20 brave souls (16 players and 4 laydees) rose at 4.30 am to ensure that they made the Newhaven ferry port for 6 am. By 7.30 am the drinkers were drinking and the poker players were pokering so it could be said that the real tour to Heathfield’s twin town had started.

Gentle drinking and ribaldry ensued throughout the day interspersed with putting bags in accommodation (nice chateau for lads and cheap hotel for couples) and sorting out some late lunch (“where is the donkey meat? I want donkey meat!” quoth Mike Fellows). Forges Les Eaux is a very pleasant spot with more of a ‘central core’ than Heathfield.

The field of battle was found to be very near the accommodation and all seemed well and very picturesque.

A fine evening entertainment followed with Tony Rose bellowing “Ladies and gentlemen! Your attention please!” at regular intervals. To successfully assume the mantle of Boars manager next year he will have to make some intelligible comments immediately after gaining that attention. We also learned that Mike Fellows may have to learn to speak when drunk to have any future as an after dinner speaker. A bit of senior player and manager petulance had the lads heading to bed around midnight satisfied that 16 ½ hours drinking was enough if rugby heads were to be found the next day.

Sunshine on the day of a tournoi (yes the French spell it differently to us) is very welcome so breakfast; a wander round town and the buying of ‘le picnic’ set us up for the opening of the tournament. This being France it started late and without much ceremony.

What shall we do for the first game of the tournament? I know lets see how Les Anglais get on against the fancied French side from Paris.

Paris Vert 2 – Boars 1

The outcome was a hard game played in a bad tempered fashion by the French (sorry we later found out that is typical of French rugby!). Hard forward play was matched by good back play as both teams attempted to lay down a platform to dominate from. Paris scored first but the Boars fought back with a good break from Brady who sprinted 20 metres to score. The first half measured 15 minutes and ended even.

The second half continued in the same vein as the first with hard forward play being ignored by Brady (come on! you forwards need to get to the breakdown quicker) and hard graft in the back line (cries of “he’s yours”?) wound the clock down. Sadly a couple of illegal actions cost us our scrum half (Ben “Dover” Taylor) as a French forward experimented with the sheering point of human tissue by pulling Ben’s arm out of its socket. The game restarted and 15 minutes of the second half passed with the young Paris side (did I mention that we were the only veterans only side in the veterans tournament?) starting to edge the game. French justice was served when the French referee ignored a blatant ‘knock on’ by Paris. He then immediately allowed a penalty (fairly awarded I must say) to be taken quickly from the wrong spot behind him and a tired Boars defence failed to stop the charge over the last 5 metres. The final whistle was heard shortly afterwards (quelle surprise!). The ambulance took Ben to hospital (thank you Claire and Jo for going with him) and the team muttered as they watched a lumpy Rouen team beat the hosts Forges Les Eaux.

Rouen 1 – Boars 0

This was a bit of a battle with the Rouen forwards very happy to punch, hack and gouge at every opportunity. Captain Kenny’s eye and Jim Cumming’s nose were the most visible sins of the punishment. It was a tough game all round and the teams were well matched in most areas of the contest.

The decisive moment of the match came when the Boars defence was breached early in the second half by sheer irresistible force as the French pack mauled over the line.

The ringside referees also scored the fight card to the French but awarded Mike MacLeod high marks for artistic merit in his abuse of the French in general during the match.

Forges Les Eaux 2 – Boars 6

The bruised and battle weary Boars elected to applaud their twin town team onto the pitch and were rewarded by a clean and open match played without any boxing or WWF sideshows.

Forges showed plenty of spirit after their own two defeats as they tried to take the game to the Boars. However Jim ‘Streaky’ Cumming decided that his broken nose would not stop him having fun and he broke the Forges line on half way and strode through several tackles to the line and the first score.

That settled the Brits down and Burdett put the Boars two up after some good work from Captain Kenny Lewis who took a quick tap penalty and sucked in two defenders before offloading to Brady for the score. This led to a brief word of praise from Burdett which Lewis will treasure up their with his semi final appearance for the first team.

This was followed shortly afterwards by a score from Le Barbeur who capitalised on good work between Burdett and Simon Walker (doing well in an unfamiliar wing role) to score in the right hand corner.

