Senior News – Page 22 – Hammersmith & Fulham RFC

Hammers 1s v Harpenden – Match Report

15th October 2018/in Men's Match Report, Senior News

A very cold and wet day at Hurlingham Park as Hammers 1^st XV took on Harpenden. Both teams have enjoyed strong starts to the season with the hosts unbeaten and keen to exercise some demons from last season’s home game which saw the visitors come away with 20-55 victory.

Harpenden arrived at Hurlingham Park late, but the logistical issues they had didn’t show and they started the much brighter team. With a tight head the size of a small SUV they put the Hammers scrum under a lot of pressure. The conditions weren’t suited to Hammers style of running with ball in hand and so Hammers resorted to kicking for territory, however the kick chase was disjointed and offered the Harpenden back three too much space run into. The scramble defence couldn’t stop Harpenden scoring their first try. Hammers then conceded too many penalties in a row and the situation worsened when the referee marched under the post for a penalty try.

Eventually, when Harpenden’s SUV ran out of gas and was hauled a–shore, the Hammers scrum was able to stabilize and even got the better of Harpenden on a few occasions. The Hammers started to get a grip in the match and go through the phases, Magnus Barber wearing a vintage rugby Jersey from Ed Clark hay–days of the 00’s, was pivotal put in a a big shift with strong carries. This allowed the Hammers to get back in to the match and assert some pressure on the opposition.

With the Harpenden defence keeping the Hammers at bay, Hammers had to come with other ways around it, an ambitious cross field chip from Gary–Barlow–come–Fly–Half–Alex–Warner landed in Huw ‘Big Red’ hands and off he went on a meandering run evading tackles like old Captain Rich Horsley evaded rounds. As he dove for the line, the Harpenden covering tackle figured the only way to stop him was by trying to remove is head. Something the ref with a keen eye on Sunday mornings UFC fight had no issues with.

With the Hammers now camped inside the Harpenden half, they went to work building pressure. Eventually a crack appeared and Hamish ‘little red’ was able to find a gap and coast through to score for Hammers. However Little red turned from hero to villain when he tried to provide a wonder assist by chipping the ball over the top to prop-come- winger Alex Gee, the accuracy was severely lacking and had the local council approved Terry’s visions to build a stadium the ball would have surely ended up in Row Z.

In to the second half Hammers continued to find their gears and started to get put Harpenden under more pressure. With longer periods of possession than the first half, there was a sense that the Hammers had shaken off their slow start and would now begin to take a foot hold in the match. However owing to the bad conditions, Hammers in accuracy and high penalty count cost them dearly and allowed Harpenden off the hook.

James Darrall (failed backrow) was able to stifle Harpenden’s attack with some strong chop tackles in defence which kept Hammers in the game. He continued these displays off the pitch as well, as later that night he was able to chop not one but two larger women.

Another driving maul from Harpenden, allowed club captain Rogan ‘the Bogan’ an opportunity to launch vicious assault fellow team mate Ultan with a swift elbow to the head, in what one can only assume was premeditated attack in response for Ultan posting a photo in the clubs whatsapp group of two club members sharing an intimate moment.

Harpenden scored two further tries in the closing 10 minutes which gave the score line some extra spice in their favour, however in truth it was their strong start to the game and the Hammers poor decision making that won it for them. The final score was 10-36 to the visitors which in the end it was a disappointing result for the host who have ambitions of push towards the summit of the table.

The Hammers 1st XV next game will be a cup match against Southwold, where they will be looking to put their first loss of the season behind them and get back to winning ways.

Hammers 2 v Hampstead – Match Report

15th October 2018/in Men's Match Report, Senior News

The first major test for the H&F 2XV came in the form of Hampstead 2XV travelling down to hurlingham park on a wet Saturday afternoon. Both had started the season in fine form winning all their games with bonus point victories…… this was going to be a bruiser!

The Hammers 2XV were already weakened with the news of a new coach and a new captain, resembling an act of dumb and dumber in James “not sure if you know I’m injured” Cramp and Taylor “limited vocabulary” Williams. The preparation started poorly with the new coach realising none of the squad had listened to his request of picking the kit up from Mcgettigans, and with the help of Slade “pretentious” Buchner the uber bills began to rack up on the one-legged coach.

