CRUFC

Calling all volunteers

The Committee recognises the need to undertake a concerted effort with regards to recruiting new players for all sections of the club.

We are therefore investigating the feasibility of running a Sports Festival later this year to raise the club's profile, build closer links with the community and ultimately attract new players to the club.

We are seeking volunteers who are interested in playing a part (large or small) in the design, planning and organisation of such an event.

If you would like to know more or are willing to put yourself forward please contact Club President Morris Hogg in the first instance at president@cheshamrugbyclub.com or on 01494 771576.

Revenge for Chesham 2nds

Amersham & Chiltern 4ths 10 Chesham 2nds 26

Avenging a narrow home defeat early in the season, Chesham IIs managed a fine away win over local rivals Amersham&Chiltern IVs.

Although Chesham dominated possession and territory, full back Geoff Sussum scored Chesham's only try of the first half to draw level with Chiltern at 5-5 at half time.

Chesham were slow out of the blocks for the second half, failing to gather the re-start and allowing a soft try for Chiltern in the corner. Some stern words from the Chesham captain had the desired effect and Chesham began to put pressure on Chiltern, mostly in the home team's half. Chesham No. 8 Ryan Lee eventually found the gap and burst through a despairing Chiltern defence to score, with Sussum adding the conversion to take the score to 12-10 in Chesham's favour. What had been a close contest turned when Chesham's influential young fly half Tom Hirst was tackled high when in the clear for the line, the resulting red card leaving Chiltern with 14 players for the final quarter of the game. Although Hirst was forced to leave the field somewhat dazed, the Chesham forwards, already with an edge in the contact area, exploited the man advantage to pressure the Chiltern line. Dogged defence by the Chiltern pack eventually resulted in one too many offences for the referee's liking and a penalty try was awarded, Sussum again converting. And with 10 minutes to go a clever mis-move in midfield saw Chesham centre Phil Dyer sprint clear of the defence to score the final try of the game.

Chesham 2nds: Toby Adams, Nick Mazur, Matt Mallinson, Andy Deane, Nick Jones, Mark Rosser (capt), Liam Bateman, Ryan Lee, Doug Harden, Tom Hirst, Phil Dyer, Anthony Jaycocks, Alex Barton, Dan Hewitt, Geoff Sussum, Trevor Lee, Adrian Cattell, Richard Brindley.

All square for U17s

Chesham Under 17s 15 Beaconsfield Under 17s 15

This was League game number 4 for Chesham and the teams were pleased to find themselves back in a match situation after snow had so severely disrupted the fixture schedule. Three times Chesham edged in front by a try, and three times Beaconsfield drew level. Chesham tries from Peter Duvall, Joss Wright and Alex Hanney were the highlights, though to be fair there was some ruthless defensive tackling which never allowed Beaconsfield to get their noses in front. Both teams had to be inventive as play after play was cancelled out. In such an even game it would have been unfair to have a winner, and a draw was the right result.

U17s: Ben Brown, Ollie Cato (Captain), James Cridland, Joe Cross, Tom Cullen, Richard Deane, Peter Duvall, Arthur Edwards, Ryan Gould, Alex Hanney, Nick Jones, Alex Partington, Imanol Walsh, Dominic Walshaw, Cameron Watts, Joss Wright.

Six Nations

With both the 1st and 2nd XVs having away fixtures this Saturday, why don’t all you non-travelling supporters join us in the club house to cheer your home nation.

Roger will have the bar open through the weekend to cope with the rush.

Friday 5th Feb: Ireland A v Scotland A - KO 7.30pm

Saturday 6th Feb: Ireland v Italy - KO 2.00pm

Saturday 6th Feb: England v Wales - KO 5.00pm

Sunday 7th Feb: Scotland V France-  KO 3.00pm,

We look forward to seeing all the Stag’s supporters plus friends and families.

Narrow win for 1st XV

Witney 3rds 5 Chesham 9

Chesham travelled to Witney on Saturday with a much changed side. Unavailability of regular 1st xv players meant Chesham players in unfamiliar positions .With the pitch hard and frosty Witney elected to start with the scrums uncontested.

Chesham started well with an early 50 metre run by stand in Captain Steve (Mookie) Morris. Despite pressure on the Witney try line the Stags were overcome with white line fever and failed to score. Witney replaced two of their front row and to Chesham’s amazement the referee allowed the scrums to go contested.

The game changed on that decision. The heavy Witney pack took control of the scrums and Chesham were living on scraps of possession. Outstanding play in the rucks and mauls saw Chesham awarded a penalty which converted by Ross Leek.

Just on half time Witney took full use of their heavy pack and were awarded a pushover try which was unconverted. Chesham were now aware that they had to keep the ball away from the Witney Pack. A good run from Chesham winger Chris Marriot was ended with a Witney high tackle. Leek converted the penalty.

