WECOME TO SHIPSTON. Kenilworth Rugby Football Club 2012/13. Eight (should be nine) young Cavaliers

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1 According to Mick Wheatley s book Shipston-on-Stour RFC have only ever played Kenilworth at first XV level once, in Feb 1995, and this was a Warwickshire Cup 1/4r final played under the lights at Leamington, Kenilworth coming out victors, This was at the start of our Steve Brain era and that year we ended up in the Warwickshire Cup Final at Nuneaton to be beaten by, you guessed it, Broadstreet, in a game where Jeff Head started at scrum half and Mark Ellis was on the bench after appearing for Warwickshire the day before at Twickenham. Sitting beside him on the bench was Russ White (minus an exhaust system for those with good memories!). My memory of that 1/4r final at Leamington against Shipston was a wee bit of nastiness from Clive Hunt, retribution no doubt for something someone had done to him or a teammate. It is therefore a very big welcome to the players, supporters and committee persons from Shipston and we trust you enjoy your first WECOME TO SHIPSTON visit to our home. Shipston were only formed in 1963 out of Shipston High School and moved to their present ground in They are now at their highest league level, having gained promotion last season from Mids 3 west south. In season 02/03 they did what we hope to achieve this season and appeared in the final of the RFU Junior Vase at Twickenham. Despite only one fixture at first XV level our second and third XV s have enjoyed regular league and cup fixtures throughout the years. This season they have found the league tough winning only one game from their seven played to date, this being a win over Banbury. Last time out they lost narrowly at home to Droitwich and the week before they lost to league leaders Old Laurentians, after leading at half-time. They have scored 102 points and conceded 240 and are currently lying 11th in the league, one point ahead of Banbury. Eight (should be nine) young Cavaliers Kenilworth Rugby Football Club 2012/13 i

2 TODAY S LUNCH & SPONSORS Today s game is jointly sponsored by Brian Holt, Estate Agents and D&P Holt, Property Consultants and we thank them both for their continued support of Kenilworth Rugby Club. We welcome all their guests, old and new, and trust you will enjoy our fine ales, wine and food and, hopefully, see a Kenilworth victory. For all the newcomers to the club we will be in blue and our happy Steward is called Paul. MIDLANDS 2 WEST, SOUTH Just how important our win two weeks ago over Old Laurentians can be seen in the league table. A defeat would have seen us well adrift but we are now only one point behind and in full pursuit. It is a wee bit too early to be talking about the end of the season but when did that stop me! The winners of this league will automatically gain promotion to Midlands 1 west whilst the second place team will face a playoff against the second team in Midlands 2 west north. That league is currently headed by Wolverhampton with Moseley Oak, Silhillians and Leek in close pursuit. In our own league we have a two and four point advantage over Kidderminster and Droitwich respectively with Dunlop, very big winners over Leamington a few weeks back, a further two points back. In the basement it is Banbury with today s visitors Shipston one point ahead and on the same points total as Upton and Bedworth who (according to the RFU web site) appear to have been docked a further wad of points for what reason I do not know. CUP COMPETITIONS Last week, thanks to Ralph Murray, I followed our cup game against Leighton Buzzard all the way from the Algarve on Twitter and if you have not yet sampled this then I suggest you do. Scores and action are updated regularly and it is a good substitute if you are not at the game. In the end we scrambled a win (20-19) against a powerful Leighton Buzzard and it was quite exciting, on Twitter at least. We have now progressed to the fourth round of the RFU Intermediate Cup, Midlands Division and this is the round of the last eight, these being: Wolverhampton, Oadby Wyggestonians, Bugbrooke, Coalville, Old Laurentians, Huntington, Kenilworth and Bakewell Mannerians. There is no news of the draw yet for the next MIDLANDS 2 WEST (SOUTH) Team P W D L F A Diff B Pts Pts Adjust Old Laurentians Kenilworth Kidderminster Droitwich Dunlop Newbold on Avon Earlsdon Leamington Bedworth Upton-on-Severn Shipston on Stour Banbury round on 1st Dec but perhaps we want to avoid Wolverhampton and OL s who are both leading their leagues. There will then be a semi final and final in the Midlands Division before all four divisions come together for the semi finals (Midlands v North) then the final at Twickenham. Quite what is happening at Bedworth at the moment is not too clear. As well as their league deduction they were drawn at home in the cup last week but the game was awarded to Oadby on a walkover. NEXT AWAY GAME Next week, 24th Nov, we travel to Upton on Severn who play at The Sports Field, Old Street, Upton-upon-Severn, WR8 0HW. Upton s web site is org.uk and this site contains full directions to the ground. There are some very good pubs in Upton! THIS WEEKS OTHER FIXTURES (with win predictions) Earlsdon v Banbury (home) Kidderminster v Dunlop (home) Leamington v Droitwich (away) Newbold v Bedworth (home) Old Laurentians v Upton (home) (below) Very good defense (right) Ed Hunter, progressing nicely TRAINING PITCH We are delighted to announce the award of a grant from Sport England & RFU to improve the drainage characteristics on our Training Pitch, off Rocky Lane. The original grant awarded was but following further investigatory work it was increased. Sport England are contributing 40k and RFU 10k and this is a 100% grant with no contribution from Kenilworth RFC. Work is planned to commence in Feb 2013 for completion at the end of March. It will result in the floodlit Training Pitch, currently unusable after wet weather, being available throughout the season. The club is currently planning how to manage our remaining pitches during the period of renovation and this information will soon be posted on the web site. ii Kenilworth Rugby Football Club 2012/13 Kenilworth Rugby Football Club 2012/13 iii

