Whether it’s the annual Pub Golf social, post-match boat race or a game of pre-training touch, it is a truth universally acknowledged by all that “A quick game is a good game“. The referee made it clear from the off that we needed pace in everything from set pieces to open play in order to keep in his good graces. I have never seen tired bodies roll away from a tackle, throw themselves into scrums and lineouts or ruck faster for a full 80 minutes than I did on Sunday. Such athletes. In true ‘anything the forwards do, we can do better’ fashion, our well-drilled back line embraced the “need for speed” mentality and capitalised on the momentum, scoring a try so quickly in the opening minutes that even the Veo couldn’t catch it in time. Swift hands from the backs resulted in our first score as Ella took a hard line and sliced through the Hackney defence to cross the whitewash and snag our first points of the day. The extras were duly added by Sirri and Hammers were 7-0 up!

Structure and discipline was the theme of the first half; strong forward play threw the defence in disarray which in turn enabled the backs to pull off some ridiculously clean lines. Smart kicking from Alex W mounted the pressure on Hackney; with them conceding multiple penalties in quick succession, it wasn’t long before we were gifted a penalty in front of the posts. Stepping up to the plate, Sirri slotted the kick making it 10-0. Hereafter followed some frantic play on both sides. A brief deviation from our gameplan enabled Hackney to make some headway and get deep into our half, but solid defence on our wings and dominance in the scrums got us out of jail and it wasn’t long before another sharp bit of backs play got us on the scoreboard again. With playmaker Alex W deftly feeding to a strong centre combination, Ella tore through the defence again before giving a slick offload in contact to Sirri who crashed over the line to bag our third under the posts. Shamelessly converting her own try, Sirri added the extras again to make it 17-0

Some lovely kick chase play edged us into the good ball area, hard work from the forwards tied up with a smart draw and delayed pass from Alex W, making it into the hands of an unstoppable Steffy for our third try of the day. Conversion nailed again, Sirri put us at 24-0

The half time message was simple. Keep to our game plan, reduce the dogleg in our defensive line and maintain the same energy and intensity from the first half. (This last point was requested by the referee – as soon as we receive the footage from his bodycam, I will share screenshots of how the front row on both sides reacted to the concept of having to run towards scrums.)

Hackney were relentless in trying to get back into the game, working hard to field Alex W and Sirri’s kicks and sending their physical outside centre and left winger to challenge us. But Hammers stood their ground in defence – huge tackles, impressive defensive presses and quick rucks killed their offload game and returned possession to our hands. 

There’s an old rugby saying “Forwards dictate who wins the game, backs decide by how much“. It’s very famous, but apparently Tappers has never heard of it because how else can we explain her thunderous chief run at the line, smashing through 3 Hackney players and dotting down the ball for our fourth try #oosh! Special shout out goes to the referee for noticing that Hackney tried to put their hands under the ball after it had been grounded and deny the score (sneaky!) Maintaining a 100% kick record for the game, Sirri put us at 31-0 to firmly secure our delightful bonus point win.

 Back Of The Match – went to Ella for her smart lines, clever linking play and big tackles

Forward Of The Match – went to Carola for her hard carries and cat-like reflexes at the lineout

Super Sub – went to Amy R for the second week in a row after seamlessly slotting in as hooker and enabling the pack to maintain their dominance in the second half

A big day ahead, the longest coach trip of the year, a potential banana skin if past seasons are anything to go by and the thought of Six bottles of Lambrini’s on the horizon created an anxious buzz around the group.

Arriving at the ground the excitement began to grow, with facilities and grounds every club would dream of, a big 4g pitch, spacious changing rooms and a high spec gym you couldn’t help but look forward to what was ahead.

The game started with a poorly taken restart by hammers, however possession was quickly regathered. Ross quickly put his mark on the game bringing out his inner Dupont-esque kicking skills not once, but twice giving us a 50/22 gifting us great territory gains. The first of nine tries came fifteen minutes into the game after a quick tap penalty from ross, putting it out to the backs and Ed Haynes with perfect pass setting Matt Killeen up in the corner.

