Following yesterday’s league round-up I can confirm a couple of things. Firstly good news for Horsham. Their amazing win over Havant was enough to keep them up in Regional 1 South Central. How? The demise of Jersey Reds has meant a trickle down effect meaning one less club needs to be relegated as one more club can be promoted into the 2nd tier. Based on all the permutations and count back at level 5 it is Horsham that earns the reprieve.

What else has been confirmed is that none of the relegated teams in our area are heading for Counties Kent 1. That means Dartfordians leave us for Regional rugby, and Sevenoaks II joins us after winning Kent 2. If, and I think it is mandatory, Thanet are relegated that could mean the second placed team in Kent 2, Park House joining us, or, Haywards Heath being forced into our league, or Heath swapping with say Eastbourne, or a.n.other Surrey/Sussex team joining Counties Kent 1. The minute I find out I’ll let you know.

Plenty across the media about a new global club tournament taking a major step forward. All the papers cover the news that 2028 could see the dawn of a 16 team tournament featuring the best from the northern hemisphere taking on the best of Super Rugby. The idea seems to be every four years the knockout stages of the Champions Cup will be used to define who is in the tournament. Based on today’s situation for example that would be, Saints, Chiefs, Quins, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Leinster, Stormers and Bulls. The other eight teams, according to the Torygraph, would drop into a ‘supercharged Challenge Cup’. Interesting concept which would have tremendous TV appeal which quite frankly would be the only way to offset the tremendous costs involved of flying 16 teams around the globe.

There is also talk of a women’s Champions Cup. With the huge disparity between the sides in the English league, let alone across Europe, right now I think that is ambitious. There would be too many serious mis-matches making the games unattractive to a paying public, but yet again what do I know. I think building the domestic leagues has to be a priority and keeping the Six Nations and World Cup momentum going should be the driving force. My view.

Brian Moore, again in the Torygraph, has highlighted the huge disparity in size between Bordeaux-Begles and Saracens last weekend. He states Saturday highlighted the need for those running the game to revert back to injury only replacements. The game is becoming so power and size dominated that the game is being ruined. I have bleated on about this for some time. Replacing 20+ stone buffalo with 20+ stone buffalo is putting player safety at risk. I am comfortable with tactical substitutes but I firmly believe the number of subs should be reduced to three, or a maximum of five. If it is five then only three can used tactically, the other two for certified injury only. Below the Championship only three subs should be available. I firmly believe we would have a far better spectacle as players were forced into playing more of the 80 minutes more often.

A couple of the media cover the news that a 22 year old Australian has been fined for online abuse of a match official. His facebook post was deemed to be offensive and overstepped the mark. World Rugby warns that as technology improves these keyboard warriors will have nowhere to hide.

The Autumn Internationals have been snapped up by TNT Sport. For those who already have access that is good news. For those who don’t it is another cost to incur to watch the big games, or miss out. I can understand the Unions seeing this as important, money is in very short supply, but TV exposure is crucial to keeping the game alive. You can guarantee there is renewed interest during the Six Nations and the World Cup. Why? Simply because the games are free to air on terrestrial TV.

World Rugby is, now the tackle height has been lowered, pretty much across the globe at grassroots level, undertaking a massive study to analyse the impact. Early indications are the lower tackle height has improved safety for the tackler and the ball carrier. Whilst this is just me based on watching Crowborough, I think the game is better too. We’ll know at the end of the 24/25 season.

Back tomorrow, but possibly slightly later than usual.

Monday 8th Apr: 09:30

Good morning. Before I get into the results round-up I bring you the sad news that Bryan Kain, a stalwart of the club, passed away in the early hours of Saturday morning. Bryan had been ill for some time so his passing is seen as a blessing, but nevertheless he will be missed. He joined the club in the 60s as a speedy, hard tackling winger. He contributed on the field, and later off the field, over many years. When I was Chairman I made him one of our club ambassadors. As you go about your daily business spare a thought for Bryan and those who knew him.

The game goes on so let’s see what happened on the weekend. In our league Cranbrook climbed into 10th spot after beating us 27-0 and they seem confident of survival. Despite beating Ashford, Thanet Wanderers are relegated. Charlton Park could suffer the same fate after losing at Heathfield & Waldron. We won’t know for some time. At the top Beccehamian beat Canterbury II 63-0. Wow!! It still wasn’t enough however as Dartfordians beat Dover. Dartordians are promoted. Congratulations to them. Bromley finish comfortably in 4th after beating Deal & Betteshanger.

Above us, it doesn’t look as if anyone is automatically coming down into Counties Kent 1 as it is Cobham and London Cornish at the foot of Regional 2 South East. In Regional 2 South Central Reading and Salisbury are at the bottom, the latter after losing to Chichester 26-8. Neither of those are Kent bound. Chichester finish in 9th spot. Jersey RFC win this one.

Looking below us in Sussex 2 Haywards Heath are promoted despite losing 29-24 to Shoreham. That took me by surprise. Well done Heath but equally well done to Shoreham. Which league HH go into is as yet unknown. Burgess Hill finish rock bottom after being hammered 71-5 by next week’s cup opponents Pulborough. Crawley lost to Seaford and Brighton II beat Worthing III to round the season off.

In Kent 2 unsurprisingly it is Sevenoaks II that are promoted. They rounded off their season by putting Dartford Valley to the sword 64-0. The upside is it is a shorter trip than to Thanet. The downside is this is the second XV of a very good National League side. Park House finished 2nd if two sides come up.

Over in Surrey/Sussex 1 congratulations go to promoted Teddington who won relatively easily at Hove. As expected Eastbourne lost at Weybridge Vandals, and East Grinstead lost at Twickenham. Despite, like us, all three teams ending on a low note they have had decent seasons finishing mid-table.

In Hampshire 1 Bognor finished 9th after losing to Eastleigh. Petersfield topped this league.

Up in Regional 1 we find the remarkable result of Horsham beating table topping Havant 21-19. That must have been some game. With Bournemouth losing at Maidenhead Horsham finish in 11th. Will it be enough to stay up. I hope so. Tunbridge Wells lost at Marlborough and Brighton lost at Bracknell to finish 4th and 7th respectively.

In the rarified National Leagues a tough day all round. Worthing lost at home to Esher, Sevenoaks lost at Barnes and TJs lost at Dorking. Two games to go in this one. Only Worthing are in the danger zone.

What happened elsewhere? Crowborough 2s scored a stunning away win at Holbrook 24-27 after being 21-0 down. Hastings & Bexhill lost at Whitstable. Lewes beat Hove 3 keeping themselves in the promotion race. Ditchling beat Steyning and Barns Green won over at Jersey Royals. Shoreham 2s beat Hellingly, St Francis beat H&W 2s, Midhurst lost to EG 2s. I think that is about it.

Whoops, I forgot, Bridgnorth lost at Banbury to finish 6th in the league.

