“You can learn a line from a win and a book from a defeat” – Paul Brown, NFL coach

As the Hammers 1^st XV rolled into Beaconsfield RFC on a cold December Saturday, much learning could be found in the previous weekend’s loss. Memories of the missed kicks, missed tackles and missed opportunities were still fresh in the mind and would make for a tough chapter in the Tome that is Hammersmith & Fulham: from Swings to Red Trees.  Conscious that the previous encounter with Beaconsfield had resulted in a 87-3 win however, the boys were keen to right some wrongs and pen the next edition of their odyssey; one of victory, of 5 points, and of a performance worthy of our place at the top of the table.

Alas, if the Hammers thought that Beaconsfield had spent the intervening 10 games reading picture books predicting their inevitable defeat, they were mistaken. It was a much-changed team that greeted the Hammers that day and, heartened by an uncharacteristic fumble by Ricky “Sliders-are-neat-casual” Drewitt on the kick off, one that came hard at the league leaders from the outset.  Attacking into a sloping coffins’ corner with a directness that belied their place in the annex of Regional 2, it wasn’t long before a Hammers penalty gave Beaconsfield the opportunity for the posts. 3-0 to the home side.

Stung by this unexpected plot twist, the boys came back hard, making several probing attacks into Beaconsfield’s 22 before they were aided by the Beaconsfield 9 playing narrator and backchatting the ref.  Benefiting from an additional 10 meters, the Hammers maul showed its class, powering to the line before a neat set of hands and an offload through the backline found Bryce “Bruce” Morgan on the wing.  The full-stop was provided by Joe Carolan, who in typical fashion easily slotted the side-line conversion.  3-7.

Several phases followed the restart before Joe parried the ball deep into the Beaconsfield half.  The return kick? Charged down by reader-favourite and Legolas-look alike Tim Russell before Rogan, on his 101^st cap, secured a turnover penalty subsequently kicked long to the corner.  Another great line-out followed before Ricky, catching a short pass from Tom Proctor, bedazzled the Beaconsfield 10 with his sidestep and found Ed “Whispers” Haynes running off his shoulder.  Passing to our resident chatterbox saw Ed silently touched down under the posts with nary a sound.  Even Joe couldn’t miss this sitter of a conversion. 3-14.

At this point, Act II began and typical of all good tales, it was here our heroes would face great adversity, regrettably much of it self-inflicted.  Reverting to their original game plan, Beaconsfield attacked narrow and with purpose, aided by the slope and a defensive line afflicted by lethargy.  A series of defensive penalties followed, culminating in Dr Steve John being shown a Yellow Card for repeatedly being a nause.  Despite pressure from the Hammers scrum, Beaconsfield would attack the sloped corner again and batter their way over.  8-14.

The restart would soon find Hammers deep in the Beaconsfield half, but their efforts would be spoiled by offensive penalties, a misfiring attack and a failure to give Ben/Max/Megan Dugdale clean ball at 9. Beaconsfield would fight their way back into the Hammers 40 meters and benefit from another defensive offside penalty.  11-14.

Momentum was shifting.  The Hammers, frustrated by their inability to execute attacking play, were hobbled by continuous penalties, foiled by a lack of possession and pinned by clever play from Beaconsfield who kept the ball tight to the ruck and ran into the bottom corner.  A too-successful Hammers scrum didn’t help when a clean hook by Ricky saw the ball come out unexpectantly fast only to be gathered up by Beaconsfield.  Attacking the corner again, they shortly went over.  18-17.

Our response? The need to finish the half on a positive note bleedingly obvious, a series of quick hands and penetrating runs secured a Hammers penalty right in front of the posts, but with the Hammers’ love of running Rugby ingrained in their character, a quick tap allowed Joe Carolan to slide in for the try.  18-19 at the half.

The boys had a game on their hands with  the second half an the opportunity for our heroes to write the script.  Unfortunately, Beaconsfield was determined to make this story a drama. Opening their account with the same narrow but intelligent attack that had served them so well in the first half, a lackadaisical Hammers defensive line gifted the talented Beaconsfield 10 – their major protagonist – another shot at goal.  21-19.  The Hammers lifted their tempo and quickly struck back. Continuing their domination of the setpiece, a Hammers line-out and driving maul gave our temporary, never-played-this-position-before impromptu substitute 9 Marshall McCloud a platform from which he helped set up Tim Russell for a training ground try. 21-26.

