to Victoria Britland for her great
kicking game.
A cup match against a side from a higher division was probably
the last thing the Slingbacks needed after drawing some muchneeded confidence from a steady climb up the league. They have
a chance to get their League campaign back on track this Sunday
when they tackle Reading at the Rock kicking off at 2:00PM. Come
along and support them if you can.
The kindest cut of all...
P
ark flanker, Harry Broadbent, is easily recognisable throughout
National 1 Rugby for his flowing locks. But not for much longer.
After the home match against Cinderford on Saturday (7th February) he is having his golden fleece sheared off – for charity.
Harry said, “I’m known for my long, flowing, luscious, thick, hair. I
am planning to shave it all off for the Rosslyn Park Injury Trust and
then donate the actual hair to ‘Locks for Love’, a leukaemia charity, so it can be made into a wig for children who suffer with the
illness and have lost their hair due to treatment. The Injury Trust
supports sportsmen and women who have suffered significant
injuries, helping towards the cost of wheelchairs or rehab equipment, with the aim of helping them as much as we can through a
difficult period”.
The worthwhile cause is the Rosslyn Park Injuries Trust Fund, a
registered charity that supports sports people who suffer serious
injuries. Donations can be made through
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/
showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=HarrysHairCut
The Charity – the only one of its kind in Rugby – was founded when
in 1981 the 18-year-old Captain of Llandovery College, was playing
in the Rosslyn Park National Schools Sevens and fell awkwardly in
a tackle leaving him quadriplegic. The Trust Fund helped the player
with the extra expense of University life with a serious disability.
The trust’s objects are now extended to assist not only those who
suffer injuries whilst playing rugby but also those young people
suffering injuries whilst engaged in other sports. Among those
helped in recent years have been a young woman rock climber,
paraplegic after an accident; a MotoCross racer, who lost his leg
above the knee and a cyclist suffering a serious head injury.
National 1 round up
There cannot be many of teams who have scored 6 tries away from
home at National 1 level and ended up thrashed, but that was the
fate of Richmond last Saturday when Ealing Trailfinders retained
top blace by administering a 63-36 thrashing. The local Derby
brought in 849 punters, but small beer to Coventry who shrugged
off the predatory presence of Wasps by attracting a gate of 2132 to
see them retain second place after a 32-22 win over Cinderford.
Only a last minute Cov penalty deprived Cinderford of a losing
bonus point, so our next home opponents are clearly not going
down without a fight. Park remain third after Saturday’s win over
Blaydon
Fourth-placed Fylde are now out of the title race completely after
a surprise home defeat by 35-12 at the hands of Hartpury College,
who move up to sixth place. Seven points above them are Blackheath who eked out a 17-7 home win over Wharfedale. Darlington Mowden Park complete the top half of the table after a 30-22
win over Esher, who look to be on the slide. Attendance at DMP
was 920, only about 26,000 short of ground capacity.
It’s getting tough at the bottom. Tynedale’s 20-22 loss to bottom club Macclesfield, coutesy of a last gasp penalty, sees them
in deep trouble, along with Old Albanian, who lost by 30-20 at
Loughborough.
This Saturday’s matches:
Blaydon v Loughborough
Cinderford v Blackheath
Esher v Tynedale
Hartpury College v Darlington Mowden Park
Macclesfield v Ealing
Old Albanian v Fylde
Richmond v Coventry
Wharfedale v Rosslyn Park
Away to Richmond
3
Parknews
Parknews
T
he Club has agreed to a request from Richmond to move our
away match against them, scheduled for Saturday 14 February,
forward to the Friday evening as England play Italy at Twickenham that Saturday afternoon. So the match is now at the Athletic
Ground on Friday 13th February at 7:45PM.
Match off
T
he fixture against the Army, scheduled for the evening of 24
February has been cancelled.
Obolensky Dinner & Awards
S
ave The Date! The Prince Obolensky Association Annual Dinner
& Awards take place in the Clubhouse on Wednesday 25th February 2015 7:15pm for an 8:00pm start. There’s a flyer to publicise
the event on the next page, but there are two British & Irish Lions
as guest speakers in the substantial forms of Rob Henderson and
Peter Winterbottom.