What a cracking game at Franklins Gardens, Saints beating Munster. Toulouse put Racing 92 in their place. Can’t remember how the draw works but a Toulouse v Bordeaux final would be something. More on that during the week.

I see the trains aren’t running again thanks to the anarchists at ASLEF. What more can I say.

Sunday 7th Apr: 08:30

There were some quite remarkable results yesterday but more on that tomorrow. Us losing to Cranbrook 27-0 wasn’t one of them. As I had alluded to during the week they would represent quite a challenge. Their tenure in Counties Kent 1 was in the balance and nothing less than a win would do. I guess it aided them that on Thursday the selection meeting at Steel Cross was all about who was fit. A mighty powerful 1st XV was unavailable through injury meaning it wasn’t our strongest side that would travel the few miles into Kent on Saturday. It doesn’t end there however. On Saturday morning another four players dropped out leaving coaches and the wonderful Ian Geering frantically trying to fill those spots. So the summary post match was ‘we did our best but we looked a side that had never played together before’, and we hadn’t. Young Josh Jarvis and Sam Hamilton made their 1st XV debuts, and those who did take to the field gave of their all.

This was a game where inconsistency, sloppy decision making and a lack of accuracy from all thirty one participants on the field made it a poor spectacle for long periods. There were glimpses of brilliance such as Will Pitman’s mazy 75 metre run but these were few and far between. When Cranbrook got it right it looked good, and you wondered how on earth are they were so lowly in the table. The answer came when easy overlaps saw the ball go into touch rather than to hand. Please, don’t let me take anything away from them. They were by far the better side, hungrier, more physical, and took most of their chances when they came along. That was another frustrating aspect of yesterday. We continually used the tap and go, and continually failed to turn it into anything other than a Cranbrook turnover.

Despite a mismatch in size we held our own in the scrum and the lineout was a source of good ball. Why oh why we didn’t exploit that more I couldn’t fathom out. The backs beavered away but so did the host tacklers. Despite the scoreline our defence was very good. A couple of lapses and they were through but when you consider the possession and territory dominance the score could have been so much worse.

As the game wore on it became even more disjointed with the referee in danger of a repetitive strain injury as he brandished his yellow card, much to the bemusement of all involved. Quite frankly it was blessed relief when the final whistle went.

Criticisms: our ball retention was poor, our kicking out of hand was poor and we did the same thing over and over with the same result, and that result was turnover to them.

Positives: the set piece with three old codgers, Rosier, Tasker and Benny M doing an amazing job. Young Sam Edwards stuck at it throughout (playing in the unaccustomed back row position), Josh Groocock led from the front, Jarvis put in a shift, as did all the backs, but it wasn’t enough.

Cranbrook strengths were at the breakdown. Technically very good and when that comes with dynamic contact in the tackle zone you are always going to put pressure on the opposition. Congratulations to them, they deserved the win. Good luck with their very ambitious clubhouse plans and here’s to next season.

We have a couple of cup games to go, if we can cobble together a side, but the league season has finished. We finish a very creditable 5th behind four very good sides and ahead of seven other very good sides. WELL DONE BOYS! That is a GREAT league season over and done with.

Got home in time to watch Bordeaux Begles put Saracens in their place. That was quite some demolition. After a short sojourn to let my mate Mal Bec in it was time for Ireland v Leicester Tigers. The Irish were imperious. Some of that rugby was sublime. The Tigers stuck at it so weren’t disgraced, but it was always going to be a tall order when you are playing the very successful Irish national side.

Saints v Munster is on the agenda this afternoon and I’ll probably watch the Toulouse v Racing 92 game as well, as I can.

Leicester City are back to the top of the table after beating lowly Birmingham City, and all their closest rivals failed to deliver. Hoorah!

I was going to finish with a rant about the Just stop Oil morons and the hypocrite Greta Thunberg who seems to do one heck of a lot of travelling for an eco activist but I won’t, and don’t get me started on those despicable money grabbing anarchists at ASLEF. A coffee and bagel with cream cheese beckons, very East Side New York already!

Thursday 4th Apr: 08:30

I’d like to say there is a veritable cornucopia of information about our great game to draw upon this morning. I can’t, because there isn’t. What there is is pretty depressing.

Another sixty players, as yet unnamed, have joined the mass lawsuit against World Rugby, the RFU and the WRU over head injuries. The fact several papers lead with this news ahead of a massive weekend of European rugby is troubling. Whilst there is a link between rugby as a contact sport and head injuries, being the cynical, miserable, old toad that I am I sense there is a bandwagon rolling by and people eyeing their chance of free cash are jumping on it. It comes as no surprise that the firm of solicitors are ‘bigging up’ the risk with inflammatory statements like ‘elite level in both union and league is not safe’. This to me smacks of clever marketing rather than a firmly held belief. The adage ‘where there is blame, there is a claim’ is oh so true, and whenever that phrase is used you can see the injury lawyers, like slugs after Mrs Bleater’s lettuce, crawling out from under the rocks.

Don’t get me wrong, head injuries and their long term consequences are no laughing matter. Alix Popham and Steve Thompson are testament to that. However, you cannot apply today’s knowledge to yesterday’s actions. Many of the people on the list of claimants have made a good living out of the game and went into it enthusiastically at the time. The injury lawyers will of course argue differently. The governing bodies are acting, maybe not fast, or decisive enough, but they are changing the game to make it safer. Many years ago, before this came to light, I recall writing that there will be a time when injury lawyers will get their slimy tentacles into our game and this will be when the death knell of rugby as we know it will sound. I stand by that opinion.

Oliver Brown writing in the Torygraph has suggested all the praise and media coverage about Louis Rees-Zammit is misguided and deluded. In essence why would a sport be happy for one its superstars, and a young superstar at that, defect to another sport. What message does that send about rugby? In essence it says to the NFL or NRL or AFL that there is talent available, why not come and help yourself. I love the NFL, as do many who support rugby, and I would love to see LR-Z make the grade, but Brown might just have a point. By the way, and I refer you back to me being a cynical toad, I see this as a PR stunt by the Kansas City Chief and I fear LR-Z will go the way of others who have tried, and found the path to glory is closed to those who have not come through the ranks as kids.

Interesting piece on one of the websites I trawl through, it states that the time has come for New Zealand to scrap their selection policy of only picking talent playing at home. The lure of Japan and France is too great to resist, especially when the NZRFU are having to make cuts to balance the books. If New Zealanders are saying that then surely Wales (and England) should scrap their policy. Get the best players available playing for their country, create a buzz, get the feel good factor back and the wider game will follow suit…….. hopefully!

Subject to a pitch inspection I believe there is a 3rd XV game at Steel Cross on Saturday. If you are not going to Cranbrook why not pop along and support the old codgers.

Don’t forget the European stuff this weekend, that is if you have access to TNT Sports.

