After waking up bright and early to witness England’s demolition of the All Blacks, attention soon turned to the feature sporting fixture of the day as OB’s prepared for a short trip into the Mendips to face Winscombe.

Heavy rain overnight had already resulted in cancelled games for both the 2nd and 3rd team at fortress Failand, leaving the 1st XV with the challenge of maintaining an unbeaten weekend for the club.

Much to the delight of Cammy, the car park at Winscombe featured an array of outdoor gym equipment which he promptly jumped on for a quick abs and arms pump up workout, vital pre-game prep for a man starting on the bench.

As per the previous weekend, the agreed meet time was interpreted as a recommendation rather than an instruction, providing ample opportunity for changing room chat largely focused on how much we enjoyed the morning’s action. But enough talk about semi’s, it was time for the hard stuff.

As the warm-up began the squad had come to terms with the fact that despite the weather the game was going ahead, and yes, we would definitely get our kit dirty, much to the distain of the back division. Winscombe’s squad was man-for-man larger in stature than our own, and we were prepared for a war of attrition in contrast to the typically free-flowing style of OB’s sides. After 80 minutes of resolute defence, flashes of attacking brilliance, and a continued barrage of tactical kicking, the OB’s won 20 – 7.

Individual performances worthy of mention include Gouldy’s typically abrasive running earning much needed yardage, Pikey’s ability to tackle anything with a pulse, and Slammy living up to his name with a tackle strong enough to dislocate his own shoulder. This was at last a cohesive squad performance that affirmed the coaches currently favoured buzz-phrase, “the whole is greater than the sum of it’s parts”, much to the delight of Shane and Rich. However, it wasn’t all smiles on Saturday as I must shed light on an utterly shameful act of jug avoidance from Kyle as he slowed from a sprint, to a canter, to a jog, and finally to a crawl in order to allow the opposition to hold him up over the line and prevent him completing the hat-trick.

Whilst England’s game has been dubbed a “complete 80-minute performance”, there is still room for improvement in one major facet of the game as the post-match tunnel was shambolic at best.

Fortunately for Eddie Jones, Jamie Desk is available for consultation after impeccable organisation and tunnel conduct following the game. Spirits were high in the changing rooms and lifted further as Chunk set about shaving his head, and possibly his pubes, into a mohawk for a Halloween costume.

OB’s had secured an unbeaten weekend, England were in the final, we only needed South Africa to do a job on Wales to top things off. Go Bokke!!!

Final Score: Old Bristolians 20 – Winscombe 7
Tries: K Clarke x 2, M Law
Con: J Hill x 1
Pen: J Hill x 1

Final Score: Winscombe 7-20 OBs
Tries: Clarke (2); Law
Cons: Hill
Pens: Hill