As the club builds towards Securing its Future, “The Obo”, and its
ability to raise funds is more important than ever. Tickets to the
Annual Dinner are free to Full members of the Association so why
not join today and get your dinner thrown in? Membership of the
Association is open to all. However only current or past members
of Rosslyn Park can become full members of the Association. The
current subscription rates are: Full Member £60 per annum, Associate Member £10 per annum, Life Member £500
T
here was an assumption when Wasps moved to the Ricoh in
Coventry that, whilst possibly resenting a cuckoo in their nest,
the Coventry Club might profit from a tie up with Wasps, involving
loan players, etc. Not necessarily so reports a source with good
contacts in the area – the beneficiaries might well be another local
club, Broadstreet, currently in National 2 North. How much of this
is conjecture and how much is fact one cannot say, but it’s possible
to see some sense in such an arrangement if Wasps intend to move
lock, stock and barrel to the Midlands. Broadstreet have excellent
facilities on the edge of Coventry, adjacent to two motorways (the
Slingbacks won promotion to the Premiership there a few seasons
back). They have several super pitches and a modern large clubhouse with good changing facilities. If Wasps were looking for a
training ground it would certainly fit the bill.
Next Parknews
N
ext week’s Parknews should be on the Club website around
between Tuesday / Wednesday lunchtimes. Contributions are
always welcome. The deadline is usually 13:00 on the Tuesday of
the week of publication. If you’d like to be notified as soon as it is
Social
Diary
posted then please opt to
follow the
Twitter feed @RPNoseyParker.
Talking of Twitter, if you can’t make it to a match then catch Mo
Earlytwitter
New Year
Citythroughout
Dinner Date,
and venue
Sher’s
commentary
theprogramme
match on @Rosslypark.
yet to be announced.
The inaugural Prince Obolensky Award was presented to the family of Andy Ripley at the Association’s Annual Dinner in February
2011 in his memory. The award is presented annually at the dinner to the person the Association feels best represents the Prince’s
Sat 21 February
Slingbacks Annual Beer Festival
Wed 25 February
be confirmed
Obolensky Association Dinner venue to
Sat 14 March
Former Players’ Lunch
23-27 March
Rosslyn Park HSBC National Schools 7s
Wed 6 May
London Floodlit 7s
Fri 8 May Women’s Floodlit 7s (in aid of the Rosslyn Park Injuries Trust Fund)
League Tables and Statistics
In the past Parknews has included a couple of pages of League
Tables, fixture / results matrix and player appearances for National 1. However, this material is not of use to everyone but has
to be downloaded. So instead here are some links to sources of
such information elsewhere so that those who want it can easily
get it.
For National 1 results and fixtures click here
If you need to input the link manually it is http://www.ncarugby.org/index.php?pg=F%20National%20League%20
1&league=Nat%20League%201
For the current National 1 league table click here
http://www.ncarugby.org/index.php?pg=T%20National%20
League%201&league=Nat%20League%201
For directions to National 1 grounds click here
https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=2173134807122
64949216.0004f8ad90c19cb6866b6&msa=0&ll=54.104502,1.483154&spn=5.683405,16.907959&dg=feature
For Rosslyn Park match results and team stats click here
Stephen McCormack’s excellent Statbunker can be found at
http://rugby.statbunker.com/competitions/LastMatches?club_
id=49&comp_id=465&limit=15
Some of the websites for the league competitions that other
Rosslyn Park sides compete in are not yet up and working for this
season. If any skippers, coaches, etc know of websites that report
the League Tables and Results from competitions they play in
please let the editor know and we’ll include them in the list. Click
here to e-mail details / links.
Corinthian spirit. Recipients of the Award are: Andy Ripley, OBE
(2011), Jason Leonard, OBE (2012), Peter Smith (2013). There is
further information on The Prince Obolensky Association website:
www.obolensky.org.
Rumour mill
4
Parknews
Parknews
5
Parknews
Parknews
PARK FORCED TO BATTLE FOR WIN
Park 20
Blaydon 15
National 1
A
thrilling match that was every bit as close as the score suggests. Park dominated the first half and probably should have
been out of sight by the interval. A very smart second half from
Blaydon stretched Park to the limit but they held out for a bonus
point win that they just about deserved.