I watched Brentford v Brighton last night, and except for one controversial moment it was pretty dire. However, and this is important, by comparison to rugby it wasn’t stop-start, it was free flowing with lots of ball in play time. Something to ponder.

I did smile when I went through the news yesterday when the new muppet leading the Scottish Parliament, Mr Yousaf Hamza, was named in more complaints to Police Scotland under the new hate speech laws than the others put together. Be careful what you wish for. The law is a crime against free speech. It is woke, Orwellian nonsense that ultimately will fail. The police simply do not have the resources to spend time on spurious, misguided complaints by activists from woke minority causes, especially as Scotland is a drug fuelled crime hotspot.

I read the anarchists at ASLEF are bringing the country to a standstill again. It is unacceptable and should be stopped. These are incredibly well paid people, with amazing pensions and benefits who are doing serious harm to people who are poorly paid and struggling with the continuing inflationary pressures of day to day living. They can bugger off to Russia or North Korea and drive trains over there.

Back on Sunday. The blood pressure should be ok by then!!!

Wednesday 3rd Apr: 07:40

Plenty of action ahead as you know. The European stuff will clearly grab the headlines but down at the grassroots end of the game there is plenty to play for. In Counties Kent 1 nothing has been confirmed yet but what is certain is the two Sussex clubs, us and Heathfield & Waldron, will play a part in what happens at the foot of the table. Thanet Wanderers can overtake Cranbrook to finish 11th if they beat Ashford by a decent margin and we put Cranbrook to the sword. Based on recent form neither of those are likely. I anticipate a Thanet win but Cranbrook will be a real challenge for us. A Cranbrook win and H&W beating Charlton Park would see them leapfrog into 10th with the distinct possibility of safety. Park have ‘come to life’ in their last two games. Can they maintain that form against 7th placed Heathfield. We won’t actually know the fate of any of the clubs at the bottom until next seasons fixtures are released however.

At the top we know Canterbury II will finish in first place even if they lose away Beccehamian. If they do lose and Beccs win, especially with a bonus point, then Beccs could find themselves in second and promotion. For that to happen Dartfordians are going to have to slip up at home and get nothing out of their game against Dover. Based on Dover’s away form that is unlikely, but never say never.

In Surrey/Sussex 1 all three Sussex clubs have difficult final games. Hove host runaway leaders, and newly promoted Teddington. East Grinstead travel to Twickenham, while Eastbourne are at Weybridge Vandals. Pessimistically I am working on three defeats meaning Eastbourne will take the Sussex bragging rights by finishing in a very creditable 6th spot.

The big game in Sussex 2 is Shoreham v Haywards Heath. Sorry Shoreham but I can only see one winner meaning promotion for Heath, which is richly deserved after they got themselves in a right state after being dispatched to the bottom of the league pyramid some seasons ago.

A couple of other notable battlegrounds can be found above us in the Regional leagues. In South Central 2 it is all about Chichester v Salisbury. Based on form this should be a win for Chichester which almost certainly will condemn Salisbury to relegation. Reading are bottom but would need a win against Newbury Blues to avoid finishing in that spot.

In South Central 1 can Horsham avoid finishing bottom. Sadly that is highly unlikely as they host newly promoted Havant. Bournemouth, above them on the same points, travel to Maidenhead. I don’t see anything other than a home win in that one. There is a slim chance that Tunbridge Wells could finish 3rd but they would need to win at Marlborough, which is a distinct possibility, with London Welsh losing at home to Hammersmith & Fulham, which is unlikely.

There is plenty of jeopardy across all the leagues, and for those who already know their fate the opportunity to celebrate in style, or at least go out with a bang. Full round-up as normal on Monday morning.

In other news Bath’s Johann van Graan has joined the debate about the laws of the game. His message is stop tinkering with them. I can wholeheartedly support his viewpoint in that the game is complicated enough as it is. However, I stand by my ongoing criticisms that the scrum is a shambles with a capital ‘F’, the offside law with regard to kicking out of hand is a mess, the TMO is becoming an interfering arse, and there are way too many substitutes. One thing I would say, despite my initial misgivings, the new tackle height at the grassroots has, in my opinion, improved the offering on show.

A towering presence in All Black rugby has decided to hang up his boots. The mighty Sam Whitelock will finish the season with Pau and then assign his boots to the rubbish bin. What a player, New Zealand’s most capped. What a servant to the game.

Gregor Townsend has been given a vote of confidence and will stay on as Scotland’s coach. Quite right too. When you consider that, outside of the South Africans at his disposal, Scotland have only two regional sides and a limited pool of talent below that to select from. He has done remarkably well on that basis.

The murmurings of discontent at Scarlets are now turning into howls of derision as their form continues to be abysmal. Scarlets coach Dwayne Peel is the focus of much attention, and much criticism. Could he find himself out of work soon. Who knows.

Saracens have signed England qualified New Zealander Fergus Burke from Crusaders as a fly-half replacement for the soon to be departing Owen Farrell.

Plenty in the news to get stuck into but rather than rant, wasn’t it good to see the King up and about over Easter. I now there are plenty of Republicans who berate the royal family but lets applaud him and the physicians for how he is on the mend following his cancer diagnosis.

Tuesday 2nd Apr: 08:25

Most papers lead with the news that Leicester Tigers have been fined for breaking the salary cap…. Again! Although the breach of regulations dates back to previous seasons, including 2019-20 it highlights the ongoing concerns that Premiership Rugby has no idea how to run itself. Its financial mismanagement is causing great hardship. When erstwhile reader and good friend Paddy O’Fez was a regular contributor he always challenged me on the witch hunt against Sarries and the salary cap debacle. He was not wrong. To varying degrees all clubs were at it, and you can rest assured they still are.

Hardship is no better explained than the latest release of club accounts. The 10 clubs combined made a loss of £25m with Saracens accounting for £5.3m and Bristol Bears £4.6m. Taking Exeter as an example, they employed 354 staff of which 156 were coaches and players. Do clubs really need that many players and coaches. On any given match day there are 23 players and say 5 coaches. What the heck are the other 128 people doing? Yes, I know this a VERY simplistic view but it is a question worth asking. The article also highlights the ongoing issue of clubs only surviving by being bankrolled by rich benefactors. It is easy to blame Covid, and to be fair the pandemic did have a major impact, but the clubs’ finances were up the proverbial creek without a paddle way before that.

Rob Baxter has gone off on one about the blazers continuing to tinker with the laws. He has berated them for trying to depower the game. He says the game needs more power, not less. I am usually a supporter of Baxter but this time he has his head firmly up his backside. The power in the game is getting unmanageable. 6’5” and 18st wingers and full-backs is killing the game. There is no guile, or sleight of hand anymore. It is enormous rhino charging into another enormous rhino with a bout of Greco-Roman wrestling ensuing on the floor. We need to depower the scrum, reduce the tedious rolling maul and get the ball moving across a back line where the players numbered 9 to 15 can think about how to elude the tackler and not worry about how to set up the next tedious maul. I exaggerate somewhat when you consider the contribution of Marcus Smith, Finn Russell and Finn Smith but they are in the minority. There is too much tinkering but if I could make one thing happen it would be to reduce the number of subs to three. I have said this over and over again. Seeing giants blowing out of their backside late on thus freeing up space for others to exploit would enhance the game no end.

