Bournemouth Rugby Football Club

Pleased to report a victory, setting us up for a semi final away at Salisbury.  The game also was a chance for a first start for Jason Davies at scrum half (joining his bother Dom in the team) and a first appearance from 17 year old Mike Pope (no doubt the first of many) as a sub, putting the returning Rob Bruce in for a try with pretty much his first touch of the ball.

I'm pleased to report that the 2nd team have reached the final of the second team county cup.  Look out for match details to go along and support the team in the final, who will be determined to go one better than last year and get a win.  Was good to see a few 'old' faces in the second team helping out to cover a small injury crisis.

Next match is Cleve at home.  Having lost the last few games against them by a handful of points at most, I'm desperate to get a win against them.  Try and make it along to watch on Saturday.

captain (and BBC South Rugby Player of the Year no less) Dan Cawley back from his enforced absences, that should put an end to my (un)inspiring team talks for the time being!

The second team have gone well in the Canterbury League which I think has already justified the decision to move into that competition in a few short months.  The progress was demonstrated by a recent win over Swans II's in the Cup.  If you are ever not able to support the first team away but the seconds are playing at home they are well worth a watch.

The third team continues to be a bastion of experience, and it is hoped that they can continue to develop young players for the club as much as possible.  That and continue to win games in style.

Next game is away at Reading on January 5th 2008.  In the meantime, Merry Christmas and wishing you all a happy and successful New Year."

In terms of results, BRFC 1st XV has not had the best start to the season, with 3 losses in the first 3 games. You might think that the confidence of the team is pretty low at the moment, but I can honestly say that I don't think that this is the case. We have been playing some good rugby in patches but have not been able to put it together for 80 minutes, to use a bit of a cliche. The 1 point defeat against Cleve was a very close game, our opponents being a club who have been very strong in recent years. I'm sure we will start winning very soon. Unfortunately we lost our hooker Richard Brokenshire to a broken and dislocated ankle in the last minute against Cleve, which is a blow for the team as he was really hitting some good form and an even bigger setback for him, especially considering he had just returned to rugby after another long term injury. Hopefully Brokey can make a full recovery asap.

The second XV have started their season very well, winning the first three games. We have managed to balance our commitments to both leagues, the Canterbury Shield and D&W1 South but we do need more players to maintain our strength in depth; I think I've said this before on this blog - we need more prop forwards! Having said that, we have a very strong second team out this weekend against Richmond, who also have a very good side, I know having played against them in the pre-season friendly.

Please come and support the first team in action at Chapel Gate against Coney Hill this Saturday. It should be a clear day if the BBC weather can be believed so we will be doing our best to lay on some entertaining rugby.

Cheers, Tim

Here is my first blog of the 2007/8 season, which is already getting under way after a very short summer (in more mays than one). For those of you who haven't yet got involved, pre-season training is underway on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7pm at Chapel Gate.

I'd like to welcome all the new members to the club, especially the new players who will be crucial in adding to the squad in what will be a challenging year after promotion last season. A big welcome too, to Junior Paramore who joins us as forwards coach, who I'm sure will be a huge asset to the club and to the local area.

We have an internal trial game this coming Saturday 18th August to which all players are welcome (I'm sure we will be using rolling substitutes etc so everyone there should be involved).

For those of you that don't know we are running a development XV this season for younger players which will be run in conjunction with the 2nd XV. Both teams will feed into the 1st XV, whilst the 3rd XV will continue in the same way as last season.

Here's to another successful season. Cheers

A big challenge awaits us next year, but I don't think there is anyone who is not excited by it. There's time for a bit more celebration before that though, the annual dinner is on Friday 11th May. Tickets from Jo Warren.

Hope to see you there

Cheers, TS.

It was a big relief to win the game against Salisbury, especially in such an emphatic way. The job is only half done as we are hosting Brixham on Saturday 28th for the play off game, and we really need your support. This is the biggest day for the club in recent history so a big crowd would be great. It's one all between Bournemouth and Brixham in recent fixtures, both cup games, so will be an exciting an close match. Also South West 2 East versus West for the bragging rights. Fingers crossed for a Bournemouth win and the subsequent promotion.

Well done to the guys from the club who took part in the London marathon on Sunday. Get plenty of rest before the game on Saturday lads!

Monday 7th May is the Lytchett 7's tournament. We've got two titles to defend so will be entering two teams again. Let me, Dan C, or Buffo know if you are available to play. If we don't get enough players with gas then I will be forced to play again! We will even fit in some training next week to get the sevens mindset going.

Cheers, TS

It was a shame to lose the Redingensians game by such a close margin, knowing that if we had only done one or two things slightly differently we would have won. However the disappointment of that game is now in the past and I'm hugely excited looking forward to the Salisbury game, which will decide which club has the opportunity to host Brixham of South West 2 West in the play off for promotion into South West 1.

Also remains to be seen who will finish up the top try scorer for the first team, James Flynn who is currently in pole position on 17 tries, or James Payne, who I think has 15. No hogging the ball lads.... Of course there may be a dark horse catch those two up, but I think we can safely say it won't be me!

