There was a big game of rugby on this weekend and I’m not talking about the world cup springboard the England team gave to the SpringBok.            HFRFC took their unbeaten record (one in a row) on the road for the second week in succession, this time to Twickenham, well Hampton really. Hammersmith were forced into an unprecedented 9 changes to the starting line up from the previous week due to a combination of the aforementioned curtain raiser, the Australian visit to Cardiff and the inability of an old Hammers stalwart, to hold out to increasing pressure to shimmy down the aisle. In came some old faces but 1^st XV debuts were awarded to Ed ‘Ginger Spice’ Sibley, John ‘it’s an allergy’ Hetherington, Callum ‘Catty’ Morris, Chris ‘Boy Racer’ Webb and Brett ‘TBC’ Stuart.

After a punctual meet (bar Ryan ‘Once More’ Dilley) the squad set off in the blazing September sunshine. ‘Ginger Spice’ Sibley had to stop off en route to buy some factor 15, much to Rod ‘Anger Management’ Anderson’s relief.

The warm up ensued on the parched savannah that was the 1^st team pitch. The well known Hampton micro climate had done its worst and ensured no rain had fallen in the vicinity all summer as opposed to everywhere else in the UK that got flooded. With John ‘Tinkerman’ Porter-Griffiths away for the week Ali ‘Little Fella’ Lines took control of his first Saturday as the new first team skipper.

The game started well for The Hammers and they were able to exert a decent amount of pressure in the first 10 minutes. Unfortunately this did not yield anything on the score board as Callum ‘Catty’ Morris fired a drop goal and a penalty wide. Hammers were soon made to pay as Twickenham began to get into their stride. Good yards were made near the fringes and occasionally out wide by the full back. Indiscretions followed from ‘Anger Management’ and others and Twickenham popped over two penalties.

Rallying, the away side worked their way back up field with some decent out of hand kicking by ‘Catty’ Morris. The Hammers had a couple of chances to score from line out catch and drives and also a half break from Catty deep inside the opponents 22 was very nearly a full break. However each time the home side’s defense held firm.

At half time The Hammers were trailing 6 – 0. The half time chat had to be postponed for a few minutes as the players were having difficulty hearing what the ‘Little Fella’ was saying because some one seemed to be laying on another hog roast. The words of wisdom being drowned out by a horrible squealing noise. However this turned out not to be another welcome round of pork and stuffing baguettes but John ‘It’s an allergy’ Hetherington having some sort of fit.

After the break it was again a tightly contested contest. Twickenham were first to touch down over the whitewash, crashing over from close range. The Hammers’ scrum was coming under increasing pressure and the ball was either turned over or delivered on the back foot. The line out was a marked difference however providing a stream of decent ball from the totem, James ‘City Break’ Leach.

The visitor’s efforts were then rewarded when ‘Once More’ Dilley fielded a kick and burst forward out of a tackle. He then fixed the full back and fed Scott ‘St-St-StudioLine’ Foley to score for the second week running. The conversion was missed by ‘Catty’ Morris but the Hammers were back in the hunt. By this point ‘Allergy’ Hetherington had been helped off and Henry ‘The Fifth’ Paddison had replaced him. More pressure led to a Hammers penalty bringing the score to 11 – 8. Alas, that was how it was to stay for the remainder of the match despite some good try scoring opportunities going begging for both sides notably ‘Anger Management’ Anderson fumbling the ball over the line like a teenage boy with a bra and ‘St-St-StudioLine’ Foley showing why he quit New Zealand soccer for rugby in the UK when his chest control let him down badly while joining the line from full back.

Overall it was a reasonable performance when you consider the amount of changes to the squad, both sides scoring one try. Certainly there are things to be worked on such as the scrum and first phase moves from the three quarters but we hope that will come with attendance at training.

Tin Man: Scott ‘St-St-StudioLine’ Foley for his large knock-on.

Man of the Match: James ‘City Break’ Leach for his tireless pitch coverage and good line out work.

Tries: Foley.

Team: Blyghton, Sibley, Lacy, Leach, Hetherington, Anderson, Dilley, O’Sullivan, Lines, Morris, Ringshall, Magnus, Webb, Stuart, Foley. Smith, Short, Paddison.

The Scribe.