A Muddy Affair

Hilly's Benefit game at Vicarage Road was pretty wet at times yesterday, and the World XV rather unwisely had a white kit, which very soon ended up sludge brown. You could spot the subs a mile off when they came on the pitch, we were nearly blinded by the Ariel Whites!

Bit of a pity Saracens XV trailed so far behind, but it was an entertaining game to watch, all the same. And lots of tries! Well done to Academy sub number 22 Richard Gill, who scored a try for Saracens a few minutes after coming on the pitch. He aslo made a very decent tackle on old stager Carlos Spencer, obviously a youth not afraid to get stuck into icons of the game. And just like seeing Captain Hugh Vyvyan dropping a goal a few months back, I also witnessed something I was never expecting - Saracens prop Ben Broster converting a try with a very decent hoof from the touchline - move over "Glenda" Jackson!

There were some great rugby names on both sides, notably David Flatman and Tony Diprose - former Sarries who returned to pull on the black jersey for the afternoon - and as well as King Carlos, the World XV boasted the likes of internationals Justin Marshall, Matt Burke, Joe Roff, Xavier Rush and Raphael Ibanez. They were captained by the inimitable Lawrence Dallaglio. You can see a bunch of the boys getting stuck into each other in the attached photo.