Latest News Additions

Added May 15th

The Club Dinner and Awards Presentation saw a very special guest of honour (more)

2007/8 season DVD and CD available (more)

Club AGM on May 16th @ 7.30 - free barrel of beer!!!

Archive News

Added May 1st

2nds fall at final hurdle (more)

Colts overcome Lions (more)

Final league promotion issues settled (more)

Marathon men (more)

Added April 21st

Clean sweep over Earlsdon (more)

Captains turn out in force (more)

Clonmell Cup Final, OL’s v Lutterworth, Sunday 27^th April – be there (more)

Club Dinner & Awards Night – Friday 9^th May (more)

Annual General Meeting – Friday 16^th May (more)

Added April 1st

Vets retain crown at South Warwicks tournament (more)

Gale force wind – and Hughes – blow OL’s away (more)

Mawande scores three for the 2nds (more)

League Three roundup (more)

RFU Grand Draw – a final call (more)

Added March 19th

Match Roundup – Saturday 15th March (more)

Rugby & District Representation (more)

Sutton Coldfield bite the dust (more)

Added March 13th

Saturday March 8th Match Round Up (more)

Sutton Coldfield, Champions in waiting (more)

A Day For The Ladies (more)

A Perceptive Analysis (more)

Old Rivalry Renewed (more)

Added Tuesday March 4th

Saturday 1st Match Round Up (more)

New Playing Jerseys get their 1st airing (more)

RFU Grand Draw (more)

OL's Vets to Defend Title (more)

Added Monday February 25th

Droitwich defeat Edwardians to secure 2nd place, OL's now 4th, all teams have played 17 games, with 5 to play

Added Monday February 18th

Promotion hopes dashed (more)

New playing strip (more)

Club Dinner (more)

End of season party (more)

Jody bids farewell (more)

New cameraman (more)

Nick Johnson's farewell (more)

St. Patrick's Day Out (more)

Club Dinner

RFU President at Club Dinner

We entertained the top man in English rugby when Bob Taylor, President of the Rugby Football Union, was the principal guest at the Club Dinner on 9^th May and he joined over 100 members and guests who paid tribute to the outstanding performers of the 2007/08 season. It was Ray Roberts – friend and confidant of the rich and famous – who organised the appearance of such an illustrious guest. Well done, and many thanks, Ray!

For many present he brought back memories of another era when recalling his distinguished playing career in the back row for Northampton, England and the British Lions; and he showed himself as interested and concerned for the grass roots of the game as he is when conducting matters of state at its very top.

Chairman Keith Baxter introduced the awards ceremony, which culminated in Ricky Reed receiving the top award as the club’s Player of the Year, recognition for another competitive and consistent season from the scrum half. For the Colts, fly half John Carruthers earned the accolade for an outstanding season in a highly promising team with flanker Danny Treherne getting Colt's Players' Player.

Wing forward Glenn Todd walked away with two awards, Newcomer of the Year and the highly prized Supporters Player of the Year; then brother Mark made it a hat trick for the Todd family when he received the award for Young Player of the Year, whilst their dad Ray captured it all digitally for posterity.

Named as Most Improved Player was the versatile Andy Coleman; and the award for Veteran of the Year went to Russ Kennedy, who played most of the season at prop for the 1^st XV despite his official position as 2^nd team skipper.

Not for the first time, the award for the club’s leading try scorer went to Iain Wallis; and Bill Wallis was named Clubman of the Year.

Club Tankards were awarded to James Melvin, Steve Pike, Colin Wiles, Ray Todd and Pete Rigg in recognition of the major contributions they have made to the running of the club over the past year.

Stewart Burnett entertained the audience as guest speaker when he charted his rugby career from fly half in the under 14 ‘B’ side at Lawrence Sherriff School right through to sitting on the bench as a prop for OL’s third team. He shared the secrets of his success with us and attributed his meteoric rise in the game to the wisdom and foresight of Martin Shaw.

Delivering an end of season report for the final time was club skipper Denzil Evans, who reflected on a season of high promise that finished disappointingly. Next season sees Carl Adams taking on the captaincy.

