Saturday afternoon was off to a confusing start in Hammersmith. Cries of “outrageous” were heard as Ian came to terms with warming up on a cone-less pitch; and rumor has it Alex Hart even turned up on time. Sadly, the VEO didn’t capture Ian’s warm-up withdrawal symptoms, but it did capture a beautiful kick for territory from Joe Carolan to start the game and set us up strongly in the opposition half.

Life is usually easier when you are playing in the opposition’s half of the pitch… but here at Hurlingham we don’t like an easy life. Hammers were doing their best to make life difficult. Quick successions of penalties and a lack of discipline had allowed Cornish to proceed down the field one chunk at a time.

It was back and forwards in the first half. Cornish were first to put points on the board, after an attritional period of mauling and forward carries eventually breaking the line. Hammersmith then swiftly answered back with the first of Joe Carolan’s tries, never underestimate the man who J Lo called “sneakily fast”. Hammersmith’s defense was once again tested with some strong direct carriers for Cornish’s second try. There was a suggestion that one of the Cornish players was blocking the tackler and accidentally offside. Having reviewed the VEO footage this was inconclusive…

Ross, who can usually be relied on for a kick up the metaphorical backside, was a little more subdued and quieter than usual. The colour had been drained from his, already Scottish, face by a terrible case of man-flu. Clearly the Haribo and Lucozade pre-match cocktail needed topping up. Some further pressure from the Hammers and some quick thinking and even quicker offloads put Joe back under the sticks for his second try.

At the risk of sounding too much like a football pundit, it was evidently a game of two halves. The passes that didn’t go to hand in the first half now did in the second. Those of you who have been subjected to a holiday in the sunny south-west probably know that Cornish pasties come out of the oven hot; but when they start cooling down they go cold quickly. The defensive line that faltered in the first half did not break in the second and Hammersmith showed the persistence that has earned them a top of the table spot.

Much was made of how Cornish had scrummed strongly against Old Priorian’s the prior week. The mid-week session studying the dark arts, taught by Professor Swainston, had clearly paid off. Iron sharpens iron and the Hammers pack were strong at set piece. The jury is still out on whether Pete Clarke’s new studs were the independent variable but at least we don’t have to set up a crowd-funding page for new boots anymore. The line out worked similarly efficiently; forcing a defensive turnover which Hammersmith converted into 7 points. Matt Killeen would not be denied, dragging three defenders with him, placing the ball down over the line with authority.

The gaps that had disappeared in the first half were now starting to open. Prime hunting ground for ‘snakehips’ Pete Morris waltzing through the Cornish defence for an 80m gallop. Ross, then capitalizing on this opportunity swapped his current flu for a case of white line fever, sneaking down a completely abandoned blindside secured another Hammers try.

Joe Carolan, who has now slipped to the country’s joint 5th top try scorer, is clearly on a mission to catch ‘Name Withheld’ from Valkryies ladies. He was not satisfied with only two tries for the day. Successive late strikes into the opposition half proved fruitful with a final trio of tries coming for Byrce, Ollie and eventually Carolan again. Three tries in one game is borderline excessive, but over the head offloads to Ollie Weaver are encouraged.

Last Sunday Hammers 2XV took the short-ish trip to Chesham, playing a team that haven’t come up against a Hammers Women’s squad for a good few seasons. We’re adjacent in the table so we knew it was going to be a tight game, but as always the aim was to enjoy ourselves, playing good and competitive rugby.

Hammers started strong with early pressure and a penalty in an attacking position. Early surges forward resulted in a clear opportunity with an overlap created by some great forwards play. The backs lined up the grubber, which resulted in a gap opening up for Tara to sneak through under the posts. Successfully converted to make it 7-0.

We quickly learnt that Chesham weren’t going to let us run away with the game. Their carries were strong, they came onto the ball at pace and focused on their key carriers making ground. Despite a mammoth defensive effort that lasted for the majority of the rest of the first half, Chesham were able to flip the momentum and scored 3 tries (2 converted) in similar fashion. 7-21.

