In case anyone missed it last week - sadly club legend Ray Ward died about 10 days ago after a long struggle against a series of illnesses. The funeral will be on Monday 31 March, at St Mary Magdalen Church, Lillington, at 1.30. The burial (to be attended by family only) will be at 2.30 and everyone is invited to the Rugby Club

There was a minute’s silence before the game against Old Coventrians on Saturday in honour of Ray and there was a good crowd to see him off, with the club Vice Presidents out in force. We started the game well and went ahead after 10 minutes but the in-form visitors took control and as our numbers were whittled down to 12 against 14 due to a plague yellow cards, we went 31-12 down and almost out. But we started to move the ball around quicker and came back with three storming tries in the last quarter and looked to have squared the game with a kick to come underneath the posts – but we missed and lost 31-29. The two bonus points keep us clear of the relegation slots despite our long losing run.

The 2nd XV game was cancelled due to lack of numbers but the Colts played against Stratford and lost by 31-12

There are two ladies games to report on - on 15th February we played in a last minute rearranged fixture away at Worcester. This was part of the Inner Warrior series. We merged with a few teams and played against Worcester, with three of our girls involved - Helen Brown, Kate Lawlor and Josie Richards. Helen scored a try and conversion in a 24-17 win. On Sunday 2nd March we had another Inner Warrior series fixture away at Bourneville. We played two games., losing 10-5 to Bourneville and drawing 5-5 with Worcester.
Leamington players involved were Abbie Howe, Joanna Clifford, Kate Lawlor, Saskia Pickard, Natasha McCrae, Ellie Harris, Debbie White. Tries for Abbie and Saskia.

The Colts are playing on Friday night at Moorefields against Barkers Butts, kicking off at 7.30. The 1st team are taking their annual coach ride – this time to the wilds of Luctonia to play Old Liuctonians. The opposition have lost only 1 game in 4 years, their sole defeat being ta surprise one to Evesham before Christmas. They have already won the league for the second season running and they will be promoted. Apart from the Evesham game the team that has pushed them hardest is ourselves, when we scored two bonus points including five tries against them in November. On Sunday, the U16 are at Harbury, the U15 are away at Broadstreet, the U12 are training and the Minis are at Kings Norton

Once again, the club will be holding the annual Mini and Junior Festival on Sunday 16 March. Everyone is welcome to come and support the event which is one of the biggest events in our calender and a big money earner. We are looking for Volunteers to help with car parking. Due to the number of teams coming, car parking will be tight, so if you are attending the club on Saturday 15th March for a game or to watch the finale of the 6 Nations please ensure that you do not leave your car overnight as the gates for the festival will open at 9.00 and we need a clear space to organise the parking. Everyone was very good about this last year and we look forward to your help again this time

There was a draw of the 200 club on Saturday and the lucky winners were Lesley Miller- £300, Graham Robinson £200, Ian Oldacre - £100, John Warner - £50

Another significant thing coming up is that the Club celebrates its 100th birthday in March 2026. Our President Dave Ward is putting together a range of activities to celebrate the event over a 12-month period. He is looking for ideas and people to help him put the programme together. If you would like to be involved, speak to Dave or reply to me and I will pass your interest on. A few people came forward last week but we need more

Finally – would whoever has borrowed the 3 yellow brooms from the changing rooms please return them asap otherwise we will not be able to clean the rooms after the weekend‘s games

Johnlizlyons @btopenworld.com