Are we finally putting all that rain behind us and heading into summer. This morning has dawned dry and bright at least, and Mrs Bleater’s potatoes are showing sign of vigorous growth already.

No sooner had I got back from the sheep-shearers after my haircut my inbox started to ping with incoming messages: ‘here’s a link to the Torygraph’, ‘you should read this’, ‘this is worth reading’. Well thanks to my good friend Barry I have access to the Torygraph and yes the headline ‘Stacks of cash under the bed and £6000 transfer fees: Community rugby’s “Wild West”’ struck a cord. Thanks Andy and PK by the way, you were very quick off the mark with this. The article starts with the promotion of Teddington from Counties 1 Surrey/Sussex and how many fingers are pointing in their direction and accusing them of paying players, hence their success. Now, I don’t know if Teddington are paying players or not. What I do know is it goes on and it is very unhealthy for the game. I have bleated on about this over and over. In many respects the article contains old news as it rakes over the East Grinstead debacle for instance. There are several aspects to the story but in my mind it highlights a couple of key issues. Clubs at our level should not be paying players but they do. They do it for a range of reasons but they do it in the full knowledge that any sanctions from the Blazers at the RFU are next to meaningless. Where clubs are entitled to pay players under the regulations all too often they lure players into their clutches with promises of cash for playing but fail to tell them most of the time you’ll be languishing in the 2nd or 3rd XV where you won’t get paid. As we have seen at a club close to us who in the past have secured the services of ‘our’ players it is divisive. Long standing clubmen who have been at the club supporting through thick and thin find themselves surplus to requirements as a band of mercenaries arrive. These stalwarts get disillusioned and leave, not to go to another club but leave the game. That is a travesty. Sadly, it isn’t going to go away, in fact it will get worse. The days of the brown envelope stuck in the boots are back I’m afraid. If you can access the Torygraph, it is well worth a read.

Before I move on I recall a story from the days when we were in the running to have an AGP. Several of our senior club members travelled to a club I pass regularly en route to my mums. Their new AGP had just been opened and they went to look at ‘what’s what’. This was a club in the National leagues. Excellent game apparently. What struck them was post match no inter-club banter. The home players were more interested in getting their money, and most disappeared almost immediately post match. A sad state of affairs. As it happened the club had a blip with their finances and guess what? Shortly after they were relegated into Midlands 1 (level 5).

I like the headline ‘Welsh sheriff holsters his gun’. Yes, Ken Owens, nickname ‘Sheriff’, has finally realised his long battle with back problems is not going to be won so has retired from the game at the age of 37. You can read his CV for yourself but it is mighty impressive. A great servant to Welsh rugby, and the game at large.

The problems for Ken won’t go away after retirement, and that brings into sharp focus the article in the Daily Fail about Steve Thompson and his battle with early onset dementia. He accuses the game of flogging players until they fall apart. What is happening to Steve and Alix Popham and others is terrible. It must be remembered however this is before the science was where it is at now, and during a period where professionalism had just kicked in and players could see a living if they made it at the top of the game. Sorry to be frank, but you can’t have it both ways.

Sir Knowitall in the same paper, I won’t call it a newspaper, has gone off on one again saying the Six Nations needs jeopardy and therefore relegation and promotion. Even though Wales are bottom of the pile I can see sense in his argument. However, I wonder if he would be quite so vociferous if England were at the foot of the table.

As I said earlier in the week plenty of action to get stuck into this weekend, including Crowborough v Horsham 2s at Worthing RFC in the Bob Roger Cup Final. The A27 has been plagued by road closures on the Shoreham bypass of late but the marvellous Mr Geering assures me there are no such plans for this coming Saturday. See you there.

You’d be excused for thinking the world is NOT on the edge of an apocalypse when you read the papers. No headlines about the ongoing atrocities in Ukraine, or the threats of annihilation in the Middle East. What have we got? Well, we have the whiny remainers going on about how bad Brexit has been, we have Angela Rayner, tax dodger extraordinaire, we have MPs voting to continue to allow people to die from smoking and vaping, and of course Sadiq Khan being profligate with your taxes on vanity projects whilst crime on the streets of London goes unfettered.