Order your DVD and photo CD as a reminder of the season

Those present at the Club Dinner will have seen the brilliant DVD presentation with a whole host of memorable images from the 2007/08 season put together by Ray Todd. This is now for sale to club members (and others) for just £5.00.

In addition you can order a CD with all the terrific pictures taken by Ray over the season, including those shot at the Club Dinner. This is also available for the modest sum of £5.00.

All proceeds go to club funds – so you can directly help the club and have a great record of the season by buying them.

Orders, please, to Bill Wallis – email bill@wallis21.wanadoo.co.uk; or telephone 01788 822687.

2nds fall at final hurdle

A determined Lutterworth side retained the Clonmell Cup by beating OLs at Webb Ellis Road in a final that failed to ignite as a spectacle. Go to ‘reports’ for the full story of the match.

Colts overcome Lions

At least one Old Laurentian side was successful in a match at Webb Ellis Road this weekend (26^th April) when the Colts came away with a well deserved victory over their counterparts from Rugby Lions. The 30-10 scoreline accurately reflected the match, OL’s first victory over Lions in three meetings this season. Read the full story in ‘reports’.

Final league promotion issues settled

The final promotion issues were settled in a series of play off games on Saturday 26^th April and Droitwich will stay in Midlands 3 next season after losing 3-18 at home to Stoke on Trent in the north v south decider.

Old Coventrians secured promotion to Midlands 3 after a comprehensive 44-0 beating of fellow hopefuls Ledbury and will come up with champions Spartans. Also successful were Coventrians, who beat Clee Hill to win promotion from Midlands 6 West (SE). They will join yet another side from Coventry, Stoke OB, who are promoted as champions of that league.

Broadstreet didn’t make the play offs for Midlands 1 as they needed Kenilworth to beat Luctonians in the last match of the league season to ensure their place. That game ended in a 25-25 draw, so Luctonians went on to a play off with Huddersfield from North 1, which they lost. Luctonians earned second place by virtue of a better points difference than Broadstreet – amazingly, Street were in contention despite a negative points difference!

The Midlands 2 play off was between two of our old adversaries and Hinckley came out on top, travelling to Hereford and beating them by the surprisingly wide margin of 43-13. Malvern go up to Midlands 1 as champions, as do Kettering from the East section of the league.

In Midlands 3 East, Leighton Buzzard won the north/south decider with a 16-15 success over Spalding, the club that beat us in the Midlands 2 play off in 2002 – so they remain at our level despite the money that they were obviously ploughing into the playing side when we met.

Clean sweep over Earlsdon

All three sides fielded on Saturday 19^th April overcame their Earlsdon counterparts, the first time that this has been achieved against any club this season. To add to the achievement, the 1^st XV kept a clean sheet defensively for only the second occasion this term and ended a dismal run of five successive league defeats that has consigned them to a disappointing 5^th place in Midlands 3 South. Go to the ‘reports’ link on the left for a full account of all three games; and the ‘league’ link for the final Midlands 3 league table.

Captains turn out in force

The crowd at the Earlsdon match was swollen by thirty five former team captains, who saw one of the 1^st team’s most convincing displays for some time. As well as a number of former captains still playing for the club (and still leading teams, in some cases), the span represented by those present went back fully sixty years to Bob Jinks, who held the captaincy reins way back in the 1948/49 season. Our picture, by Ray Todd, shows all those who turned up on the day - see picture here

Clonmell Cup Final, OL’s v Lutterworth, Sunday 27^th April – be there

The 2nds have hit form at just the right time ahead of their big day at Webb Ellis Road on Sunday 27^th April, when they face Lutterworth in the final of the Clonmell Cup, kick off 2.15pm. They deserve a big turnout on the day to cheer them on to what would be the club’s only silverware this season if they win – and they have a really good chance of pulling it off.

Club Dinner & Awards Night – Friday 9^th May

The big night of the year is on Friday 9^th May, with dinner being served at 7.30. The guest speaker is now confirmed as Stewart Burnett, so we are guaranteed an entertaining evening. Get in touch with Alan Willis or Steve Pike to book your tickets – and they would appreciate your cash with the order, £20.00, or £10.00 for students.

