National 1: At the top Chinnor and Elthamians maintained their early season unbeaten records with newly promoted Chinnor edging out hosts Cambridge 20-22 whilst Elthamians posted a solid 31-22 win over a DMP side many regarded as the preseason favourites.  Wins for Ampthill and Cinderford keep them in touch as Cinderford were 40-31 winners against Sale and Ampthill’s 35-20 result against Esher sees their visitors anchoring the early table; also at the bottom end of the table, Moseley suffered a heavy 52-8 defeat at Bishop’s Stortford.  In the other results, Blackheath staged a good comeback to take a tight 20-21 win at Plymouth Albion, and Rotherham got off the mark with their first win in a 29-12 result against Rosslyn Pk. in the last of the fixtures, A 43-19 win for Caldy against Loughborough St in a Sunday fixture saw them move above DMP into the top 5, whilst Loughborough are still looking for their first win of the campaign

National 2(S):  Redingensians (Rams) are the early leaders with a perfect record after a 43-13 dismantling of Henley with Taunton in second spot following their 36-13 win over Clifton in a Friday night fixture.  BSE and Worthing complete a top four and both had high scoring encounters, with BSE running in 70 points against Guernsey (70-26), whilst Worthing posted an impressive 68-21 win over visiting Redruth.  Of the county’s clubs, Canterbury were 21-43 winners on the road at O Redcliffians whilst TJs posted a similar scoreline (47-19) against bottom club Ldn Irish WG.  In the remaining matches, Dings were 15-10 winners over B&S, whilst Barnes fell to a 24-33 defeat to visiting O Albanians.

London Premier:  At the top, the only undefeated sides are Wimbledon and Westcliff, with leaders Wimbledon 36-20 winners against Bedford Ath and Westcliff convincing 42-10 winners against visiting Hertford.  Sidcup sit third after a 25-31 win at Guildford with three clubs all level on point just below them.  Tring were 45-24 winners over CS Stags, S&E fell to an 11-38 loss to visiting Chingford whilst Tunbridge Wells bounce back from last week’s heavy loss with a 27-34 win over bottom club Shelford.   In the last of the fixtures Dorking were 15-24 winners at Brentwood.

London 1(S): At the head of the table Brighton maintained their perfect record with a convincing 67-26 win against a Havant who find themselves at the wrong end of the table, with the also unbeaten Medway in second spot after they edged out Chichester 25-20 in a tight encounter.  In the immediate chasers, Cobham were 29-12 winners over bottom club Hove and Camberley were convincing 76-10 winners against visiting Dartfordians; Sevenoaks stretched to a 27-8 win over Chobham.  In the other matches Westcombe Pk were 52-26 winners against Ldn Cornish and Tottonians fell to a 21-27 home defeat at the hands of Thurrock.

London 2(SE):  After two weeks Beckenham head the table after they ran in 50 points against Horsham (22-50), whilst Dover sit just below them following a somewhat tighter 5-8 win at D&B.  After a big win last week, Colfes fell to a 43-35 loss at Charlton Pk. At the bottom of the table it is last season’s two promoted sides that prop up the table as Aylesford lost out 12-24 to visiting Gravesend and Thanet fell to an 18-22 defeat at the hand of a somewhat makeshift visiting Maidstone.  in the remaining fixture, H&W took the honours 20-15 against Haywards Heath in a Sussex derby.

London 3(SE):  A 25-33 win for Pulborough at Hellingly sees them as the early leaders, with Vigo, who won 45-7 against O Wills, and Bromley who beat Park Hse 25-20 in the most local of derbies, as the only unbeaten sides after week two.  At the bottom Hellingly prop up the table with Folkestone, who lost 39-29 at H&B, just above them. In the other fixtures, Dunstonians lost out in a high scoring 35-42 encounter to Beccs, and Crowborough just edged out Sussex rival Lewes 35-31.

Kent 1:  The top four all have perfect records after week two with Anchorians heading the table after a 21-36 win at Whitstable, Ashford sit just below them following their 13-22 result at Cranbrook.  A 26-7 win for OGs over Sheppey places them third with Kings Coll completing the top four after they were 39-27 winners against Southwark. At the bottom RBS occupy the foot of the table after a 55-5 defeat in the battle of the banks against HSBC. Elsewhere Foot Cray recovered from last week’s mauling despite falling to a more creditable 6-10 loss to visiting NAG. 

National 1: We’ll open this week’s round up with Blackheath hosting Elthamians in the Kent derby fixture, but firstly an apology to Elthamians, who I wrongly reported as having lost by the odd point last week, when in fact they actually won against Rotherham by that margin.  Anyway back to this week and the early season bragging rights went to visiting Elthamians with a 10-21 win to keep them amongst the early leaders.  Top of the pile after two weeks are last season’s runners up as DMP ran in a 42-19 win against Rotheram, with Chinnor and Rosslyn Pk also in the early season chasing group after home wins against Ampthill (38-33) and Bishops Stortford (25-17) respectively. After drawing last week, Cambridge and Sale posted their first wins, Cambridge were 14-20 winners at Loughborough whilst Sale edged out Caldy by a couple of points in a 26-24 scoreline. In the remaining fixtures Cinderford just edged out Moseley by a pint, 23-24 whilst Esher fell to their second defeat as Plymouth Albion took the spoils 21-24.