The warm up was slick and effective with Angus “Jonny May” Lean and Tim “Vunipola” Macnaughton getting the troops going. Ed “Grandad” Clark was getting the backs fired up, rumour has it he is now the 3^rd best 9 at the club…. Not the best way to treat your elders.

The game kicked off and Hammers had started very well, utilising the structures that have been put in place this season, the scrum setting a good platform for our talented backs to run from. Sustained pressure led to a successful penalty kick from Jack “not quite Wilkinson” Davies.

Shortly after this there was a horrific injury to the Hampstead centre who had already made some very good inroads to our half. Our thoughts and best wishes are with the Hampstead player in his recovery from this injury!

This understandably spurred Hampstead on, and they were fighting well for their friend, displaying some very abrasive and constructive rugby. They took a 10-3 lead at half time.

Words of wisdom were flying around at half time, with a lot of the experienced players chipping in with the systems we should be doing, the main one being the forwards needing to dominate the contact area and rucks. Nick “also loves a golf cart” Powell getting riled and putting the frighteners up the boys, nobody wanted to see him on the Fulham palace road in a golf buggy.

The second half started, and Hammers began to control the game, utilising the structures well again and beginning to spread the ball through the hands which was impressive in difficult conditions. 10 minutes into the second half and 4 changes were made, with Rhys “Statham” Williams, Dom “Peel” Woodfine, Ed “I’m a 10 not a 15” James and Slade “pretentious” Buchner entering the fray and making big impacts.

The first big of magic of the day from Casey “strictly come dancing” Dennis, made some space out of nothing and fed Lean for the Hammers first try of the day. Not long after this Dennis made another fantastic break, which had the fans on the side-line holding up the 10 signs for his showstopping footwork, another try, and the hammers were 15-10 to the good.

Hampstead rallied, they decided to tighten up and really take the fight to us, resulting in a Chad “3 birds fighting over me” Buchner receiving the sin bin, luckily none of these girls were waiting for him…. Hampstead then scored from the resulting line out, with their kicker nailing a difficult conversion.

17-15 with 3 minutes to play! The Hammers kicked the ball well at the kick off and won a very effective turnover within the Hampstead half. The kick was tough, but one which would win us the game. Did Davies, who had missed pretty much everything all day, have it in him to make the kick…… of course he did, backing himself and producing a superb match winning kick! The sideline was going crazy with the 10s raised once again, Dennis ears had pricked noticing this, but unfortunately this wasn’t for him.

The match finished with a hard thought win for the Hammers 2XV, a first competitive win for Williams as captain and Cramp as coach! The boys were coming down the tunnel with a lot of energy and joy, even Grandad Clark managed a DAB! A fantastic way to end the game.

Again, we wish the Hampstead player who suffered the injury all the best in his recovery and look forward to facing them again later in the season.

MOM – Casey Dennis

DOTD – Chad Buchner

Debuts – Alex Peers, Chris Appleyard, Ed James

Hammers 3s v Millfield Old Boys Badgers

2nd October 2018/in Men's Match Report, Senior News

Having lost their first two Middlesex 1 league games Hammers 3rd XV hosted local South West London rivals the Millfield Old Boys Badgers, at Fortress Hurlingham, on a warm 29th September afternoon.

Benefiting from a compliment of newly selected Hammers, blended with many of the 3XV old guard, on paper Hammers posted a strong XV.

Following a solid warm up Hammers took control of the game early, having the vast majority of the initial territory and possession. Hammers intent to play was obvious form the outset with ball being spun wide and wingers Huw Bowen and George Lawson both getting involved in the early action.

Early in the first half stalwart Huw Bowen showed his top-class finishing skills from the half way line, rounding several Badgers on his way to dot down under the sticks. The points were added by newbie Scrum half Harry Roe who displayed confidence from the boot all afternoon in what became a high scoring local derby.

After a further attritional battle, with big forward carries being made by Tim Chandler, Chris Appleyard and James ‘Seamus’ Heaney the Hammers lead was added to by no8 Damo ‘Thomas Waldrom’ who carried hard to dot down over the line.