Annual General Meeting – Friday 16^th May

This will be the Club’s first AGM since the new constitution took effect last year so there is much to discuss. It’s your club, so make sure you turn up for the chance to ensure that your views are heard.

Vets retain crown at South Warwicks tournament

For the third year in succession, OL’s Veterans won the Bob Jones Cup at Old Leamingtonians ground on Sunday 30^th March. They came good in the semi and final, claiming the crown with an emphatic victory over Kenilworth. An outstanding achievement by a team that looks youthful enough (relatively!) to continue their run of success next year. See ‘reports’ for the full story.

Gale force wind – and Hughes – blow OL’s away

Promotion hopefuls Droitwich were the opposition at Fenley Field on 29^th March and left with a 23-3 victory in a match dominated by a gale force wind – and Duncan Hughes. Fly half Hughes returned to the Worcestershire side’s ranks for his first game after an injury lay off and bagged all of his side’s points in a fine personal display. The full story of this, and all the weekend’s matches, can be found via the reports link on the left.

Mawande scores three for the 2nds

Mawande Sinyakanyaja scored a first half hat trick as the seconds overwhelmed Barkers Butts by 50-12. Eight tries were recorded in all and Danny Orr kicked five conversions as the 2nds ran Barkers ragged in the second half. Mawande’s trio takes him to a total of nine tries in just four full games for the club, plus a half as a replacement for the ‘A’ team.

League Three roundup

OL’s slipped to fifth – our lowest position all season - after the matches of 29^th March, as Earlsdon leapfrogged over us with a narrow 8-7 success against Bedworth; and Leamington are now four points clear of us in third, after they beat Nuneaton Old Eds by 20-18. Sutton Coldfield are champions in waiting and Droitwich are secure in second spot – they will probably meet Stoke on Trent in the League Three promotion play off. Bedworth now look almost certain to be relegated with Edwardians after Stourbridge Lions, one place above them, pulled off an unlikely victory over near neighbours Kidderminster. Go to the ‘League’ link on the left for the full picture.

RFU Grand Draw – a final call

A final reminder – please get your counterfoils and cheques (payable to OLRFC) into Keith Baxter by this Saturday, 5^th April. The club stands to benefit handsomely, so it’s worth the effort!

Match Roundup – Saturday 15th March

With no league match this weekend, we fielded an ‘A’ team against a similar selection from Market Bosworth, a Midlands 2 East team. The game featured an excellent debut at this level by fly half Danny Orr and second half appearances by Mawande Sinyakanyaja (Randy) and Ross Tonkin, two young South Africans currently working at Bilton Grange School. An entertaining game produced a much needed win, by 21-14. Go via ‘reports’ in the left hand menu for the story of this and the other weekend games.

A ‘B’ team faced Old Leamingtonian 2nds and lost a tough fixture by 31-7. They had several of their players claimed by the Vets, who were getting into trim for the defence of their trophy at the South Warwickshire tournament on 30^th March and ground out a hard fought win against Warwickians, by 10-0.

Rugby & District Representation

OL’s provided four players for the District XV who played Nuneaton on 12^th March and contributed to a high scoring win. Matt Miller, Iain Wallis, Ricky Reed and Mark Todd joined Mark Allen and players from Newbold and St Andrews in the team, Matt and Iain each scoring a try.

Wednesday 19^th March is the date for the next game, Webb Ellis Road is the venue and Coventry are the opponents. The team is also likely to include Glenn Todd and Chris Le Poidevan for this match.

Sutton Coldfield bite the dust

Sutton’s EDF Senior Vase odyssey came to an end in the semi-final on Saturday 15^th March when they went down at home by 3-40 to Hartpury College. The college, from Gloucester, play at the next level down in the league structure – but they are the nursery for Gloucester, so their team is packed with aspiring Guinness Premiership players on sports courses. What chance is there for the humble ‘play for fun’ clubs with this sort of opposition around to grab the trophies?