Oh, and by the way, did you read about the bone idle who think it is acceptable to get £1300 a month in benefits, have their housing paid, and therefore don’t have to get a job. This country needs to wake up and smell the coffee. We cannot continue to allow this attitude to pervade society and we certainly cannot continue to be making illegal migrants welcome at the expense of funding social care and other home based priorities.

Wednesday 17th Apr: 10:10

Very little in the papers today with regard to rugby. Bath fans will be wringing their hands with plenty of ‘woe is us’ being muttered around the Rec. Yes the news has broken that Finn Russell and Cameron Redpath have sustained serious injuries and could be out for some time. Both have been instrumental in Bath’s success this season. A big blow.

Robert Kitson has again hit the nail on the head with his recent article that our game is stuck between a rock and hard place. There is an ongoing need to improve player welfare, especially with regard to head trauma. In order to do this the game has to change, the new tackle law at grassroots level is testament to that. The dilemma is the more you try and protect the players the less appealing the game becomes. It is a dynamic, collision sport that (at grassroots level at least) appeals to players of all shapes and sizes. There is a need to reduce the collisions, and the force of the collisions. One way to do that is to reduce the number of subs and that is an easy fix. The rest of it is much harder to do. It is a really fascinating read, as are all of Kitson’s pieces, so I recommend you go onto the interweb thingy and search The Guardian for it.

I see the success of Quins and Saints will not be rewarded with extra prize money from EPCR. The prize fund goes to the leagues and is distributed that way. Each of the three leagues then have responsibility for sharing the wealth. This makes a degree of sense otherwise the rich get rich and we end up with the equivalent of Man City dominating each and every season. On the other hand both the English clubs in the semi-finals face significant costs as a consequence. The Daily Fail for this.

Ok, that’ll do. Lots to do and so little time to do it in.

Tuesday 16th April: 08:00

Not a huge amount in the press about rugby. Plenty about football as the season heads to its climax. A couple of things have caught the eye however. The blazers at EPCR are desperately closing the stable door after the horse has bolted. In essence they are urgently looking to change the schedule for next season so we don’t see the fiasco that surrounded the Bulls travel plans raising its ugly head again. Good luck with that as the rugby season at the top of our game is disjointed enough as it is. Apparently they are also looking to shoehorn in sides from other nations such as Spain and Portugal.

The second article that caught my attention is by the excellent Robert Kitson in The Guardian. He states that the proposed World Club Championship every four years ticks a lot of boxes, especially if a lucrative TV deal can be done around it. He asks however, what about the players and their welfare. It is all well and good looking at the financial implications but in order for it to be a true spectacle you need the best players playing against the best players. The Saints v Bulls debacle highlights that issue. In essence he goes on to say that the top players at the top clubs will have come off the back of a World Cup, an arduous club season, the Six Nations and Super Rugby, plus the qualification criteria to get into this tournament and now have to go into battle with the best of the best. He hasn’t used the word but I will, that is ‘brutal’. To be fair he does go on to highlight all the advantages, which in both the southern and northern hemispheres will help shore up the ailing finances of the leading clubs around the globe (outside France and Japan).

Don’t be fooled by the situation in France and Japan. The clubs there are not super efficient and run like the most lucrative businesses. They too are propped up by either companies, or town councils or by the largesse of a benefactor.

The proposed Women’s Lions team has received a £3m injection to improve the coaching outside of England. The intention is to reduce the onus on England and spread the love across the other nations by the time it comes to Lions selection. I think the Women’s Lions concept is a crazy idea right now with the game in England so dominant. If the tour was tomorrow it would be an England tour masquerading as a Lions tour. By the way money is not necessarily the answer. Wales have pumped money into the game and look what that has achieved. Naff all.

The domestic league returns next weekend. In the United Reform Church of Rugby Ulster v Cardiff might be worth watching on Friday evening. Three good games in the Premiership on Saturday including the wounded Exeter v Bath.

