AristoRats vs Arthurian Cycle

26th November 2021

With four thousand ratty hooligans and three thousand Baldricks in the crowd, this epic tussle between two well-staffed teams commenced! The weather was warm and comfortable the whole game through.

Photographs are here!

First Half

  1. There are some arguments from the AR about the kickoff which the ref sorts with a ding round the ear for Percy, leaving him dazed on the turf, after which the ball was promptly punted! The ball is delivered to King Arthur who heads up the right-hand side of the field with it. Meanwhile, on the scrim line Henry the Dauntless linerat eyes Mordred the Glass Ogre carefully and then pushes him over on his back.
  2. Amid considerable shoving as a horde of rats converged on him, Arthur manages to move the ball a whole square
  3. Arthur hurls the ball out of the maul to Pellinore who snags it and belts off over the line. Touchdown!
    Restart for the Rats and Tarquin knocks Elaine cold. Theodore gets the idea here and batters Mordred down; once again the Glass Ogre is taken off burbling and moaning to the Lady Sybill Free Veterinary Hospital; end of his game. The ball is passed from Francis to Archibald the runner
  4. Archibald runs up and hands off to Barnaby who ambles over the line for a Touchdown!
  5. The Cycle get the ball back, and Gareth makes a nice easy lob to King Arthur. It bounces off the back of his head, and Gareth is prey to some pretty treasonous thoughts at this point.
  6. With the ball back with [no note of which rat] the Cycle emulate the Rat Pack tactic and gang up on him. Palamades gets carried away and tries to take out Theodore, but the Ratogre shrugs the block off and stuns Lady Elaine in return
  7. The Cycle throw block after blocks but can't catch the lightning form of Barnaby
  8. Arthur stuns Charles, but it's a side show to Barnaby crossing the line once more - Touchdown!

2nd Half

  1. No sooner had the teams lined up than scuffles broke out, something about Guinevere being called a "slapper" by a rat and Arthur protesting that this was his job.
  2. Things only get under way when Sebastien bags the ball, still giggling, and drops it. Cycle players rush in to confront him and for some bizarre reason start singing barbershop
  3. The Rat Pack converges. Theodore knocks Arthur down, clearing his head of Guinevere and indeed everything else for a bit as he takes a nap and loses his grip on the ball. Archibald catches it out of the air. Pellinore Blitzes him - the only Gutter Runner without Block, sadly. As the ball comes down he, in turn, catches it and dodges away from the Pack
  4. In some disbelief Pellinore stays upright as he weaves past rat after rat, straigtens up and hurtles over the line for the equalizer. Touchdown!
  5. In a departure from the symmetrical setups so far, the Rats set up to cover the left hand side of the field. With unusual tactical thinking, the Arthurians kick to the right, dash down and build a screening wall betwee the rats and the ball
  6. Theodore, playing the game of his life without taking a bite out of a single team-mate, stamps on Queen Guinevere and sends her to join Mordred in the back of the horse-drawn ambulance. Tarquin follows suit, doing enough damage to the Thrower Gareth that his season comes to an unfortunate end. Sebastien passes to Archibald who runs up the field and hands off to Monty. Dashing to the endzone, he pauses there, one footpaw poised over the line, taunting the cycle a second time. Arthurians pelt down the field towards him but they are not going to get there in time
  7. As the Cycle close in around him, Monty casually lowers his footpaw and waggles the ball at them. Touchdown!
    The Cycle restart, desperate to balance the game to what would be their best-ever result. Gaheris the Thrower collects the ball, dashes up to Pellinore - up to now having his best-ever game - and hands it off to him. The King of the Questin' Beast promptly drops it and Cycle hopes die
  8. Even Skaven couldn't score from this point, though Francis gets within reach of the ball. Pellinore promptly surfs him into the crowd and feels rather better. Gaheris picks the ball up again and passes it to Neville le Hamster Gros. Arthur knocks Cuthbert over rather half-heartedly as the final whistle goes.

Final score 3-2 Aristorats

MVP Sebastien and Arthur