Mess Rugby
 

did such a sport ever exist?
if so....is it still played?

Yes

Yes :ouch:

and yes again, again

are there any rules?
 

do the doors get locked?
is it played in all messes?
are there different standards of conduct between messes?
are there referees?
do you play with a ball?

what about elf & safety?

No
Only in Officers Messes.
n/a
No
No, usually a cabbage

Don't be so wet.

do the doors get locked? No why would you want too?


is it played in all messes? Have witnessed this in Pongo Messes, RN Wardrooms and RAF Messes in my travels

are there different standards of conduct between messes? Not really but that is through a bitter induced haze!

are there referees? Nope just the boring OFs in the corner saying it was worse in their day, nowhere near the same number of broken limbs per game as it was in the 60s/70s?80s.

do you play with a ball? Yes usually the smallest most irritating blunty you can find

what about elf & safety? Why tell the elfs?

If you have to ask, you never dined properly. Of course it doesn't happen any more! There would be no sniff of high spirits or red-top stories here at all. No siree, move along, nothing to see here.

Cabbages. I prefer cabbages.

One has been known to drop into a conversation that one once played in the same front row as a notable RAF, Combined Services, Wales & Lions front-row forward.....:ok:


........and one has been known to omit the fact that it was mess rugby......;)

Mess rugby did indeed exist and it was this that started my trips to the MO. I was invalided eventually. :sad: Bloody good night though.:}

QHI cse Shawbury - RN & ARMY v RAF - lots of carpet burns for the crabs!

Mess rugby
 

Watch out for some army regiments where they keep their spurs on! Barsteward! I still have the scar.
The Ancient Mariner

Yes, massive ones, although no one's yet made a ruler big enough to measure the differences.
A WOs & Sgt's mess has "Standards",
An O's mess has "Appropriate behaviour".
The latter is cleverly worded to be open to a little more variation and interpretation.....obviously.:rolleyes:

Stopped playing after one Taranto night at Culdrose.
Thought I had the seat cushion "Ball" firmly wrapped around my fist, and was wrenching it hard to remove it from scrum.
Mildly perturbed to find that it was a Wren's large right tit.:eek:
Must have had some difficult bruises to expain to her boyfriend

SOP - clear the ante-room of all tables and chairs (put to the side), find a ball type thing and start fighting! This is best carried out after dinner, rather than during pre-dinner drinks. I was never over-fond of it, I preferred to continue drinking and shout insults from the sidelines!

Back when Scampton was a proper V-bomber station, I recall a rather good game of Mess Rugby.

The Stn Cdr was pi$$ed enough to want to join in. "Better be careful, chaps, last time I did this I broke my ankle" were his Famous Last Words....

The cabbage was thrown into the midst of the assembled throng and the usual chaos ensued. Not many minutes passed before there was an anguished yelp of "Bugger - I think I've done it again!" from the Stn Cdr.

A doctor was found, sobered up and attempts were made to confirm the injury. Which was soon confirmed....

However, the most pi$$ed off Teddy was OC Ops Wg. For it was the AOC's parade a few days later.... Nevertheless, he managed to learn the relevant words of command in time and the parade went off without a hitch, watched by the beaming Stn Cdr in best blue perched on his very own wheelchair complete with pennant!

Aw Bless
 

Got to admire the courage of the lad asking the question, but has it really got to the stage where it is an urban myth?

Next they'll be saying Cannons don't exist either:ok:

Once saw the letter written by a chum to the PMC after a bit of horseplay with the red boys:

"Sir,

I have the honour to report that a no-notice functional check performed on First Aid Fire Appliance (Stored Pressure Water) ref. nnnnnnn in the Officers' Mess ante room proved entirely satisfactory.

However, I shall in future ensure that such checks are more properly carried out by those normally appointed for the task and are conducted in the designated testing area.

I have the honour (etc)"

No doubt nowadays such things would require a full evacuation of the Mess as the mandatory health and safety :rolleyes: level of fire fighting equipment would have been reduced without approval.......:mad:

Not exactly Mess Rugger but have a look at the Quantas letter here:

http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthr...=qantas+humour

When I was holding at Laarbruch at the end of the 70s (see,we had to hold as well!), I went to Rheindhalen for the results of the Salmond Trophy competition. This was a flying comp for all the fast jet sqns in RAFG (which 16 Sqn had won by some careful engineering work (which is another story)) and nearly every fast jet pilot, navigator, engineer and hangers on gathered in the Officers Mess to hear the results. The Mess staff had already drained the fish pond outside in preparation for our arrival in case we decided to swim in it. Then followed the biggest mess rugby game I have ever seen (in 27 years in the RAF!). Over 150 mates using a seat cushion for a ball. One big rolling ball of humanity with at least 10 different sides competing (all the fast jet sqns had their own team). No-one knows who won but there were no breakages (of bones that is, plenty of bits missing from walls etc). The worst injury was to a Buccaneer navigator who fell over in the bus on the way back to Laarbruch and broke his arm.

Great days!

Was once played at BRNC in the senior gun room. Then a certain 2 1/2 went out the window and cracked his nut, and it's now banned. So now there's tug of war with a broom handle and a few others.