Monday is the easiest day of the week to write the blog. I don't have to think too hard I just trawl through the results and summarise them for you the reader. Some might say based on the rubbish I write I don't think too hard at any time.

Let's move on. In our league our 38-15 win over Thanet Wanderers puts us up into 4th behind Charlton Park in 3rd who beat Hove 55-24, Haywards Heath in 2nd whose game against Dover was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch and Old Colfeians who are now top who squeaked past Gravesend 25-26. Of those results Charlton Park going past Hove by such a margin stands out. Hove have been playing very well making it even more noteworthy. Maidstone remain rooted to the foot of the table after losing 5-55 to Beccehamian, our next opponent. In the other game Deal & Betteshanger's up and down season continues losing at home to Old Alleynians 19-27. With the exception of Maidstone who look doomed to the drop there is much to play for.

In London 3 South East it is Ashford who lead the pack after another win, this time over Vigo. Heathfield & Waldron came home from bottom placed Old Willies with a much needed win in the bag. Pulborough were not so fortunate losing away Aylesford Bulls. Folkestone kept Gillingham Anchorians to nil over in Gillingham to stay 2nd in the table. Bromley remain a little off the pace in 3rd but a 7-15 win at Old Dunstonians keeps them interested. I have left our good friends Uckfield to last as the score is one of those rarities: Uckfield 0 Park House 0. One to go down in the annuls of Uckfield rugby history me thinks.

In Sussex 1 Crawley's win at Lewes puts them top. Hellingly beat Seaford and Hove II lost at Burgess Hill. Two games were postponed due to the weather. I am very proud to be part of Sussex rugby but this league is not great with two sides dropping out, Haywards Heath II struggling to get a side out and others happy to concede a HWO or AWO. The competition at the top is hotting up so fingers crossed for the rest of the season.

Moving up into London 1 South the Sussex life members and patrons who were at Horsham on Saturday would have enjoyed a good lunch and Horsham beating Medway 27-21. Those who follow Chichester saw their side lose at league leaders Westcombe Park in a close high scoring game. Beckenham remain bottom after losing at London Cornish.

Up in the Premier division our friends over at Sevenoaks had a day off as the game was postponed. That was some game at St Marks with Tunbridge Wells going down 30-33 to Guernsey. Brighton on the other hand had a good away win at CS Stags 1863. Rochford Hundred stay top, Guildford remain bottom.

Out of interest it was a bad day for my friend John as his Twickenham side lose 67-5 to table topping Farnham.

Talking of bad days TJs came home from Taunton Titans with a 20-5 defeat to contemplate. Worthing fared no better losing at home to table topping Henley. In National League 1 Canterbury lost at home to Plymouth Albion 5-52. Boy that is a trip and a half.

Just to round things off it was a bad day for Bridgnorth losing at home to Bromsgrove and likewise for Salisbury losing at home to Royal Wootton Bassett. I think it is fair to say Salisbury will be the first of the teams I comment on to be relegated.

The European pools have concluded and the quarter finals are now sorted. More on this tomorrow. Yesterday I watched Saracens sneak past Racing 92 which was a fascinating contest. It was a good game marred by Will Skelton being a complete idiot for that late and dangerous hit and for England supporters seeing Big Billy leave the field with another broken arm. The fact they won means they have something to play for during the remainder of the season. They can thank a very impressive Toulouse side for that after putting Gloucester to the sword.

The Saracens saga took another turn for the worse with relegation being confirmed. They took that over handing back their titles and opening up their books to scrutiny. The latter raises more questions than we have had answers thus far. It really does beg the question what do the Barnet outfit have to hide. In many papers the despair of those who love the game is clear and obvious. Ugo Monye, Chris Foy and others eloquently sum up the feelings that emanate from this whole saga.

Here we go again. Let me play the race card. Willis Halaholo has gone off on one as he feels some of the criticism of his Wales selection on residency grounds is racist. I hope and expect he is wrong. He says players like Hadleigh Parkes didn't get treated in the same way. Well Willis they did by me. I have constantly said the residency rules are a joke and should be changed. It doesn't matter to me where you are from or your ethnicity as the whole thing is nonsense. I know I am not alone on this subject.

Hypocrisy, hypocrisy, hypocrisy. I want to lead a very quiet life out of the public eye so what do I do? I immediately start talking about setting up a production company and links to leading TV and film companies and start searching for ways of making money from the very public you are running away from.