Bonus point secured, the Hammers inexplicably and immediately reopened the door for Beaconsfield thanks to a poorly executed  kick-for-touch. Charged down, Beaconsfield scored in the corner. 26-26.

It was tense, Act III now set for a thriller.  Both sides threw everything they had into the game, with Hammers feeling the pressure on their broad and sculpted shoulders while Beaconsfield chased hard for an elusive win. Eventually finding a rhythm and some soft shoulders, the waters began to part for the diminutive yet lethal kiwi Bryce, whose ability to duck out of tackles can only be explained by his long experience of dodging immigration and declarable taxes. Linking with Marshall and Ed, Bryce repeatedly found space in the 13 channel, unlucky not to score thanks to a blatant tap-down followed shortly by a surely-red-definitely-yellow-somehow-nothing yellow card for a high tackle. The referees pockets inexplicably sewn shut, tempers were running hot.

The boys tried again. And again. And again.  Finally securing a penalty for offside, they kicked to the corner, confident in their ability to maul a try. Ricky’s throwing, getting straighter every week, found its mark.  All went in for the heave-ho.  Forward momentum was gained.  We were on.  Even the backs – unsure what the “pushing in the maul” was but having a good guess – got involved, giving a reassuring pat on the back of the forward in front of them.  To the line they went…

…only for the unstoppable Hammers steam train to inexplicably collapse right on the line.

Thankfully, the referee had seen enough, and a penalty try was given.  The game all but over, the lads saw the match out deserved 33-26 winners, but know there was much left to improve if their path to promotion is to remain straight and true…

Tin Man: Steve John for being a nause

Man of Match: Steve John, for being a hard nause

After a tough start in NC1, it was time to start putting it all together and boy did we do that. The first half was nail bitingly close, both teams being held to nil for most of the 40. The Hammers defence and support that we’ve been working tirelessly on for the last couple weeks held strong and some great backs moves definitely knocked on the Teddington door but it was the Antlers who managed to score first with about 10 mins to go in the first half: 7-0.

Tara nudged a penalty over for Hammers bringing it back to 7-3 to close the half.

Antlers again opened the scoring in the second half with an unconverted try: 12-3 to Teddington.

However, it was during the 2^nd half that Hammers got busy. The fitness started to come through and Teddington could not keep up with the pace. A few dominant scrums from Hammers, a number of stolen line outs and some hard running from the backs and suddenly try to the Hammers by Jess Sass: 12-8 to Teddington. Another score by Lola and one by Whylie on her debut both converted by Tara then a final sealing of the deal by 2s top try scorer Jess Sass securing that bonus point!

Final Score: 27-12.  The progression of this squad is unbelievable and we can’t wait to see what else we have in the tank for the rest of the season.

Forward of the Match: Lauren Williams

Back of the Match: Jess Sass!

A surprisingly dry afternoon at HQ was the venue for this weekend’s fixture against Amersham & Chiltern- A rivalry that stretches back…to one pre-season fixture, but to some, a lifetime. With both sides bringing along plenty of support, it was sure to be a feisty affair- No love lost between this author and his former team, as he had been constantly reminded in the build-up.

Hammers started brightly, controlling much of the possession but struggling to break down the well-set Chiltern defence. A clearing kick from Hammersmith, let down by a lack of chase gave Chiltern’s winger to chance to sneak through a gap and side-step his way under the sticks to open the scoring, converted by centre Noah Jarvis. 0-7 to the visitors.

The next 20 minutes were fought primarily in the centre of the field with a series of lineouts and scrums for both teams- neither of whom were able to make good use of their possession. A turnover outside the Hammers 22 allowed Chiltern to move the ball wide for their centre to dive in for a score in the corner. The conversion was missed….. 12-0. Hammers struck back quickly with an aggressive kick return from debutant Josh allowing quick ball to be sent wide for Joe Carolan to scythe through the Chiltern defence, step the full back and touch down under the posts. Death, taxes and a Joe Carolan try, indeed. 12-7, Half-Time.