However, the Badgers didn’t come to Hurlingham just for the glorious Fulham sunshine and showed their dogged determination and grit to fight back mid first half, taking back possession, building strong phases and working hard to cross the line twice in close succession.

Hammers retaliated with great skill being shown by the youthful Oli Scholes who dotted down to help re-build the hammers lead however, Bagders again played their one-up game plan and built phases to score in the second period of the first half.

After a further period of phase play and strong forward carries from Oli Mitchel, Bertie Weston Davies, and veteran Simon Khalil Hammers speedo wearing skipper Will Parker, showed grit to get over the line and further build the lead for Hammers before half time.

Badgers started the second half strongly dominating possession and territory, leading to two early tries which pushed them into the lead with Hammers heads starting to drop. Close games such as these often test one’s character, with Huw Bowen stepping up to show character in abundance and score two further top-class long-range tries, putting hammers back in front.

Mid second half Hammers coach Dan de Wolf chose to make changes and bring on veteran scrum half Dave Buchanan, speedster Jack Hooper, the athletic Benji Reid and the new streamlined Abe Knight, demanding an immediate impact from the bench. Dan’s decision was rewarded by Jack Hooper connecting well with Oli Scholes, who both showing their ‘Dunseath coached’ in contact offloading skills to get the ball into the hands of Dave Buchanan who rounded his defender and turned back his years to finish a 50-metre run in under close chase.

Huw Bowen again added to the points tally showing his top-class finishing skills to score his 4th try and earn himself a man of the match performance. Hammers were now well ahead however, the ever-dogged Badgers played with heart and in good spirit, clawing one try back ahead of the final whistle.

Overall this was a close fought contest with Hammers just edging in front to take the victory with the final score being 46-38!

Hammers 1s v Hemel Hempstead

2nd October 2018/in Men's Match Report, Senior News

A cold and blustery day at Hurlingham Park saw Hammers 1^st XV play Hemel Hemstead in their first home game of the season. This was an eagerly anticipated fixture as encounters between these two sides are typically high scoring. Sadly, the conditions did not lend themselves to free-flowing rugby with over 20 scrums and 20 lineouts featuring throughout the game but that did not make the game any less entertaining.

Much of the pre-game build up was focused on the size of the Hemel pack, prompting coach Liam to remind the team that organisation, connection, line speed beating size every day of the week. This rang true as Hammers new loosehead prop and converted backrower – Rob Johnstone – laid down an early marker with his first hit of the game knocking back the Hemel number eight. Fellow newbie, prop and frustrated back – Phil Lord – offered words of encouragement as only a kiwi can – “shot aye cuz”.

Hammers new 13 – Dave Panter – was marshalling the backs well in defence and it was his in attack that lead to Hammers first try of the game. “Irish Dave”, put in a well weighted kick to the Hemel five metre line, at the resulting line the ball was spilled and Hammers number eight “Helium Tim”, carried two Hemel players over the line with him for the first try of the game. Without any regular goal kickers in the team our veteran fly half – Si Doherty – dusted off his sand wedge… and then his boots but sadly could not covert the try. After a period of sustained pressure in the Hammers 22, Hemel were awarded a penalty which they duly slotted, 5-3 to Hammers.

It takes something special to make it to the top and be a non-goal kicking fly-half – think Carlos Spencer, Stephen Larkham… and Si Doherty, and it was the former Old Silhillians man that defied all odds when he stepped forward and slotted a penalty on the 15^th minute, putting Hammers two scores ahead. Hammers struggled to get their threatening outside backs into the game, this was not helped by Level 7’s answer to Taqele Naiyaravoro – Alex Gee – overrunning a strike play and knocking the ball on. Blindside flanker – Ultan Bruton – began to assert himself on the game, making a number of dominant carries and showing great work rate in defence in what was a slog of the halfway line between the two packs.

With 10 minutes to go before the halftime whistle, Hemel Hemstead made the most of their dominant lineout and heavier pack as they began to get up a head of steam in a driving maul. That was until their looshead prop broke away, running into frustrated flanker come hooker – James Darrall – who managed to dislodge the ball in the tackle. Hammers worked the ball to the ever-elusive James “JLo” Lo who in a trademark run managed to wriggle his way out of several tackle attempts before darting down the left wing and dotting down in the corner. Doherty missed the conversion, 13-3 to Hammers.