Sunday 19th Jan: 09:00

For those who were at Old Colfeians last week and at Steel Cross yesterday were heard using one simple phrase: "that was better". It most definitely was. The other frequently hear phrase was "it's a miracle". That was also true. Not a miracle we won but a miracle any rugby was played at Steel Cross yesterday. As it happened it was a pretty good game, very well refereed in very heavy conditions.

Unlike last week we started well. Backs and forwards linked seamlessly and the right option was taken time and time again. Our visitors Thanet Wanderers still a bit disgruntled at the pitch conditions were on the back foot. It came as no surprise when we went ahead with an excellent solo effort by Ali Main. Gone was the stuttering play of last week, instead we saw some excellent angles of running, dynamic drives and brilliant support play.

The dominance of possession and territory was rewarded with another try, this time a typical 'Borough strong arm over the line with skipper Matt Botterman finishing things off. Many on the side thought this could be a one-sided affair but sadly so did the players in red & white. The foot was taken off the gas and Thanet came roaring back playing some good rugby and testing the home defensive qualities. The gap was closed and 'Borough needed to buck up their ideas.

It was three of the senior citizens in the side who then served up a try that would make any highlight reel. Botterman's powerful run through a fragile Wanderer's defence freed up space to offload to the fast charging run of Ben Martyn who in turn offloaded superbly to Mitch Mulherbe who finished off a sweeping 65 metre move. Simply marvellous.

Thanet wouldn't lie down and soon closed the gap and before we knew it was 19-15 at half time.

The second half saw a much more dominant performance by the men from Steel Cross. Lloyd Smith and then Tom West kept things moving from scrum half and Alex Purnell, Tom Kent and Andy Orchard led from the front. Ali Main pulled the strings in the backs and Mulherbe, Rob Lester and Gus Weir kept the Thanet defence guessing. It was the forwards who kept the scoreboard moving and in the energy sapping mud the backs saw less and less of the ball. The bonus points in the bag it was now about points difference. 38-15 was a very satisfactory outcome.

Thanet Wanderers played their part throughout and defended well for long periods and it was only sloppy handling and wayward passes that stopped them from scoring more. For Crowborough the positives were obvious with the attacking play more robust and varied, the open field tackling was much improved and the decision making about when to kick and when to pass was good. It was not all sweetness and light with us conceding way too many penalties especially in the red zone thus putting us under unnecessary pressure. I would have liked to have seen the ball move through the backs more frequently especially when we created a clear overlap out wide.

An excellent win when all said and done.

I must also say what a splendid pre-match meal prepared at short notice by the wonderful Jacqui. Our guests from The Barn thoroughly enjoyed it. The Barn is a home for those who have been born with Down's Syndrome and it was heart warming to see them with big grins on their faces and the simple fact the club recognises how fortunate we are and sharing our luck is a small price to pay in the grand scheme of things.

I rounded off the day watching Glasgow cruise past Sale and then a very solid Scarlets win over London Irish. Today I'll be watching Saracens v Racing 92 rather than the mighty Foxes. Tonight it will be at least one of the NFL games, or perhaps Vera.

League round-up tomorrow.

Saturday 18th Jan: 09:30

If you didn't spot it on the front page of this website can I reiterate the GAME IS ON!

Yes, I am gobsmacked that is the case. After Thursday night's deluge and the state of the pitch yesterday morning I had planned an afternoon in front of the TV.

Bleater, oh ye of little faith!

The Dragons made it through to the quarter finals of the Challenge Cup. They made very hard work of it against a resolute Russian outfit. It wasn't a classic but a bonus point win is a bonus point win. Sadly Worcester go out after losing to Castres. This sounded a much better game by the way.

Looking at the Rodney Pitch and then seeing the AGP at Worcester you can see why AGP is so popular. I know the artificial pitches have come in for much criticism but with our climate as it is right now it has to be the way forward. Sadly for the Dragons their ground sharing arrangements with Newport County preclude them from laying an AGP.

The Saracens saga took another turn for the worst last night. It now seems certain that they will be relegated next season as they will certainly miss the salary cap target this season. This is not going to go away. I have obviously been deleted from Paddy O'Fez's email as I haven't heard from him for some time. Whilst I have tried hard to be fair it is difficult when you read that they are actually 30% over the salary cap. It is also hard to believe that Mark McCall didn't know what was going on. You can just about believe the players didn't know but they must have had an inkling was something afoot with nine players in the England World Cup squad and many others in Japan with the other nations.