It wasn’t long before the second, third and fourth try came. Captain, Joe Carolan showing his strength to break a few tackles and finish in the corner. Joe, a name that will pop up a lot through this report, set McCloud up for the third try of the game after good identification of a miss-match in the middle. The fourth was a full length of the field try, with the ball going through J-Lo, Zanders and Harty’s hands before ending with another try from Joe, sealing that bonus point in the first half hour.

The half finished with a big defensive set, ten minutes of solid pressure from Aylesbury’s forwards grinding their way closer to the line and eventually coming away with a try, giving them some hope going into the second half. The second half started in a similar fashion to the ending of the first, silly penalties given away allowing Aylesbury a lineout five meters out which resulted in their second try of the match after some silky hands from their hooker.

More uncertainty came after a clearance kick didn’t make touch allowing Aylesbury’s fullback to gather and show his pace and skill to make a good break from sixty meters out leaving a two on one which was well executed putting them under the posts for another try, back to a sixteen-point difference, game on.

Fifteen minutes of brain fog out of the way and hammers got back to their usual ways settling into the second half and finally getting some territory and possession which resulted in another Killeen try, quickly followed by a beautifully executed move between scrum half Ross and centre Joe leaving the Aylesbury forwards wondering how he ended up under the posts to score his fourth try of the match.

Aylesbury didn’t give up hope on that loosing bonus point, and their determination paid off with a big carry from a destructive number eight to go over for Aylesbury’s last try of the match.

The game finished with a powerful run from J-Lo leaving four defenders in his wake resulting in the final try of the game and second for James, bringing the final score to 53-24. Some very strong performances, Joe Carolan in particular, who picked up MOTM. A lot to work on before a top of the table clash next weekend at Hurlingham, but a win on the road is always nice.

Match Report: Hammers III v Chiswick II
Saturday 15th October saw a Hammersmith and Fulham 3rd XV handily beat a well drilled Chiswick 2nd XV. Hammers took the game by the horns when after a well recovered kick off in the opposition 22 and good phase play from the forwards, Jack Hooper was put over in the corner off the first play of the game. The game, however, didn’t keep up this break neck speed; as the opening quarter turned into an attritional, physical match, with big carries and hard tackling from both teams.

The gridlock was finally sliced open by a dancing Jake Cheetham, running from fly-half, and dotting under the posts from a scrum inside Hammer’s own half. The score would open the door for both teams attacking play, with Chiswick scoring either side, of Hammer’s MOTM Zack Underwood scoring his first. 19-14 after 30 minutes.

More purists rugby would ensue, with Hammers turning the screw in the tight five and dominating the scrum. The penalties and territory turned to points, with Adam Howell converting after a scrum was pushed over from 5m out. Hammers went into the break, up 26-14. The second half didn’t take long to get going for Hammersmith, with Huw Parks capping off a stellar kick performance (5/7 conversions) by taking a hard-line carry over for a try, untouched on his way to the promised land. Zack Underwood would convert again for Hammers, diving over from a foot out, off the base of a ruck.

Despite pulling one back, frustration started to show for Chiswick, who were unable to handle physicality shown be the Hammers front row, and replacements. After turning the ball over in Hammer’s territory, Joue ensued, with the Hammersmith backs toying with the hapless Chiswick chasing defenders, to put Jack Hooper over for his brace. Late in the game, a controversial referring decision would earn Harrison Moy his DOTD denotation; after running 85m to score off a turnover despite the referee calling a knock on.

A 45-21 full-time result for Hammers was a well deserved, with some excellent goal line defense capping off the second half. Credit to James ‘Mad-Dog’ Maddigan for excellent defensive effort
throughout as well as Dan Whitaker limiting the Chiswick offensive capabilities, with a great display from 7.

MOTM: Zak Underwood
DOTD: Harrison Moy

What on earth is going on in the house of commons… Another Saturday was upon us forecasting yet another train strike and, of course, a spot of champagne rugby.

The boys turned up rolling dice after the 2 hour, 20 mile car journey to Old Haberdashers’ RFC just north of the city; nevertheless, the sun was shining and the smell of the freshly cut pitch had the Hammers in good spirits especially after the miserable forecast given earlier in the week.