Congratulations to our third team, led by Dave Upton, for their achievement in winning the Dorset and Wilts 2 South league. That now means that the club has won a division of one sort or another for each of the last three seasons. Pretty good I reckon, but I'll leave it there or risk treading on the toes of our resident statistician, Mr. Doug Warren!

Look out for more information (coming soon on this site) on the 10 a side tournament which we will be holding at the beginning of next season on August 18th and 19th 2007. If you have contacts at any previous clubs who
might be interested in entering, drop me a line and I will send you an entry form.

So please come along on Saturday and support the 2nd team kicking off at 1pm and the first team, kicking off at 3pm, both against Salisbury, for what is a hugely important day for the club.

Cheers, TS

It was a shame to lose the Redingensians game by such a close margin, knowing that if we had only done one or two things slightly differently we would have won. However the disappointment of that game is now in the past and I'm hugely excited looking forward to the Salisbury game, which will decide which club has the opportunity to host Brixham of South West 2 West in the play off for promotion into South West 1.

Also remains to be seen who will finish up the top try scorer for the first team, James Flynn who is currently in pole position on 17 tries, or James Payne, who I think has 15. No hogging the ball lads.... Of course there may be a dark horse catch those two up, but I think we can safely say it won't be me!

Congratulations to our third team, led by Dave Upton, for their achievement in winning the Dorset and Wilts 2 South league. That now means that the club has won a division of one sort or another for each of the last three seasons. Pretty good I reckon, but I'll leave it there or risk treading on the toes of our resident statistician, Mr. Doug Warren!

Look out for more information (coming soon on this site) on the 10 a side tournament which we will be holding at the beginning of next season on August 18th and 19th 2007. If you have contacts at any previous clubs who
might be interested in entering, drop me a line and I will send you an entry form.

So please come along on Saturday and support the 2nd team kicking off at 1pm and the first team, kicking off at 3pm, both against Salisbury, for what is a hugely important day for the club.

Cheers, TS

First of all, Happy New Year to everyone. I hope you all had an enjoyable festive period and the players had a chance to recover from any knocks with a bit of time off. At least when they weren't following Burley's Christmas training schedule of course! In all seriousness everyone looks to be in pretty good shape at training so far and I think its showed on Saturday.

Talking of Saturday's games, another good win against High Wycombe for the 1st XV was a good start to the new year, even if the first half performance was pretty dire. This win puts the 1st XV clear at the top of the table and we are desperate to stay there. Undoubtedly January is going to be a tough month for the first team so it was important to get off to a good start. Cheltenham and Newton Abbott away in successive weeks are going to prove a tough test.

Certainly the defeat of the 2nd XV to Ivel Barbarians 1XV was disappointing, and will make it difficult for them to defend their league title. However, Ivel are a strong club and I remember some tough games against them at 1st XV level a few years back so its no surprise that they are recovering after a lean couple of years. I expect our seconds will go all out for the rest of the season to catch them up.

I'm really pleased that the 3rd XV finished the year at the top of their league and have started the second half of the season really well too. Hopefully they can maintain that position until the end of the season.

We will be having a social at some point in January so keep an eye out on the social board.

Well done to everyone involved with Bournemouth for a good 2006. However, I've got a feeling that 2007 is going to be an even bigger year for the club!

I'm delighted that we have managed to reach the 4th round of the Intermediate Cup for the first ever time with the win over Weston-Super-Mare on December 9th. We are now in uncharted territory and are hoping that we get a favourable draw for the next round. Quarter finals anyone? I know Weston were missing a couple of players for their long road trip down to Chapel Gate, but its good to know that we are able to compete and win against the teams in the league above.

Great to see that the 2nd XV had such a huge win against Blandford II's in the 2nd team cup as well. We have received compliments not only on the scale of this victory but also in the manner that the lads conducted
themselves. Well done.

I also wanted to highlight some of the younger lads who have been rewarded for their perseverance recently. I'm sure they will think about time too, but without naming names they have been some of the best, most consistent trainers in the club and have now been given an opportunity at 1st XV level which they have grabbed with both hands. The same goes with older players that were maybe not 1st choices last season but have kept going and have now established themselves. There are more examples in the second team as well, of players who have worked hard and have done really well when given the chance to start. I know that not everybody will be pleased with the
decisions that are made in team selection, but I really think that if a player shows commitment and  erseverance, he will be rewarded.

That's not to even mention the colts, some of whom have performed well for the second team when called upon recently, so we are looking forward to them being involved the senior set up more frequently for the rest of the season.

See you at training then. TS

We would like to invite the players (and members) wives and girlfriends to a pre-match lunch at the club next Saturday 11th November prior to the home game against Marlow. There will be a 3 course lunch for only £8 per head.

All are very welcome, especially if they haven't been down to the club before, so please let me or Buffo know if your other half would like to attend by training on Tuesday.

Lastly, belated thanks to Junior Paramore who visited us for a Tuesday training session which gave the forwards in particular a good workout and some useful tips which we have incorporated into our game. Thanks also to Toddy for setting it up.

