Generally speaking this season has been rather inconsistent both in performance and results, with the 1st team managing to win one more game than they lost and the 2nd team losing one more than they won. The 2nd XV had fourteen games cancelled, five of which were due to the weather (likewise with the 1st XV) or a mistake by the National Westminster 'administration'! The main reason for this number of cancellations is the lack of sufficient members available for selection. As the years go by the strength of the fixture list has increased and to keep pace with this the club needs strengthening both in discipline and in numbers.

I feel it must be mentioned as a reason and not as an excuse (because of the state of the Club's records are a direct result of this) that the 1st team in particular has suffered an unusual amount of injuries. A shoulder injury virtually ended Dave Dibben's illustrious rugby career before Xmas while Rich Waughman, Chris Webb, Alex Barron, Tony Titshall and myself were unable to play for a number of weeks. When the Captain and the Vice Captain have to spend Saturday afternoons on the touchline together cheering the team on it is inevitable that the cohesion of the team will suffer. The consequence of these. injuries was that I had to draft a lot of players from the 2nd XV into the 1st's, which left the 2nds short. It is easy enough to get replacements for the 1st XV at any time during the week (unfortunately for the 2nd XV captain!) but it isn't as easy to replace 2nd XV players with people who are not playing, or expect to play, regularly on the Thursday or Friday before the game. The very nature of this club with players living all over London, many of whom don't meet other players socially during the week, and some who can only be contacted through the post, presents a problem for any administration.

The style of play of the Old Woolverstonians is very good, mainly using the speed and agility of our three-quarter line to play fast, open rugby. It was shown at its best against Merton and Morden where the whole team was thoroughly involved for 80 minutes and really played as if they meant to win. This sustained effort produced the desired result and we won 14-5. On two other occasions, against London Scottish 'A' and Aylesford Paper Mills, I thought the team played very well, but on both occasions we were narrowly defeated. There were periods in the other matches when the performance was good but they were always overshadowed by the other periods when the sense of urgency and unity in both the end the scrum left a hell of a lot to be desired.

Individually the capabilities of the players are a known and proven quantity, but collectively as a team the potential just isn't being justified. The material is there, but for the team to prove itself both in results and in performance the emphasis must be placed on the basic skills of the game (tight and loose scrum play, line-out play. orthodox three-quarter movements, tactical kicking, sensible defence) on top of which the individual flair of players would really prove effective, We need to make the ball do a lot more of the work instead of expecting individuals to do it on their own all the time. The fact that we rely on individuals too much is borne out by the all too frequent sight of one player running with the ball and the majority of the other players virtually stationary watching, giving their moral (and vocal!) support but not the necessary physical support. No-one can tell a threes player when he should break - it is a split-second spontaneous decision consequent to the immediate situation, but we are expecting a flash of genius from one of them every time. All the threes are very good ball players and individual runners: we have two very fast wing three-quarters, but collectively we don't have the correct three-quarter line discipline to get the ball sufficiently economically in speed and distance to these wingers to make them fully effective, Similarly the scrum needs to be drilled so that the procedure in getting the ball to the scrum-half both in the loose and set pieces is considerably speeded up.

I don't want these criticisms I have made to be looked on as destructive (if anything they reflect my own inadequacy as Captain to correct them), I make them because I feel that the club and the players are not doing themselves justice when the ability is there. To improve things will require full co-operation of all the players, a lot of organised training in technique and discipline from the administration and self discipline of the players. I wish Rich Waughman and John Martin all the best with the help of the players trying both to improve the standard of our rugby and creating a unified spirit within the club.

Finally every effort must be made to ensure that the 2nd XV get a full complement of players so they can honour their fixture list. Although the 2nd XV must fulfil its role as a reserve for the 1st team, it has its own game each week and needs a team spirit and sense of unity as much as the 1st team. The club must get more players on their books, especially young players from the school. At the start of this season C. Curran, J, Morri and S. Coduri joined the club with V. Beresford, Harber and Parperis joining during the season. They are all extremely promising players and if we can obtain this number and calibre each year it can only strengthen the club, leading to a more competitive and enthusiastic approach all round. I think it is worth mentioning that a total of 29 players have represented the 1st team at some time during the season, 26 of whom have had more than one game, and I am grateful to all the members of the club for their efforts, especially my Vice-Captain Tony Titshall, the Team Secretary Alan MacKay and the 2nds Captains Bobby Gould and Jim Allgrove.

I wish everybody the best for next season.                                                                                   Peter Jones - Corners 60-67