The senior section registered two wins this week and our A XV put in a battling display but falling agonisingly short at Norwich Union in a 38-33 thriller. Then, on Sunday, a combined Cots/Under 16 side went to Stowmarket and secured an 84-0 win - it was a good weekend overall.

With five games of the regular season remaining, our 1st XV registered a 13-try win over Letchworth Garden City at Legends Lane. Our boys set the tone with a try in the opening minute from David Brennan, then systematically run in another dozen tries including a hat-trick apiece for Oliver Pickett and man of the match Joe Flexman. Our boys were also on the receiving end of a penalty try when Charlie Thorogood was impeded just as he was about to register his first try of the season after a period of sustained pressure.

The whole team can be satisfied with their game, but there were a number of stand-out performances. Joe Colcomb once again showed how he has emerged as a crucial member of the side with a number of interventions, cleaning up at the breakdown and turning over possession on several occasions. His progress has been a revelation and in addition to his rugby skills, he's a fabulous young man who despite only joining us in the summer, has shown total commitment to our cause. Joe is off to University in September but we will always appreciate the effort he has put in this season.

In the backs, centres Joe Flexman and Jona Crisp succeeded in providing time and space for the back three of Will Brown, James Crozier and Dave Brennan. Flexman's performance was his best of the season. He ran straight, hard-lines and on several occasions, he caught the opposition flat-footed and took the defence with him, he was able to not only run in three tries for himself, he created space for others.

After establishing a seven-try lead in the first half, it would have been easy to take the foot off the gas and go through the motions, but the lads added six tries in the second half despite some positional changes. It was an uncompromising and ruthless display and our first defensive clean sheet of the season. Running up a score is great, but there is also something extremely satisfying when you keep the opposition out for the entire 80 minutes.

Elsewhere in London 1, the results went with form. Chingford won at Amersham and Chiltern (enabling us to leapfrog Amersham into third place) and Brentwood extended their lead with a 62-10 win over Eton Manor. In doing so Brentwood also scored their 1000th point of the season. With six games remaining, it will be interesting to see if they can measure up to our points total of 1226 from the promotion season of 2014-15. There's no 1st XV game this week, so our boys will have a break from match play until 3rd March. Most will hit the gym but in many cases, it will give them an opportunity to allow some niggling injuries to calm down; there's even a 1st XV regular who loves nothing more than 'hitting' the local spa for a sauna, robe, towel and slippers! He will remain nameless!

The Ravens secured a fabulous 38-31 win over Old Albanians at Mill Road. The game was evenly balanced at halftime, but the Ravens' energy and drive made the difference. Troy Palmer put in another excellent performance in the front row, ably assisted by Alex Mitchell and Dan Hexley. Sadly there was an unfortunate injury to forward Rob Pickard. Rob endured one of the most painful injuries around - a dislocated knee. Unfortunately, he will miss out on the rest of the season - we wish him a speedy recovery.

Senior Rugby is back at Mill Road on 3rd March when there are three home games. The 1st XV take on Fullerians, the A XV will host Cambridge Adventurers and the Roundheads are scheduled to face the second string from our near neighbours Mistley RFC.