National 2(S):  Another county derby at national level as city club Canterbury hosted TJs and home advantage told as they posted a 29-20 win over their county rivals to get their campaign back on track. At the top the early pace setters are Henley after a tight 26-24 result against Barnes, with Redingensians (now called Rams) posting a comfortable 10-41 win at Ldn Irish WG.  Redruth’s tight 29-27 win over Taunton keeps them in the early season trio of unbeaten clubs.  Elsewhere Guernsey fell to a second defeat as they lost 26-35 to visiting Worthing, as did O Redcliffians on their trip to Birmingham & S, going down 42-38 in a high scoring affair.  BSE posted their first win with a 27-39 result at O Albanians whilst in the last of the matches and a West country derby, the honours went to new boys Dings Crusaders as they overcame hosts Clifton 11-17.

London Premier:  Wimbledon and S&E top the early season table after Wimbledon brought Tunbridge Wells back down to earth with a thump, inflicting a heavy 8-52 defeat, whilst S&E posted were 29-34 winners at CS Stags. Westcliff and Brentwood are the other two unbeaten clubs, with Westcliff narrow 27-29 winners at Sidcup, whilst Brentwood maintained their record over Chingford who they were promoted alongside, in another narrow result 23-28.A heavy 48-10 defeat for Shelford at Hertford could well be the portent to a long and arduaous season for the Cambridge club as they occupy bottom spot, with Bedford Ath just above them after they lost 24-26 to visiting Tring. The last of the matches saw another close result as Dorking overcame visiting Surrey rivals Guildford 16-13

London 1(S): Two sides who struggled last campaign currently head the table, with Chobham in top spot after a tight 29-27 win against visiting Cobham, whilst Brighton also remain with a perfect record after they were more comfortable 22-39 winners in their local derby at Hove.  Medway are the only other unbeaten side after they posted a 15-35 win at newly promoted Dartfordians.  One of the most impressive results of the day was the 54-26 win for promoted Camberley over visiting Havant and certainly puts down a marker for other clubs not to take them lightly.  Tottonians, who are traditionally strong in the early season posted a solid 22-30 win at Chichester t recover from last week’s narrow defeat, whilst Ldn Cornish took the honours with the last play of the match against Sevenoaks to win 26-19.  The last of the fixtures saw Westcombe Pk stumble to a 32-22 loss in their trip north of the Thames to Thurrock.

London 2(SE):  The first weeks statements of intent were made by Colfes and Horsham, with Colfes posting a convincing 59-17 win over newly promoted Thanet, whilst Horsham’s expansive all-court game was too much for hosts Maidstone as they ran out 23-50 winners.  Gravesend, who came down alongside Colfes and Maidstone also lost as they were well beaten by Beckenham 15-31, whilst Dover, who finished last season strongly, picked up where they left off, with a solid 38-12 victory over H&W.  The remaining fixtures posted tight results as Haywards Heath just edged Charlton Pk 27-24 whilst D&B won by the odd point in the 24-25 result at Aylesford.

London 3(SE):  Dunstonians sit top after a high scoring 40-52 match at new boys Hellingly, Fellow promoted club Beccehamians also lost out 14-20 to a visiting Bromley side that are always strong in the opening weeks of the season.  Pulborough and O Wills also posted BP wins, with the Sussex club 35-31 winners against Lewes and O Wills 29-26 winners against visiting Crowborough. Vigo also got their campaign off to a winning start with a tight 22-23 win at Folkestone whilst park Hse and H&B fought out a 26-26 opening day draw.

Kent 1:  A big 71-0 win for Anchorians over Foots Cray sees them top of the opening weekend pile, from Ashford, who were 48-9 winners against HSBC.  OG’s also [posted an opening day win with a 38-17 win over Whitstable, whilst Southwark were 37-27 winners against Cranbrook.  In the last of the matches played, King Coll just overcame hosts NAG 30-32 whilst Sheppey picked up the points without even taking the field as RBS conceded the fixture.

What more could you wish for?  An opening day that gave us some glorious weather with a great game of rugby in a local derby, even if it wasn’t the result we were looking for (not to mention a pleasant game of cricket also taking place).  In addition we also had Nick Baster, Managing Director from new Platinum Sponsors Logic CP on hand to watch the action.

Whilst he was there club Chairman Craig Tuffrey and 1^st XV skipper Lucien Morosan took the time to present him with one of this season’s 1^st XV shirts.

New sponsors Logic CP are a Maidstone based construction project company and have lent their support to the club on a 2-year deal as Platinum sponsors.  In addition they are also assisting in some other projects to benefit the club.

Well here we are again at the start of another season and another series of sad Saturday nights for the author; were did the summer go?  As was the case last year it has taken a little perseverance to ‘get my arse in gear’ so to speak, but thankfully this season’s first instalment is not quite as arduous as the normal weekly fare due to there only being fixtures down to level 6.  So here we go with the 2018-198 season’s Around the Grounds, and in doing so may I wish all your respective clubs the best of luck in their various league & cup campaigns.

