Representatives from all Warwickshire rugby clubs were invited to the Ricoh Stadium in Coventry last week to meet with Wasps Rugby owners, officials and players.

Wasps Chief Executive, Nick Eastwood, gave a short presentation on Wasps' plans for the stadium and, although not yet fully formed, outlined their desire and a plan to work very closely in the surrounding community with local amateur rugby clubs. However, it was made clear that, for the time being, the 'Academy' pathway for clubs in our area remains with Worcester Warriors and there are no immediate plans for that to change.

It is very clear that Wasps have very big and ambitious plans, but also that they have a great deal of work to do. Beyond having the opportunity and the prestige of a leading Premiership and European rugby club moving to our area, the most we can hope for this season is to benefit from their ticket offers and maybe try to entice one or two of their players along for one of our events at the end of the season *. In the seasons to come, however, the world is our lobster!

* Paul Sackey and Serge Betsen are already representing Wasps at community level, and Sackey spoke to us last week.

The club ticket offer is valid for the first 4 home games at the Ricoh (see dates and fixtures below) and is very straightforward:

'10 Tickets for the price of 8 Tickets' *
(Category 3 Tickets - South Stand)

* Adult tickets are priced at £20.00. Junior and Young Adults (10-21yrs) are priced at £10.00. Children under 10 are free on the basis of 1 free ticket with 1 purchased Adult ticket.

The financial benefit from the '2 free tickets' will depend on the mix of tickets requested, but will be distributed across the group of 10 purchasers to reduce the cost of each ticket pro-rata (they will therefore be cheaper than £20 and £10!). In a nutshell, the benefit is passed on 100% to you.

This offer can only be accessed through SRFC and I am looking for someone to coordinate this initiative at our end (please contact Nick Underwood via the website asap to volunteer). It will not happen unless someone steps forward quickly, I'm afraid.

The games are:

Wasps v London Irish - 21.12.14 (Sunday)

Wasps v Sale Sharks - 04.01.15 (Sunday)

Wasps v Leinster Rugby - 23.01.15 (Friday)

Wasps v Cardiff Blues - 01.02.15 (Sunday)

The deadline for submitting our request for the London Irish game is December 5th - so we need a volunteer in-place asap to coordinate this.

Christmas Turkeys

It won't have escaped anyone's notice that the old, fat, gout riddled fella is preparing to make his seasonal appearance -

- no, not me digging out my boots for the Vets!

Christmas is just around the corner and this year, with very little rugby over the 2-week holiday, there's no reason whatsover to hold back on the size of your turkey.

The finest birds in Warwickshire are lovingly reared along the banks of the river Stour river, just a pebble's splash away from Shipston, grazing under chestnut trees and sent off to bed every night with the sound of a babbling stream and hooting owls. Will James at Whitchurch Farm, Alderminster is a former Shipston RFC player and great friend and supporter of the club, and he has been rearing Turkeys for donkeys years.

Turkeys from Whitchurch Farm are always in great demand but, if you get in quickly, you may still be able to get your order in with Will. There's nothing more festive on a Christmas Eve than driving along the lane from Crimscote or Wimpstone to collect your Christmas lunch from the farm where it was reared, and nothing better than supporting a local producer.

Give the James farm a call on 01789 450359 and be sure to mention Shipston RFC when you place your order. You won't get it cheaper, but you may get one of the birds fed entirely on mince pies!

Ho, ho, ho