The Six Nations continues with England beating Ireland on Saturday and Wales losing to France on Sunday. Italy should beat Scotland but this is probably the best of the games.

If you are planning to go to Worthing on Saturday then plan your journey carefully as the A27 at Shoreham is closed. The A272 and A24 are your best bets. If you leave on Friday you might make it for kick off!!!!!

Just spotted that Jordie Barrett is joining Leinster on a short term deal. That is something.

War continues to rage on in Ukraine with the biggest of all crooks Vladimir Putin using it to hide the disastrous state of his country. I’ve just finished reading two books about the depth of corruption in Russia and how it all stems from the very top. I remember my days in Moscow fondly, and the people I worked with and met. They were fine people. Right now those fine people are having their taxes stolen by Putin and the ruthless oligarchs running, or should I say ruining the country.

Then you have the tinder box that is the Middle East. I fear that Netanyahu is going to attack Iran with significant force, sufficient to push the ayatollahs into a reaction that will trigger a global expansion of the conflict. Covid will seem like a minor scratch if that kicks off. There is no easy solution but in my simple mind I cannot see why there isn’t a Palestinian state officially recognised around the world.

Monday 15th Apr: 09:45

The bulk of the league season at grassroots level is over but there are still some games to report on. In the rarified National League 2 East it was a bad day for all three of the clubs I keep an eye on. TJs lost 36-43 to 2nd placed Barnes. Sevenoaks went down at home 24-0 to Westcombe Park. Worthing, if my maths are correct, are still in danger of relegation after losing to Wimbledon 55-32. Esher are top and promoted, a game in hand and can’t be caught. North Walsham went a long time ago but who goes down with them. At the moment Wimbledon are in the drop zone but just three points behind Worthing. It is advantage Worthing however as Wimbledon travel to 3rd placed Dorking while Worthing host North Walsham on April 27th.

A few things were decided around Sussex on the weekend. In Sussex 3 Lewes beat Horsham 2s to secure top spot and promotion in Sussex 2. After a few very difficult seasons that is a great result. In Sussex 4 Midhurst beat Newick and top their table. In the East version East Grinstead 2s win that one.

Plenty of cup action too. As you know we beat Pulborough 24-10 and play Horsham 2s next weekend at Worthing in the Bob Rogers Cup. In the other tournaments our 2s lost 29-24 to St Francis who progress to play Rye. Worthing III beat Shoreham and now host Crawley in the Senior Shield. That is the game before ours by the way. Eight different finals spread across Worthing RFC, Seaford RFC and Uckfield RFC.

In the various slices of pizza cups Brighton cried off against CS Stags, East Grinstead won at Dover (wow!), The Greenies won at Hove, Haywards Heath lost at home to Old HaIleyburians, Uckfield progressed thanks to a HWO, but Burgess Hill cried off against Warlingham, and finally, H&B RFC lost to Worth Old Boys.

Plenty of cup action next weekend as I’ve said. I’ll bring you the full list of ties during the week.

I think it is fair to say Exeter Chiefs were well and truly put in their place yesterday by Toulouse. Whilst early on, after several bits of good fortune, they stayed in touch. Once Toulouse got into their stride it was men against boys however. The Dupont / Ntmack axis was superb. Nine tries to two speaks volumes. Harlequins up next in May. Never say never but I think Quins shouldn’t get their hopes up for a trip to White Hart Lane at the end of May.

Oh, and if there was ever a case for scrapping England’s selection policy you only need to watch Jack Willis’s contribution to the French outfit.

In the secondary tournament Gloucester, Sharks, Benetton and Claremont Auvergne progress to the semi-finals.

As expected France beat Italy in the Six Nations. It is great to have a Women’s Six Nations but England, and to a lesser degree France, are so far ahead of the others it lacks excitement. Maggie Alphonsi is right, we need closer games.

Not a great deal of other rugby news to bring you I’m afraid. Louis Rees-Zammit starts ‘work’ at Kansas City Chiefs if you are interested. That’s about it.