As you know Europe returns this weekend and there are some cracking ties to watch out for. Harlequins v Glasgow kicks it off on Friday with the Scottish outfit being no pushover. On Saturday Exeter v Bath looks tasty, as does Leinster v Leicester. In the secondary cup Ospreys v Sale will be worth watching, but I doubt it is on TV!!! On Sunday Saints v Munster is a definite on my TV play list. Lots of involvement from the South African franchises. Be interesting to see how they stack up.

Don’t forget there is Super Rugby too.

The grassroots game is where my attention will be. Cranbrook away for us. We are destined to finish in 5th but for Cranbrook this game is crucial if they are to survive the drop. I’ll have a trawl through the other key fixtures in and around us tomorrow.

I’m on taxi duty to the airport shortly so I’ll wrap it up there.

Actually I can’t go without mentioning what I see as the appalling actions of Israel. The atrocities in Gaza go unabated and to make matters worse we now have them bombing the Iranian embassy in Syria. Israel and the Jewish state are quick to play the woe-is-me card but right now their actions are disgraceful. I’ll go as far as to say they are war crimes.

For those of you living in the Orwellian Peoples Republic of Alba you soon will be gagged and any form of free speech will be outlawed. Woe betide anyone who says anything nasty about a vegan, or refers to a man dressed in women’s clothes as a man.

Who is to blame? Well, based on article in The Times, social media. This drivel is social media but I have a high degree of sympathy with that argument. The rubbish that is put on social media that the young people today buy into with any thought or challenge is horrendous. Perhaps I should stop my pontificating?

If we treated others how we would like to be treated ourselves, generally with respect and common decency the world would be a better place.

Monday 1st Apr: 08:35

Good morning on this fine Easter Bank Holiday Monday. Whilst I wasn’t there I must start at Steel Cross and the Memorial Game. I understand it was a splendid day, brilliantly supported. Certainly the photos on the website substantiate that claim. As always Louise and Jacqui did an amazing job according to those who lunched, and the rest of the proceedings went incredibly well. Dylan Hartley was there and looking at the photo’s has presented us with another of his international jerseys. Nice one!

For me it was a family do in Bridgnorth. A nightmare journey on Friday which included the help of Green Flag. A busy day on Saturday in bustling Bridgnorth. An excellent Sunday lunch with the family before heading home yesterday afternoon. Thankfully the traffic was significantly lighter than the horrors of Friday. By the way the River Severn was on the verge of bursting its banks again with Bridgnorth’s pitch in the firing line.

I did get to watch some rugby. Dragons beating Zebre on Friday was a bonus. A pretty dire, error strewn game but for those who follow the Dragons (and Newport) it was a relief to get the win. On Saturday I watched a valiant Welsh effort against England but as expected the gulf in class was enormous. Well done Scotland for keeping France honest. Ireland came close to getting their first win ever in the Six Nations after a late fightback against Italy. This sounded a decent game. On Saturday evening I enjoyed Munster v Cardiff. This was a proper contest and to be fair Cardiff with a little bit of luck and better discipline should have / could have won this one.

Sadly I didn’t get to see Harlequins v Bath which I understand was a cracking game. Sale recovered some of their mojo yesterday with a crushing defeat of Exeter. The Premiership is wide open with only Gloucester and Newcastle out of the running for a play-off spot. Newcastle holding the Tigers to 13-19 was pretty encouraging.

This coming weekend, for most of the grassroots game, it is the final game of the league season. No matter what happens at Cranbrook on Saturday the boys from Steel Cross have had an amazing season. For the elite game it is the return of the European competitions. Plenty to play for across the board. A closer look at those this week.

Over lunch yesterday with my brother and brother-in-law we discussed the hopeless state of Welsh rugby, and it is hopeless. One of the questions was ‘if the Lions were flying out today which Welsh players would be on the plane?’. For me three at most. We were unanimous that Tommy Reffell would be there but not in any starting XV. Dafydd Jenkins would also be present and likely to lead the mid-week side. I threw in a wild card: Cam Winnett, but that was shot down by them. We were in agreement that the bulk of the squad would be from Ireland.

My other brother-in-law, the Chelsea fan, glazed over when were discussing the merits of Lions selection.

The RFU have had to make another grovelling apology about an officiating cock-up. Allowing Irne Herbst of Quins to return to the field after just 7 minutes of a 10 minute sin-bin period was wrong. The officials are only human and will make mistakes but they must be held accountable for their mistakes. That does not mean that the ever increasing problem of referee abuse is acceptable. It is totally unacceptable and we in the game must ensure that it is dealt with, and dealt with promptly and vigorously. Players, coaches and spectators all have a duty to respect the whistle blowers, especially as most are volunteers giving their time freely and enthusiastically.

The exodus continues. Kyle Sinckler and Lewis Ludlum are both off to Toulon at the end of the season.

Plenty in the paper about Louis Rees-Zammit. Fingers crossed that he makes it.

That’ll do for today except to say the world is going mad and spiralling towards unabated anarchy. The events in Haiti, lawless London, the streets of world’s great cities full of homeless, drug taking criminals are testament to that. Social media has a lot to answer for, as does woke nonsense which polarises opinion. Talking of woke, trigger warnings for films such as Mary Poppins and the original Willy Wonka are bonkers, especially when kids as young as 10 are able to play on violent video games such as Grand Theft auto without restriction. On that note, enjoy your day!!!

Thursday 28th Mar: 08:10

Money, money, money. Times are tough for many. Costs continue to rise at an alarming rate and people are having to cut their cloth accordingly. For rugby things are no different. However, there are some aspects of the problem that are of their own making. Player salaries, squad sizes, coaching teams have been allowed to grow whilst revenue has been diminished and costs increasing. A recipe for disaster. Then you have poor financial management and a reliance on benefactors. Wasps, Worcester, London Irish and Jersey Reds are all testament to that fact. Add in clubs like Leicester Tigers having to put out the begging bowl and you know things are not great. Then overarching all that is the governing bodies are all in a pretty awful state too. Both the RFU and WRU face significant challenges. The WRU made something like a £4.3m loss in the 22/23 season.

None of this new news. I have been bleating on about it for some time now. What is new news is the row that is developing as Premiership rugby clubs are now facing demands from the HMRC to pay back the first tranche of the Covid survival loans. The clubs are asking for deferrals as they cannot pay back the money as expected. Whoa there!! Clubs can’t pay back the money loaned to them but they can agree to increase the salary cap from £5m to £6.4m. Sorry but that loan is taxpayers money and needs to be paid back. Instead of Saracens for example paying Owen Farrell and Maro Itoje eye-watering salaries they need to honour their commitment to the government. Whilst the product on offer has improved professional, top flight rugby in the UK is a busted flush.

