The first successful season of the BRFC hippos come to an end with the Neil Suddaby tribute match.
Adam Hardy Report - 'Pinguis tardus quod turpis' - fat slow and ugly.....and we lived up to the expectations!
A finer finish to the season we could not have hoped for. Neil would have been mighty proud. 42 Hippos sauntered out into the sunshine for a final wallow of the season - not all played but everyone had a vital role to play on the day and so everyone earned their unique hippo shirts.
Players, subs, water bottle men, coach, photographer, manager, linesman - you name it we had someone doing it!
Thank you for all the support on the touchline too including friends and families, Booter and Johnny Rattlidge, I have a feeling we are pulling bigger crowds than the 1st team these days!
Notable absences namely Al Mason, Tony Nash, and Richard Desousa were unable to attend for good reason - and both the pitch and the bar were sadly much quieter places as a result!!
Some allegedly saw an apparition of Capt Black on the touchline but others say this ghost like appearance was a beer induced mirage...............
Only one lost their bottle and never turned up but we wont make a big deal of it sufficient to say we will change the lettering on his shirt from 'Banny' to 'Fanny' when he decides to turn up!
The shirts have gone down really well - perhaps too well. I believe there is already a roaring black market in Hippo shirts and they have started exchanging hands for ridiculous amounts - mainly 1st team players desperate to join the hippos (sadly lads you need many more years practice!)
No doubt our shirts have entered the chinese counterfeit markets already, actually a few car boot sales and I shall be able to retire early........... Look after them as they are priceless and irreplaceable - and you will of course need them for next season.
Big thank you to our generous sponsors for this season courtesy of Ritchie Brighton and Phil Black, their company share prices have rocketed since the city have discovered how successful our season has been.
Anyone else fancy sponsoring the mighty Hippos then please let us know as we are hoping for shorts and socks next year..................maybe even a Hippo tour!?
Once on the pitch the rugby was as glorious as the weather, the 3rd team put up a brave battle but their youth, speed and fitness were no match for the hundreds of years of experience and Bournville skill and talent displayed by the Hippos, including some memorable performances. Magic Misko who is one of the longest playing members of the club who still has the magic - even if he was playing for the opposition, Geoff back at No 8 as if it were yesterday, Pete Caves popping a punch for old times sake, Paul Cullotty who managed to turn up with nothing and still end up with a full kit, towel, range of mens toiletries by the time he left! Even I was able to steal the winning try in our final match which doubled my try scoring total for my whole rugby playing career!
Man of the match was a clear winner, a man who is the very essence of our motto and who managed to play the majority of the match without melting in the heat, without dying of exhaustion, just about keeping is shorts on and also being very useful around the pitch............non other than big charlie!
A colossal man both in stature and Hippo spirit who richly deserved the match ball.
There were some scandalous rumours that the Hippos actually had 17 players on the pitch at one time, and that the ref entered a Dr Who time warp when spectators suggested our halves were less than 20 minutes - nonsense of course.
Match report by Capt Mike Le Q -
'There was another Hippo team who also gained another crushing moral victory. But according to the points score and the ref - they lost. Enough said.'
Nevertheless the bar was packed afterwards we had a sing song and carried on after at the New Inn (now officially referred to as the Watering Hole for the Hippos)for what turned out to be a cracking good night had by all - food, booze and song - what more could we ask for!
Looking forward to seeing you all on the 17 May at the club dinner when we will have the presentation of the Neil Suddaby trophy for the Hippo of the year award.
I will be the only one there without a colours tie.......a sad failing of my rugby career at Bournville.
Thank you to all of you for making the first season of the Hippos such a successful one, and many thanks for all your kind words of appreciation. I look forward to playing alongside you later in the year. I have enjoyed it and hope I will be able to continue next season with my usual brief and succinct match editorials....................