As Hammers ran out, physically prepared by Ian Burbedge’s S&C intern Ben Hatton and mentally primed by the Caravan’s wise words they were ready for the most anticipated whistle blow they receive every week.

Old Haberdashers came out firing down the hill with wind behind for the first half and Hammersmith & Fulham were shaken. Execution and ball retention lacked, and Haberdashers made the bottom corners a hard place to exit along with the helping hand from mother nature. With possession against the Hammers, defence remained strong as usual, and the inside-men quickly cottoned on to the fact their fly half was throwing an inside ball every other phase. However, as phases passed Hammers lost composure at times and discipline lapsed leading to three penalties all in front of the posts throughout the first half, all of which were pinned by the opposition 10. Hammers knew they had a game on their hands, and they needed to buck their ideas up – it was flat.

As possession turned, strong carries by Josh Smith and sub-par Pete Clark gave the backs a platform and it was flung out wide to the honey badger Tim Russell who marched the team up the right-hand side of the pitch into the opposition half. Phases started to build and eventually the whistle went in favour of Hammers with a penalty around the oppositions 10 meter line with the touchline in sight; however, some slick communication from Carolan saw Weaver’s wand fire a quick tap and miss pass to the opposite side of the pitch to Carolan who gave a second miss pass to Matt Killeen on the wing who of course finished strong in the corner with the first try of the game. At this point momentum started to shift and it appeared the Hammers had started to wake up from the car journey with another try coming in before half time as Marshall McCloud gathered a kick from the opposition on the half way line, injected his pace onto the ball before sending Killeen through a gap on the filthiest line of the season thus far:

The boys received a stern talking to from Mark at half-time.

Second half kicked off and it was clear birthday boy Ed Wynne who just came on as the impact prop heard Mark loud and clear as he caught the hanging restart from Weaver and went bulldozing through the opposition with no intention of any footwork. Phases built off this play with lovely edge to edge joué with strong collisions from Proctor and Hart and finally concluded in a backs move just outside of the 5-meter line with Weaver sending a miss pass over the top to McCloud who ran it over the line for his first try of the season.

The impact subs continued, and Bryce Morgan introduced himself to the game in style with a classy kick behind which was scooped up by Tim Russell who dotted down continuing his fight his as the third top try scorer this season. There was no doubt, at this point Hammers had found their Mojo which was misplaced during the first half and again continued to play in the right areas and gel as a team with great support play and lines being run with special mention to Josh Smith who soon bagged a meat pie under the posts off the back of some great team play.

As Hammers were getting into their notorious sixth gear, the game slowed with ball retention starting to lack off the set piece and some questionable decisions being made. A driving maul from the pack saw Ricky Drewitt presented with a try scoring opportunity once over the line, however with some angles not presented, he was penalised for a double movement over the try line. The bad luck then continued with a pinpoint cross field kick from Weaver finding Killeen who touched down before being disallowed due to an offside call by the touch judge, preventing a Killeen hat-trick in 60 minutes. During this period Haberdashers hit back with a great team-try which came from their outside centre and captain making a strong break through the Hammers and was followed with flooding support play which led to a try.

The fury built in Killeen with anxiety of jug avoidance and so it was time for the wheels to come out once again with a dash down the wing to get the hat-trick he was nearly robbed from; but he wasn’t done there, a brilliant set piece from the Hammers backs within their own 22 saw James Lo giving a perfect ball on the gain line to Killeen who again proceeded to run most the pitch to score under the sticks yet again for his fourth.

Haberdashers were understandably feeling the frustration after this and came back hard with some solid carries up the middle, and with many phases building they eventually found themselves on the Hammers 5-meter line hoping to finish strong on what now looked like a harsh score line. After many attempts close to the break down failing to penetrate the Hammers try line defence, the ball was spun out to the backs but Carolan read they were going to hit the big Haberdashers 13 and intercepted the pass to run 95 meters under the oppositions posts to finish the game.

Another Bonus-point win for Hammersmith & Fulham RFC, as they make it 335 points for the season and 5 out of 5 so far, the biggest total points scored in the RFU right now. Time for a rest week and some well-deserved TLC for the boys who will take on bongos bingo this weekend before heading back home to Fort Hurlingham to face Fullerians on the 15th October.