The word on the street is Louis Rees-Zammit is close to signing a deal with Kansas City Chiefs. This will be for the practice squad but nevertheless by comparison to what he was being paid at Gloucester this will be financially a good thing, and he keeps his dream of playing in the NFL alive.

The RFU backs the TMO after the TV controversy. Of course they do. There are times when referees, no matter how bad they have been, remain untouchable. I struggle with this. We need to respect and support referees, we all know how desperately short of them we are, but there must be a degree of accountability.

My pick of fixtures for the weekend are The Memorial match at Steel Cross, Saints v Sarries on Friday, Quins v Bath on Saturday, along with Scarlets v Glasgow. On Sunday a choice of two with Ireland v Italy in the Women’s Six Nations and Sale v Chiefs in the Premiership. If you have SKY and TNT there is a veritable cornucopia of rugby over the Easter weekend to delight you.

Leicester City are in action too. Can they regain top spot after a slump in league form. Bristol away and Norwich at home awaits.

The IPL is back. Hoorah! So during those days when it is persisting down and all your plans have gone out of the window then the cricket from India is great entertainment, otherwise it is reruns of Homes Under the Hammer!

Plenty in the news about the world and how it continues to spiral into anarchy as political correctness and woke policies driven by zealous minorities create more and more intolerance. The nutcases continue to scare the world as their fingers hover over the nuclear button. Lawlessness in our cities continues unabated as those morons running them continue to think milking drivers and chasing the unattainable green dream are far more important. Can someone tell me when this pathetic Government of ours is going to hang, draw and quarter (figure of speech of course) those who drove the Post Office scandal and get to grips with the shysters running key national infrastructures like the water and rail companies.

The grandkids will be here any second and I need to check my blood pressure.

In terms of this drivel I’ll do a quick blog from Bridgnorth on Easter Sunday with my increasingly arthritic fingers back on the keyboard in earnest on Easter Monday. Have a great Easter break and don’t forget the meaning of Easter, and it isn’t stuffing your face with overpriced Easter eggs.

Wednesday 27th Mar: 08:40

Before I get into the news and comment I said I would give a view on the possible ups and downs in London SE that might affect us next season.

In Regional 2 Central the only team that would have an impact on us would be Chichester and right now they are looking safe in 9th spot. In Regional 2 South East the teams at the bottom are London Cornish and Cobham. It is likely both of these would head into Surrey/Sussex 1. Gravesend are 10th so IF they find themselves being relegated then they would head to Kent 1.

Below us in Kent 2 Sevenoaks II and Park House are vying for top spot. Looking at the fixtures it is advantage ‘Oaks II. That said both could come up.

In Surrey 2 Old Rutlishians and Old HaIleyburians are in contention for top spot. I would suggest both would go up into Surrey/Sussex 1.

In Sussex 2 Haywards Heath are in the box seat but I would suggest they would want to go into Surrey/Sussex 1. If Shoreham spring a surprise they too would want to follow the same route. IF two clubs get promoted from this league and the second is Pulborough, they most definitely would want to go into Surrey/Sussex 1, or even Hampshire 1.

So on the face of it we will lose Dartfordians to promotion, and gain Sevenoaks II from below. If Park House are also promoted then we will lose Thanet Wanderers and either Cranbrook or Charlton Park. We travel to Cranbrook and The Greenies host Park. A lot to play for.

There has been talk of a separate Sussex 1. If that was to transpire definitely in would be us, The Greenies, Hove, Eastbourne, East Grinstead. Add in Haywards Heath, and think about persuading Bognor to to move from Hampshire 1 and that makes seven clubs. It is not enough to make a Sussex league viable at level 7. I therefore assume it is very unlikely to happen….. but what do I know.

I stress all this is conjecture. As Andy pointed out some weeks ago the Jersey Reds collapse will need to be filtered through the system.

England’s Sarah Beckett has been given a 3 match suspension for the red card she received in the game against Italy.

The referee’s Chiefs have apologised for the unfortunate incident in the Saracens v Quins game. It wasn’t unfortunate it was unacceptable.

One of Scotland’s South African contingent will retire at the end of the summer. WP Nel will hang up his boots, and with the coffers now full head back to South Africa.

French referee Mathieu Raynal is hanging up his boots after a splendid career. Good luck to him going forward.

The Blazers are planning on tinkering with the laws of the game again. Oh for heaven’s sake, isn’t the game complicated enough? Tighten up on this, turn a blind eye to that. NO! Apply the laws that already exist and get on with it.

Lots of great action over the Easter weekend. We have the grandchildren tomorrow but I will endeavour to do a quick blog. The Women’s Six Nations, the Premiership, the URC and Super Rugby are all there for your delectation. Don’t forget the jamboree at Steel Cross on Saturday.

How cruel is sport. Wales knocked out of the Euros thanks to a missed penalty. Poland go through after Wales put up a sterling performance during the 120 minutes of playing time. The support was amazing and the opening anthem spine tingling. The success of Wales on the international soccer stage is another issue Welsh rugby has to face.

Can’t wait for the recriminations after the Baltimore bridge disaster. ‘Should have gone to Specsavers’ springs to mind.

The UN have finally grown a pair and voted for a ceasefire in Gaza. Sorry, if this offends but Israel have gone way too far now, and when you see the images of starving children you know the Israeli quest is no longer about retribution, it is about something far worse.

Tuesday 26th Mar: 09:05

A couple of snippets and a parish notice to start. On Easter Saturday Crowborough RFC will be holding its annual memorial game. For a number of seasons, and a number of reasons this hasn’t happened. The game has been moved from its traditional Christmas slot to Easter which has proven to be a popular decision. Lunch is already fully booked and a veritable cornucopia of past and present players have made themselves available, including I understand Dylan Hartley. Sadly I won’t be there as I have a family commitment but I’m sure you can make it. The details are on the website.

Danny Care has announced his retirement from international rugby. What a glittering international career it has been too. He will still strut his stuff for Harlequins however which is good news for the The Stoop ‘faithful’.

Louis Rees-Zammit has piqued the interest of several NFL franchises and is now in active discussions with Super Bowl Champions Kansas City Chiefs. According to the press both Denver Broncos and New York Jets were impressed by his performance in the ‘pro-day’ at Florida State University. Being a boring, and pessimistic old duffer I looked at his stats, and whilst some, such as the sprint, were mighty impressive, he was off the pace when it came to other activities. I think it very unlikely he will get a full contract, but could get signed up to one of the practice squads. WalesOnline are keeping a close eye on developments.