Hammers had their mental fortitude tested just before half time with a nasty injury to Krushi, who was having an outstanding game (we love you Krushi!). Never ones to back down, we came back out of the blocks in the second half with a renewed sense of focus and determination. Chesham didn’t relent, and another driving try took them to 7-26 ahead. Then came the resurgence of Hammers, we figured out how to break Chesham down – using our pace and agility  to outrun them. A period of dominance from Hammers resulted in 3 tries – with Liv, Cloe and Lucy scoring. This took us into the lead, 28-26.

We unfortunately hadn’t quite got the measure of the Chesham attack, and two more tries in the last quarter of the game built their score to 28-38. Again, our resilience came through and Rachel touched down to bring us back within a score of drawing level/winning. 35-38.

Time was against us and the final whistle blew before we could mount a last attack, final score 35-38.

It was a massive effort from the whole squad to stay close in this game, especially as we were on the back foot for long periods of time. We’ve shown improvement every week and this week was no exception. We go again in 2 weeks time! TWOOSH.

Back of the match: Cloe Ragot

Forward of the match: Laurel Dunn

Only 2 hours before beers were being drunk and a very out of tune rendition of Gerry Cinnamon’s ‘Belter’ poured out of changing room 6, there was a huge task ahead of the men in red at Fortress Hurlingham.

On a slightly warmer Saturday, 2 weeks after a 1-point loss to Old Priorians, Hammers were up against a very tough London Irish opposition who had only recently beaten Old Priorians by 1 point themselves. A late change to the line-up saw Ash Mitchell replace Pete Clark at 6 due to illness and Pete Morris back in the starting line-up at 10 after a knee injury in September. London Irish kicked off and very early on earned a penalty which got the scoreboard underway – 3-0 Irish. Hammers knew they needed a response and after a scrappy first 10 minutes, it was Bryce Morgan on the end of some slick hands and some good pace to touchdown in the corner. 5-3 Hammers.

Soon after however, Irish earned themselves another penalty in the Hammers half and pulled themselves back ahead thanks to the boot of Henry Fuller. 6-5 Irish. Another response needed by the Hammers and that was what they got. The frantic start to the game began to turn into control and maturity, which after some good build up play and strong carrying, Josh Smith crossed the whitewash for his 7^th try of the season (watch out Joe Carolan). It wasn’t long though before some more ill discipline saw Fuller put the ball through the uprights to pull the scoreboard back to within 3 points. HT 12-9 Hammers.

Both teams stayed out on the field for half time and after a handful of Haribo’s the second half was underway. The ironically named pick & go call of ‘NAILS!’ from Irish Hammered the Hammers defence. Some more steady build up play led to Bryce Morgan limping over the line for his second try due to blisters from his new boots. 17-9 Hammers. The momentum was with Fulham and after a brilliant turnover from Pete Morris, they made good use of some more possession as Man of the Match Ross Anderson touched down to make it 24-9 Hammers. Irish then awoke and came right back with some heavy carrying to make it 24-16. Game back on.

This is when the Tuesday night fitness sessions started to show though, men in green limped off but Hammers did not take their foot off the gas. It wouldn’t be a Saturday without a try from Joe Carolan and he got what he deserved after some good footwork and a moan of disappointment from Irish, the scoreboard looked a little healthier again. 31-16 Hammers. An AC joint injury to Will Donegan saw the return of Zak Underwood to the front row, and the Irish scrum was going backwards. However, some more ill-discipline gave Irish 3 points to add to their tally and they were back to within 2 scores. 31-19 Hammers. A smart penalty kick of our own soon took the gap to 15 points again with 5 mins to play. 34-19 Hammers.

In a frantic final few minutes, Irish pulled a try back making it 34-26. The kick-off was put deep into the Irish half and some nervy phases were well attached & defended by both teams. A turnover meant Hammers had possession 15m out from the Irish line – both wingers Tim Russell & Matt Killeen screaming for the ball to come wide, which meant it had to pass through the hands of 106 cap man Andrew Rogan. It seemed he had ideas of his own however, charging forward before changing his mind last second and managing to free the ball to Matt Killeen who made his way through 2 defenders to seal the 5 points for Hammersmith & Fulham. Full Time 41-26 Hammers.

The 2s trip to Barnes this week was sure to be a tough game, facing an oppo who are challenging for the top of the table this year (and who’s 2s we played only 2 seasons ago in NC3!).