Hammers knew a fast start would be integral to build a comeback against a Chiltern team well-up for the fight, but unfortunately, an early scrum gave Chiltern the opportunity to execute an overlap and once again score in the corner, with the conversion missed. Chiltern 17-7.

With time ebbing away, Hammers knew they would need to throw caution to the wind in order to score some points- A turnover in midfield allowed another opportunity for Hammers to send the ball through the hands, allowing Joe to make a half break and send Tim Russell in to the corner, converted from the corner by Carolan. 17-14. With their tails up, Hammers found themselves on the Chiltern line just minutes later and with the Chiltern players offside and a penalty advantage, a floated pass from Dugdale allowed Josh Smith to step the Chiltern Winger inside out and score- A goose step The Rugby Guy would be proud of.

With the conversion missed, Hammers led Chiltern by 2 points heading in to the final 10 minutes, knowing that a bonus point was on offer, as well as a win. An opportunity at a long-range penalty was turned down, in favour of a lineout and a tantalising driving mail.  Unfortunately, the story of Hammers day – missed opportunities crossed with failed execution – was played again, with the inexplicably was then turned over- A moment that would come back to haunt Hammers as, with 2 minutes on the clock, Chiltern won a penalty on Hammers’ 10 metre line, allowing their long-range kicker to regain the lead. Despite a late turnover appearing to have regained possession for Hammers with the clock in the red, the referee awarded a penalty to Chiltern, who kicked it dead to win the game 20-19.

A tough loss for Hammers after hauling themselves back into the game, but credit to Chiltern for what surely must be their standout performance of the season. Shoutout to Rogan and Carolan for their 100th and 50th appearances respectively.

All eyes now turn to this weekend’s fixture vs Beaconsfield, with a mouth-watering prospect of a rematch in Amersham on 4th March in the back of many players minds.

It was a strange, gray and windy day that led London Sussex to get the better of the home team. We knew that the opposing team was well prepared for the match, a well-formed and super close-knit team that has known each other for some time. But even after an excellent kick-off, which saw the two teams battle it out in the center of the field, the visiting team soon went into score with a good series of offloads.  Score would follow score in the period that followed as a fractured Hammers team bedeviled by inconsistent availabilities struggled to defend as a unit.

After about 35 minutes the result was already settled at 0 – 28 for the away team. After a series of Italian dirty-words that sounded like they came from the bench, the home team finally found their physicality and made the opponents understand that something in the match has changed. After a rolling maul and a very rapid series of pick and goes, the home team finally goes in try, halftime 5 – 28.

In the second half that the Hammers understand that physicality was the key to the game. From this point on, the forwards begin to grind scrums and maul as if there were no tomorrow, some say that the opposing tight-head prop is still wondering what was the thrust angle of the Italian prop in front of him. With thelatter in fact received a yellow from the referee after the sixth entry into the ruck from the side.

The fact was that the visiting team were no longer able to play like in the first half, so the home team begins to find more and more interesting openings whilst still struggling to score points. However, the second try arrives just like the first, the referee indicates the lineout, and it is with a maul that the hammers cross for the try for the second time on the gray day.

The match sees the final whistle with a score of 12 – 40, the away team scores the last two tries finding only space on the flanks.

All in all some positives in the performance for the home team which still collects a result that they will be disappointed with.

Hammers look forward for the opportunity to challenge this team again!

And just like that the final whistle blew, Rogan bowed his head, a silence fell among the hammers, for they knew this was the end. A shake of the hand and a pat on the back for Hammer’s stalwart Andrew Rogan, as he signed off with his 99^th and final cap for Hammersmith and Fulham.

But first let me take you back to 12:30pm at a warm and sunny London Cornish RFC. The Hammers 1^st XV took the short trip down the A3 to the Richardson Evans Memorial Playing Fields. The rugby gods had been good to South West London’s local rivalry, a blue sky, dry pitch, and slight breeze set the scene for a free-flowing game of rugby.

The forwards met in the away changing room, with fresh 21mm studs recently acquired from Amazon, following head coach Mark Jackson’s demands earlier in the week. Equipped with pliers and various tools, the piano pushers got to work, resembling a scene from scrap heap challenge. Once Luke the physio had finished putting Steve John back together, the Hammers took to the field against fourth place Cornish.