Match Roundup – Saturday 8^th March

The league match at Kidderminster ended in a disappointing and inexplicable defeat, by 36-12. After facing a strong wind and persistent rain in the first half and turning round all square at 5-5, we then scored a try to take an early lead in the second half. But from there it all went badly wrong – go to ‘reports’ on the left to read the whole story.

The 2nds faced Bedworth at home and won comfortably enough, the 21-10 scoreline not telling the whole story. For the third match in succession, our young Springbok Mawande Sinyakanyaja (Randy) notched two tries with his electric pace.

Market Bosworth were the opposition for the 3rds and the visitors’ superior firepower in the backs saw them to a 39-27 win. The impressive Ben Nuttall went over for two tries (Stu Birch setting up both) and Gary Hammond added to his rapidly growing tally with one.

League 3 West – Sutton all but champions

Sutton Coldfield beat Leamington on 8^th March and are now within touching distance of the league title with a two point advantage over second placed Droitwich. In their last three games they play the bottom two, Edwardians and Bedworth, and finish against Nuneaton Old Eds, so they can concentrate all their energy on their upcoming EDF Senior Vase semi final on 15^th March.

Droitwich were again pushed hard, just getting home against Silhillians by 8-7 on 8^th March, but they keep winning, an excellent habit to get into! They have made certain of second place as they hold a seven point lead over Leamington with just three games to play. We now trail Leamington by two points in fourth, so our match against Droitwich no longer has the critical importance that we forecast for it back in January!

At the bottom, Bedworth now look all but dead. They have a tougher run in than their nearest rivals Stourbridge Lions and trail them by two points.

A day for the Ladies

In the planning for early next season is a Ladies Day. Kidderminster were staging just such an event when we visited on 8^th March, and their ladies were clearly having a great time, enjoying a splendid looking buffet lunch accompanied by copious quantities of wine.

A perceptive analysis

In Kidderminster’s excellent match programme on 8^th March, a perceptive comment made in their write up of us was that “Old Laurentians seems to be a team that scores a lot of points, but concedes a fair number too”. How very true! A quick glance at the league table confirms that only Sutton Coldfield have scored more points than us this season; but on the debit side, only the bottom three teams have conceded more! Makes for an entertaining spectacle for neutrals, but does our blood pressure no good at all!

Old rivalry to be renewed

Now joining us for certain in League 3 next season are Newbold! They lost their match to Cheltenham North on 8^th March which finally consigned them to the drop, almost certainly to be joined by Barkers Butts.

Matches on Saturday 1^st March, 2008

The first team slipped to a disappointing home defeat to Nuneaton Old Eds, a result which hammered the last nail into the coffin of our league aspirations for the season. All our main rivals won and we are now in 4^th place, two points behind Leamington who also have a far better points difference. The match report can be seen by following the ‘reports’ link in the menu on the left.

The 2nds fought hard and led at half time, scoring three tries against a bigger, more experienced Old Ed team who came through in the second half to secure their win. Several Colts played impressively and young South African winger Mawande scored two corkers.

The 3rds kept the OL flag flying with a handsome 61-0 victory, powered by a second row pairing of Andy Spriggs and John Tull who boast a combined age of 110 years; and debutant Ian Bracken scored a try with his first touch of the ball in his first ever game of rugby. See ‘reports’ for the full story.

New change strip

Thanks to the generosity of Webb Ellis Ltd, the club now boast an impressive new change strip. Lawrence Webb was at the match on March 1st to formally hand over the new kit, which was worn by the firsts in their league match against Nuneaton Old Eds. Above; The 1st XV in the new strip, Right: Colin Wiles , Lawrence Webb, Terry Wooton

RFU Grand Draw

Most people should by now have received their supply of RFU draw tickets to sell. If you haven’t, then seek out Andy Coleman or Garrie Reeve, who will willingly oblige with supplies of books. It’s an incredibly good deal for the club, as we get to keep £9.00 out of every £10.00 of tickets we sell – and there is a long list of impressive prizes. So get selling those tickets as you will directly benefit OLRFC for every one you sell. You know it makes sense!

