Our final weekend of 2024 was bitter sweet, our Under 22’s were brilliant in coming back under lights against Richmond on 20th December, winning 33-24 with an exhilarating second half performance whilst on Saturday the Men’s 1st XV lost 7-14 in a game like no other which saw 9 cards, including 2 red cards, all against Barnes. Some of those were definitely self-inflicted, some were bewildering and it is inconceivable that in a fully committed (and clean) match, where bothy sides went at it hammer and tongs for the full 80 minutes that only one side infringed.

No gripes about the result, Dorking kept on the right side of the law, and we didn’t so well done to the Surrey side!

Match report on both games are below.

We will lick our wounds over the festive season and come back recharged away at Colchester on 11th January!

Have a vey Merry Christmas one and all, see you in 2025!

Michael “Rhino” Whitfield - President Barnes RFC

Barnes Men’s 1st XV 7- 14 Dorking Men’s 1st XV - words by a very bewildered Rhino
This game should have been a thrilling exhibition of rugby played by two sides committed in both defence and attack, and in parts it was.

However, in truth the game was completely overshadowed by ill- discipline and some baffling decisions. In the first half Barnes had 4 yellow cards awarded against them, it looked predominantly for high tackles, and in the second half 3 more and a straight red for foul play.

It is hard to accept that every card was awarded against Barnes.

Both sides, as is expected in these encounters, went at it hammer and tongs from the off, but with Barnes playing much of the first half with 13 players, and ending the game with 11, it would have been nigh on a Christmas miracle if the home team emerged as winners.
Barnes defended as if their lives depended upon it, but it was just not enough to hold Dorking at bay with their ascendancy in terms of player numbers on the pitch.

With the rugby that was played, it was nip and tuck throughout. Barnes scored on 15 minutes, a lovely flowing move with forwards and backs interacting and No:8 Ben Christie running in a try unopposed on the wing. Full back Hayden Elliott slotted the conversion to give Barnes a 7-0, which they clung onto, despite the enforced reduction in manpower, until Dorking’s relentless pressure resulted in a try for Dorking 2nd row Jasper King which Tom King converted to square things up.

The four cards in the last 15 mins made it impossible for Barnes to defend their line, let alone attack, and from a collapsed maul with two minutes to go, Dorking were awarded a penalty try making the final score 7-14.

To the credit of both sets of players, it was a fierce, but fair encounter, and I witnessed no foul play, indeed the Dorking player allegedly gouged by the Barnes player said after the game that the incident was accidental.

Clearly Barnes got something dreadfully wrong in this game, but in my many years playing I have never seen a game like it, and a potentially fantastic testament to Nat 2 rugby descended into confusion and farce that fell way short of delivering the quality of rugby that had been so eagerly anticipated.

A disappointing end to 2024 for the home side, but in contrast Dorking will be cock-a-hoop to have beaten Barnes home and away this season and regained second place in National League 2 East and they deserved the win.

Barnes U22s 33-24 Richmond U22s: Surrey Under 22’s Cup - Friday 20 Dec 2024 - words by Jason Betteley - Barnes RFC Youth Chair and Under 22’s Manager
This is the 3rd consecutive season that Barnes RFC have entered the Surrey Under 22 Competition. We won the Smith/Shelton Cup in our 1st season (2nd tier), promoted to the top tier for our 2nd season and came 3rd in the John Douglas Cup. 3rd best in Surrey, not bad for a new Under 22’s team!

By way of a quick recap, the purpose of the Surrey Under 22 Cup is for the players to maintain connections with their clubs whilst they’re away at university or off on a gap year. Barnes Under 22’s are made up of players from the Under 19’s to Under 22’s and the majority of the lads are former Barnes minis/juniors/colts with a few mates from university.
Clubs play group games at Christmas and then go into the Cup, Plate, Bowl competitions on Finals Day at Easter depending on the final standings of the group games.

For this, our 3rd season, we have been entered into a group with two Surrey heavyweights: Richmond RFC and Camberley RFC. The plan was for us to play a Triangular on Friday 20 Dec on the 4G under the floodlights at Chiswick RFC. Unfortunately, Camberley had to back out due to low player numbers. So, we reverted to a full 80 minute against Richmond Under 22's to decide who will win the group and go into the John Douglas Cup on Finals Day at Easter.