The United Reform Church of rugby is following a predictable pattern, namely Leinster leading the way with the South African franchises winning at home, and the four Welsh regions all being in the bottom six in the table. The Premiership is wide open by comparison. Saturday’s results means that outside Newcastle, who are adrift, and Gloucester who are off the pace, the eight other sides are separated by only 12 points. Who said a ring-fenced league would be boring. Saints, Bath, Sarries and Chiefs lead the way but with five games and 25 points to play for all bets are off. Saracens performance against Harlequins was pretty stunning, as was Bath’s second half performance against Sale. Who says Gloucester can’t be the fly in the ointment. The elephant in the room is Newcastle. Will they decide they can no longer compete and will the power brokers finally relent and allow Ealing to join the party? I don’t know. Do you? Some cracking games ahead, including Saints v Sarries.

Going back to the Saracens v Harlequins game for a moment there is an investigation going on into an incident which appears to have been deliberately ignored by the TMO. During commentary Austin Healey made a real fuss about a late hit on Owen Farrell. Subsequently the TMO was heard on the broadcast saying he didn’t want to review it before being cut off from the live feed between him and the referee. TMO Stuart Terheege clearly only interested in his status and not the safety of the players he was put in place to protect. Me, me, me. Isn’t that the story of the world today. WalesOnline and the Fail carry the story.

The Women’s Six Nations continues this weekend with France beating Scotland, England beating Wales, and Ireland versus Italy too close to call.

The Six Nations fallout continues in Wales. As always everyone has an opinion and no-one has a solution. As I have said there are three key objectives. One is better funding of the regions and yes that will mean tough decisions for the grassroots game. Develop a better pathway for the young talent sitting on their arses in the regional academies by playing them in better organised Premiership. Finally make sure Wales qualified players are available by scrapping the 25 cap rule.

That’ll do for now as a) I have a stack of rugby stuff to catch up on b) I need to find a way of getting free money off the state because of my mental health and c) I must go and have a nice cup of coffee and a pain au chocolat.

Monday 25th Mar: 09:00

What’s what in the local leagues Bleater? In Counties Kent 1 we are in 5th after our excellent win over Thanet Wanderers. That is likely to be where we finish after Bromley earned both a losing and try bonus point against table topping Canterbury II. Dartfordians still have the whip hand in terms of promotion after their win at Deal & Betteshanger. Beccehamian kept up their charge beating Ashford but they do have Canterbury II in their final game, while Dartfordians host Dover. In the battle for survival, as stated yesterday, I think we have condemned Thanet to relegation. Charlton Park climbed into 10th after their narrow win over Cranbrook. Our next and final opponents did pick up the two bonus points which could prove crucial come the final shake down. In the other game in the league Heathfield & Waldron lost narrowly at Dover. Both are in the mid-table safety zone.

Over in Surrey/Sussex 1 it was Hove who took the spoils in the Sussex derby. Eastbourne 13 - Hove 15. East Grinstead had to endure the dreaded HWO with Old Cranleighans crying off. They have been down and out for some time. Congratulations to Teddington as they are promoted. They beat Weybridge Vandals on Saturday and travel to Hove after Easter. The three Sussex sides are safe (I think/hope) with Eastbourne in 6th, Hove 7th and Grinstead in 8th.

Moving West into Hampshire Bognor beat one of my old clubs Trojans 25-21. The result moves them into 9th. Alton have already dropped out of this league and Petersfield take the spoils at the top.

The race for promotion continues in Sussex 2. Haywards Heath remain top after beating bottom placed Crawley on Saturday but face a tricky away fixture against 2nd placed Shoreham after Easter. Shoreham moved into that 2nd spot thanks to their win at Worthing III. Brighton II beat Burgess Hill 81-5. In the other game Seaford beat Uckfield 23-17. Pulborough didn’t play and can now only finish 2nd. Shoreham have to beat HH with a bonus point and HH get nothing from the game for them to leapfrog into the promotion spot. Crawley could avoid the drop if they beat Seaford.

Up in Regional 2 not a great day for Chichester losing at Guildford. They look clear of the drop zone as both Salisbury and Reading lost. Chichester host Salisbury in their final league game. That could condemn Salisbury to relegation. Jersey RFC are promoted.

In Regional 1 have Horsham been given a lifeline? They beat Hammersmith & Fulham 39-21. They remain bottom but now on the same points as Bournemouth. Unfortunately Horsham host newly promoted Havant in their final game of the season. The boys from St Marks enjoyed another fine win, this time beating Bracknell. Brighton beat Maidenhead. TWells are in 4th but could finish 3rd, Brighton are in 7th but could end up in 6th. Two tricky away ties in the way however.

In the rarified National League 2 East Sevenoaks enjoyed an excellent win over high flying Dorking. TJs put Worthing in their place with a commanding 61-31 win. Still three games to go but currently Esher are top, North Walsham are relegated (I think), Sevenoaks are comfortable in 8th and TJs take the bragging rights in 4th. Whilst they can’t catch Esher, they could still finish 2nd, mathematically!

Ok, what other results were there? As you know our 2s enjoyed a fine win over Littlehampton. TWells cried off giving Hastings & Bexhill a valuable 5 points in Kent 3. Lewes beat Ditchling, Barns Green beat Horsham 2s, H&W 2s beat Holbrook, Hellingly beat Midhurst, St Francis beat Newick.

Here it is…. Bridgnorth beat Kenilworth 31-24.

The Women’s Six Nations kicked off with, as expected, wins for England and France. Wales losing to Scotland was not expected and another blow to the game in the Principality. With Welsh football riding high, Poland on Tuesday, rugby is doing itself no favours whatsoever.

Some cracking games in the Premiership with shock defeats for Leicester and Northampton, a stunning win for Saracens against Harlequins, and a fine win for Bath over Sale yesterday.

A more in-depth look at the big boys results tomorrow and possibly a look at what is happen above and below us in terms of who might find themselves in Counties Kent 1 next season.

Off to catch up on the news but a special mention for the Princess of Wales. Fingers crossed for a full and speedy recovery, and two fingers up to the keyboard trolls who should be truly ashamed of their publicity seeking antics. A very special mention too for the wonderful Mr Geering. It was great to see you back running touch on Saturday after your recent challenges.

The atrocity in Moscow is truly shocking. What is worse despite the US giving Russia the heads-up, which was ignored, and clearly identifying the perpetrators as members of ISIS, that nut job Putin has decided to blame Ukraine. That finger of his gets closer to the nuclear trigger by the day. Be afraid, very afraid.

Sunday 24th Mar: 08:35

The answer to the question: ‘where were you Thursday’ is quite simple. I was at the club with a group of fine, upstanding citizens of this parish marking pitches ahead of this weekend’s fixtures. If you were there yesterday you would have seen what a fine job, along with the Friday Club’s efforts on Friday, we made of it. Considering the weather over the last few months the pitches have held up brilliantly. Well done Drew and team.

