Hinckley Incoming Tour, with apple sauce

Evesham U11 welcomed ‘Hinckley RFC U11 on Tour’ last weekend who arrived with the widest range of camping equipment ever assembled in one place - everything from lightweight canvas to a motor home the Rolling Stones would aspire to.

Saturday

Our first inbound tour so keen to make a decent fist of it, the Evesham Rugby Mums rallied and did a sterling job on the Saturday night BBQ – thank you to everyone who lent a hand. Huge thanks also to Stu Duberley at Gloucester Sausage Co for donating the meat and Team Tinson for bringing and operating the BBQs. JB’s tip of the day: Save money on expensive safety deposit boxes, hide small valuables inside vegetarian sausages, no-one will touch them.

Hinckley (home of the UK hosiery industry – must resist obvious puns) and Evesham mixed themselves up for an impromptu game of Gaelic football on Saturday night that allowed them to size each other up before the rugby the following morning. Thankfully no injuries sustained, good to see the Evesham lads from both sides automatically stick together and back each other when it got a bit lively in places. Good lads.

Sunday

Squad on the day: Slate, Cake, Carpet-Wright….Cuthbert, Dibble and Grub – Trumpton to save you Googling it, Slippery, Bretty, JSD, Flying-Fin, ‘Steve’ Davis, Mighty-Mullen, BTM (Big Tom Merrall), Ears-Pearce, Gentleman-George, Maximus, Indie, Hamish, Smiffy and Doobs.

Game 1 – Evesham v Hinckley

Hinckley were socking it to a sleepy looking Evesham from the start, a tough encounter that saw the first half Evesham 1 (Slippery) and Hinckley 2. A tight(s) score line at half time, a few encouraging words from the coaches got the Evesham lads focused for the second half. Improved defence and appetite to move the ball, some lovely rugby on show saw Bretty over from a determined run and later Hamish break the defensive line left to right for a try. Final Score: Evesham: 3 Hinckley 2. The ref from Bicester later commented that was the best game of rugby he has ref’d all season – well done to both sides for a great spectacle.

Game 2 – Evesham v Redditch

Evesham were up for this game after being turned over a couple of weeks ago with a lot of team mates away. Determination from both sides saw the first half end Evesham 3 (Hamish, Smiffy, Hamish) and Redditch 2. Second half saw Slippery over for a try and solid Evesham defence keep Redditch at bay. Then Slippery got a slappin’ that we all heard on the sideline, palm in the face for an early hand off (at least 3 years early). Stocking behaviour put down to youthful exuberance. Penalty to Evesham near the Redditch line, crash ball lined up and expected so Evesham moved it through several pairs of hands to Joel 'Doobs' Duberley on the wing to score. Final Score Evesham 5 : Redditch 2

Game 3 – Evesham v Bicester

Bretty too strong for the defence over for a try, Slippery weaving his way through traffic over for 1, Slate probing the gaps got over the line and Bretty again before half time, Evesham 4 : Bicester 1 at the break. Then a whole team change except Slate at 10, bit of a faff around with shirts and we were off again for the second half with the aroma from the pig roast lending a sense of urgency. Good work by all the lads, Cake got himself a couple of tries, Bicester got one of their own. Final Score Evesham 6 : Bicester 2

Redditch, Bicester and Hinckley had also played each other along the way. There were some scores I won’t burden you with.

Then the highlight of the weekend – the pig roast for 300, kindly provided by Hinckley, was out of this world and most welcome after an excellent morning of rugby. Everyone mixing together for a chat, new friends and future fixtures – exactly what touring is about. Well done to everyone involved, the season is now officially over. Rest, grow and support the NBOs - first of which is Bell Boating in Fladbury 16th May. Clean your boots, replace worn studs and laces, put them carefully in a cupboard then buy new ones in September because they won’t fit anyway.

CCR: Scott Davis, relentless in his hospitality, looked after the coaches admirably all day.

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Have an outstanding summer everyone.
JB