3 THE TEAMS FOR 17TH NOVEMBER 2012 LEAGUE GAME SPONSORED BY BRIAN HOLT & D&P HOLT Kenilworth Player Sponsors Nick Collett Chris Elgar Kenilworth Blue with Yellow Flashes 1... Jake Dodd Shipston Blach with Gold Flashes 1...Richard Savage Kenilworth Shirt Sponsors Jack Gibson Power Fully Fit Pat Jenkinson Mini and Juniors Ross Lowthian Priority Builders 2...Jonny Cresswell (Capt.) 3...Rhys Llewellyn 4... Jonny Openshaw 5... Sam Flowers 6... Jack Gibson 2...Matt Corby (Capt.) 3...Jack Coupland 4...George WayWell 5... Ash Bonner 6... Sam Green Jimmy Middleton EquiDebt Harry O Brien Mini and Juniors Jai Purewal Holiday Inn 7...Stephen Todd 8...Ian Phillips 9....Alex Selby 10...Harry O Brien Jimmy Middleton 7...Jack Barnard 8...John Campbell 9....Toby Jones Tom Rance 11...Scott Currie Warwickshire President, Keith Brown presents our Accredition Certificate to Sheila Franks Alex Selby Norton Brown Bobby Thompson Hannams Removals Simon Tyler Baker Jane Jonny Cresswell Sonali Indian Takeaway Nyle Beckett Greywell Property Dom Sheehan Gareth Renowden 14...Adam Clifford 15...Andy Whitehall Tom Lane Marcus Andrews 18...Tom Kendall James Wootton Tom Corby 14...Oliver Morris James Sale 16...Andy Hunt Jon New Chris Rylan-Pears Today s referee: Nick Edwards, Warwickshire Society iv Kenilworth Rugby Football Club 2012/13 Kenilworth Rugby Football Club 2012/13 v

4 KENILWORTH RFC THE PAST FEW WEEKS & SQUAD NEWS Two games and two wins for the first XV and the Colts have had a big win at Daventry but lost out to Newbold last week. The first XV clash (34-31 win) with Old Laurentians was a superb advert for rugby at this level. We deservedly raced into a big lead only for OL s to peg us back and, to be truthful, it was a bit of a surprise when the ref blew for full-time after an OL conversion when most, including me, thought there was a few worrying minutes still to play. We showed plenty guts and skill and have now given ourselves every chance at the top. Leighton Buzzard were in a similar position to us in Mids 2 east and a close game was predicted and that was exactly how it turned out. Again our character shone through (even on Twitter) and all credit must go all 18 players demonstrating once again the decent size squad we are building. And how well has young Harry O Brien stood up to be counted in the absence of Tom Kendall? The Cavaliers paraded their nice new yellow strip and enjoyed a big win at Earlsdon, helped by an infusion of colts and a total of nine players who are sons/nephews of former players, namely Adam Clifford, Joe & Sam Ballinger, Rhys & Tommy Jones, Nick Prince, Matt Gibson, Ollie Brown and the one we forgot about, Andy Fox. The 3 s had a superb win last week over Old Laurentians last week. The Colts have been weakened by injuries and non availabilities but this did not stop them winning well, 65-0, at Daventry but losing out at Newbold last week. One player of note is Ed Hannam who has bagged a total of 10 tries to date. Not bad for a back rower. Prop Ed Hunter will still be missing for a few weeks and if you do not know yet he completed the game at Newbold with a broken collar-bone, hence his absence v OL s. Bobby Thompson is not yet 100% fit and is being held back another week. The re-born Ross Lowthian misses his first game of the season today and is unavailable, together with Simon Tyler. James Wadey has not quite recovered from his hip injury that saw him taken off last week but Tom Kendall should be fit enough fro the bench today. Nyle Beckett, a scorer of rather good tries, is still recovering from the hammy he pulled against Ol s, scoring a try of course! Reports on most of the club s games and general news and piccies are on www. kenilworthrugby.co.uk where you can also subscribe to a Weekly Newsletter. WHAT S ON AT KRFC 24TH NOVEMBER 2012 CAVALIERS V BROADSTREET 3 S, H, ST DECEMBER 2012 INT CUP, 1/4R FINAL 1ST DECEMBER 2012 CAVALIERS V BEDWORTH, H, TH DECEMBER 2012 BEDWORTH, H, TH DECEMBER 2012 CLUB CHRISTMAS BALL, HOLIDAY INN 13TH DECEMBER 2012 THE CLUB NIGHT 22ND DECEMBER 2012 DROITWICH, H, ND DECEMBER 2012 CHRISTMAS LUNCH AND FANCY DRESS PARTY AT NIGHT 29TH DECEMBER 2012 KENILWORTH BARBARIANS V WARWICK SCHOOL OLDBOYS, 1PM For all the latest news about Kenilworth Rugby Club visit: KENILWORTH RFC 1ST FIXTURES 2012/2013 Date Opposition for agst. pos Dunlop, home th Droitwich, away rd no game Leamington, home rd Kidderminster, away th N BBOB (Cup), away Earlsdon, home rd Newbold, away nd Old Laurentians, home nd Leighton Buz., h, I Cup Shipston, home Upton on Severn, away RFU Int Cup - round Bedworth, home Banbury, away Droitwich, home Leamington, away Kidderminster, home Earlsdon, away Newbold, home Old Laurentians, away Shipston, away Upton on Severn, home Bedworth, away Banbury, home Dunlop, away Played 9, won 8, lost 1 Pts for 269, agst 191!) TONIGHT S LOTTERY NUMBERS One game between Kenilworth & 1st team level since Shipston were formed in We are now in the last eight of the Int Cup and await the draw with interest. Bakewell tarts anyone? Nine sons/nephews of former players in the Cavaliers and apologies to Andy Fox who we forgot in the press release! Ed Hannam, top scoring Colt with ten tries and he has also starred for the 2 s and the Baba s (alongside Fitz!) A nice looking away trip to Upton on Severn next week for our supporters and players alike providing they win of course! 40k from Sport England and 10k from the RFU and we should have a usable training Pitch next season quote Rod Jones! vi Kenilworth Rugby Football Club 2012/13 Kenilworth Rugby Football Club 2012/13 vii