Anyway, what a splendid day. I watched my grandson play football in the morning, then it was Steel Cross for an excellent lunch. Well done Jacqui and Louise. A superb advert for our great club. Then came the 1st XV game. Would we assign Thanet Wanderers to relegation or would this be the end of our long unbeaten run at Steel Cross.

The 44-17 result answers that question I think. To be fair the scoreline flatters us and does a disservice to Thanet. Yes, for long periods we were outstanding, but equally there were times in the game Thanet had us on the rack. Where we had a good helping of luck, they had little, or none.

It was Thanet that opened the score early on with a well deserved try, but through Connor Hands we were quick to nullify that. The Bard will bring you the blow by blow chronological report but I think it is fair to say we then went on to cross the line at regular intervals. Young San Eyres scoring a stunning long range effort starting almost on his own try line was certainly a highlight. As was Jonte Fraser, after a little bit of luck with a hack through, scoring another cracker by outpacing the forlorn Thanet fullback.

It wasn’t all perfect with Toby Bailey seeing a yellow card, and way too many first-up tackles missed (again!). There were plenty of basic handling mistakes, often when not under pressure. Thankfully these were more than offset by some scintillating attacking play, rock solid set piece with the lineout and scrum being a source of good ball, and when we got our defence spot on it was awesome. Of more importance this was a team effort with every player putting in a shift. I for one thought the old stager Richard Tasker had a tremendous game. Young Errol Munoz continues to impress, as does Joe Chapman, 10 stone dripping wet but the heart of a lion.

The two big downsides were seeing the inspirational captain Alex Purnell limping off with a knee injury, and the mighty Dave Bennett, yes he was again yesterday, going off with a hamstring injury. The latter meant the faithful could cheer the return to the fold of Josh Groocock. Grooers has spent several seasons playing with some aplomb at TJs but injury and other commitments meant a return to Crowborough made sense, and we are delighted to have him back, especially with a try on his return.

Credit, where credit is due Thanet stuck at it to the end and scored a try late on, and almost secured a bonus point but sadly they couldn’t cross the whitewash for a fourth.

It is fair to say we have struggled with player numbers for some time but yesterday we had a veritable cornucopia of talent to choose from as many of our Colts, now eligible to play in the senior setup, were available. From those who watched this one I understand we were excellent beating Littlehampton 32-17. Well done to all involved in that one, and the Friday Club for turning a swamp into a perfectly playable pitch.

Just one 1st XV game to go so what are the permutations. If we can beat Cranbrook with a try bonus point and Bromley get nothing out of their home fixture against Deal & Betteshanger we’ll finish 4th. To be honest, Cranbrook will be a really tough contest and therefore a win is in doubt let alone a bonus point. Plus I really can’t see anything other than a comfortable Bromley win.

At the bottom Thanet look doomed to the drop (because nothing is ever certain until it is certain). They are 5 points adrift but do have Ashford at home so winning their last game of the season is now their goal. Cranbrook are one point behind Charlton Park. If they can get something out of our game, and Park slip up at Heathfield & Waldron they could be in with a chance of survival. I say that but who knows what the organising committee will come up with and the vagaries of who gets promoted and relegated from the leagues around us.

That’ll do for now as I need to raise my blood pressure by reading about the bone idle who think it is ok to live off the state by claiming they have spurious mental health issues.

Wednesday 20th Mar: 09:35

Whilst the men’s Six Nations is over the Women’s version kicks off on Saturday. There is nowhere near the same attention given to this tournament but usually there are some epic encounters making them worth watching. Unfortunately both England and France remain streets ahead of the other two nations so my pick of Round 1 is Wales v Scotland late on Saturday afternoon.

As stated yesterday plenty of action at Steel Cross on Saturday. Kick off at 15:00 so why not pop along and give the boys your support in the final home game of the season.

The Premiership and URC return with a full schedule of games. Two crackers on Friday with Bristol v Northampton and Leicester v Gloucester in the Premiership. In the URC Glasgow host Cardiff with Ospreys hosting Munster. Across the entire weekend it will be interesting to see which of the players who featured in the Six Nations are rested and which are thrown straight back into action. The Torygraph carries piece about the minutes played thus far of certain players and how they are already close to breaching the maximum amount of minutes to be played, and that with a significant part of the season still to go.

The Six Nations fallout continues with the Italians sniping at the WRU’s hospitality, or lack of it, which has already been strongly refuted. Plenty vilifying Warren Gatland for offering his resignation so soon after the game, plenty saying it should have been accepted. Sam Warburton has had a pop at Scotland saying they simply aren’t good enough to win the tournament. He’s not wrong but come on Sam, Wales are shite with no prospect of improvement anywhere on the horizon. Manu Tuilagi bows out of the tournament after a brief cameo, but also bows out of international rugby altogether as a move to Bayonne has been confirmed. Ben Earl has been suggested as the player of the tournament. No argument from me on that score. A shout out for two Welsh players though. Cam Winnett has been a revelation and Tommy Reffell has, in the face of adversity, stood up to the test admirably.

Plenty across the media about the ‘tinker-men’, aka World Rugby, looking to tweak the laws of the game again. In truth I have no problem with that as high on the agenda is the tackle height, the role of the TMO, the number of subs, speeding up the game, and the incessant appearance of water carriers. Please don’t forget the scrum.

One thing being seriously considered is an extension of the 20 minute red card. Here I am torn. I can see from a spectacle and contest point of view you want to see 15 v 15. However, serious foul play is something the game can do without. Rugby is already negatively in the spotlight so I see this move as a thugs charter. Plenty will argue that too many teams have gone down to 14 because a player has seen two yellow cards for technical offences. Here I shoot myself in the foot because in that case the 20 minute rule makes a lot of sense. What the game doesn’t need is more complication so either it stays as it is, or the game embraces change and adopts the 20 minute rule. As an outlier when a player is ‘ejected’ from the game in NFL he can take no further part in the game. He can be replaced.

Moving on, this is a massive week for Louis Rees-Zammit. He has been in a NFL training camp for the last two months, and according to the press has impressed. This week is make or break with all the NFL hopefuls congregating at the University of Florida where they will showcase their skills in front of the scouts from all the NFL franchises. Good luck to him. If he makes the cut, brilliant. If he doesn’t, then in the words of Lord Kitchener ‘Your Country Needs You’.

The 2025 Lions tour schedule has been confirmed. It is almost identical to the 2013 tour which Mrs Bleater and I went on and that was fantastic. Two changes: the warm up fixture will be in Dublin (we have expressed an interest in that), and instead of playing a counties side in Newcastle (North of Sydney) they will play a combined Aus/NZ side in Adelaide. For the record Adelaide is a brilliant place to visit. The tour won’t be cheap but if you have ever been on a Lions tour you will know what an amazing experience it is.