The defeats to Swanage and Wareham were a big disappointment, especially as I think that these were really games that we expected to win this season. For the 2nd XV maybe this was a case of a lack of match practise having had the previous week off. For the 1st XV I think there was a lack of self belief for this particular fixture which is a concern but we will have 2 chances to put it right against Swans this season and I believe we can do so. The latest games however saw a return to winning ways, the 2nd XV returning to form with a comprehensive thrashing of Weymouth, and the 1st XV closing out a hard fought game away to Windsor. I think confidence may have been a bit low for this fixture but we proved that we can bounce back for a set back.

We had heroes and villains night following the Swanage games which saw a superb selection of lycra - just not too sure about what was inside. Photos should be up on the social section of the website soon so have a look.

Selection has been very difficult for the last few weeks with a combination of injuries and unavailibilities making the task of getting the right combinations even more difficult. It is therefore still really important that all players make it to training, especially on a Thursday night or your chances of selection may be jeopardised. However, I'm pleased to say that generally attendances to training are very positive as we are averaging 30 plus players every Tuesday and Thursday.

The 1st XV are at home to high flying Cheltenham this Saturday (KO 3pm) for a crunch match so please come along and support the team.

A good reflection of the club spirit was that several of the second team came up to watch the 1sts at Swindon, so a big thanks to all those guys for that effort. Social secretary Greg Hilton led the singing on the bus on the way home with some badly needed new songs!!!

Pleased to say that the 3rd team also won again against Chard. That man Jamie Mchugh just can't stop scoring. As the Chairman has already pointed out elsewhere on this website this means that the club has a 100% record in all the leagues so far this season. Not bad at all.

The big tests are yet to come though, particularly for the first XV, so make sure you make it to training in the coming weeks.

Cheers, TS

It's been a successful start to the league program with the first team winning away at Aylesbury 53-16 and the third team defeating Wheatsheaf CC by a convincing margin too. Read Doug's match reports through the links on the left. The second team are in action in the league until this weekend against Blandford, newly demoted from the league above so should be a tough contest (and a good yardstick of their progress over the last season or so). If anything the seconds are even stronger than last year.

However, we do have a bit of an injury/unavailability crisis at prop throughout the club though, so if we have anyone who knows a thing or two about the coalface and wishes to join us they will be more than welcome.....

The firsts are away again at Henley this weekend, followed by the first home game of the season on September 23rd against Frome which promises to be
quite an occasion for the club with match sponsorship etc. We have had a keenly contested on/off rivalry with Frome the last few years so it will be good to renew the acquaintance that weekend.

Look out for more social nights on this website soon. I believe the next one is going to be Heroes & Villains night after the Swans game on the 7th October. At least we will be wearing something this time. You all know who you are.

Training continues on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so make sure you are there and keep the selectors honest. I can assure all the players that a great deal of time and thought goes into it. We have the best coaching team in the area so make the most of what is on offer at the club.

Cheers, TS.

The narrow defeat against Swanage and Wareham in the game before Easter means that the 1st XV will not be promoted this year as Swans will go into the play off as the second placed team in the league. Although the result of that game was desperately disappointing from a Bournemouth perspective, I think it was a good match in which we played some excellent rugby. Its also worth reflecting that we will finish 3rd in the league, which in our first season back in SW2E I believe makes for a successful campaign.

The season is not yet over however. The 1st XV and 2nd XV have their last league games of the season against Wimborne and Wincanton, whilst the 3rd XV also have a game against Monmouth Old Boys, all this Saturday (22nd April). On this point Dave Upton has stepped up to be the 3rd XV captain which is great, so well done and thanks to Dave. Lets finish these last
few games off on a high. As is only right and proper, we are having a club night out on Saturday night, with an agricultural theme so come dressed as a FARMER!

Although the regular season is nearly over, there is still plenty going on for the rugby club. The Annual Dinner is on Friday 5th May at the club which should be a top night as usual. Tickets £20 in advance, please see Jo Warren asap as places are limited.

The club has entered two senior teams to the Lychett Sevens tournament for May bank holiday Monday (1st May). Please come along and support the boys if you are not playing.

We are holding a tour to Withycombe in Devon for a 15 a side game and sevens next weekend which is the 29th and 30th of April, returning on Monday morning (1st May) in time for Lytchett. Hayden is kindly doing the honours so let him know if you are interested in going - costs should be kept to a minimum. There are also at least two home games against touring opposition in May so check the website regularly for details. Its not quite summer yet!

Cheers for now, TS."

We are also exploring ways for the 2nd XV to develop, ensuring that they are able to play more competitive fixtures in future seasons. This may be difficult but it is the opinion of virtually all at the club that this
would help us develop. Fingers crossed for that one.

Well done to Sam Hardcastle for breaking the league tries in a season record (previously held by Guy Spencer), quite an achievement and I reckon there are more in the pipeline. Hopefully he can beat that fellah from Cleve to the top try scorer in the league. No pressure Sam!

The next players social is penciled in for March 4th, after the 1st and 2nd team home games. I'll try and give you all a bit more warning on the theme this time... TS"