I will put forward the argument that the other 12 members of the PRL gang need to be whiter than white and questions such as: does Jack Nowell's personal sponsorship deal with Red Bull get included in the cap need to be answered

Big games in Europe today and tomorrow.

The cricket is going well.

Must get my fantasy football update done before 11am.

That'll do for now except to say Political Correctness must go. People complaining about Apu, a character in The Simpsons really does highlight the world is going mad.

See you later.

Friday 17th Jan: 08:45

Morning Bleater, what are tonight's Euromillions lottery numbers? In the same way I can't tell you that, I can't tell you whether tomorrow's game against Thanet Wanderers is on. What I can tell you is the A pitch was in much better condition yesterday than I expected. The Bard and the team have marked it out beautifully but where it was waterlogged it was bad. When I went to bed last night it was raining and as I look out of the window it is still raining. There is a pitch inspection planned for 08:30 tomorrow and I will try my best to bring you news as soon as a decision is made. One thing I can tell you; if the game is postponed it won't be due to the lack of effort to get it on by the Friday Club and the excellent grounds team.

Moving on it is Saracens who are dominating the rugby pages again. Based on the three articles I have read it seems Saracens will not meet their obligation to comply with the salary cap this season. Even with the likes of Liam Williams heading home to Wales they are a long way short of compliance. If that were to be the case the new head of Premiership Rugby would need to honour his hard line stance and relegate Saracens to the Championship regardless of their position in the league. With that comes a raft of issues not only for Saracens but also for England and the British Lions. This is best understood by reading Chris Foy's piece in the Organ of Truth (Not). In essence would there be a mass exodus of players but to where? We have seen what Newcastle with their limited squad are doing in the Championship, just think what Sarries would do. What are the implications for England and the British Lions? This is an unedifying mess.

It doesn't end there. Nigel Wray has completely relinquished any involvement in the club by "selling" his shares to a trust run by his children. It is stated the family will continue to bankroll the Barnet outfit but it is also a matter of fact that Wray had been looking to offload some of his shares to a new investor to reduce the reliance on him. This situation highlights the point I have been making over and over again: clubs surviving solely thanks to the largesse of very wealthy benefactors is unsustainable.

There is a third element to this story and that is if as we expect Sarries are now relegated it scuppers Premiership Rugby's plan to implement a ring-fenced top flight. Newcastle are certain to be promoted and that would have opened the door to ring-fencing. With Sarries being shown the trap door that becomes untenable. There is one caveat to this and that is the other clubs bite the bullet and allow Sarries to stay up as the benefit of ring-fencing outweigh the satisfaction of seeing them getting the punishment many think they more than deserve.

Well done Wayne Pivac. Louis Rees-Zammit and Nick Tompkins are in his 6 Nations squad. The latter has raised some eyebrows and as much as I dislike the current grandparent rule he does qualify. The Welsh squad looks pretty good. The absence of Jonathan Davies is a worry but the fact Taulupe Faletau is back is a great boost. Where I am confused is the fact that so many English based players can be included when Rhys Priestland cannot. I think this has something to do with being new caps rather than players leaving Wales to make their fortune. I am sure someone with a bigger brain than me can explain the rules.

One absentee from the Wales squad is Jamie Roberts. In a surprising twist and as a consequence he will immediately leave Bath and head to South Africa where he will play for the Stormers. I saw him play against Sale recently and he was mighty impressive.

Stuart Hogg captains Scotland and Johnny Sexton will captain a new look Ireland squad.

Tonight's viewing will be Dragons v Yenisey-STM Krasnoyarsk on S4C. I might watch the opening minutes of Carmarthen Quins v Cardiff.

Ok, moving on. Racism is totally unacceptable, as is any form of hate. It is equally unacceptable for people to play the race card or the homophobic card when they hear something they don't like. The comments that Meghan Markle is being attacked due to race is complete bullshit. She is being attacked because she is a selfish publicity seeking hypocrite who seems to have taken a well liked Prince and turned into to a whinging frog. Likewise Shami Chakrabarti's outburst on Question Time last night were equally bullshit. The audience and the panel had a go at her not because of race or being a women but because she is an arrogant hypocritical politician of the worst kind.

There are people starving in the world, Australia is on fire, the ice caps are melting at an alarming rate, and Valdimir Putin is about to become leader for life yet we are talking about Big Ben and bongs. What bullshit. There is an MEP on TV right now saying we should waste £500,000 on this ridiculous notion. Tell you what Richard Tice MEP, tosser of this parish, YOU PAY FOR IT.

Now where are those blood pressure tablets?