Sat. 1 December 2018 Admission £5 Members £3 K.O. 2.15pm ANSELMIANS RUFC V BIRKENHEAD PARK FC Today’ match sponsored by: Welcome to Anselmians ello and welcome to another enthralling President match at Simon Duggan H (Headmaster, St Anselm’s College) Rivacre Road, this week Active Vice Presidents against Birkenhead Park. Ravi Sibal, Chairman D. Buttery, T. Clarke E. Cooper, J. Duffy , G. Jones Welcome our guests in for lunch and our visitors to S. Hearn, L. Hopwood, watch the match. We are looking forward to the first D. Hunt, E. Kimpton, Derby match of the season and I’m sure it will be an J. Kimpton, R. Kimpton, T. McArdle J. McKenzie, T. Neville impassioned battle on the pitch. The teams have not T. Petterson, G. Smith met in a competitive match for a couple of seasons so D. Wilde, I. Woolcock I’m sure this will be a good opportunity to size each Life Members other up. The progress made over recent weeks has V. Davies, E. Kimpton been marked with a number of close run matches A. McArdle, D.P. Roberts T. Petterson, J. Walsh that could have gone either way. I. Woolcock On to our Mini’s and Juniors, we had a match up with Oswestry at the weekend there was a great feel BOARD OF DIRECTORS around the fixtures with a balance of results. I am Chairman encouraged by the feedback from Oswestry on the Ravi Sibal Secretary spirit with which we played all the matches and the Mark Whaley well mannered kids ( and coaches) we have at the Finance club. Neil Turner We recently started a fresh recruitment campaign Commercial Vacant and have had a good number of enquiries, we are still Director of Rugby building and accepting players into the minis and Jamie Kimpton juniors so please encourage all the youngsters you Director of Youth Rugby know to come along and get involved. Paul Kay Let's hope for a great win today!! HEAD COACH Andy McKinney Ravi Sibal, Chairman Respect and Sportsmanship at Malone Field Please show respect and sportsmanship to today’s match officials, both team’s kickers, players, coaches and supporters. Be loud and positive with your support. Thankyou for your support of the game and its values. Ravi Sibal ABOUT ANSELMIANS The Founding Fathers Old Anselmians 1950-51 B.R.- K.Moscrop, C.Ekbery, T.Moore, R.Dittman, J.Adams, J.Lander, B.Barrett F.R.-J.Moscrop, D.Roberts, A.Crossley, M.McCarthy, L.Byrne, A.Liddy, B.MacDonald J.Bailey (Captain) J.Whitty Old Anselmians’ RUFC was formed in 1947 by a group of former pupils of St. Anselm’s College to whom all current members owe a great debt. Early fixtures were played against traditional old boys’ teams in the Wirral and Merseyside by a small but dedicated band of travelling players before a temporary home was secured at “Solly Rec” in Birkenhead. Playing facilities and amenities were primitive and it wasn’t until the mid-1950s that the club relocated to its present home in Eastham village. Thanks to the far-sighted and generous provision of a few members, the freehold of the pitches at Eastham was secured and a rudimentary clubhouse was begun using the expertise of local businessmen and players. By the 1960s Old Anselmians was a well-established and thriving club running three sides. At this stage, it was a “closed” club in RFU language, meaning its players were drawn from “The School” but it was recruiting soccer players from the town presumably attracted by the promise of a more active social life than the football clubs could offer. An annual Easter tour began, invariably involving misadventures in the Lake District. Further expansion in the 1970s meant that by the end of the decade Old Anselmians could field six teams playing “friendly” fixtures all over the north-west of England. Entry to the RFU Cheshire Cup competition meant several “senior” clubs visited Malone Field with Sale the most frequent opponent. In the 1980-1981 season the club became the first“ junior” club to reach the semi-finals losing narrowly to Birkenhead Park. In the 1990s, the club’s profile was greatly enhanced by the success of several alumni on the international stage. Austin Healey, latterly of “Strictly Come Dancing”, would go on to win fifty-one England caps at scrum-half, full-back and wing and tour with the British and Irish Lions in 1997 and 2001. In the 1995-96 Five Nations competition, Simon Mason and Christian Saverimutto were capped three times for Ireland. More recently, in 2002, Ben Johnston, the Nottingham player/coach, was capped twice by England. The erstwhile Newcastle Falcons scrum-half, Chris Pilgrim is the most recent graduate of “The Saints.” With