The other Le Crunch for Club, Derby Day for Drags, Scorps, Select, Sequins

Morning all

Barely has there been a week to draw breath after last weekend's tumultous rugby, both international and local, but Saturday is upon us again. Quite apart from Le Crunch de Tout les Crunches in Paris, there will be some pretty big bust-ups in our own back yard.

Club take on last year's league champions (but not grand champions), HKCC at home. Having come within an ace of beating them last season, the Club boys will be keen to prove their victory against Valley last weekend was not a one-off and that they can cut it with Div 1's top teams, week in, week out. This one kicks off at 6.00pm.

Then there are the HKFC derbies, Drags v Scorps at 3.15pm, HKFC, and Select v Sequins, 1.45pm, HKFC. Traditionally, these have often been more like pitched battles, with both teams coming out fired up to distraction at the prospect of putting one over a guy who they normally stand next to at the bar. I remember asking myself what the hell I'd got into after the first Drags v Scorps derby I was involved in, which must have been in 2004. After the second one, where Drags narrowly edged out a good Scorps side for a playoff place, we were all walking off spent and broken and I saw Jim Rowark (then Drags coach) chuckling on the sidelines. "That was good boys," he said. "But nothing like rugby."

There have also been some momentous Scorps v Select derbies over the last couple of years. Select's tactics tended to involve coming out breathing fire and brimstone and smashing everything in sight for the first 20 minutes, with big runners coming at you hard off every ruck. They'd rattle the Scorps, the 'crowd' would get behind them and their blood would be up like a pack of hounds hitting the scent - of an upset. Normally Scorps would be able to withstand the initial tempest, keep their shape, regroup, and stretch away to victory as Select tired in the second half. Not always. Who can forget Select's performance of 'Father Abraham' and collective leap into the swimming pool after they beat Scorps in the 2005/06 season? Upsets do happen, as if you didn't know that after following this world cup.

The culture is a little different these days. People move between teams - especially Drags and Scorps - like they cross the border at Lo Wu. In the past, there would have been a tight Scorps unit of people who regularly played together itching to put one over Drags tomorrow. But now, the team bears little resemblance to the one that beat Valley last weekend. Maybe we are more collegiate these days, and the 'clubs within clubs' thing has died a death (I would possibly exclude Select and Sequins here). If so, maybe that's all for the best, although it could make these derbies less interesting.

Many used to bemoan the fact that so much energy, emotion and needle went into the internal games, which could have been saved for Valley or Aberdeen instead. They have a point. But there is always something special about playing your mates from the Club. Maybe this does turn us in on ourselves somewhat. But I don't think any experience of playing in tough, close games can be bad for you (as England know to their benefit and New Zealand to their cost).

Over to you. What do you think? Internal games - a Good Thing or a Bad Thing?

Harps

FIXTURES

G4S League Week 3
Saturday 13th October

Division 1
Crown Valley v Generali Causeway Bay Rams 6.00pm SKP
InProjects Kowloon v DeA Tigers 6.00pm KP-1
CBRE Club v Synovate HKCC 6.00pm HKFC

Division 2
Crown Valley Knights v Laxton PLA 3.00pm HV
CBRE Club Scorps v CBRE Club Drags 3.15pm HKFC

Division 3
CBRE Club Select v CBRE Club Sequins 1.45pm HKFC
InProjects Kowloon Pussies v DeA II 4.30pm KP-1
Police v University 4.30pm PBS
SJM Macau v Rouse & Co Intl Typhoons Macau?
Crown Valley Mustangs - bye

Division 4
City v Synovate HKCC/Abdn II 6.00pm HV
Gai Wu J v Tanner De Witt Nomads 6.00pm THT
Generali CWB Pirates v Crown Valley Broncos 3.15pm SKP
DeA III - bye

Division 5
inProjects Kowloon Beavers v CBRE Club Bulls 3.00pm KP-1
Police Panthers v University-HKU 3.15pm PBS
Crown Valley Griffins v Allianz TPD 1.45pm HV