On Friday evening, Dorking welcomed Helston Vixens, who were on tour from Cornwall, for a fixture. This was set to be a light hearted affair with enjoyment and team bonding being top of the agenda. Both teams, however went on to produce some moments of outstanding rugby despite becoming a little more worse for wear as the game went on.
The game kicked off and Helston showed their intent from the off as they produced some fantastic offloading rugby to score the first try of the match which led to the first red card of the evening being issued. The offence was making the referee have to run too far without prior warning. This set the expectations and plenty more yellow and red cards followed.
Corks were not to be outdone and produced some magic moments of their own, moving the ball into space through kicking and passing to keep the score board ticking over.
To help with the spirit of the occasion cards were given at will and for every card given, the player at fault would have to leave the pitch and do a shot before they were allowed to return back to the pitch. Offences such as contesting uncontested scrums, scoring tries at the wrong the end and scaring the ref were duly punished.
The referee got carried away with the occasion and forgot to keep score so it remains a mystery who won the match but I think all that were involved would agree that rugby was the winner on this occasion.
The match finished with a melon, egg and large water bottle replacing the ball which did not have negative impact on the standard of rugby with offloads galore right up to the final minute.
This was a truly special evening to be part of and was real advert for rugby as two teams came together to enjoy what the sport has to offer, showing off some fantastic skills whilst making memories that will hopefully last a lifetime. A good old fashioned social followed in the clubhouse after as the teams came together to celebrate all that is great about our wonderful sport.