The following kick off saw Hammers gather the ball and after several phases work their way back into the Hemel 22. Sarries Salesman and Shaun Perry doppelganger – Ed Clark – identified space on the left-hand side, passing it the ball to Darrall who in an effort to emulate Danny “Golden Wrists” Cipriani threw a miss two to JLo on the left wing. The ball flew like a one-winged pigeon to the winger who put a deft chip in before being dragged down without the ball resulting in a penalty try to Hammers. 20-3 to Hammers.

Just after halftime, Hammers looked to continue where they left off with Darrall cutting through the Hemel defence unopposed. Darrall’s housemate and joint man of the match, Ultan, looked to link up with the hooker calling for a grubber kick through but instead received an offload to the face – resulting in a bloody nose. Clarky kicked a box kick out on the full and Rogan conceded a few penalties before on the 50^th minute Hemel scored from a driving maul.

On the 65^th minute, more indiscipline from the Hammers bench saw replacement scrumhalf and Belfast’s version of American Psycho – Dave Buchanan – sinbinned for a deliberate knock-on and Hemel were awarded a penalty try. With one minute to go and the game potentially going either way, Si Doherty stepped forward once more and slotted a penalty bringing the score to 23-15 with one minute to go.

Hammers fullback Taylor “Tay Tay” Williams fielded the following kick off and instead of kicking the ball out to end the game, he tried his best to give Hemel a losing bonus point. The Owen Wilson lookalike opted to run the ball but was thankfully knocked into touch. Aside from that and kicking the ball out on the full, Williams had a solid game on his return to the 1^st XV making several last-ditch tackles and organising the defence from the back. That is despite being out until the early hours of the morning preparing himself for the club’s annual pub golf that followed the game. All in all it was a gutsy performance from the boys in red, white and blue who thoroughly deserved their first league victory of the season.

Hammers 5 v Hackney

19th September 2018/in Men's Match Report, Senior News

A sunny day and cross country commute to Hackney ushered in the start of the new season for the 5s. Plans for an early meet to dust off some of the summer indulgences and remind ourselves of moves were largely scuppered by underestimated travel times and equipment issues but some practice of Rhino ball was squeezed in overseen by coach Silcock.

Hackney certainly came out of the gates quicker and had the us pinned in their 22 for the opening 10 minutes of the game which seemed to come almost as much of a surprise to them as it did us. Some solid defence and discipline managed to keep them out. Scrappy play from both teams in the midfield followed with a first serious foray into the Hackney half leading to a solid team try going through many hands on the counter before a silky offload from resident angry 9 Crog Duffy led to young Jack Mitchell crossing the line and scoring the 5s first try of the season for the third year running (early try scoring promise often overshadowed by a mid-late season drought).

The 5s slowly started to click in to gear as the game progressed with well worked trys coming from Felix Whitechapel (showing his trip to the 7s world cup over the summer had only enhanced his love for a rangey run) and Leon Gillespie powering over the line from 10 after sustained pressure. Hackney put forward a physical challenge but the strain was beginning to show. The 5s looked set to go in to the half three tries up however some confusion under a kick between the back 3 led to a comical try for Hackney to end the half.

Some fresh legs at half time and a reminder that Rhino ball was not the only move in the locker led to a blistering start to the second half with two full team trys coming in short order. The first having Tomos Edwards forget he is a second row and combine a show and go, step and fend to beat half the opposition back line and create some space before switching with Michele Bongiorni to create a try of the season contender. The second a well worked backs move off a set piece leading to pitch inspector Jamie Drysdale going under the posts despite the hard ground. The game became a little scrappy from there with fatigue setting in and a secure result however the backs looked dangerous throughout leading to Paul Davies rolling back the years and bursting through the middle for a first try since the closure of The Larrik. The game was closed out with a further couple of tries and Hackney were kept scoreless thanks to a try saving tackle from Ed Spooner. Points were left on the board through kicker Stephen Danby showing pin point accuracy and hitting the post on 3 occasions which he took with characteristic good humour and grace…. A decent game all round with a dominant set piece (100% line out retention) and the backs looking dangerous but plenty to work on for next week against perennial challengers Belsize Park.