Forges hit back with a well worked move that ended with their right winger going over to score. There followed one of the decisive moments of the match. Forges had their tails up and were spinning the ball wide to use their fast wingers. This led to another line break and the ball carrier sprinted to the line for a certain score. 14 Boars stood and watched getting ready for the restart kick. What was the 15 player doing? That would be Streaky Cumming running after the Forges man, catching up just over the line and knocking the ball from his hand just before he touched down. 3-2 would have given Forges a lot of hope but instead the Boars managed to survive then rub salt in the wounds as they went up the other end and guest player Levitt Williams got on the end of a move started by the forwards who pulled in lots of defenders before releasing to the backs to go wide and score.

Forges came back with another breakaway try before the Boars sealed the game with two tries (from Jim ‘Hero’ Cumming and Levitt Williams).

This ended the tournament on a very positive note (even the Forges team expressed satisfaction at being beaten rather than just being beaten up) and allowed the festivities to commence.

The party went on well into the night with many jerseys’s being swapped with revellers of both genders. Some might say that swapping trousers and underpants was going too far but luckily Captain Kenny Lewis would not agree. It must be wondered how it felt collecting the tournament ‘Fair Play award’ after that little incident as the French trousers were rather tighter than those exchanged.

A large amount of ‘friendship fluid’ was consumed and the bond between Forges les Eaux and Heathfield was tightened. “Merci Mon Ami!” and “see you next year” were frequently heard comments. The songs and dancing continued and many friendships were made.

As a final indication that the trip was worthwhile Forges Les Eaux RFC agreed to visit Heathfield in May 2008.

The Boars squad was

Mike ‘Snakehips’ Fellows, Mike ‘The Guga’ MacLeod, Simon ‘Camchar’ Walker, Tony ‘Too Tall’ Rose, John ‘Action Man’ Parsons, Jason ‘Jizzer’ Taylor, ‘Captain’ Kenny Lewis, Jim ‘Streaky’ Cumming, Ben ‘Dover’ Taylor, Brady ‘Can’t Tackle Won’t Tackle’ Burdett, Adam ‘Crash’ Farrell, Levitt ‘Bosher’ Williams, Simon ‘Twinkle Toes’ Hollingdale, Keith ‘Cunning’ Davies, Mike ‘Le Barbeur’ Barber, Gavin ‘Names’ Robinson

Camp followers were

Jo ‘The Grumpy Goblin’ MacLeod, Kay ‘Lingers’ Davies, Jo ‘Jo La Taxi’ Lewis and Claire ‘Clarence’ Burdett,

Report by Mike MacLeod

5/31/2007 12:32:49 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)     

Anyone entering a team please contact Philip Bell ASAP.
 
We have probable entries from Blackboys, Prince Of Wales, Gay Cavaliers and The Cock (Kent).
 
Several other teams have expressed an interest - but we need to know more definitely.
 
Any other teams very welcome.  Please call ASAP.
 
Tel 07949 574 588   or email:  bell_philip_travelling@hotmail.com
 
Thanks

Philip Bell

Landline 44 (0)1435 872570

5/16/2007 11:14:12 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)     

This years AGM will be held at the Clubhouse, on Wednesday 4th. July at 7.30pm.

5/15/2007 11:10:54 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)     

Because of other commitments this was the last game of the season for the Heath 2^nd team.  Although Heathfield had a good start to the season we unfortunately trailed off in the latter part so will end up mid table at the end of the season.

So it was good to finish the season with a resounding win.  Heathfield were short of several regulars and were ably supported by several colts this week, which was much appreciated by our regular over ‘40s’club due to the hard pitch, and hot day.

Roberstbridge came requiring 1 point to guarantee safety in the league so it could have turned into a tight game, however due to the much pacier Heathfield backs and Jack Bayley playing at hooker covering every yard of the pitch the games was practically settled by half time

It started in the first 5 minutes when Matt Skinner followed up a huge kick from his own 22, that the Roberstbridge full back misjudged, Matt re-gathered the ball on the opponents’ 10-yard line and ran in the first try of the day, he ably converted.

There then followed a steady flow of tries, 11 in all with 5 conversions, the impetus was interrupted by three Roberstbridge tries, one of them being a penalty try, a quick 10 minute yellow card break for Brad Stowe.

Matt Skinner who also won man of the match got 4 tries (5 if you include the penalty try he gave away), Jack Bayley got 3, Dave Groom 2 and Levi Willis got but dropped a sitter.  Matt managed 4 conversions and Sam Goatcher got 1.

It was a fitting end to what on the whole has been a successful season for the rebuilding of the 2^nd team under the new management team Hipgrave and Jenkins.

With the introduction of some promising colts, the experience of current players and the general growth of the club, it all looks promising for next season.

Report by Shaun Hipgrave.