Chesham defended well against sustained Witney pressure. Pete Reynolds, playing as a centre, was resolute in defence. In the forwards Gareth Wehrle won frequent turnover ball and gained a precious yards. Frustrating times for Witney. Their game was now limited to trying to bully their way over the Chesham line. From yet another high tackle infringement Chesham gratefully added 3 points.

This can be fairly described as a “gritty” performance by the Stags. Captain on the day “Mookie” Morris inspired his scratch side to fine win and made the long drive home pleasant.

Minis Report - Sunday 24th January

Under 7s

 

Despite the extended layoff over the Christmas and New Year period due to the snowy weather the U7's came back with renewed vigour and gave a very good account of themselves in Sunday's triangular match against Luton and Verulamians.  

 

Particularly impressive was the tagging from all the team.  We also made a number of good passing combinations.  Good use of the space was made with a number of fine runs.  It was also nice to see a number of individuals making their first try's in their fledging rugby careers.  This effort was supported by good play from the whole team and try's from the 'old hands'.

 

Player of the Day – George Chard for his impressive work in both tagging and try scoring.

 

We played 3 games against 2 teams as follows:-

 

Match 1: Chesham 4 - Verulamians 3

 

Try Scorers Nico 1, Emeka 2 and Finnian 1

 

Match 2: Chesham 5 - Luton 4

 

Try Scorers Nico 2, Emeka 1, Finnian 1 and George 1

 

Match 3: Chesham 3 - Luton 3

 

Try Scorers Charlie 1, Finnian 1 and Freddie V 1

 

Under 11s

 

Following a long lay-off over Christmas due to the snowy conditions, rugby finally took place with two exciting games played against strong opponents.

 

Our performance and attitude throughout both games was excellent: our heads did not drop and everybody got stuck in – well done!

 

Old Verulamian v Chesham

 

Our forwards dominated with great runs by Jamie, supported by Anna and Andrew. 

 

Flashes of brilliance were also seen in the backs with fantastic tackling by Ilan on the wing.  Great forward play resulted in a try for Jamie and Matthew winning the cross bar challenge with his conversion.  Verulamian scored two quick tries and a quick breakaway one towards the end of the second half to come out on top with scores of 3-1.

 

It was a great game to watch after such a long break.

 

Luton v Chesham

 

Luton proved to be a harder opposition and difficult to contain. We gained plenty of territory in the first half but ran out of steam in the second.  Two hard games on the trot were a little too much.  We must not forget though that Luton actually train on a Wednesday as well as on Sunday!!

 

All in all it was a fantastic performance and showed me that Chesham Under-11s don’t give up.  So again, well done.

 

Training this week followed by Drifters at home the next week - 7 February.

 

Games:

 

Old Verulamian V Chesham     Lost   3 - 1 

Luton v Chesham Lost 8 - 0

 

Team: Philip Coleman, Georgina Evans, Corry Evans, Anna Harris, Matthew Harris, Alfie Lawson, Jamie barnes, William Taylor, Andrew Youngs, Ilan Sirotkin, Noah Pressier, Max Lee, Jack Edhouse, Jordon.

 

Player of the day: Ilan Sirotkin

 

Under 12

 

After a long break over the Christmas period which was extended as a result of the adverse weather we travelled to Luton for what was supposed to be a triangular with the hosts and Old Verulamians.

 

On arrival though the arrangements seemed to have gone to pot as Old V’s failed to appear and Luton only initially had 8 players although this later swelled to 10!

 

After lending the hosts 3 players we managed to get a game going and quickly took the lead scoring several tries in the first few minutes. After the first quarter it was clear there needed to be some re-shuffling. Harry Pollard, Jordan Ross and Adam Cox went over to the Luton side and although initially it looked as if we might have been a bit hasty as Harry promptly ran in a couple of quick tries against us! This though only seemed to spur on the Chesham players who over the next 3 quarters put up a valiant performance and played some really good rugby.

 

Harry, Jordan and Adam were the shining lights of the Luton side but didn’t get it all their own way when Jamie Hounsfield and Samuel Fulford made repeated quality tackles. Paddy Cummins showed some flair with a cross pitch kick from a penalty that almost saw James Bell score his first try (later on he did when the ball was shipped out wide to him on the wing – well done James).

 

Some of the Chesham players were thrust into the limelight this week as a result of Harry, Jordan and Adam playing for the other side and there were some promising performances from Barney Gucklhorn, Jonathan Heath and Edward Butterworth. Alfie Pettifer also ran in two tries and Chesham could have scored more had they taken advantage of some overlap opportunities.

 

Olivia Harris, Daniel New, Michael Warwick and Tom Gogarty were again consistent performers and prominent in most phases of play.

 

There were some learning points; overall our rucking was poor and we could have scored at least 3 more tries by diving at the line rather than trying to carry the ball over. The positives however far outweighed the negatives and all in all we played some good entertaining rugby (on both sides).

