“Back into 3 figures” was Murray Kerr’s proud announcement when he reported that 104 were present for the penultimate GROGS meeting of the 2013/14 season, bringing the average attendance this year to 105, well exceeding the Committee’s expectations. The last time Raymond Healy chaired one of our Lunches was in March 2013, when he introduced the well known International Referee, Andrew McPherson, as guest speaker. This March it was the turn of the even better known International Referee, Jim Fleming. Raymond seems to have cornered the refereeing market! He introduced Jim with a claim that was as popular as it was inaccurate, saying that he (Jim) had never refereed a match in which England was playing and which they won. His guest gently corrected him by saying there had been one! Jim’s delivery was light and relaxed as he entertained his audience with stories from his vast experience of refereeing matches around the globe. Tales out of school included one about an embarrassing open microphone slip involving the aspirations of a touch judge towards Alison Holloway, when she was an ITV rugby correspondent; one where he almost made the GROGs feel sorry for the way he treated Peter Wright during a game and an admission that Princess Anne was one of the most rugby savvy people he’d ever met. Way to get an upgrade on your MBE, Jim! Local boy, Clem Imrie, appearing at his first GROGS Lunch, asked the first question, raising the vexed subject of messy scrums. There followed a number of other excellent questions (including one from one of the serving staff) all of which Jim dealt with in a knowledgeable and professional manner. Possibly his most popular answer was “Jonathan Davies”, when asked:- “which TV pundit do you dislike most?” He ended with a suggestion that we watch an Australian video on YouTube, proving that there is no such thing as a forward pass! Guess what he walked away with? Yes, a bottle of GROGS whisky and a GROGS tie!