In Memory of Rob Webb

It is with great sadness that Battersea Ironsides Rugby Club announces the recent death of Club stalwart Rob Webb.

Rob joined the Ironsides in the 1990’s, already in middle age and gnarly. Rob fell immediately into the dark ways of the front five and wasn’t much interested in what went on elsewhere around the park.

Mick Wilkie recalls scrummaging behind Big Rob and Vinny Bellavista and trampling through a scrum over the opposition pack with Rob muttering “that ain’t a front row…”.

Simon Wardley, a career back and general contact-dodger, remembers a truly attritional, low scoring match at Purley, where all we did was defend on our line for ages at a time. Simon recalls it felt that it was a dire and attritional match, but Rob was like a pig in the proverbial with scrum after scrum after scrum to get on with. His idea of an expansive match was scrums all along the 5 metre line. The more the merrier.

It would also be fair to say that you usually wouldn’t struggle to tell the difference between Rob and a ray of sunshine. Rob could be curmudgeonly or really funny - the difference was often subtle. Think of a cross between the actors Richard Wilson and Ray Winstone and you’d be on the right tracks.

Rob was a good tourist. It’s always hard to report tour stories that are appropriate for family viewing or, translate well if you weren’t there, however Smuggler selects the story of Rob waking his team mates up with what appeared to be a prolonged fight with a rubber boat (this is on the 4th floor of a Spanish hotel). When asked by startled (and now wide awake) roommates what was going on, Rob assured them that “the boat started it!”.

Rob was also a very very clever man – much more so than you’d initially think from the rough exterior and extensive use of profanity.

There was an Ironsides stag evening in the East End where Rob, who was a strong man, inadvertently pulled the door off a Taxi of dubious roadworthiness and then remonstrated with the driver about how he would not travel in an unsafe vehicle.

Ironsides hearts go out to Rob's lovely wife Deb and children Rob and Charlotte.

Rest in peace, big fella. The banter in the Clubhouse will be a bit less funny without you.