That’ll do for now, but before I go can someone please tell me what this obsession with the Princess of Wales is. Give the woman a break. She is a mother of three young kids and is recovering from serious surgery. This media shit storm around her is pathetic. Why can’t the media focus on the horrors in Gaza, in Ukraine, in Haiti and now in Sudan. What about the unrelenting crime in our capital? Why aren’t the media digging deeper into the immigration crisis and asking why so many want to come to the UK. (We are soft touch that is why!!!).

Fingers crossed for two days of dry weather. I might just be able to get the lawnmower out!!

Tuesday 19th Mar: 09:45

Just a short missive this morning, busy, busy, busy. First up congratulations to our Colts who have now finished their season. A very successful season it has been too. You can read about their exploits on the website. Whilst a number of them will be heading to University, we wish them well, a number will be staying and looking forward to senior rugby at Steel Cross next season. In fact, a number will be playing next weekend as they are eligible to do so. The point of bringing this to your attention is to again highlight how well we grow our own talent, unlike some! On Saturday against Beccs 14 of the 18 man squad had played some part in mini and/or junior rugby at Steel Cross. The other four had moved to Crowborough and liking what they saw committed themselves to us wholeheartedly.

Looking ahead, whilst much work needs to be done thanks to the continuing wet weather, we hope to have two senior games at home on Saturday. The 1st XV host Thanet Wanderers which is always a tough, but enjoyable contest. They are nice bunch too.

Whilst the fortunes of England and English rugby will be a priority to you the shambles that is Welsh rugby cannot be ignored. Why? Simply because English rugby is only marginally in a better state and lessons might be learnt. The game in Wales is haemorrhaging players, and as consequence, clubs at the grassroots level. There are calls for more money to be poured into the grassroots game. Whilst that argument makes some sense Sam Warburton disagrees. He argues that until you get the top of the game sorted, the international side, the regions and the Premiership, the game lacks any sort of appeal, and therefore throwing money at an unappealing game makes no sense. I think he has a point. The structure of the game has to be sorted with success being delivered by Wales, and the regions, a priority. Right now neither of those are happening, in no short measure because of underfunding. Millions and millions have been thrown at the English side and success has not been forthcoming so money is not the only answer. There has to be a symbiotic relationship with club and country that works in harmony and not in conflict. At the moment in Wales, and to a degree in England, that is not the case. So, in essence Warburton is right. If money is in short supply, which it is, don’t ignore the grassroots game but invest where you will get the biggest return, and that is where the profile is the highest, and that is the pinnacle of the game.

Now, none of this matters if the game itself is crap. Bizarrely at the grassroots people like me, and The Bard and the Crowborough faithful get treated to some excellent rugby. At the top however, as witnessed in the Six Nations and the Premiership some of the offering for the viewing public is dire. Slow, stop-start, unexciting, pedantic, boring, kick chase etc, etc. Improvements have to be made to the quality of the game on offer.

I like my football, always have done, and watch it when I can. Picking two recent games: West Ham v Freiburg, and Manchester United v Liverpool, and comparing them with the Six Nations it is no contest. The soccer is so much more exciting and easier to understand. If we are to win back the hearts and minds of players and spectators rugby union has got to improve. Rugby League has a brilliant offering and for die-hard Union fans like me to be saying stuff like this should set alarm bells ringing.

Right, that’ll do for now except to say how the country has become a hypocritical cesspit. As the Russian elections get vilified, and Putin depicted as a demented despot isn’t it ironic that free speech is quietly but effectively being shut down by our politicians and institutions. Woe betide anyone who says anything about gender, or race that might upset a few zealots. If we are to stand up to the genuinely terrifying spectre of a nut job like Putin with his finger hovering over the nuclear button we ourselves cannot be undermining democracy and freedom of speech and other freedoms as we are now.

Monday 18th Feb: 09:45

Being a creature of habit I suppose I better get stuck into the latest results around the parish. In Kent 1, after our 27-21 defeat at the hands of Beccehamian, we sit 5th in the table, they remain in 3rd just a couple of points behind Dartfordians who drew 27-27 with Bromley who are 4th. Canterbury II remain top after beating Ashford. Our good friends The Greenies beat Deal & Betteshanger 15-10. In the battle for survival both Cranbrook and Charlton Park did themselves no harm at all by beating Dover and Thanet Wanderers respectively. Thanet now sit at the foot of the table with Park and Cranbrook just above them. We could have a significant impact on the outcome of who goes down and who stays up with Thanet and Cranbrook being our final two games of the season.

In Surrey/Sussex 1 a mixed day for the Sussex sides. Hove put Old Walcountians in their place winning 53-3. Eastbourne battled valiantly against table topping Teddington losing 43-53. East Grinstead lost 71-26 to Weybridge Vandals. Old Cranleighans are down as they again failed to fulfil a fixture. Eastbourne are 6th, Hove now 7th and Grinstead 8th.

Over in Hampshire 1 not a great day for Bognor who lost 30-0 to Gosport & Fareham. Petersfield top this one despite not playing as bottom placed Bournemouth II pulled out. Sadly Bognor are just one place above in 11th.

In Sussex 2 Uckfield lost at home to league leaders Haywards Heath 27-15. Pulborough stay hot on their heels after their win over Seaford. Crawley lost to Worthing III and sit at the foot of the table. In the other game Shoreham beat Brighton II. It’s advantage Heath in the chase for promotion. In the battle to stay up it is between Burgess Hill and Crawley. Two tough fixtures ahead for both.

Up in the Regional set up it was a good day for Chichester beating Tottonians 18-12. They move up into 9th and look safe. Salisbury are far from safe after losing at Wimborne. They lie in 11th with two tough fixture to come. Jersey RFC are strolling this league. In Regional 1 it was a horrid day for Horsham losing at Marlborough 43-10. They slip to the bottom of the league. Brighton lost at CS Stags and Tunbridge Wells were beaten 67-26 at Maidenhead. Havant continue to lead the charge but Camberley are hot on their heels.

Up in the rarified atmosphere of the National Leagues a good day for Worthing beating Sevenoaks 40-28. TJs continue their fine season with a 36-21 win at Wimbledon. It’s tight at the top with Esher just in front but plenty of games to come. TJs are 4th but out of the promotion race, in my opinion. ‘Oaks are looking comfortable in 9th but Worthing still have a bit to do to make sure they stay up, but are looking increasingly secure.

Elsewhere Hastings & Bexhill lost to Sittingbourne, Rye beat Dover 2s, Barnes Green beat Eastbourne 2s, Ditching won at Hove 3s, Lewes won over at Jersey Royals, Steyning beat Horsham 2s, Holbrook beat Hellingly, Littlehampton lost to EG 2s, and finally St Leonards beat Eastbourne 3s.

Not quite finally as Bridgnorth lost at Stoke-on-Trent.

Plenty in the papers about the Six Nations. Ireland were deserved winners but as in the World Cup failed to meet expectations by not winning the Grand Slam. They will on currently form supply the bulk of The Lions next summer. Scotland, the perennial under achievers. Scraping a win against a woeful Wales, being robbed aga