Chippenham U16s beat Bournemouth to Win Dorset & Wiltshire Cup

A bright and blustery morning greeted the Chippenham players as they headed off to North Dorset’s ground, venue for their long awaited first final in this year’s D&W Cup. The culmination of a three seasons efforts to prove that they were consistently the best side in the two counties.

Their opponents were Bournemouth who they had met in a close fought contest early in the season at the round robin stage. (Chippenham winning that time in the dying minutes.) This was going to be an enthralling contest.

Conditions were perfect, with North Dorset ground in exceptional condition despite the recent storms. With the sun breaking through and a drying wind free flowing rugby was on the programme.

Chippenham were out of the starting gate immediately the whistle was blown, putting the pressure on to the Bournemouth side from the kick-off. Despite playing into a cross field wind, they kept their opposition pinned in their own half. Bournemouth tried to kick out of their half but initially found judging distance in the wind challenging, often ending up back where they started as the ball went out on the full. The two side jousted with each other but the territory was firmly in Chippenham’s favour as they made progress first with a selection of well worked forward drives and crash balls, and then often spinning it wide to stretch the Bournemouth back line.

It was from one of these phases of play that there was a ruck outside of the Bournemouth 22 to the right side of the pitch. Calling it blind MaxP took the ball and fed Jon who seeing open space charged through a gap in the defence. Once behind the Bournemouth line there was no catching him as he sprinted to the line close to the posts to open the score for Chippenham.

Cian converted, and took Chippenham into a well-deserved 7-0 lead.

The game restarted and Bournemouth started to be more successful with their use of the wind, blowing as it was into the bottom left-hand corner of the Chippenham half. Chippenham had to work harder to get the ball into the oppositions half. Again the forwards led the way driving forward and recycling the ball, before feeding the backs. However determined Bournemouth defence held for another 10 or minutes before another blindside move saw Danny cutting inside from the left-hand wing and driving through two Bournemouth players before feeding Cian who drove over the line to score Chippenham’s second.

Bournemouth, who were far from beaten, came back again and put Chippenham under concerted pressure. Chippenham clearing their lines a couple of times only to see Bournemouth drive back into their 22. Finally they forced a mistake out of Chippenham and they went over for their first score which they also converted. And the score was 12-7 as they went in for the half-time break.

Turning around and with the wind, Chippenham tried to pin Bournemouth into their own half. However the Bournemouth players also provide that they could drive up the pitch and it required committed defence from Chippenham to stop them. At one point Bournemouth chipped over the top hoping to catch Chippenham out of position, but Ben fielded it well and ran the ball back at them. He beat two or three players and then linked to MaxA who slipped though a gap as only he can and outpaced the defence to get the first score of the second half. Extending Chippenham’s lead to 17-7.

Bournemouth, then had the best spell of the match as they mixed up their game more, linking to their backs. If was one such sequence from broken play that saw Chippenham’s defence caught short on their right side and the Bournemouth number 13 broke through to score. This rallied Bournemouth and they turned around and promptly did the same thing again. Flooding their left side against a thin Chippenham cover defence they crossed for third try only 4 minutes later. This try was converted and suddenly Bournemouth had taken a 19-17 lead.

It is at times like these that teams show their character, Chippenham needed to stop the flow of Bournemouth points and regain their momentum. From the re-start they kicked deep into the Bournemouth half causing a line-out, which they won. Then controlling the ball they drove for phase after phase into the Bournemouth defence.

Try as they might Bournemouth could not clear their lines as every kick was run back at them and driven on. Finally as Chippenham were close the Bournemouth line again Jaden got hands on the ball and bulldozed over to regain the lead for Chippenham so arresting the Bournemouth advance.

Although it only gave Chippenham a small lead, it lifted them and simultaneously Bournemouth seemed to falter. From the re-start Chippenham ran the ball back into the Bournemouth half, and now it was Bournemouth’s turn to make the mistakes. Pressured by Chippenham they knocked on and killed the ball a few times ensuring that the pressure wasn’t relieved. Chippenham mixed the play up and constantly pressured their defence before Owen sensing a gap dummied to pass and slipped past the first line of defence. Space opened up in front of him but he still had three players between him and the try line. Powering through one, stepping another then out pacing the third he score a wonderful solo try in the right corner to take Chippenham into a two score lead.

Minutes later another series of drives in the Bournemouth half saw Alex finally secure the Chippenham win as it took the lead to 32-19. Despite the score there were some more tense minutes for the crowd before the final whistle blew and a huge cheer went up. The game had been won, and Chippenham truly deserved their success. Every member of the team had played with determination and commitment in what had been a memorable game and an excellent showcase of youth rugby.

Chippenham now move forward to their second cup final next week against Clifton !