Final score 48-7 a good start to the season with some sore bodies and heads on Sunday morning.

MoM – Tomos Edwards & Michele BongiornI

DoD – Paul Davies (ending try drought)

Trys – Mitchell J, R., Mitchell J, A., BongiornI, Davies, Whitechapel, Drysdale, Gillespie, Edwards

Hammers 2 v Hackney – Match Report

18th September 2018/in Men's Match Report, Senior News

And So…… after huge amounts of sustained pressure, lobbying, and Supa 5s contests at Hammersmith Town Hall, Hammersmith and Fulham Council realised that they in fact loved having heavily blazer clad Jack Whitehall wannabees on their side-lines and it was time for Hammers to run out for the first time this season at Fortress Hurlingham. Fortunately, the fixture gods had been in kind and the visitors for the first 2s league game were in fact Hackney following the clubs’ respective first teams drawing in East London the previous week. This was excellent news for the Hackney Lads as one had heard that they too loved the Blazer Bantaaaarrr and were only too keen to get down to share tales of tour medals and chundaaaarr on the side-line.

Unfortunately, the only blazer spotted by the author was not one of the Hammers variety and worn by a man resembling a young Gerard Depardieu than the League of Their Own resident comic that so many of the Hammers have idolised over the years. That said, the man in question was heard to be propositioning a lady outside Maremoto at 3AM the following morning with the promise of Cheese and Wine at his Fulham flat should she wish to return with him. She wasn’t hungry.

And so, Hammers got the game underway with the words of stand-in skipper McClean ringing in their ears…… ‘They’ve not come down here to mess about boys and they’re not just going to roll over!’

What followed was a spectacle of free flowing rugby, some say the likes of which Hurlingham has not seen since the days of an Alleyne/Walters halfback combination, and telegrams. Hammers looked to get into shape quickly, similar to many boys after their initial Bronco tests, and began going to work on making inroads into the Hackney defence. There was a lot of hard yakka for the Hammers early doors but eventually pressure told with Huw Bowen going over on the right win in the first minute. Warner converted and then the floodgates opened.

A first half followed where Hammers continued to run in tries from everywhere, much to the dismay of the Home Crowd, and so Bomdhat, Basher and Del had a nap, and Billy Rylance continued drinking. 7 more tries followed from all over the park scored with Warner, Gee, Panter (2), Murray and Goldberg (2) all going over, Warner converted 6 of them to make the score 52-0 at the break.

At half time the mood was buoyant, but with some of the lads looking like they’d run 4 broncos in the blistering SW6 sun, changes were made in order for Hammers to keep up the pace after the break.

This they did, and the boys were quickly into their stride in the 2^nd period. Straight off the bench, Jordon Abbot crossed first following a superb pop off the floor by teacher’s pet McClean. Rumours are he celebrated later that weekend with a marathon 4 hour Sunday session of the popular children’s game ‘Bop-it’. We look forward to seeing the fruits of his labour once more in training this week.

More changes were rung and James Darrall came on…. gave away a pen….. protested his innocence and was marched 10 meters. Impact.

Fox crossed next, having cut a line just as he cut’s lads’ lunches, followed by 2^nd tries for Gee and Bowen shortly after, before Shepppard, playing in his more suited position of full back, trundled in from the 40 metres. Panter, Bowen and Gee all then completed hat-tricks. I think it would be fair to say that with the line at his mercy for his third Alex Gee had at least 29 other blokes on the pitch trying to tackle him yet persistence prevailed. Word is he was later overheard in the Durrell stating ‘Hammers…..completed it mate’ #stayhumble

Coach Dunseath entered the field of play to ring some changes in the back line. He was still on the field of play when the ball was launched into the air from the Hackney restart, but scampered off with a rabbit in headlights urgency, just as the ball was collected by the hammers pack. Fox to 10, Warner to 11 and another change somewhere else….. maybe. It seemed to work which is a testament to the amount of work the lads have put in in pre-season from a chaos point of view. Or it might have been that Hackney a lot of points down.

