Christine Hodgetts RIP. I confirm that Christine’s funeral arrangements are as follows - a formal service will be held at St Mary’s Church Warwick on Friday 11 0ctober at 1.30 , followed by a family cremation service and a reception at Leamington Rugby Club, from about 3.00. All are welcome to attend.

I was away last week, so there was no In-Touch.

To catch up: a much-changed 1st XV travelled to struggling Barkers Butts on 28 September and came away with hard earned 19-12 win. Conor Chamberlain and debutante winger Cairan Flynn both scored tries and Gareth Shuttleworth touched down for the winner in the second half. Read John Warner’s report on the website. The 1sts had the day off on Saturday but return this week to play Worcester at home

Our history with Worcester goes back to the early 1930s when we played their A side on a few occasions. Apart from a pool fixture in 1968 we did not play again until the commencement of leagues in the mid 1980s-90 when we played regularly for a while, usually losing. The most significant game was an end of season fixture in April 1989 when we lost, but gained promotion ahead of Worcester. They went roaring past us in the following seasons as they became a major professional club. That came to an end two years ago when the professional side went out of business, but a community club survived and we are meeting them. They were relegated from level 6 last season, but they have started well and sit just above us in the table, with 3 wins out of 4. The overall record is 11-5 in favour of Worcester with 1 draw.

The Colts took on Stratford in a Friday night fixture on 29 September and were 17-0 down at half time. The magic oranges worked wonders and they got it together in the second half to win by 19-17 thanks to a late try from Tommy Holland and two from Harry Bonner. Tom Van der Hoven’s conversion was the winning margin. They had the day off on Saturday but return this week to play at Harbury (3.00).

The second team played their second fixture on Saturday and they won 27-17 at home to Old Laurentians. Cruising by 22-7 at half time, we allowed OLs back into the game and it required a late try to finish things off – Try scorers were Ralph Ireland, Charlie Wiggin, Nathan Batchelor, Charlie Main and Blu Wilson with Josh Jones, in his first game for a while, potting one conversion. Brandon Kellett was man of the match. They take Pinley at home on Saturday

On the night before, our newly formed veterans’ side (featured as the Spartans) played their first game since 2002 and were very flush for players and spectators, who numbered around 200. They took on Chipping Norton in the first of what is planned to be monthly games under lights. 36-26 was the score. The scorers were Paddy Creevy, Chris Murphy and a hat-trick from Tom Daplyn. Tom Jewitt kicked three conversions. They will now rest and wrap up for their next game, in November. There is a full report and photos on the website

The Under 15 team lost by 21-33 at home to Nuneaton on Sunday. This week they are away at Trinity Guild. The U16 and U12 sides entertain Old Leamingtonians, the U11, U8 and U 17 sides are at home to Rugby Lions and the U10s play Alcester

International Tickets – I have 2 tickets available for the South Africa game on 16 November and 3 for the Australia game on 9th November. All at £96. First come – first served. We have our usual allocation of tickets for the Six Nations games at Twickenham (sorry - the Alliance Stadium) and an application form is attached.

Thanks to everyone who has paid their annual subscription. For those who haven’t, can you please do so as soon as possible. The form with payment details is attached. Phil McGaffin has taken over as Membership Secretary and he will be doing an audit of who has paid and will knock on your door if you appear to have lapsed. If you already pay by Standing Order, you don’t need to do anything unless you haven’t updated it in line with changes in the subscription rates. Please check the amount you are paying and increase it if appropriate and make an additional payment to cover the difference

Fireworks – our annual fireworks extravaganza will be held on Tuesday 5 November. Arrangements are well under way but we need volunteers to help, particularly on the gate and car park. If you can help please let me know

johnlizlyons@btopenworld.com