Park dominated the play from the start and a sound-looking Blaydon defence was split after only 5 minutes when a superb run from
flanker Max Northcote-Green pierced it through the heart to find
scrum half Luke Carter in support for 5-0. Fly half Tom Whelan
could not quite make the conversion.
From the re-start Park gained a scrum and soon had a penalty to
the corner, but the throw was not straight.
The home side were dictating, but got into a mess within range of
their own posts to give Blaydon a penalty which fly half Andrew
Baggett accepted to bring the scores to 5-3 on 12 minutes.
Park hardly blinked and went further ahead three minutes later
with a super try. Centre Mark Ireland was the engineer with a great
run through the centre, taken on by centre Nev Edwards to score
wide of the posts for 10-3.
The home side were playing most of the rugby, but passing movements from deep in their own territory encountered a determined
and well-organised midfield defence that kept real chances at a
premium.
Winger Kiba Richards had a good run through, but what might
have been a scoring pass was knocked on. A scrum in front of the
posts looked promising but Park could not finish the move. Joe
Ajuwa made some powerful runs and Richards was often involved
but Park simply could not turn their dominance into points on the
board.
With 5 minutes to the interval, after another sophisticated passing movement it was the battering ram of Ajuwa that cracked it,
leading to another good run from Ireland to provide Carter with
his second try.
Solid defence [Photo:
David Whittam]
Park on the attack [Photo:
David Whittam]
P
ark may have felt a 12 point half-time lead was scant reward
for their considerable efforts, but they looked to be in no real
danger of not comfortably securing the 5-point win they needed.
Blaydon had other ideas and changed to their more traditional
game, which involves the educated boot of Baggett kicking them
to attacking positions to set up their very effective maul. It very
nearly worked.
Blaydon bagged an early penalty, but on a poor day for kickers
Baggett’s kick slid wide.
The visitors put in another good attack, driving close to the line
before Park summoned a supreme effort to push them into touch.
But Blaydon returned with a super maul up the right that won a
penalty. The kick went long to provide relief for Park.
Blaydon came again with a terrific attack pressing on the 5 metres
line. They won another penalty at the scrum, hoofed to the corner
and a good maul led to flanker Jason Smithson going over. Again
the conversion was missed, but at 15-8 the match was now anything but over.
Park needed to respond and did. Blaydon knocked on replacement fly-half Scott Sneddon’s restart kick to concede a scrum deep
in their own territory. Park put together some good passing and
when Ajuwa came onto the ball with speed and power there was
only going to be one result. The try put his side 20-8 ahead and
secured the 4-try bonus, but Sneddon could not make the kick, for
the fifth unconverted try of the match.
Park put together a super move up the right, but eventually the
ball was spilled. Back came Blaydon, Park were pinged at a scrum
and the inevitable boot to the corner followed. Blaydon set up their
powerful maul. Park’s defence did well to repel the initial surge,
but back they came and it was flanker Tom Bramwell who touched
down. Baggett nailed possibly the most difficult conversion of the
match for 20-15 with nine minutes left.
Park kept their heads and – more importantly – the ball. As they
moved it around in the Blaydon half, number 8 Mike Macfarlane
was taken out high to give Park a difficult penalty that would have
left the visitors needing more than a converted try. Sneddon opted
for safety to kick to the corner and run down the clock.
Park were tempted into a little bit of last minute ambition and
nearly over-reached themselves when Blaydon gained possession.
But when Macfarlane skilfully caught the clearance kick over his
shoulder his team played down the final seconds before booting
the ball out of play to claim the spoils.
Park: Edwards; Richards, Ireland, Mackey, Ajuwa; Whelan; Carter; Liffchak, Wooolstencroft, MacKenzie; Inglis, Bowley; Northcote-Green,
Broadbent, Macfarlane.
Subs: Bellamy, Lundberg, Boyle, Gash, Sneddon
Park scorers: Carter (2T), Edwards (T), Ajuwa (T).
6
Parknews