Counterfoils, with a cheque made payable to Old Laurentian RFC, should be returned to Keith Baxter by Saturday 4^th April, latest.

OL Veterans to defend their title

The fifth annual South Warwickshire 15-a-side Vets Tournament will be held at Old Leamingtonians RFC on Sunday 30^th March, starting at 12.30. We will be defending the Bob Jones Cup and must fancy our chances. The old guys deserve your support on the day (of the touchline variety, that is – this isn’t an appeal for zimmer frames and wheelchairs).

Sutton Coldfield 51 – Old Laurentians 12

Any lingering promotion ambitions we still harboured were demolished by league leaders and champions-elect Sutton Coldfield in this rout in the leafy suburbs of Birmingham. Laurentians were thrust aside by a dominant Sutton outfit that showed no sign of being distracted by the imminence of their EDF Senior Vase national quarter final the following weekend. The full report of the Sutton match can be seen by following the link on the left "reports"

A lengthening injury list, with no recognised number 10 available and Carl Adams and James Murray unlikely to be fit, will cause some head scratching at selection for the tough Coors Warwickshire Cup quarter final at Kenilworth this Saturday (23^rd February).

New Webb Ellis jersey sponsorship

If you’re at the home match against Nuneaton Old Eds on 1^st March, you’ll see the first XV turn out in their new strip, generously sponsored by Webb Ellis. Lawrence Webb will be joining us on the day to formally hand over the new jerseys, which stay faithful to our traditional colours, presented in a striking new way.

Club Dinner

The date is now set for the Club Dinner this year – Friday 9^th May. Tickets are £20.00 each and will be available soon.

End of season party

The end of season party will be held on Saturday 19^th April. A live band is being booked, to be announced shortly. See Iain Wallis or Rich Hughes for more information, including the likely ticket price. Check out the full social calendar by following the link on the left "social".

Jody signs off with a hat trick!

Jody Roderick’s work commitments meant that the 3rds game against Old Coventrians on 9^th February was his last this season, and he signed off in style with three tries - see the match report by following the link on the left "reports".  As first mate of an ocean going gin palace, Jody is now in Marseille keeping an eye on the re-fit of the multi-million pound vessel.

A new man behind the camera

Ray Todd, father of Glenn and Mark, is the club’s new lensman and has already produced some striking action shots. Ray won’t be able to cover every match, but you may have seen some of his work in the Rugby Advertiser of 7th February – and more examples of his skill appeared on the Observer’s web site at the same time. Whenever Ray is at a match with his camera, you could well see the results of his work in any or all of our three local weeklies, as well as in our match programmes.

Nick’s farewell

Ssome pictures of the Karaoke night staged to wish Nick Johnson farewell before he returned home to the US will be uploaded soon Thanks to Leemo, Jody and Lorri for the camera work.

By all accounts the November 5th Fireworks Party was a huge success again, due to the great work put in by all concerned.  A big thank you then to; Pat Dunne and Keith Finch for overall command, Arwel's bonfire skills and, on the night, Mike Warwick's gate team, Ian Wallis's parking team and of course Andi's bar team.

• Missed the tour, want to find out what really happened? Click here
• The 1st XV league fixtures can be seen here

At the recent Club Dinner the following awards were made

I would like to take this opportunity to summarise my first season as Chairman.

Six weeks ago we had only lost two games and were almost certain of promotion. After that the wheels fell off one by one with losses to Pershore, Hereford and finally Earlsdon. This was mainly owing to the loss or unavailability of key players in the forward pack. We must now put this behind us and accept that it was mainly a very good season and the standard of rugby was excellent. We must hope to have as much good rugby next season, that as I write, may well be in the East region of Midlands 3 - more news to follow.

I would like also to summarise the recent off field politics so that everyone knows how important it is to attend the AGM on the 15^th May. First of all we have to take on board that the Old Laurentian Society, which is our landlord, have made it clear now that the new Hockey Club formed from GEC and Rugby Hockey club will be integrating into the LS&SC whether we like it or not. I believe that this will be for the common good and meanwhile would appeal to all members to ask what they can do to strengthen our existing organisation.