The Barnes Under 22 Boys love this Christmas fixture; it’s a time for them to catch up, play competitively and start their Christmas festivities in proper style. We have a committed and enthusiastic squad with depth in all positions. And so, when it came to the match day squad, we had 23 players with only one of the lads unable to make it due to an injury picked up earlier in the week playing for his university team: on the night we had 12 forwards and 10 backs; not bad for a so-called scratch team.

We were privileged to have Jack Heald and Dom Palacio as our match day coaches, and with Michael Kennedy and me leading the match day management and team selection, we were excited to get going.

Following a dynamic and focused warm up, the first for them as a group since last Easter(!) – run by Jack and Dom, the Barnow massif arrived to provide some very welcome vocal support and the lads got ready for Kick Off at 7pm.

Before I start, I need to warn the readers that this was definitely a game of two very different halves – be prepared! At kick off the Barnes Boys set themselves nicely and worked their way rapidly up the pitch to provide the first wave of intense pressure on Richmond, quick play at the break down with the ball passing through hands swiftly and accurately. We were on the move and on our way. This first wave proved decisive; a series of aggressive and advancing phases in Richmond’s 22 resulted in our second row, Toby F, breaking through for our first try with the conversion despatched by Hal L: Barnes 7-0 Richmond after 5 mins. What a start!!

Unfortunately, the Richmond Tiger woke up and started to pile the pressure on us. Their version of the “Bomb Squad” destroyed us up front in both the scrum and the breakdown which enabled their backs to spring into action and bring into attack a quick and clever half back pairing with a hugely destructive centre partnership: their 12 was the fastest we’ve seen for some considerable time (18yrs old and has sprint training with Margo Wells!). For the rest of the first half, the Barnes Boys were under siege. Richmond scored and scored again. It was tough to take. At the half time whistle Richmond had scored 3 x tries and 2 x conversions: Barnes 7-19 Richmond.

There was a lot of soul searching and even more home truths shared during the half time team talk from the coaches, the skipper and the players alike. That performance just wasn’t acceptable, and the lads knew it. We needed to change and quick; we definitely didn’t want this to become a matter of damage limitation, we wanted to try to win this. The team selectors (Michael K and me) made the half time changes to ensure that everyone got at least half a match, and the lads set themselves ready to face the alpine challenge in front of them.

And, what a second half!! We set off like a team possessed; our scrum tightened and stabilised, our lineouts became cleaner, our mauls off the lineouts became positive with metres made every time, and most importantly our confidence and belief grew and grew! The coaching team could see this belief and we hoped that scores would follow. They did! The first was from Tom W. Following a series of attacking breakdowns by our forwards in Richmond’s 22, Tom ran an absolutely wonderful line from behind the ruck diagonally to punch a hole in the Richmond defence to score under the posts. Max D’s conversion was simple and effective. Barnes 14-19 Richmond.

This was the start of the comeback. The Barnes forwards started to make gains against a tough and aggressive Richmond pack and we increased the pressure on them with Ben W, our hooker, scoring twice; his first from an advancing maul and his second from a pick and drive. And then in between the tries from Ben W, up stepped our huge skipper and 2nd row, Hal K: we had yet another breakdown in their 22, Hal was ready for the next phase but decided to set off at speed, Max D delivered him a simple but sublime pass and Hal simply took kept going, taking two Richmond defenders with him and drove over the line. With 4 x tries and 3 x conversions in the second half and a well-executed 4th try from Richmond, the final score was Barnes 33-24 Richmond.

This was the ultimate game of two halves with Barnes Under 22’s managing to get the W. We’d like to congratulate Richmond Under 22’s for such a professional, tough and aggressive performance. Both sides dominated in their own way and at times it was touch and go for both sides. It was an enthralling and competitive match played in great spirit with this same spirit and camaraderie flowing into the clubhouse for post-match beers and banter.

My thanks go to Jack and Dom for their coaching and help on the night; to Michael, Chris Williams and Fred Delamain for their help with the management, team selection and logistics; and to Ben Ashworth for his unstinting and professional help as our physio (he is always there for us!).

My special thanks go to the lads themselves. They are an absolutely fantastic group of young men to be with who are disciplined, mindful, kind and respectful as well as hugely enthusiastic, skilful and committed to Barnes. But most importantly they are enormous fun to be with; I’m so proud of them and they are a credit to Barnes RFC.