Brixham battle the Barbarians

While the senior teams in Torbay rugby took a well-earned break over the weekend, preparations are well underway at Astley Park for a special fixture on Friday night.

Visiting the Fishermen on February 16 (kick-off 7.30pm) is a team from the LooseHeadz Barbarians. This exhibition match will pit Brixham against LooseHeadz, the leading mental health charity for rugby.

Providing rugby clubs with resources to help #TackleTheStigma, LooseHeadz raises funds through their unique clothing brands and increases awareness of the stigma surrounding mental health through special events and matches like this one at Brixham RFC. Entry is free and a guaranteed top night of rugby entertainment.

Two games did go ahead in the Regional 1 South West division and they both resulted in victories for the leading duo, Devonport Services overpowering Lydney 38-18 and Chew Valley won 17-12 at Matson. Brixham remain fourth, six points behind Barnstaple in third, seven behind Chew but a hefty 13 points in arrears of Devonport.

On the junior side, there was a superb 20-15 victory for Brixham Colts at Okehampton and with only four games remaining, the young Fishermen have a six-point lead at the top, with Torquay the side leading the chase.

The stats team at the Rec took the opportunity presented by a weekend off to do some number crunching on the leading points scorers for Torquay this season, including games for the first-team and the Extras team.

Storming ahead of the pack with 135 points at the three-quarter stage of the season is Ryan Hanauer, followed by Lewis Crocker on 86 point and Joel Armitage completes the top three with 70.

The best of the rest includes Joe Widdecombe (69), Mawgan Penrice (67), Matt Allanson (50), Morgan Alcock (49), Joe Akery (36) and Jonny Brown, Ben Sharples and Noah Rider all with 35.