The nomination sheet for committee members is on the notice board and we have two vital positions open. One is for a Treasurer as David Longrigg is taking a step back to run the bar operations and the other is for a Commercial Manager as Simon Brown is to concentrate on this very fine Web site and the program production. This still leaves the Commercial Manager to deal with sponsors and advertisers and fund raising generally. I would like to appeal to everyone and particularly the “lost generation” to consider if they can play a part in the Club's future.

Finally I would like to wish the tourists well for the forthcoming Minneapolis tour and hope that everyone survives and comes back with enough liver and brain cells intact to face the Club Dinner on May 18^th.

Best wishes to all, and thanks to all those who worked so hard this season,

Keith Baxter (Chairman)

Got a Room To Rent? Want a lodger?

Next season sees the arrival of a new player at Fenley Field.

• OL's Vets beat a strong Leamington side in the final 10-0. A try by Kev White in the first half and Jim Darcy in the second half was enough to see them through to win convincingly.  The vets, well led by captain Daz Price, played good solid rugby for all the competition, not conceding a point throughout the afternoon.  They beat Nuneaton Old Eds. and Warwickians, who hosted the tournament, in their group and went on to win their semi final against Broad Street before meeting Leamington in the final.

• The fat lady sang, unfortunately she was from Hereford.

  OL's championship ambitions are now over as they gift wrapped the league title and presented it to Hereford on a silver platter going down 13-50 in a game that was as one sided as the score suggests.

  It seemed as though Hereford had travelled en masse to Rugby, whether it was to take advantage of our renowned hospitality as our caterers endeavoured to feed the proverbial 5,000, or to see their side claim the championship their hopes in both instances came true.  OL's rolled over and as a result suffered their first home league defeat and their heaviest defeat of the season, (more)

• OL's suffered their 3rd defeat of the season at Pershore losing 24-14.  Though I missed the game by all accounts it was a game of 2 halves (cliché warning) as they trailed 24-0 at half-time in a game that started late due to referee problems (report to follow).  Hereford won their rearranged game against Silhillians to open up a 2 point lead for the first time this season, Saturday's home game against Hereford will therefore be the make or break game that could decide whether they or OL's will be league champions.  Should OL's not be champions promotion is still an option as they will have still finished in 2nd place and would face Sutton Coldfield in the play-off game to determine who will go up to Mids 2.

• Congratulations to the Young OL's who beat Oundle in the midlands regional final of the National U17's Shield winning 15-5 (more)

• The 1st XV home game against Hereford, this coming Saturday, is sponsored by The Fighting Cocks and is also our Sponsors' and Captains' Day.
  If you are reading this then might we ask that you join us at Fenley Field and encourage the lads on to a win which might still decide the Championship.

• Leading 7-0 at half time OL's  enjoyed a 2nd half try fest to beat Ledbury 41-10 to maintain the pressure on Hereford.

  OL's tries came from Simon "catch me if you can" Bayliss, Denzil "back at fly half" Evans, Ricky "fit again" Reed, Paul "from the half way line" Willis and a brace from Iain "wants to be top try scorer" Wallis, the other 11 points coming from the trusty boot of Evans.  Report in, yup, "reports"

• Despite their defeat at the hands of Paviors in the National U17's Shield competition the Young OL's have progressed through to the Midlands regional final playing Oundle at Broadstreet on Sunday 25th, KO at 10.00. At the time of writing it is not possible to confirm the reasons why OL's have replaced Paviors, however let's not look a gift horse in the mouth.  If, sorry, when, the Young OL's defeat Oundle they will play the winners of the Northern Regional final before progressing to the final game of the competition, we wish them well.

