After the driest and hottest summer on record (I think) it is amazing how the grass has recovered. I was at the club yesterday with The Bard, and Pricey, Torygraph cryptic crossword guru, we were marking pitches, and the grass has not only grown, it was being mown. Quite the transformation. Before you get the bunting out, the ground is still dangerously hard and very uneven. I wouldn’t want to see games being played just yet.

It was nice to see the Good Company using the facilities, as they do every other Wednesday. This is a great local charity that helps people with dementia to socialise and interact with others, but as important, it gives partners an opportunity to have a break. The club is very supportive with volunteers helping with many of the activities. So proud of what the club does.

As an aside a good friend of mine who recently departed this mortal coil attended, and I know it was a great joy for him to be involved, and for his wife to a) have a break for a few hours, and b) to see him having so much fun.

OK, so to rugby news. The 4th and final ‘greatest rivalry’ test is the main feature, not that you would know that from the paucity of coverage in the press.

Many of the papers lead with Steve Borthwick’s contract extension to beyond the World Cup. The Torygraph are somewhat scathing with their headline: ‘Borthwick new deal looks like rewarding failure’. The BBC were slightly more circumspect with their comment about Borthwick being put in a ‘holding pattern’. When you consider the money he alone is earning, and the millions invested in the England side season after season the results are quite simply appalling. It is not just about the money. When you consider the abundance of riches at England’s disposal their under-performance on a regular basis beggars belief.

According to the media Henry Pollock has agreed an enhanced deal to stay at Northampton Saints. It is a very long way from the £1m pounds he ‘demanded’ but nevertheless it is a sizeable increase on his previous contract. It seems Tommy Freeman and Tom Pearson have also agreed new deals.

Talking of new deals, the RFU have agreed a shirt sponsorship deal with Lloyds Bank. The bank’s logo will now appear on the back of the shirts, as it will on the back of the match day tracksuit tops, or as the RFU calls them ‘anthem tops’. It is reported that Lloyds might also become involved with the grassroots game. We don’t allow dogs at Steel Cross so black horses are out of the question. Money would be gratefully received.

As mentioned yesterday the women’s WXV tournament gets underway on the weekend. England’s three games will be shown live on BBC iPlayer. Not sure about Wales games yet via terrestrial TV, but I understand all the WXV games will be covered by RugbyPass TV.

In other sport, the 3rd test against Pakistan continues today. It has been a disappointing series with very one-sided games as the visitors are a shadow of their former selves. The third night of Champions League football continues tonight, if you are vaguely interested. The US Tennis Open continues. Typical of sport in America, an event hijacked by sponsors and influencers (whatever they are), and dictated to by the TV companies.

British politics continues to be shambolic. That said, PMQs is no longer the pathetic, points scoring contest of old. I cannot get my head around why it is acceptable to fund people who cannot be bothered to find a job, and make it better than actually finding a job. Those demanding welfare spending be brought under control are right, and if that means the pensions triple lock is affected, so be it.

The sanctions on parts of Israel are sensible, but I fear the posturing is as much about securing the now substantial Muslim vote, than punishing Israel for its appalling actions.

Then you have Trump, who is behaving more and more erratically, offering every US citizen $5k if they win the midterms. That is a disgrace. The bloke is a disgrace.

OK, that’ll do for today. The blogs will be less frequent over the next two weeks or so, but I will endeavour to put something together for Sunday afternoon or Monday morning….. not that anyone reads this guff!!

Wednesday 9th Sept: 07:55

When I looked at the date, 9th September, I realised that it is 15 years, yes 15 years, to the day that I started writing this here blog. Mrs Bleater and I had just landed in New Zealand for the 2011 World Cup and as newly elected Chair of CRFC I promised I would write a blog about the trip. I can’t believe it has been going pretty much continuously ever since.

Anyway, moving on……

That rain yesterday was most welcome. However, having driven around parts of the county yesterday during the worst of it, it was painfully obvious that a significant amount of the stuff that fell from the sky simply ran off into the sewers. The ground remains stubbornly hard.

Where did we go? Mrs Bleater and I, along with Clarky our wonderful President, represented CRFC at Philip ‘Liberty’ Bell’s funeral. This was an invite only affair hence the lack of advertising. Those who who were present had been asked to abide by a social media embargo, which of course we were happy to comply with. The service was still very well attended with Phil’s limited family, and many members of H&W RFC present.

H&W RFC have planned a memorial event at Cross-in-Hand on September 19th for those who weren’t able to make yesterday. This clashes with our own fun day at Steel Cross but I’m sure a number of you might want to combine the two. The H&W event is from 12 noon.

As an aside it was clear that Philip was intrinsic to the good operation of H&W, he will be sorely missed. It made me realise how blessed we are with our fantastic volunteers across the board, each doing whatever is required to keep our great club ship shape and Bristol fashion, and each age group running smoothly.

Looking ahead to the weekend, you already know about the 4th and final test between South Africa and New Zealand. The women’s WXV kicks off with England v Australia, Scotland v Canada and France v New Zealand. The Premiership Cup continues, as do the Top 14, and the National Leagues.

In other news, I hope no-one was caught up in the air traffic control melt down yesterday, and will be impacted today as aircraft are out of position. Looking at Flightradar24 the skies over the South East appear to be back to normal. If you are interested the transatlantic stuff, that is the bigger airplanes, will be filling the skies for the next few hours.

OK, back tomorrow before an extended break, details of which will follow in due course.

Tuesday 8th Sept: 08:40

It hasn’t taken long for us Brits to start whingeing about the weather. Sadly, I’m one of them. Yesterday’s plans were scuppered by the early morning drizzle, and whilst today’s plans will go ahead I anticipate I will get soaked. The bottom line however is we need the rain, and lots of it. Two or three rainy days will not replenish the reservoirs or aquifers.

Very little of substance in the rugby pages but a couple of things did catch my eye.

Courtney Lawes says players should remain eligible for England if they ply their trade overseas. If he had said players should remain eligible for Wales then I would support his view. Wales simply does not have the talent pool England does. I think England are right to keep the policy, especially as playing for England is very lucrative.

There was a piece on the BBC website about the rise of Camborne RFC and their inaugural win in National One against Leeds Tykes. This caught my eye because of the ridiculous travel involved. Close to 7 hours. The costs must be horrendous when you add in the overnight accommodation. The article talks about the youngsters being bloodied at this level, which is great. I’m pretty sure however, they will quickly get hacked off with the travel, unless of course they are being handsomely remunerated, which heaps significant cost onto the club.

As you would expect with the Champions League kicking off tonight, football dominates the sports pages. Oh the heady days when Leicester City had a season in that auspicious tournament. Let’s move on.

As I have to get ready to go out I’ll close it there……

But not before asking the question: ‘are we paying the French to safely escort illegal migrants into British waters, or are we paying them to prevent channel crossings?’. It seems the French are laughing at our stupidity and taking the money with impunity. It is a joke.

The Government has got to wake up to the increasingly irate electorate on this issue.

Well done King Charles. Putting the publicity hungry, self-centred Sussexes in their place.

Ok, back tomorrow, albeit only with a brief missive. I’m assisting The Bard at the club with pitch preparation…… weather dependent of course.