4/28/2007 11:06:18 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)     

Because of other commitments this was the last game of the season for the Heath 2nd team.  Although Heathfield had a good start to the season we unfortunately trailed off in the latter part so will end up mid table at the end of the season.

So it was good to finish the season with a resounding win.  Heathfield were short of several regulars and were ably supported by several colts this week, which was much appreciated by our regular over ‘40s’club due to the hard pitch, and hot day.

Roberstbridge came requiring 1 point to guarantee safety in the league so it could have turned into a tight game, however due to the much pacier Heathfield backs and Jack Bayley playing at hooker covering every yard of the pitch the games was practically settled by half time.

It started in the first 5 minutes when Matt Skinner followed up a huge kick from his own 22, that the Roberstbridge full back misjudged, Matt re-gathered the ball on the opponents’ 10-yard line and ran in the first try of the day, he ably converted.

There then followed a steady flow of tries, 11 in all with 5 conversions, the impetus was interrupted by three Roberstbridge tries, one of them being a penalty try, a quick 10 minute yellow card break for Brad Stowe.

Matt Skinner who also won man of the match got 4 tries (5 if you include the penalty try he gave away), Jack Bayley got 3, Dave Groom 2 and Levi Willis got but dropped a sitter.  Matt managed 4 conversions and Sam Goatcher got 1.

It was a fitting end to what on the whole has been a successful season for the rebuilding of the 2nd team under the new management team Hipgrave and Jenkins.

With the introduction of some promising colts, the experience of current players and the general growth of the club, it all looks promising for next season

4/28/2007 10:18:35 AM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)     

The Tournament will now be held on Sunday 27^th May – this is the Bank Holiday weekend.  The Heathfield Show is on the Saturday.

The main pitch at Cross in Hand is being reseeded and cannot be used – so we will play at Waldron.  This means we can use two pitches so we can have a few more teams involved and the scheduling of matches is easier – you won’t have to wait so long between games.

Please contact Phil Bell on 07949 574 588 immediately if you wish to enter a team.  

4/18/2007 11:14:49 AM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)     

Boars finish with a flourish

For their last league game of the season the Boars arrived and saw a team of much larger men looking ready for a rumble. The wise Boars noted that it was boiling hot and the ground was rock hard so they opted to play an open fast game. This led to one of the best 40 minutes of play in the whole season.

Seven unanswered tries settled the game in this opening period and all 15 players played their part in the game. The tone was set by Duncan Hesketh in the first Hove attack of the game as he dumped his opposite number hard and backwards onto the concrete like ground where he lay counting his limbs for a full minute.

The Boars forwards matched their much heavier opponents and hooker Jono Sharp even stole several scrums against the head. In open play the lighter Boars got to the breakdown in greater numbers and used the ball wisely. This gave quick ball to the backs who used it to great effect and tore holes in the defence before running in the tries.

Tries were scored out wide by Chris Jaques, Jim Cumming and Rob Woods while Duncan Hesketh grabbed two tries by bashing through the centre. These lovely running tries were complemented by two scores off the back of the solid scrum and through the big Hove bodies in defence. The first was scored by Ben Taylor at his hung-over best. The last of the half was a brave score by colt number 8 Olli Robertshaw on his debut for the Boars.

By half time the heat was becoming a big factor with blisters coming up on many players feet. Hove found a number of replacements at half time and came out stronger for it. The Hove forwards used their bulk from the kick off and punched a hole in half hearted defence to score within 5 minutes. For the next 10 minutes the Boars struggled to re-assert themselves and came off second best all over the park. This led to 2 more Hove tries and moved the score to 17-37. Surely it was not possible that Hove could come back into it?

Jim Cumming was certainly not about to let that happen and from 30 metres out charged the centre of the Hove defence. It is a surprise to see a 2^nd row player sidestep once and Jim beat this by sidestepping twice before handing off two tacklers as he gained the line. This solo effort lifted the Boars spirits again and Chris Jaques ended the scoring late in the half when he finished off a move that had started in the opposite corner of the field. It was a great way to round off an excellent performance.

The Boars Man of the Match was Mike Brown who was always in the thick of it from blindside flanker.

Boars Team – M. MacLeod, J. Sharp, A. Sutton, T. Rose (D. Bazen – 40), J. Cumming, M. Brown, K. Lewis (S. Walker – 60), O. Robertshaw, B. Taylor, B. Burdett, D. Hesketh (P Squires – 55), S. Goatcher (O. Squires – 55), C. Jaques, S. Hollingdale, R. Woods.

Report by Mike MacLeod

4/14/2007 10:14:21 AM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)