This weekend saw the return of the Clifton Nomads Vets XV as they took up the invitation to play in the inaugural IPF Charity Tournament at St Mary’s Old Boys as part of their 125th Anniversary celebrations.

Game 1 saw the Nomads drawn against Whitehall who started well, notching up a two-try lead.
Clifton though began to brush off the rust and slowly grind into gear. Scores from Edgell, Rochelle, Davies, Jennings and Howard were topped off with a conversion by fly-half Rob Viol to give the Nomads a well-deserved first victory of the day 27 - 14.

Game 2 thankfully came soon after before the bodies could seize up and the deep heat and ice packs ran out.
In the second outing, Clifton faced local rivals North Bristol.
The Lavender and Blacks soon found their rhythm with Leadbeater, Hardy, Martin and McGrath all crossing over to claim a 26-7 win.

Whitehall’s result over the favourites St Mary’s left it all to chance for the final few games.

A lengthy break in the game's schedule saw Clifton roll out for their final game 3 of the day against the hosts with heavy legs and it showed in the first quarter as Mary’s took a swift 15-0 lead.
Clifton came back with scores from Jennings and Crookes but it wasn’t enough as Mary’s strength in depth off the bench began to tell as the visitors dipped off. Final score 44-10.

Mary’s deservedly, but graciously took the trophy with Clifton finishing second in the table.

A huge thanks to all those involved. Great to see current, former and several retired players putting the shirt back on.

Special mention to Captain Graham Hardy for leading the side out for all three games as well as former Clifton 1st XV player Rob Viol for his support with recruitment.

Team Sages Les Robinson and Mark Harawa, took the accolades of oldest players in the squad on the day, whilst centre Ross Jennings was top try scorer.

Player of the tournament went to 3rd Team full-back Jordan Davies, who took a day out from tending to his garden lawn to step in at scrum-half.

A great day out in aid of a good cause. We would like to thank St Mary’s OB RFC for the invitation and for hosting us so superbly.

Nomads Squad 2025:
Scott ‘TFSM’ McGrath
Ross ‘The screw’ Denton
Graham ‘Granite’ Hardy (capt)
Beno ‘Posho’ Edwards
Les ‘Honey Monster’ Robinson
Leo ‘T-Rex’ Howard
Matt ‘Taz’ Edgell
Ross ‘The Chef’ Rochelle
Greg ‘I know Rob Viol’ Kirkwood
Paul ‘Voldemort’ Giddings
Jordan ‘Slipstream’ Davies
Garry ‘Nice Line’ Leadbeater
Chris ‘Sledgehammer’ Walker
Ross ‘Gandalf’ Jennings
Matt ‘Scruff’ Denning
Rob ‘Silk’ Viol
Mark ‘Teflon’ Harawa
Rich ‘Tea Biscuit’ Martin
Paul ‘Pistol’ Davies
Liam ‘Dings’ McGrath
Andy ‘Phil Mitchell’ Crookes

Coach: Mark ‘Peewee’ Nichols