The U15s entertained a touring side from Upminster RFC. After a typically rather slow Chippenham start, which saw them under pressure in the early exchanges and Upminster prop rumbled over from close range after they turned over Chippenham’s scrum (0-5). It was evident from early on that the opposition were well-drilled; the Chippenham scrum was always under pressure and the clearly talented Upminster backs showed confidence with fluent handling and swift running. They added a second not long after when a sleepy Chippenham failed to respond quickly enough to a penalty against them and a quick tap and go, aided by poor tackling, allowed them to run in to open the gap (0-12). Chippenham finally lifted their game and played simple rugby, working the phases and this was rewarded as they moved up field and were awarded a penalty; unfortunately the points went begging. However, they then conceded another try from the 22 drop out when Upminster’s quick thinking, and Chippenham’s lack of appetite (with some notable exceptions) to tackling bigger, stronger runners low down, allowed them to break out and extend the lead 0-19. Things were looking ominous; whenever Chippenham had the ball it was generally slow, and the back line looked rather lacking in ideas in the face of a very quick rush defence. However, Chippenham pressed Upminster back towards their line; Taylor stole the ball at a 5m lineout and barged over for a deserved score which Alcorn did well to convert (7-19). Upminster came back hard and threated on a couple of occasions only to be thwarted by a desperate defence, before finally getting over for another score on the stroke of half time (7-26).

Any hope of a recovery was dashed when Upminster ran in a try from the kick off (7-33). Chippenham kept at it but play was scrappy and Upminster always had the upper hand in all areas and added another score some 10 minutes into the half (7-38). Chippenham kept their heads up and the commitment and high work rate of forwards Emery, Tillotson, and Taylor was particularly evident in quite a physical contest up front. Unfortunately Upminster got a lucky break seizing upon a fumble in the back line to run in from 15m. Longley-Brown saved an almost certain try by chasing back to gather the ball following a chip behind the defence, staying on his feet until support arrived. In the closing minutes Upminster committed a series of infringements which allowed Chippenham to move deep into their half looking for some consolatory points; however possession was lost, the ball cleared and gathered by an Upminster back to touch down on the whistle (7-50).