Sunday 25th March saw the 3rd Annual Sebastian English Memorial Match played at Haslemere Rugby Club.
Sebastian was a young man who tragically died from an undiagnosed heart condition whilst playing rugby for Haslemere in 2004. This yearly tribute day continues to raise awareness and much-needed funds for the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young. This year’s event proved the most successful yet, with a good-sized crowd turning up to watch 2 matches, beginning with the Under 19’s Seb XV taking on Haslemere’s combined Seniors XV.
The match commenced with 1 minute’s silence, in the presence of Sebastian’s mother, Stephanie Hunter with husband Rupert, and Seb’s brothers Rory and Marcus.
The Seniors XV kicked off, and they were quick to show their maturity and size by controlling most of the scrums. They had a distinct weight advantage in the front row, and a solid front five. They kept the ball very tight in the first 20 minutes, and the Under 19s were only able to get the ball to the three quarters on a few occasions. It was against the majority of play that the Under 19s scored their first try, bulldozered in by Pete “Tiny” Daly, which was duly converted by Stu Moore. The Seniors struck back immediately with a good try scored by Neil Moseley; a clever dummy foxing the U19’s back line. It wasn’t long before another try was scored by Rich Lloyd, giving the Under 19s a lead of 12 – 5 on the stroke of half time.
As the second half started, the Under 19s started to dominate the lineouts with some excellent jumping by James Peacock. As a consequence, the Under 19 three quarters began to see some more of the ball, and they started to play more open rugby with excellent interplay between forwards and backs. Tries were run in by Chris Penn the captain, Jack Payne, James Peacock, and Will Brigg for the Under 19s. The end result was a resounding 39 – 5 victory for the U19’s, which clearly reflected the speed and the skills of the youngsters, with a hint of weariness affecting the senior team’s performance after a tough match against Stoke Park the previous day.
The second match of the day was a more light-hearted affair, as some of Haslemere’s oldest and “wisest” players donned their cork-studded boots once more to show the crowd how the game used to be played in the good old days. It was end-to-end stuff, most definitely a game of two halves, and with the inclusion of youngsters Matthew Shorthose and Ross Kerr there was even the occasional injection of pace. The end result was a formality; veteran players like 50-something John Telling at scrumhalf simply thankful for the opportunity to grace the pitch with their indefatigable presence again, and the spectators enthralled to see such ancient specimens in shorts.
Overall, the day was a poignant tribute to Sebastian, and a fundraising success: with a barbecue and Easter egg tombola run by Lynn Smith-White, a raffle organised by Sam and Archie Woodger, and a spontaneous sponsored haircut for Mike Burton to round off the afternoon’s fundraising events, a total of over £2000 was raised for CRY.