The delights, or otherwise, of supporting Leicester City were highlighted perfectly with a 1-0 defeat at lowly Plymouth Argyle.

Scottie Scheffler wins the Masters but who cares when Iran are firing hundreds of drones and missiles at Israel. I will not condone Isreal’s recent appalling actions in Gaza but to be attacked by Iran, albeit it has been coming for some time, is outrageous. The big fear is this escalating out of control. At the moment voices of reason are winning the argument but when you have the fanatical Ayatollahs on one side and the the sabre rattling Netanyahu on the other you know it is going to be a hairy ride.

Ok, that’ll do for now. I’m at the club for a few hours tomorrow so if the blog is missing you know I’ve had a lie in beforehand.

Sunday 14th April: 08:55

Before I get into yesterday’s game over at Pulborough a couple of announcements.

The details of Bryan Kain’s funeral are now on the website. If not on the front page go to the ‘news’ section.

Today is the annual Crowborough mini festival. This time last week this was teetering on the edge of cancellation due to the horrendous weather and the state of the grounds. Two things happened to turn that around. One, the good fortune of a sustained spell of dry weather, and two, the amazing contribution of our Head Groundsman and the fantastic Friday Club. Two days of tireless work ‘et voila’ every mini pitch marked and flagged and ready to go. For grumpy old farts they do an outstanding job.

So to the Bob Roger’s Cup semi-final over at Pulborough. The Bard and I plus our senior managers stopped off at The Crown for lunch ahead of this one. The service was dire but the food was excellent.

The sizeable contingent of the travelling faithful saw a patched up CRFC get off to a strong start. Lots of possession and territory and eventually we broke down the stubborn home defence with a well worked try.

Pulborough showed why they had been in the Sussex 2 promotion hunt for most of the season putting us under pressure. We weathered the storm and soon stretched the lead out to 12-0. That was short lived as the hosts, now down to 14 men with one man on the naughty step for 10 minutes, turned up the heat. The ball was quickly moved between forwards and backs and the fleet foot centres and lively full-back exploited our lax tackling. Before you knew it the lead had been reduced to two points.

Immediately after the break we extended the lead with a well taken try finished off by young Josh Jarvis. He looks quite a prospect. Pulborough weren’t going to lie down and continued to put us under pressure with some attractive rugby. This injury ravaged Crowborough outfit kept the black & white marauding horde at bay using the street-smarts learnt during a gruelling Counties Kent 1 season. The game was effectively put to bed with a splendid Harry Marchesi try and Jonte Fraser conversion which extended the lead out to 24-10.

As the clock ticked down the game was cut short by a couple of minutes with a serious looking injury to one of the Pulborough centres. It was a sad end to a compelling game.

Crowborough now have to find 18 players who are still upright and able to play in the final which will be at Worthing RFC, kick off 15:00 (TBC).

I understand our seconds lost by 4 points in the last few minutes. More on that tomorrow.

Once home it was time for Leinster v La Rochelle. What a performance from the Irish national side. They put the French side firmly back in their box. 40-13, and that doesn’t really do justice to the Irish dominance.

Next up was Northampton Saints v Blue Bulls. There was much talk in the media about Jake White’s selection but in the first half at least you wouldn’t have known this was pretty much a second string side. The second half was a different story however with Saints putting the Bulls back in their corral on the high veldt. This was a consummate performance from the Saints which augurs well for when they travel to Dublin to take on Ireland at Croke Park. Now that will be an occasion.

Before moving on, White’s selection begs the question, why are the South African franchises in the URC and therefore in the European Cups. The costs alone make it a nonsense. One of the beauties of the European tournaments has been the travelling fans. The Munster hordes at Franklin Gardens last week made for a great atmosphere. The absence of travelling fans when the South Africans are in town, except maybe a few who have ventured up from Earls Court, made for a bland experience. Then, if coaches like White are going to pay lip-service to the tournament why are they there in the first place.

