It was an exciting weekend for the Men’s section on several fronts, not least the fact that two sides were put out on the same day, as the Bandits were at home to Guys Hospital RFC and the Buccaneers (the Club Vets team) were away to Beckenham Vets. This is an achievement because although the Men’s section is growing in numbers again, not everyone is available every weekend and two teams at once has only been possible once before in recent years – but the growing strength of the section is increasing the numbers to the extent that two games at once are increasingly possible. And so to the rugby!
Vets
The smell of Deep Heat was strong as Club and Beckenham Vets prepared for the game, and old aquaintances from years playing each other were renewed. One face in the Beckenham lineup would have been very familiar to the wider Club audience, for packing down in their front row was one James Cleverly, former Club 1st XV prop. It was clear from the outset that the two teams had very different styles as Beckenham were a big team with a very ‘direct’ style, whilst Club were a more mobile pack and had a lot of pace, in the starting backs at least. Whilst Club struggled in the opening exchanges in the set piece and with the carries up the middle by the big runners, when we had the ball we looked dangerous and managed to finally achieve some parity in the scrum as their big units began to tire. Even though the pitch was the narrowest encountered we managed to put together some good rugby and two fast flowing trys – from Dan Gilmour and from JP – had Club in front at the half. Ultimately it was the tiny pitch that was our undoing as their was no space to exploit, no matter how much the Buccs employed Bandits pattern play. The final score was Beckenham 20 – Buccaneers 14
Bandits
The Club 3s were back at the Utilita for the first time since August 2024, and the players were very much looking forward to the game. The opposition was Guys Hospital RFC, the oldest (closed) rugby club and a fellow founder member of the RFU. It was a very young Bandits team with the more experienced players away with the Vets. As it was Club were dominant from the outset and given the final scoreline a blow by blow account would not be appropriate as the lead was 75-0 after an hour and the game was eventually called early. We should emphasise that Guys, a student team, are a good side and are competitive in the Merit league but the Bandits are a developed, established team with a good pattern to their play and hoping for promotion. It was one of those days when everything worked and, from 1 – 15, everyone was in synch for the whole game.
The Big Weekend
This coming weekend is an even bigger occasion and all eyes across the league, and some from the league above, will be on The Utilita this Saturday at 2pm as the Bandits host Old Elthamians 2s in a clash that has the potential to decide the promotion into Counties Five, which both teams aspire to. Speaking to various people around the Club we know a lot of people are coming to support us and every extra voice from the touchlines cheering the team on will be a massive boost to the players.
Furthermore, continuing the theme of growing strength in depth, such are the numbers available, we are looking for an opposition to play a ‘Bandits Extra XV’ in a friendly at midday to create a double header, with the game ending in time for both teams to head over to Pitch One to cheer the 3s on against our local rivals.
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