Egalité, Fraternité and Joie de Vivre!

The draw, your old school reporter has said before and is very happy to say again, is in many ways the best result in rugby. No one has lost and the sheer joy of playing and watching rugby and having a pint or two are to the fore.

There was, on Saturday, plenty of post-match bonhomie, as indeed there had been pre! Yours truly had,unusually, been asked by the home team to go first in the after lunch speaking batting order and the reason, all too soon, became apparent. He was followed - rather more eloquently - by the government's chief whip and the local MP for 40 years, Sir George Young, who was in turn followed by Lord Wakeham, of the same Commons vintage originally,once similarly employed, and a victim and survivor of course of the Brighton bombing!

The game itself was played on what could charitably be described as a very heavy surface but that and the high error count did not in any way detract from the general satisfaction derived from actually getting a game of rugby on in such difficult conditions and,then, from witnessing something of an old fashioned contest that could have gone either way.

CS would contend that they were the more deserving of victory and indeed coach Gareth Jordan pointed to a plethora of missed opportunities in the red zone and there was also a relatlvely straight forward penalty miss with ten minutes to go that - as it happened - might have edged it. A late drop goal attempt also slid wide.

Basingstoke would no doubt argue that one of their two players binned was rather harshly so, whereas CS had had none, but should very possibly have had one earlier on ( the first "Stoke" bin period incidentally actually won convincingly by the home side and a seminal period therefore in influencing the game's eventual outcome). They would point too to their well organised and robust defence,their discipline in conceding so few kickable penalties and to the fact that when the referee's whistle went for no side they had relieved the Stags' siege and were on the attack again themselves. The home side was certainly not unhappy with the outcome though and feel that they have easier battles ahead of them.

The result of their home game against Barnes, currently occupying the third relegation slot, may yet well determine who goes down from this competitive league.

CS Rugby 1863 scorers:

Tries:

McArthur
Strang

Con: Ward

Pen : Ward