Congratulations to England for another easy win over Scotland in the Six Nations. Well done to Ireland sending Wales to the foot of the table. This is embarrassing after the amount of money recently invested into the Welsh set up with extra coaches and full-time contracts for players.

France v Italy this afternoon but Toulouse v Exeter is my must not miss game. Toulouse will win, BUT I said Quins wouldn’t beat Bordeaux-Begles. What a result, and from what I’ve heard what a game.

Must go, Spanish up next, then more rugby stuff, and that grass isn’t going to cut itself.

Friday 12th April: 12:40

The Bob Rogers Cup game v Pulborough is ON!

Kick Off 14:30

See you there.

Thursday 11th April: 08:00

As far as Crowborough is concerned things are up in the air at the moment. Our injury list is long and varied. I will know more about the scheduled Bob Rogers Cup semi-final over at Pulborough tomorrow. The final is set for Worthing a week later. I will definitely put something on the blog once I know what is happening. Please check back tomorrow afternoon.

What is definitely happening is Gloucester v Ospreys in the Challenge Cup quarter-final, kick off 20:00. Both clubs, despite languishing towards the bottom of their respective leagues, have found some form of late. This is my viewing for Friday evening.

On Saturday we find the Women’s Six Nations. Scotland v England will be an England win, no matter how well Scotland have performed of late. Ireland v Wales on the other hand should be close, and hopefully a thoroughly enjoyable contest. Both will be on a BBC platform somewhere.

Three cracking games in the Champions Cup starting with Bordeaux-Begles v Quins, home win, followed by Leinster v La Rochelle, away win, then bringing up the rear Saints v Bulls, to close to call, but it should be a cracker.

Sunday looks tasty with the battle of the anthems. Yes, France v Italy in the Six Nations. That could be a close game. Toulouse v Exeter is my choice of viewing however. I’m not sure Exeter have anything like the firepower to hold back the Toulouse tide. What’s the betting by Sunday evening three French sides are in the semi-finals. French sides packed with overseas talent improving their game.

Yet more in the papers about the RFUs reluctance to consider changing their selection policy. You know my view so lets move on.

Not a great deal of other stuff in the rugby pages.

Thank heavens for Gloucester v Ospreys!! My other option is to watch Leicester City losing at Plymouth Argylle. The Mighty Foxes have got themselves in a right pickle but having supported them from the age of 7 you expect nothing less.

No F1 Grand Prix this weekend so if you are struggling to sleep you’ll need to find some other way of getting to drift off in front of the TV. Yes the F1 is becoming a turgid procession with Max Verstappen leading the way from start to finish.

If you like your cricket then the IPL is all action.

In other news Angela Rayner, the darling of the left, is showing her true qualities as a member of the Global Society of Hypocrites (GobShites) by steadfastly refusing to publish her tax affairs whilst demanding those on the other side of the political divide do so.

Then we have Sadiq Khan. Oh how brilliant it must have been for all those Londoners plagued by LTNs and the ULEZ charge to read that since Khan forced through these money making scams traffic congestion and pollution has increased in many areas of the capital.

Before I go, as there is Thursday Club beckoning, I find it increasingly frustrating that our politicians and the media are obsessed with pathetic politically correct and woke issues rather than focussing on the terrifying prospect of the Middle East conflict escalating. Iran and Syria are threatening to attack Israel, and I for one don’t think these are idle threats.

It would be good to know why we, the British tax payer, continue to send money to countries like China and India when they are wasting money with space exploration for example. Surely our care system would be better served if we put the money there.

The Club’s famed mini festival is Sunday so those pitches are not going to mark themselves hence Thursday Club!!!

Wednesday 10th April: 09:30

Bill Sweeney has come in for a lot of flak since he was appointed, some of it was merited, some of it was outrageously unfair. I think, on balance, whilst the RFU have managed some things badly, he has done ok, especially during the Covid era. At an event marking 500 days until the Women’s World Cup he doubled down on England’s policy of only picking players playing at home. Wrong!!! In today’s modern environment it is a misguided and deluded position to take. You know my feelings about Sir Knowitall but writing in the Daily Fail he has said much the same thing.