• Having progressed through to the National U17's competition the Young OL's proved their mettle by defeating Worcester (yes,  that Worcester) 16-0 to go through to the next round (more)
• Currently lying in 4th position in Mids 3 East South Wellingborough travelled to Fenley Field for a friendly fixture as their scheduled opponents, Daventry, were involved in a Cup fixture.  It was a great game to watch, despite the one sided score line suggesting otherwise as our visitors played an expansive style of rugby not unlike our own.  The downside of the fixture were the injuries sustained to Jason King, Shane Betts, Ben Wiles and Rich Foxon, the upside was to witness veterans Stuart Birch and Mark "Handbag" Palmer playing together as our bench became emptier and emptier (more)
• Despite being unable to play all of their fixtures due to Rugby Lions' reluctance to fulfil their game against us our U17's have progressed into the National U17's competition and have a home draw against Worcester to be played on Sunday 25th - well done to all involved.
• Our home league fixture against Stratford due to be played this Saturday (17th) has been postponed as Stratford have a rearranged Warks Cup tie against Broadstreet.

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• Bavarian Evening tickets at £10.00 each available from Reiner, Dom or Deano, more details to follow

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• Our Clonmell cup campaign continues with an away fixture at Lutterworth to be played before March 31st

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• The Under 17's overwhelm Harbury 69-0 (more)
• Roger Cole shows off his balls (more)
• Warwickshire Cup 1/4 final results and semi final draw (more)
• Important announcement in the Members' section of the message board (more)
• Australian fans give nickname to Murray (more)
• U17's miss out despite 14-5 win against Leamington (more)
• Trip to watch London Irish v London Wasps on Sunday March 18th (more)
• Pete Higgs has some additional international tickets available (more)
• Under 17's Quiz Night planned for March 2nd (more)
• Under 17's Festival planned for Sunday April 29th, more details to follow
• Colin Wiles celebrates his 50th (more)
• Graham Le May and wife Julie are expecting (more)
• 2nd XV Merit table (more)
• Draw for Warwickshire Cup Quarter Finals (more)
• OL's Replica Shirt details (more)

Copies of "Old Laurentians Walk on Water" which, for those that weren't there or
are unable to recognise the ground, was taken at Silhillians on November 11th 2006

are available to order
(please specify size, maximum A4 @ £5.00 per copy)

contact Simon Brown here

The OL's baby boom continues, (is it something in the beer?)  with the announcement that Graham Le May and wife Julie are expecting their first child in May.

Personally I thought that the perfect nickname for James Murray was "Minty" others thought different and as "Nadal bounces from side to side like a welterweight as he faces Murray at the net, Murray stares back. Apparently the Aussie fans have nicknamed Murray 'Muzzer'. Genius, absolute genius."

Taken from bbc.co.uk  report of Andy Murray's match against Nadal

Warwickshire Cup Quarter Finals

This weekend sees a return to competitive rugby after the Christmas and New Year break however things were still busy both on and off the pitch at Fenley Field.  The Under 17's held a successful a Christmas Tour Fundraising Disco, there was the traditional Children's Christmas Party and New Years Day Chill Out Part, Denzil tied the knot with Lindsey on December 30th and a number of our members' children enjoyed their first Christmas as the OL's Baby Boom continued.

On Boxing Day the "Not So" OL's played an highly entertaining game against the "Fairly" OL's and despite training 17-5 ran out eventual winners 28-24 (more) whilst on the 30th the 1st's played the 2nd's with the 1st's winning convincingly.

Boxing Day Game

The "Fairly" OL's 24 - The "Not So" OL's 28

In order to add a ‘bit of spice’ to the traditional Boxing Day match, Birchy ‘laid down the gauntlet’ to the Chairman of Selectors, with the idea of the ‘old boys’; taking on an Under 22 side, all of the lads needed to qualify by having attended Laurence Sheriff School thus also being entitled to be known as "old boys".

The proceedings started badly, when the young upstarts ignored Boxing Day tradition by claiming the 1st team dressing room, which was soon resolved, and then to rub salt in wounds by putting on the 1st team shirts, again this was quickly sorted out! Their penance, was to all have to down a half of Guinness on the pitch, before the game started.

The game itself, was testimony to all that is good about OL’s rugby, competitive open rugby, with the ball being quickly moved wide at every opportunity. Experience definitely told in the1^st half, which saw the ‘old boys’ lead 17-5, with 2 tries from ‘the not so old’ Rob Kerrigan and an anonymous forward touching down, with Scott Wiles scoring for the youngsters.