the advent of, first, merit tables and, now, league rugby, many of our traditional fixtures have lapsed. The “Old” was dropped from the name and “Anselmians” 1st XV competed in the South Lancashire/Cheshire Division One for several years, before spending two seasons in North One West in 2011-2013. The “Crusaders” (2ndXV) and the “Mavericks” (3rd XV) also play in the northern leagues and the thriving mini and junior section is the envy of many clubs. The club became incorporated as a “Company Limited by Guarantee” on 5th October 2010 and ambitious plans to build a new clubhouse were finally given planning permission in 2018. Saints were promoted to North One West after a six year absence after a memorable farewell play-off game against Aspatria in May 2018. It was a fitting end to the club’s 70th birthday season in 2018, and marked a temporary move to Vauxhall’s Sports and Social Club to play the 2018-19 season in the higher league. When the club returns to Malone Field in 2019, Anselmians will continue to be a friendly and forward thinking club true to the vision of those young men who began it with the simple wish ………………………………………...“to play rugby with a smile.” 3 Million Seals Available For next day delivery Established in 1962 We are the experts you can count on! Largest Stock Action Seals have the largest range of stock and at the best prices Head Office Action Seals: Westfield Road, Wallasey, Wirral, CH44 7JA 0151 652 6661 Email: [email protected] This Day In History 1st december down the years 2012 England produced an astonishing performance to beat the All Blacks 38-21 at Twickenham in the biggest victory over the Kiwis in their Test history. Owen Farrell kicked England into a 15-0 lead be- fore the All Blacks hit back with two tries in three second-half minutes from Julian Savea and Kieran Read. Twickenham sensed the worst. But England responded with a stunning three-try blitz from England's Chris Ashton dives over to score during one Brad Barritt, Chris Ashton and Manu Tuilagi and of Twickenham's more remarkable afternoons the records tumbled. "The performance was exact- ly what we had hoped for," Lancaster said in the 2010 aftermath. "I'm chuffed for the players. When the New Zealand captain Richie McCaw tough times came we stayed together. That team underlined his unrivalled position in the belief with a young England side definitely augurs game by claiming his third International well for the future. New Zeal;and subsequently Rugby Board Player of the Year for 2010 revealed the team had been struck down with a award, the first player to claim a hat- stomach bug earlier in the week but, to their cred- trick of awards. The accolade completed it, refused to use that as an excuse for the loss. a hat-trick of IRB Awards for New Zealand, with the All Blacks named the IRB Team of the Year and Graham Henry 2007 unveiled as the IRB Coach of the Year for England's World Cup-winning wing Jason a record fourth time. Robinson bowed out of international rugby in the Barbarians' 22-5 victory over South Africa at Twickenham. Robinson received a standing 1996 ovation from the 58,000 inside England's HQ as he Jonathan Davies returned to the Wales was replaced in the second-half. The game also side for the first time in eight years but marked a disappointing end to Jake White's his comeback was no fairytale as Wales tenure as Springbok coach, with his fringe players ending the World Cup-winning year on a low. lost 28-19 to Australia for whom David Campese made his 101st, and final, Test appearance. Davies had been absent 1979 from the Welsh setup since 1988 after a A young and then uncapped Serge Blanco was the scourge of the Welsh at Bourg-en-Bresse where his switch to rugby league with Widnes. smooth running inspired France B to a 33-12 win against Wales B. THE SAINT’S QUIZ 1. Birkenhead Park has hosted the mighty All Blacks four times in their history, but when was the last time? 2. What did the Welsh and French rugby teams do in their match last week against Fiji to support former Wales captain Gareth Thomas? 3. England beat Australia last weekend, 37-18. It was the 50th meeting since 1909, but Gareth Thomas (born 25 July 1974), who has won more games? [1] nicknamed "Alfie", is a Welsh former professional rugby footballer, who represented Wales in both rugby union, and rugby league. 4. The World Rugby “Player of With 100 test match appearances he was the the Year” has been a New most capped Welsh rugby union player until he was overtaken by Stephen Jones in September Zealander for the last six 2011.