The Sharks came to Tewkesbury

Torbay Sharks, a veterans side that Tewkesbury played in Dieppe last year came to play our Vets XV on Feb 6th. Having beaten them twice in Dieppe, the Sharks were out for revenge.

With a few Vets regulars away with the Ist team, Tewkesbury were always going to be up against it.

The opening encounters were very physical with the early honours even. The Sharks experience as a regular playing team began to tell and Tewkesbury began to struggle against some large but surprising fast forwards who provided the break for a score under the posts. In the true spirit of vets rugby try scorers were all to be rewarded with a glass of homemade cider.

Captain Dave Randall provided two greats moments when he looked like he was dancing on ice and managed to fall over with no opposition players anywhere near him. He blamed his laces both times for the Bambi moments.

Tewkesbury were stung into action and were rewarded with a score to level things up but the Sharks ended the 1st half strongly and scored again to go in 12-7 up.

The second half was a bit of a scrappy affair with both teams chopping and changing players to give all who turned up a run out. Early tries from both teams were exchanged but the Sharks seemed to have the edge when they scored again. Suddenly things changed when the Sharks fell foul of the referee with a careless high tackle on the Tewkesbury fullback and an over exuberant protest which resulted in 2 yellow cards.

Tewkesbury sensed that they could rescue the game and scored again. The end of the game saw Tewkesbury going for a what would of been a winning score but losing possession and the Sharks running in the final try for a 29-19 victory.

Tewkesbury Rugby Club Veterans take on The Gloucester Combination Veterans

Tewkesbury Veterans XV had a rare home run out against the Gloucester Combination Veterans on Sunday 22nd October. The game was played for the Bram & Chris Lane Shield and it is hoped it becomes an annual event.

Gloucester Vets arrived by coach and had a very large playing squad. The weather took a turn for the worst and Tewkesbury knew they were in for a tough afternoon. The early stages of the game were very even and competitive with a few big hits going in from both sides. The Gloucester side seemed surprised with the quality of the Tewkesbury play and it was no surprise when Tewkesbury drove over with Shaun Everis touching down. Randall converted with a kick that bore a striking resemblance to the winning kick in Dieppe. This stirred Gloucester into action and after a long period of possession they scored under the posts to make it 7-7. Tewkesbury upped the tempo and Gloucester eventually succumbed to a trademark series of Dave Randall dummies, who waltzed in under the posts and converted his own score. 14-7 at half time. The second half became a forward battle with the weather getting worse. Kicking from hand was not allowed and most of the game was played around the half way line until a spritely Chris Dean found a bit of space and sprinted away from the despairing tackles of a tiring Gloucester side to score. 21-7 turned out to be the final score and everyone headed for the warmth of the clubhouse and a few beers. Many thanks to the Gloucester Combination Vets for coming over in such large numbers and a great evening followed.

The Tewkesbury Vets are to entertain Torbay Sharks on Feb 6th 2010 who they met whilst on tour in Dieppe.

Tewkesbury Rugby Club Veterans Tour to Dieppe 2009

Tewkesbury Rugby Club Veterans travelled to Dieppe in France for the 15th International Tournament de Papys last weekend. Having won last years event with a very large squad, this year would be much harder with player numbers down to just enough for a team. Luckily for Tewkesbury four players from Blackburn Rugby Club were on a stag weekend and agreed to play.

In gloriously sunny conditions Tewkesbury started the Saturday pool games with a repeat of last years final against British Paris. A hard fought game and a 5-0 defeat for Tewkesbury was not the start they wanted.

Next up were Auxerre from France, a narrow but unconvincing 15-10 win lifted Tewkesbury spirits. Finally Tewkesbury clicked and turned in a great performance to defeat the home team Dieppe, 30-0.

Next opponents were tournament new boys from England, Torbay Sharks who had a very large playing squad. Tewkesbury went behind quickly and were struggling to cope with their south coast rivals crash ball tactics. The second half saw Tewkesbury moving the ball out quicker and they started to find gaps in a tiring Sharks defence. Two scores turned the game around a a 10-5 victory was secured.

Sunday was finals day and a semi final fixture against Torbay Sharks was in store. Tewkesbury had learnt from the previous game against them and controlled it throughout to be convincing 15-0 winners.

The final now, and again a repeat of last years against the undefeated British Paris who were yet to concede a try. The format for the final changes slightly with kicking allowed and a longer game.

With a french international referee in charge for what we were told afterwards was his last game, Tewkesbury were fighting hard to contain their old rivals. The Paris club were really up for game the after losing in four previous finals. Tewkesbury dug in and tackled like their lives depended on with the Blackburn lads turning in brilliant performances. Paris missed two penalty kicks during a game they they thought they should be winning but the stalemate continued and the final whistle blew with the score 0-0.

Golden score extra time was now the order of the day.

Paris quickly pressed into the Tewkesbury half but lost possession. This gave Tewkesbury chance to clear their lines with a deep kick which was caught by the Paris fullback, closely followed by a rampaging Tewkesbury winger who joyfully drove him back 10 yards and bundled him in to touch. From the resultant line out Paris were judged to have infringed and a penalty to Tewkesbury was awarded. Captain and coach Dave Randall grabbed the ball and pointed to the posts, the kicking tee still lay back in Tewkesbury so slowly and surely a mound of earth and grass was built up out of the rock hard pitch and the ball perched on it. Having had not had one of his best days with the boot during the game the general consensus from the supporters was that this could go anywhere. The ball was struck so sweetly that the Paris players had their heads in their hands before the ball sailed smack between the posts.

Tewkesbury with a lot of help from Blackburn had won to become the first team ever to defend the title.

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