However, the 2^nd half continued at the same relentless pace, but gradually the youngsters dragged themselves back into the match, with tries from Richard Parker, Charlie Turney, James Rooke and Ollie Cowley, with Rob Kerrigan completely his hat trick for the senior side. Not sure what the deciding factor was, could of just been those young legs or maybe just too much turkey for the senior side, but what is certain, is that between the two sides, they provided a feast of rugby, including 9 tries, which was thoroughly enjoyed by a good sized crowd.

‘Next year ?’, I hear you ask, more of the same I say, with a Young Laurentian's Under 23 side v a ‘slightly older’ Old Laurentian's side.     

Skinners couldn't be bothered to send Christmas cards out this year and instead sent this message (more)

Congratulations to Simon and Emma Storey on the recent birth of baby Milly.

What the heck do they put in the beer at the OL's? First it's Reedo, then Ted and now Arkwright all becoming fathers in the first 1/2 of the season must be some kind of record.

Our Warwickshire Cup fixture against Nuneaton Old Ed's has been cancelled due to Old Ed's being unable to field a front row, as a result we progress into the next round where we will be playing one of the 2 Leamington sides.

On Saturday December 23rd we will be fielding 2 sides, an A and a B to give the players who have not played recently the opportunity of a game - please let your captains know of your availability

RACE NIGHT

A highly successful evening Saturday raised a further £1200.00 towards the forthcoming USA Tour.

This figure was bolstered greatly by some generous donations in the last race, the sponsor of which, Red Brick paid £195.00 for the privilege after already shelling out £70.00 for an earlier race. Thanks to Chris Cox and all the team at Red Brick. Stuart Birch & Andre Nutter won the race and donated their winnings, thanks to you both.

Thanks also to everybody who attended and to the organiser, Steve Pike with his band of helpers Leigh Fisher, Gary Reeve and Marcus Bailey. A special thanks to Andi Middleton who sold all of the snails, sold raffle tickets and ran the bar all with her usual enthusiasm.

Also thanks to the Race Sponsors Tim Chambers, Dan Volkman, Kevin Jones, Dean Cobley, Jason King, Russell Kennedy, Leigh Fisher, Michael Pawsey & Reiner Ferguson.

More News Below

We are delighted that the U17's will be competing in the Warwickshire Colts RFU organised U17's league (more).

The following International tickets have become available; England v New Zealand, Nov 5th, 6 at £65.00 and 4 at £55.00, England v South Africa; Nov 25th , 4 at £60.00 and 4 at £50.00 Contact Peter Higgs

A warm welcome is extended to the members of GEC Hockey Club who have recently become members of the Laurentian Sports and social Club, more

Our ties with the school continue to strength and we are delighted to report that a number of their rugby matches will be played at Fenley Field including their Daily Mail Cup fixture against Princethorpe on Wednesday September 20th, kicking off at 5.30.  Rugby & District are also making the most of our facilities for training and games (more)

Details of our cup fixtures can be seen here, fixture lists for all senior sides are now completed and can be seen here.

(more from Russ) ......it turns out that the Chemo he had for that has given it him again but much worse, he now desperately needs a bone marrow transplant. In true Pete style his tissue type is less common than most so it makes it harder to match BUT everyone is confident a match can be found. I sure everyone at the club would wish Pete and his wife Leanne and family all the best in his fight, I’m sure he’ll beat it again.  If anyone wants to know more then they can contact me or if they would like to help then they can register for the Anthony Nolan trust (Bone marrow registry) either online at http://www.anthonynolan.org.uk/ or they can get a form off me, its only a simple blood test and you may save someone's life.

The 2nd XV Merit League is still being finalised and once we are advised of teams in our Pool it is up to us then to nominate those matches we wish to treat as Merit Table Matches, watch this space.

Without doubt one of the most successful sides at Fenley Field this past season were the Under 16's, a side that played 17 games, of which they won 12.

The 2005 - 06 season will see them participate in a league competition for the first time and we wish them well (more)

2005 - 2006 Award Winners

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New Officers and Team Captains at Fenley Field

About Leigh

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