 

What initially looked as though it was going to be a damp squib ended up being a really good run out for all our players. I thoroughly enjoyed watching it (as did the parents) and I think the kids were just pleased to be out at last having some fun.

 

Player of the day went to Jamie Hounsfield who fearlessly tackled players literally twice his size (albeit with his head on one occasion).

 

A special thanks to Harry, Adam and Jordan for making such a nuisance of themselves playing for the other side and giving us plenty of tackling practice!!

 

The final score was unimportant, the end result was a good time was had by all.

 

 

2nds back with a win

High Wycombe 4ths 12 Chesham 2nds 50

With Old Grammarians handing Chesham 2nds a walkover in their merit table fixture, skipper Mark Rosser was delighted not to have to make the tortuous away trip to North London. Instead the 2nds travelled to Wycombe 4ths, winning 50-12.

A dominant forward display, particularly from the back row with inspirational Pete Wharton showing youngsters Clive Edwards and Ryan Lee how to do it. Breaks appeared for the backs as well, particularly in the second half.

8 tries in all for Chesham, 5 converted including one hastily taken drop goal conversion by Tom Hirst on the final whistle to bring up the half ton.

The skipper's recollection of the try scorers is a little hazy - possibly Danny Rose, Ryan Lee (2), Tom Hirst, Geoff Sussum and Clive Edwards (2) - with apologies for anyone missed out.

A nice way to return to action after the long enforced break.

Chesham 2nds: Toby Adams, Nick Mazur, Mark O'Rourke, Rick Glover, Dan Rose, Ryan Lee, Pete Wharton, Clive Edwards, Doug Harden, Tom Hirst, Mark Rosser (capt), Nick Jones, Alex Barton (Phil Dyer), Dan Hewitt (Adam Owen), Geoff Sussum

Chesham back in action

Chesham 0 Oxford Harlequins 3rds 11

Rugby (remember that?) returned to Chesham on Saturday with two teams producing an exciting game with the result in the balance until the last 5 minutes.

Chesham were determined to perform better than their last meeting with Oxford when they were thrashed by 60 points. Chesham were aware how dangerous the Oxford backs were and set out to control the game with robust forward play. The Stags gained plenty territory in the first half but wayward kicking and poor clearances continually put the ball in the opposition hands and hard fought territory was lost.

In the few excursions by Oxford into the Chesham’s half saw the home side giving away needless penalties which cost the Stags 6 points. Towards the end of the first half Chesham’s veteran scrum half Steve Moore, who had a fine game, made a break that should have been rewarded with a try. Chesham support was late in arriving and Oxford held up the ball.

Chesham forwards dominated the second half and Oxford defended resolutely. The Stags camped on the opposition try line but failed to get the elusive score. Frustration showed. Back chat to the referee and Chesham gave away more needless penalties. The second half remained scoreless until the final five minutes when Oxford managed to release their speedy back and ran in an unconverted try.

Chesham skipper Gary Szulc got the tactics right but the final execution and infringements from the Stags let them down. There was plenty hard endeavour from the Chesham side. It was a great improvement on the last game with Oxford.

64 year old scrum half Steve Moore turned in a solid game and there were good performances from Chesham youngsters Chris Marriot and Jack Davies who both show great promise. .

Tour News - time to pay

Final instalments are needed now for this year's Easter tour to Holland. Cost will be circa £200 which is needed in full before the end of February.

The following gentlemen (sic) will be representing their club at Betuwe's tournament:

Alan Tungate, Alby Russell, Alex Barton, Alex Jaycocks, Alistair Campbell-Grieve, Antony Jaycocks, Ben Harry, Gareth Wehrle, Gary Heywood, Gary Szulc, Jack Davies, James Leek, Joe Murphy, John O'Brien, Jon Barnes, Karl Cross, Mark Dudley, Mick Clarke, Midge, Morris Hogg, Nick Deans, Nick Jones, Rob Smythson, Ross Leek, Simon Halley, Simon Harris, Steve Moore, Steven Morris, Tony Shaw, Warren Gilmore.

If your name is listed and you are NOT going, or if your name is NOT here and you do intend to go let Steven Morris know asap!! - secretary@cheshamrugbyclub.com  or 07887 632704.

Wales v France Tickets?

Wanted: tickets for the Wales v France international at Cardiff on Friday 26th February.

We have had a cry for help for any spare tickets for the above game from ”Les Zozos” of Rugby Olympique Club who are from Chesham’s twin town Houilles. They are playing our “Old Gits” on the 27th February. They have had to resort to buying from touts on the internet.

If you can help, please contact their tour organiser at gvillerabel@gmail.com  

Saracens @ Wembley

Saracens play Worcester Warriors on Saturday 13th February at Wembley Stadium.

This will be another great opportunity to visit Wembley and Chesham Rugby Club may be able to take part in pitch side activities. More on this when we have details.

Prices are £10 for adults and £5 for U16s.

For tickets please contact Bob Cullen on 01494 791858 by 1st February.