Alex Warner collected his 2^nd off a well worked move from the back of a scrum and a perfectly timed, sumptuous pass into his path from whomever had the ball prior to him. Panter converted excellently from the side-line as Warner handed over the kicking duties….. might be a while before he gets them back.

There was still time for Jordon Abbott to be involved in possibly the most polite held up decision in Rugby History after he explained ‘he really wasn’t too fussed’ in a fairly patronising matter of fact way. This was not taken lightly by Skips and was punished accordingly later in the afternoon, however it was on this note that the final whistle blew, the Three Stoodges awoke and Hammers were victors with handsome points difference to start the campaign.

Final Score 115-0.

Credit where credit is due, Hackney at no point rolled over (to Josh’s delight) and kept playing right through to the end without deliberately turning the game into a scrap. Hammers can expect a much tough test later in the season when they travel to Springhill for the return leg.

A good day’s work from Hammers overall, and although the game was one sided, the boys stuck true to structure and pattern throughout and got some good metres under the belt. We look forward to a big week into a full programme of league games this weekend. Training no doubt will bring some hard graft and news of anyone who served any cheese and wine.

A great way to start the ball rolling at Hurlingham this season and a ‘Great Day to be a Hammer!’.

2^nd XV Vs Hackney

Rob Johnston
Phil Lord
Joe Darwood
Zander Stephen
Josh McLean ©
Ultan Bruton
Ash Mitchell
Tim Murray
Dave Buchanan
Alex Warner
Alex Gee
Rob Fox
Dave Panter
Huw Bowen
Jack Goldberg

James Darrall
Tim Williams
Jordan Abbott
Ed Clark
Sam Sheppard

Scorers:

Tries: Bowen x 3, Warner x 2, Gee x 3, Panter x 3, Murray, Goldberg x 3, Abbott, Fox, Sheppard

Cons: Warner x 14, Panter x 1

Motm: Zander Stephen

Tin Man: Jordan Abbott

TRAINING UPDATE – WEEK COMMENCING 10th SEPTEMBER

1st September 2018/in Senior News, Uncategorised

WE’RE BACK AT HURLINGHAM!
Every Tuesday & Thursday from 7.30pm to 9.00pm on grass under floodlights. Changing rooms & showers will be available.

SATURDAY 1st SEPTEMBER 2018

30th August 2018/in Senior News

As the pitch renovation work has still not been completed the Council has informed us that we cannot use Hurlingham on Saturday 1st September 2018. We have therefore switched all the men’s & ladies games to Barn Elms Sports Ground (Queen Elizabeth Walk, Barnes, London SW13 0DG). Kick off times are on the fixtures page.

TRAINING LOCATION UPDATE

29th August 2018/in Senior News

Hammers!

Unfortunately Hurlingham Park is still closed. Please note that training will continue to be at Lillie Road Recreational Ground until further notice.

We will advise on here and across the social channels when we are able to access Hurlingham Park.

Hammers appoint a new head coach!

6th July 2018/in Senior News, Youth News

A new era dawns in Hammers Rugby

After a long and rigorous search, Hammersmith & Fulham RFC is pleased to announce the appointment of Liam Dunseath as Head Coach for the 2018/19 season.

Currently serving as Head Coach of London Southbank University following stints in Fiji, Iran, and Thailand, Liam also served as a specialist video analysis consultant to England’s Head Coach Eddie Jones in their victorious 2016 Grand Slam 2016 Grand Slam Title, RBS 6 Nations & the Triple Crown campaign.

In executing his task, Liam will be supported by our excellent assistant coaching team of James Coughbrough, Dan DeWolfe, and long-time tormentor and fitness coach, Ian Burbidge.

With pre-season having now started, Liam is already working with the team to deliver on the club’s ambitions and targets. In Liam’s own words:

“I’m extremely excited to be appointed as Head Coach at H&F RFC.

The club has a clear objective and vision to be promoted to London 1 and my job is to facilitate the players potential to achieve this. Even as a Level 7 club, I’ve been thoroughly impressed with the interview process and what the club stands for with several leaders already being evident. There’s no denying as the players and coaches, we all have a massive task at hand. This is an achievable journey with hard work, dedication and the willingness to develop new skills as the club and players grow.”