5 PEACOCK S CORNER Greeting sports fans. As much as I enjoyed benching for 80 minutes last weekend, I will be taking my seat at Twickenham today for what promises to be one of the most one-sided contests between England and Australia in many, many years. There would be a few names on the list of people you wouldn t want to swap places with this afternoon - a Leeds United fan, Gary Glitter s paper boy, Lord McAlpine s foster child (no, that s not right, is it?) - but my vote goes for Tatafu Polota-Nau, the Australian hooker. No one really knows what happens in the front row, do they? But ignore the so-called dark arts at your peril, as the Australians are finding out. If anyone is in any doubt as to the importance of scrummaging in international rugby, they should watch what happened to the Wallabies in Paris last weekend. The Aussies have never been known for their scrummaging one of the most inept refereeing displays in living memory kept them in the World Cup Final in 2003 but even by their lowly standards the capitulation in Paris was embarrassing. But that s not the real problem with this Australian side. Where are the household names? What has happened to the Burkes, Larkhams, Farr-Joneses, Campeses, Gregans, Lynaghs, Horans and the rest? In many ways the weakness of this Australia side puts the pressure on Lancaster and England. As a knowledgeable (Australian) rugby friend told me this week: if England don t win they are heading nowhere. The Wallabies won once in the Rugby Championship against Argentina and in the space of 24 months they ve gone from beating France to losing in Paris The post-match report in the Sydney Morning Herald was cleverly written as an obituary for Australian rugby. It ran under the headline: The Wallabies are England in Disguise. There Is No Bigger Insult Than That. It s a really excellent piece, written by a New Zealander, but this passage stood out: Australia have rarely been the best rugby team in the world, but they have frequently been the most romantic, the country most ready to have a go, men with a bit of larrikin and devil-may-care in their souls. In Paris at the weekend Australia played with wretched cowardice. The Australian centre, Pat McCabe (Aussie friend: a nice bloke but never in a million years an international inside centre ), admits England are hot favourites. That maybe so - but it just doesn t sound Australian, does it? Luckily enough, that s where Tatafu Polota-Nau comes in. He obviously didn t get the same ARU memo as McCabe entitled: Talk Up England s Chances. You see, Polota-Nau has sent a warning to the English pack, especially at scrum time. Now, I m no sports psychologist, and I m sure Dan Cole is a lovely, amenable bloke but that is not going to go down well. And let s be honest, the one area of the game where the Aussies aren t going to compete is in the scrum. I can t tell you why, they just won t. All this points to a very tough day for Polota-Nau very tough indeed but at least he s going to have a go, in the finest Australian tradition. For the sake of the sport let s hope his team-mates do the same. Andy Whitehall - star against Leighton Buzzard viii Kenilworth Rugby Football Club 2012/13