Clive Stuart-Smith column

By Clive Stuart-Smith
Esher RFC scrum-half

Clive Stuart-Smith played for Exeter before moving to Esher

Pre-season has flown by and it seems quite strange that the start of our league campaign is this coming weekend. Our two warm-up games presented very different challenges.

Unfortunately we were chasing shadows in our first game against Saracens and ended up without the ball for a large percentage of the game.

Our defensive frailties were massively exposed, which led to an interesting and much needed following week of training. The emphasis was clear - defence.

Leading into the Lille game we knew we had to be a lot sharper in order to avoid another embarrassing defeat. It was almost the opposite of the week before when it came to time with the ball. We put some really good passages of play together but didn't always convert the final opportunity that we often created.

It is always frustrating as you work so hard to end up with the golden 2 v 1. There were some fantastic breakaway tries and some real endeavour to attack from anywhere which is a big positive.

Our defensive frailties were massively exposed, which led to an interesting following week of training

It did not take long to recognise that there is a huge amount of talent across the board in the squad although the key in any team game is to get the combinations gelling together as quickly as possible. Moseley away is a great start for us; a fixture on the road against a very hard-nosed side.

Things will not be perfect so early on in the season, but the emphasis swings now to getting results. It is evident that we are a team that will get out there and express ourselves whatever the weather and we are really excited about the coming season and can't wait for it to begin.

One Esher player embraced fancy dress night in Italy as Cyril Sneer

Arriving at a new club you never quite know what to expect but after being quickly introduced to the Human Fridge, Moose, Pork Pie and Asbo (all nicknames of some of the players at the club). I felt very excited and it didn't take long to see the Human Fridge engulf the Pork Pie. Seeing the Moose on guard just in case Asbo stepped within his 20-feet boundary was a sight to behold.

We were very fortunate to go to Perugia in Italy for our pre-season training camp and it allowed us to spend some quality "man hours" together. On the rugby front, we trained behind closed doors with the only outside person watching being Manuel the monosyllabic moustached-up coach driver.

The final night ended in fancy dress with any link to the word 'pink'. If you do come across "Cyril Sneer" he would appreciate some help as apparently he is still roaming the streets in Italy looking for "Bert and The Raccoons."