It may be nothing new for a 'magic circle' law firm to be making an impact in eastern Europe, but it's rare for that to be in the form of a full-blooded tackle on the field of honour.

Obiter is therefore delighted to congratulate the stout-hearted chaps of the Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer rugby XV, who celebrated Hungary's accession to the EU with a May Day victory in the inaugural Buda-Fest rugby tournament.

The title decider was a nail-biting encounter with the home side, Hungary's national champions, that hung in the balance until a Freshfields move, that was worthy of the 1974 Barbarians, ended in a try for openside flanker Sean Lacey.

This being a 'rugger' tour, the squad had certain post-match rules to adhere to.

Left-handed drinking and the wearing of silly hats were, of course, de rigueur.

Obiter was also impressed by the team's enthusiasm for hitting the deck at the shout of the word 'grenade'.

No doubt that brought back memories of 1956 to some of the locals.

There was not such good news to report on Freshfields' performance - or indeed of any law firm - in this year's City Sevens, however.

Freshfields was the only firm to progress beyond the last 16, and got knocked out by the eventual winners, the bean-counters over at PricewaterhouseCoopers, in the semis.

Lawyers have triumphed just twice since the tournament's inception in 1973 - Allen & Overy in 1981 and Freshfields in 2000 - so it could be a long wait before they triumph again.