National 1: Mixed fortunes for the county’s sides with Blackheath posting a solid 7-36 win against an Esher outfit that finished in mid table last season.  Elthamians made the long trip to Rotheram to face a Titans side that will be looking to return to the Championship after relegation last season; in the end they fell short by the odd point in a high scoring 33-34 result.  Of the clubs that were in the promotion battle last season, DMP were narrow 23-26 winners at Bishops Stortford whilst Plymouth Albion fell to an 11-26 home defeat to newly promoted Chinnor, and Ampthill ran out 43-34 winners against visiting Loughborough St. Both of the remaining fixtures involved newly promoted sides with Cambridge being held to a high scoring 36-36 draw by visiting new boys, Sale.  Cinderford made it a full set of win, draw and loss for the promoted sides as they fell to a 29-36 defeat at the hands of Rosslyn Pk.

National 2(S): City club Canterbury fell to an opening day defeat as they were overpowered 44-15 by Redingensians who finished third last time out and will probably feature amongst the promotion challengers this time around.  TJs on the other hand were narrow 22-19 winners against newly promoted Birmingham & Solihull.  Another of the sides that may well feature in the promotion battle is Taunton, as they hammered visiting Worthing 62-24, they will probably be doing battle with O Albanians as they ran in a big 59-5 win against newly promoted Guernsey in their bid for an immediate return to Nat 1. Redruth may also be in the thick of the promotion battle as they kicked off their campaign with a 17-25 win at promoted Dings Crusaders, whilst Barnes were the only one of the promoted clubs to post a win, with a 33-14 win over Ldn Irish WG. In the remaining fixtures O Redcliffians fell to a narrow 14-17 home defeat to Clifton, whilst BSE lost out to visiting Henley in a high scoring 37-45 result.

London Premier: Two of the fancied sides this season are likely to be Hertford and Tring having finished 3^rd & 4^th respectively last time out, neither got their campaigns off to a good start, as Hertford fell to 35-27 defeat at Tunbridge Wells who finished last season strongly.  Tring went down 28-15 at Wimbledon who dropped down from Nat 2(S) at the end of last season.  Sidcup are the county’s other representatives in this division and they were convincing 5-37 winners at Shelford.  Of the promoted sides, Brentwood just edged out CS Stags (formerly CS Rugby 1863) 15-14 with the last kick of the match, whilst Chingford just lost out 34-31 at Guildford.  S&E posted a solid 49-25 win over Bedford Athletic who join the division on promotion and by virtue of a geographical level transfer from the Midlands divisions.  The last of the fixtures saw Westcliff 27-20 winners against Dorking.

London 1(S):  Of the county’s four representatives in the division, Medway are one of the favourites and made a good start with a 35-14 win over a Havant side that will no doubt challenge this season, whilst Sevenoaks also posted a convincing win with a 40-15 scoreline against Thurrock.  Westcombe Pk who dropped down into the division also made a winning start with a 22-17 win against Chichester, who finished fourth last time out, with Dartfordians having been promoted into the division completing a clean sweep of wins for the county clubs as they posted a narrow 25-27 away win at Tottonians.  Brighton were 32-21 winners against promoted Camberley, and Cobham edged out Ldn Cornish with a 29-25 result, whilst in the last of the matches, new boys Hove might find life tough this season as they were nulled by 27 points by visiting Chobham.

Kent Shield: The only other competitive fixture was in the county cup competition as Maidstone hosted near neighbours Aylesford. In a match that the hosts never quite came to grips with they just lost out 20-23 and will rue their failure to convert first half opportunities that could have put the match to bed by half-time.

The first of this seasons pre match lunches is the home fixture against Deal & Betteshanger on Saturday 6^th October and is being supported by one of the club’s sponsors, NFU Mutual.

As an added incentive in addition to the usual lunch formalities etc, NFU Mutual have kindly sponsored a raffle against the lucky attendance ticket number with a pair of tickets to watch a Saracens home fixture of your choice for the winner.

As if good company, good food & drink and good club rugby wasn’t enough, there is now even more incentive to attend.

To put your name down to attend please contact Bob Beney. (click here)

For pretty much the past 20yrs, amongst his other contributions to the club, Trevor Langley has reported on the 1^st XV fixtures.  However the 2017-18 season was his last as he places the cap on his pen (or more pertinently in the computer age, slides his keyboard away) to spend more time with his family, particularly the grandchildren.

The club is looking for someone (or a group of people) to take on this task to ensure that regular match reports are published for both the local press and the club website. 

We are not looking for the next JRR Tolkien, or for that matter Stephen Jones or Nick Cain; just someone who is prepared to string a few paragraphs together that create an accurate and objective reflection of each fixture.

As previously said, this doesn’t have to be one person, it can be a role that is split amongst 2-3 people throughout the season.

Those willing to help out and make a contribution please contact a member of the committee.

London & South East Division

London & SE Division 2 (SE)

Saturday 22nd September

1st XV v Charlton Park, Home, KO 3:00pm

Other Fixtures