Wales continue to shoot themselves in the foot over their outdated and misguided policy. I had a mate round the other night and he asked me about the state of Welsh rugby. I tried to explain to him the 25 cap rule, the eligibility rules and Wales limited pool of players. He is not a rugby man so I tried to walk him through it step by step. As he sat there, alongside our mutual friend Mal Bec, the more I tried, the more I realised what a complete shambles the rules are. It is impossible to justify with the finances in Welsh rugby as they are. It was difficult to justify how foreigners who have only come to the UK to play rugby and make money become eligible to play internationally for a country they otherwise have no link to. It was impossible to justify when the WRU are unable to fund the four regions properly.

The light also came on about how bloody ridiculous it is when you consider Wales best players during the Six Nations were (arguably) Dafydd Jenkins, Tommy Reffell, Will Rowlands, Nick Tompkins, and Dylan Lewis. Where do they all play? Yes, in England. Someone will at sometime wake up and smell the coffee and change things for the better.

The Blue Bulls coach Jake White has had a good old rant at the travel chaos his club is enduring thanks to being successful in the URC and Champions Cup. Being the arrogant piece of work I am I always said having the South African franchises in the URC and Europe would be a logistical nightmare and a massive drain on costs. The SA Union has had to stump something like £175,000 in order for the Blues to get to Northampton this morning. Lots of different flights, with varying complexity of routes. Hey Ho! If the Blues win then I guess the prize and TV money will offset some of the costs.

The RFU are throwing a lot more money at the grassroots women’s game. £12m to be precise. With the World Cup on the horizon it makes sense and with 42,000 tickets already sold for the Six Nations game against Ireland there is clearly growing interest. Out of interest I have watched a women’s game at grassroots just recently, and quite honestly it is not a bad product at all. It is not as skilful as the men’s game but this one was very entertaining. Lots of ball in play, good handling and plenty of tries.

I can’t recall if I mentioned the discussion with my brother and brother-in-law about women’s sport. If I did then I might be repeating myself. If I didn’t then here is new news. In essence we were talking about how women’s hands are smaller than men’s. Women’s cricket benefits from a smaller ball allowing a more varied bowling attack. Well, there are discussions about making the rugby ball smaller, albeit marginally, for the women’s game. I for one think there is merit in giving it a go. I know I’m comparing apples with pizza but the old codgers at walking rugby use an even smaller ball and in my opinion it helps the game flow.

The Ospreys are having a resurgence and head into their Challenge Cup game with Gloucester on Friday evening with confidence. What was noticeable during the defeat of Sale was how much a part the crowd played. The game was played at the Brewery Field in Bridgend. As excellent as the Swansea Stadium is it is vast and most of the time looks empty when the Ospreys play there. By contrast the Brewery Field, yes I have played there, is a good old fashioned rugby venue. Small, compact, loads of standing and not necessarily a carpet of a pitch. The Osprey’s plan to move away from the Swansea stadium makes a lot of sense.

As you are well aware I am a cynical old bugger. Isn’t it fascinating that Beccehamian beat Canterbury II by 63-0 on Saturday when previously they had swept away all before them, except us. So what? Well, Canterbury III had to beat Beccehamian II on Saturday in Kent 5 to top the table and win promotion. Guess what! They did so 41-21. Now, to be fair Beccs II were pretty much at the bottom of the table so a win was on the cards anyway, and I’m NOT saying anything untoward happened. I guess my point is there is a real disconnect when you allow clubs of the quality and stature of Canterbury with a huge pool of players to enter the league structure.

Plenty in the news to get the blood boiling, including a story how a gang of Bulgarians stole £54m from our benefits system with a fake ID scheme. Our benefits system is way too lax with way too many wastrels getting paid for doing naff all. The fact the checks and balances are so lax that immigrants can come and exploit our hospitality is a disgrace.

Finally thanks for the comments about BK, as soon as I know the funeral details I will include them here.