Bragging rights: Old Walcs (in black) could not break down Trinity’s determined defence in the first game of the season, and have been playing catch-up ever since. Pic: Alun Stockton
RUGBY ROUND-UP: Halfway through the season, the local rugby clubs have so far done so-so.
JOHNNY DOBBYN, left, packs down to get you the details
If most local clubs went into the season feeling fairly upbeat about their prospects, whether looking to improve on last term or seeking to banish the memories of previous disastrous ones, any hopes that remain – so far – will be measured against their chances of beating relegation rather than topping their tables.
Walcountians, who grabbed the top-dog title among local clubs last year, had high hopes of doing better in Counties 1 Surrey/Sussex than last season’s seventh. Yet they find themselves in eighth, one place below rivals Trinity.
Walcs suffered a narrow 15-20 defeat in the derby with Trinity in the season’s opener, and it took another three weeks for them to chalk up a W of their own. They’ve added another three since then, yet the playing record also shows heavy defeats, with its oppo being let in for more than 40 points on three occasions. That includes a horrible 48-0 loss to Twickenham last week, which the club describes as their worst defeat in 20 years.
Showing the way: Purley John Fisher (in hooped shirt) have impressed for most of the first half of this season
Tomorrow’s game at Clockhouse against fourth-in-the-table KCS Old Boys does at least offer an immediate opportunity to straighten that record, before a four-week break over Christmas and New Year.
Although they’ve avoided the ignominy of being “nilled” themselves, Trinity have had a few shellackings too, shipping more than 50 points in three games and also 67 in one horror show against division leaders Teddington (P 11, W11, nuff said).
Trinity, the club formerly known as Mid-Wives, have scored a few of their own though, enough to secure five match wins. Tomorrow, they visit ninth-placed East Grinstead, needing a win to keep their momentum going.
As Walcs and Trinity’s heaviest defeats have been at the hands of sides already vying for promotion and with the teams below doing far worse, they both would appear to insulated, if they maintain current form, from anything nasty at the end of the year.
Those teams below them include the shocking Cranleighans who in 2022-2023 didn’t show up for their matches at all on four occasions and yet were still preferred for retention in the division over the hapless Warlingham, who were dropped into Counties 2 Surrey despite at least having made more effort to play their games (bar two).
Ruck off: Warlingham (pale blue and white hoops), pictured here in their 29-22 win over Old Wimbledonians, have done enough to not worry about relegation this season
Cranleighans have already conceded three walkovers this year, languishing with -6 league points – yes, they have had points deducted – and it’s hard to see the alickadoos at Surrey RFU saving them this time around.
In spite of their relegation, Warlingham went into Counties 2 with some optimism on the grounds that their young players, properly blooded in the annus horribilis before, showed maturity and stickability whatever the results, and had been reinforced by some more senior players and a beefed up coaching staff in the rest period.
And while this season isn’t going brilliantly, it might be considered an improvement, with ninth in the 12-team table being offset by their fulfilling all their fixtures and appearing much better than the two worst-placed sides… so they’re to continue their consolidation for another year.
That said, the hammerings haven’t entirely stopped, with three heavy beatings at the hands of Old Caterhamians, Old Ruts and Old Haileyburians surely sufficient reminder of past pain for any complacency to be kept at bay.
The most notable feature of Counties 2 Surrey this term is the sheer number of derbies to be had between Warly, Old Whitgiftians, Purley John Fisher, Chipstead and Old Cats.
PJF are having the best of those derbies at the moment, having already beaten all of the above, including a 60-14 thumping of Old Whits at Old Coulsdon, and a bad-tempered “old school” grudge outing at Warlingham from which they emerged 19-26 victors.
But derbies are not the whole story and losses to the table-topping teams see PJF placed a modest fifth. As last season, their losses have been narrow ones and could have easily been different if it wasn’t for the self-harming capacity either to occasionally knock off for 20 minutes or repeatedly chat themselves back up the park.
Whits aren’t far behind in seventh place, with five wins. That’s currently two places lower than last year’s finish and the club clearly faces some issues, having conceded two walkovers in their 11 fixtures so far.
That the table doesn’t show any league point deductions yet means there’s either considerable mitigation for those non-events, the RFU “judicial process” is very slow (this being always true), or the club has even better contacts at Surrey than Cranleighans.
Leading the way: Trinity (in blue) beat Kingston 27-5 last week and are the top local club at the moment
Counties 4 Surrey sees former powerhouse Streatham and Croydon (there was a time when they had their results read out on Grandstand; mind you, there was a time when there was a programme called Grandstand) placed two points off top-of-the-table Old Hamptonians at this halfway stage.
With a P 9 W 7 record to date (Counties 4 is a 10-team league), the possibility of promotion must now be crossing the minds of those in charge at FRant Road – especially as one of their defeats was to the league leaders and then only by three points. On the other hand, Streatham and Croydon’s other loss was to the woeful and regular league anchor Staines, which shows nothing should be taken for granted.
Further down in the reaches of Counties 5 Surrey (another 10-team league), and at the bunker that passes for a clubhouse at Croydon RFC, the Addington-based side is also having a middling time of it, squatly placed at sixth in the league with four wins (including one walkover) to show for their nine fixtures.
With guaranteed wins against the dire Wandsworthians and perennially dreadful Suttonians at least on the calendar, one may think their mid-table position is secure.
With Surrey having more clubs, and therefore more divisions, than any other part of the country, Counties 5 Surrey is supposed to be the lowest division for club rugby in the whole of England.
Suttonians currently stand plumb bottom with -12 points after nine fixtures, having skipped their planned match at Reigate on Saturday. In fact, they’ve only played one game since late October, although the cry-offs hasn’t always been their fault: Woking failed to turn up in Sutton at the start of this month.
So everyone above them – including clubs such as Mitcham and Carshalton, Merton and London French – remain grateful for Suttonians continuing to shore up English rugby with a mixture no shows and heavy defeats, thus protecting the clubs above from claiming to be worst in the land.
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