The captains met and determined that Cornish would have the honour of starting the match.  The first 5 minutes saw Cornish and Hammers exchange kicks to win the territory battle early on. A high kick to scrum half Ben Dugdale, combined with a good kick chased, saw the 9 under pressure. However, a calm and collected catch, quick ruck speed and intelligent thinking, saw centre Ed Haynes put away Joe Carolan down the blind side for the first try of the game. Conversion missed, 5-0 Hammers.

Solid defence from both Cornish and Hammers, muddled with handling errors resulted in a 10-minute stint of deadlock. Play stopped to see to the injured Hammers second row Pete Clark, who for his defensive efforts, earned himself a broken nose. Resembling an Easter Island statue, Pete took his place among the bench.

Neither team could break down the opposition defence for the following 12 minutes. Pressurised kicks to Hammers full back and Maxime Medard doppelgänger, Marshall McLeod, were dealt with comfortably, as hammers looked to regain territory. It would be Cornish that capitalised next, sustained pressure from the Cornish pack and backline resulted in a penalty just outside of the 22- which the Cornish gladly accepted and kicked for the posts, scoreline 5-3.

Hammers, with a restart deep into the Cornish half, took the ball back early on, soft hands from debutant Will Donegan provided an opportunity for the backs to get on the outside of the defence. Fantastic footballing skills from winger Robbie Murdoch gave Tim Russell a head-to-head sprint with the last defender. The ball popped up perfectly for the pacy winger to cruise in for the second Hammersmith try of the day.

Conversion in front of the post missed, which according to Carolan, is a result of the taping around his standing boot, an excuse which will certainly not hold up in a Jacob Poulton court hearing, taking place later in the season. Scoreline 10-3. The hammers shortly after the restart pounced on the opportunity to shift the ball wide and caught Cornish napping. Slick hands down the right wing, saw McLeod and Russell exchange passes, to run in a try from their own 22.

Alex Spicer, lucky not to see cheese, thought it sensible to trip the Cornish player following their kick chase, one can only assume he was showing off to his girlfriend who had made the trip over from Clapham.

Cornish kept the Fulham boys pinned down in their own half and eventually, were rewarded with a penalty and kicked for the posts in a bid to bring the scoreline closer. Continuous pressure from the Hammers resulted in them awarded a penalty on the halfway, quick thinking from Weaver to shift the ball wide from a tap and go, saw Alex Hart cross the try line for the try bonus point as hammers finished the half.

Early into the second half it would be Steve John who would take the plaudits for another try, an interesting yet effective lineout move saw Dr Steve dive through the air and across the try line. Ricky Drewitt, the in-form hooker, claimed it was his plan all along. Conversion successful.

A signature Carolan intercept try would be the next blow for the Cornish defence, as he skipped in from the halfway. An injured Matt Killeen looking on from the sideline as his leading try tally, overtaken by the leading points scorer in England, conversion successful. Carolan full of confidence would once again add his name to the scoresheet, following a scrum move straight off the training park, to see him gather his own chip and chase and dot down in the corner.

The Hammers will be most pleased with the following try, which arguably was the best of the day. Patient yet direct attack, had Ross Anderson carry hard to the line, some dancing footwork and delightful offload, saw Ed Haynes dot over for his first of the day (click here to watch this try and others on our youtube page).

The following 10 minutes had Cornish pinning Hammers back into their half, a quick reload back down the blind side had the Cornish second row headed for the try line. Tackle of the day contender from Tim Russell to force the ball to be held up over the try line, a massive let off for Hammersmith.

The remainder of the game involved the relentless Cornish looking to break down the Hammersmith defence. Tackles led by John, Proctor and Haynes proved this difficult for the Cornish attack. Slick hands from the Cornish defence resulted in a near try opportunity, but it was the ever-reliable Ed Haynes with the covering tackle, forcing the Cornish player into touch. A safe lineout gathered from the Hammers finished the game resulting in an impressive victory, 46-6 over local rivals.

Hammers finish their 5-game block with maximum points.