Friday night (5 October) saw more than 110 sponsors, members and guests gather at the club for the annual Sportsman’s Dinner.
The Curve Sports Bar was packed from early evening with relaxed Friday-nighters who, summoned to move upstairs for dinner, were greeted with a beautifully laid out and decorated room and tables.
Under the practiced direction of club stalwart Tony Balkwill, England legend Danny Care, members and guests were welcomed to the event and sponsors thanked.
Tony then presented a tryptic of picture frames into which had been mounted more than a hundred and twenty ties, which had been given to long time member Colin Herridge, during his time with the RFU and Harlequins and which Colin has now entrusted to the Club. Colin gave a brief explanation of the provenance of some of the ties and was obviously delighted to see them so well displayed. The tryptic will now be displayed in the Braemar Meeting Room.
All present enjoyed excellent food prepared and served by in-house caterers Hot Rocks, whilst Jacky and our events staff made sure that wine and beer glasses were constantly topped up.
It was great to see a table of Under 21 players attending this event, who were kept going with numerous jugs donated by generous members. Even more exciting for them was to have Danny join their table for rugby chat.
Ably hosted by Steve Pope our Director of Rugby, all present hugely enjoyed the ensuing Q&A session with Danny Care, which elicited some revealing (though diplomatic) answers from our guest.
Huge thanks to Danny for taking the time to come and entertain us in such style.
All in all, a great evening which saw the bar in full use until early in the morning.
If you haven’t been before, do come and join us for next years event – you will be assured of a warm welcome.
