On Friday 3rd February the club came together for the third City Lunch - the flagship event in the club's social calendar. Once more the venue was Smith & Wollensky, the famous steak restaurant just off The Strand.

The entertainment this year was provided by the charismatic compère and auctioneer Jonny Gould who proudly strives to "put in the fun in fundraising". On the rugby side we were once more delighted to be joined by former player and Rugby Union Weekly pod host Chris Jones, and alongside him were former Scotland captain Rory Lawson and England / Lions winger Ugo Monye.

After the customary welcome from club captain James Shaw, the 170+ guests enjoyed a delicious lunch with a starter of ham hock terrine followed by a Cornish sirloin steak and all finished off with a New York cheesecake. There was time for a quick game of heads or tails, made more complicated by a two hands rule confusing some of the members who declined to listen to the rules; but when the shouting was over, it was 2XV vice-captain Charlie Paterson who was one of the last two standing. He was, however, thwarted at the death much to the amusement of the room!

When the time came Chris led a lively and highly entertaining Q&A with Rory and Ugo - both offering there thoughts ahead of the Calcutta Cup less than 24hrs later. Rory also offered some nostalgic memories of his "pappy", the legendary commentator Bill McLaren, as well as some more contemporary ones concerning tales of mischief on tour with Scotland in Argentina. Ugo fielded some thought provoking questions about the proposed changes to the tackle law in the community game with aplomb. The consensus was that the already high bar set by Danny Care / Paul Grayson in 2020 and Tom Shanklin / David Flatman in 2022 was raised another notch.

The afternoon was closed out by Jonny Gould who did well to corral a spirited dining room to ensure that the live auction was well supported - guests snapping up a range of prizes including weekends away in the UK, a week in the Swiss Alps and shirts signed by guests Rory and Ugo alongside one from Jonny Wilkinson. The silent auction which ran concurrently was also pleasingly well supported.

Come five o'clock the guests departed, some into the night, others to the Theodore Bullfrog pub round the corner as the festivities continued late into the night. As ever our thanks go to S&W for hosting, Nikki at Grey Unicorn for her organisational skills, our fantastic guests / speakers and to Pete Wickham for his indefatigable efforts in making the event such a success.

Photos will follow soon, but in the meantime - we hope you enjoyed your day and if you did that you return next year and bring your friends!