Saturday 29th October would see Hammers III make the annual pilgrimage up to the Regents Park ‘Hub’, to play Belsize Park III, on a day that would have climate change sceptics struggling for explanations on how the weather was this hot, this late in the year.

Kicking into the sun, an excellent kick off allowed for a good compete in the air, with Hammers coming down with their own kick-off, inside Belsize territory. After 2 phases of play, Centre Harrison Moy found the ball in his hands and danced around a mis-matched Hooker, to score from 30 meters out. Despite the conversion going awry, it was an almost perfect start for Hammersmith and Fulham.

After the opening score, the early exchanges were physical and attritional, with both teams battling hard for the middle third of the pitch. Belsize’s physicality, however started to show, with some strong runners making meters for the home team. Hammer’s defense inside their own 22 was stalwart and kept Belsize scoreless after 30 minutes.

If anything, it was sloppy handling from both teams that held both sides back from putting more points on the scoreboard. Belsize couldn’t seem to catch a cold with the ball and Hammers unwisely chose to try and play from their own territory, rather than kicking for better field placement, dropping the ball a couple of times in the process.

After 35 minutes, with the score still at 5-0, Hammers would turn over a scrum in their own 22 and it was again Centre Harrison Moy, who would beat 4 Belsize players on his way to scoring a solo 80 meter try. The conversion was slotted over by Jake Cheetham, Hammers 12-0 up as we went to half time.

The second half wouldn’t start as quick as the first but more of the same style of play would follow. Some good, hard yards were made in carries by the Hammersmith pack, through forwards Joe Pearce, Will Gibbs as well as backs Adam Crompton and Sam Nursey. But, Belsize would start to turn the screw in the 2nd half, scoring two well worked tries in quick succession, after 50 minutes of play.

With the scores tied at 12-12 it was anyone’s game entering the final quarter. Hammersmith played some good phases and the backs worked well to win some ball in Belsize territory, however they weren’t able to turn pressure to points, with a penalty, that would have taken the lead, being pushed just wide with 10 minutes to go.

The match would come down to the final play, as Belsize used a penalty to find touch deep in Hammer’s half. A (somewhat) straight lineout was mauled to withing a meter, and after a number of pick and go’s – Belsize were over, taking the points with the final blow of the whistle.

A fiercely contested match that could have gone either way, we look forward to the return fixture later on this year.

On an unseasonably warm day at Hurlingham Park, Hammers 2nd XV took to the field against old rivals Belsize Park. Pre-match tension was palpable, this fixture last season producing a 30-point drubbing to nil for the visitors, and a last-play epic win for hammers in the reverse.

With that in mind, and the words of coach Alan “Le Nugé” Jones ringing in their ears, Hammers knew they could not afford to start slow.

That is sadly exactly what they did. Conceding cheap breakdown penalties and allowing Belsize far too much go-forward with a lacklustre line speed, the Belsize Centre burst through from just inside the 22 to touch down. 0-7.

The backline for Hammers which, on paper, was spicier than both a vindaloo and Seb Moneys fashion sense, responded almost instantly, however. Some robust running lines from Centres James ‘Mad Dog’ Madigan and Robbie ‘Rupert’ Murdoch allowed the space for full back Max Dugdale to score out wide. Conversion missed, 5-7.

What followed next is fairly murky due to the fact it was the first official club social of the year and the Author, a known pintman in the local area, may or may not have overindulged in the festivities and has a patchy memory of the entire weekend.

Belsize managed to score what ended up being their final points of the game after some continued pressure in our 22, before a beautiful miss-pass from fly-half Ben Dugdale sent Murdoch over in the corner. His charming, better-looking brother Max kicked the conversion, and did so again after a driving maul in the corner which was touched down by Prop Zak Underwood.

This I believe sent Hammers in at the half with a slender 19-14 lead. During the interval, utility back Ainsley Howard, looking to return to the side at 13/15, was asked to play number 8. Eyebrows raised by some, he agreed to adapt and do his best out of position for the second 40.

The second half, though far looser and without the planned structure that the purists love to see, was dominant stuff for the home side.

After a quiet game prior, Aussie winger Bruce Morgan decided to turn the game on its head.

Scything through the defence at will, he made 3 brilliant line breaks from inside his own half, finishing one himself and feeding the other 2 to Scrum-half Matt Newman and Captain on the day, Flanker James Lalor. With all three conversions flushed by Dugdale, as well as a penalty, Hammers had seemingly out of nowhere opened up a 43-14 lead.

The penultimate try has not been claimed. The final try was an interception from Man of the Match, the aforementioned Bruce.

It must be said that the final 57-14 scoreline flattered Hammers slightly, but in the end, Belsize simply couldn’t deal with the speed and accuracy of the home sides backline.

Honourable mention must go to the tight 5 who scrummaged resolutely the entire game and defended countless phases deep in our own territory to stop Belsize scoring a single point in the 2nd half.

Team – Underwood, Burke, Donegan, Story, Clouston, Lalor, Smitheman, Clark, Newman, Dugdale B, Morgan, Maddigan, Murdoch, Nellany, Dugdale M. Reps Farrer, Hooper, Duncan, Macgregor, Howard

The boys turned up to a wet and windy Rosslyn Park under the spotlights eager to impress the Hammers ultras on the sideline.

The lads came out the blocks firing and it didn’t take long for Max Dugdale to nudge the ball to 10 meters out from the Rosslyn Park 4th line – setting up the opportunity for the Hammers rolling maul to go to work. A strong driving maul set up saw the forwards walk over the line with Rob McKeon dotting the ball down for his first Hammers try.

Despite some joué from the Hammers backline creating multiple line breaks, tricky conditions and strong covering tackles from Rosslyn Park 4th’s kept them in the game. More pressure and up the jumper rugby however took its toll towards the end of the second half with Conor Burke crossing the line to give the boys the lead going into half time.

Half time: 14 – 0 Hammers.

Rosslyn Park 4th’s came back strong in the second half, with big carries from their front five they finally got themselves into the game crossing the line and converting to make the score 14-7. Big shots in the centre from James Maddigan and Huw Parks set the tone for the Hammers defence.

The last 10 minutes saw the boys big deep. With lads suffering with cramps across the field as a result of some ropey conditioning it took a sublime line from hooker Conor Burke to cut the opposition in half and drive us deep into the oppositions 22. A quick recycle from the ruck saw the ball go out wide to Ainsley Howard who went over in the corner to seal a well deserved victory for the Hammers.

Full time: 24 – 7 to the mighty 2’s

Honourable mention to Max Dugdale for keeping the scoreboard ticking over, slotting all four attempts at the sticks. Also the opposition 10 for trying to kick every touch finder onto the Upper Richmond Road – the breaks in play were much appreciated.

Less honourable mentions for members of the post match boat race team, who need to re-evaluate putting themselves forward for drinking competitions in the future.

MOM – James Maddigan for putting in big shots all game and running strong lines.

DOD – James Lalor for dropping the ball over the try line.

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.