HRFC    27   CHIPPENHAM RFC   10

National 3 South

Making several changes, a somewhat under par Hav did just enough to overcome a plucky Chippenham side, two levels below us in the league hierarchy, and move into round 2 of the competition.

Hav gave first team debut starts to James McCann on the wing, Tommy Horn at open-side, and Ollie North at lock. Bench debutants were prop Rupert Grant and wing Rob Martin. Jamie Knowles was given the number 10 shirt, with Pucs Ngapaku taking a rest on the bench. 

It took a long time before it was possible to tell which side had the higher league position, and the quality of rugby on display certainly wasn’t national league level. In fact, it could be said that, in the first half hour, the visitors had the best of it. They had most of the territory and came closest to opening the scoring when a penalty kick at goal just failed after only five minutes.

However, on the half hour, it was Hav who first troubled the scorer when fly half Jamie Knowles struck a superb drop goal from over 35 metres to make it 3-0. This was a trigger for the home side to start playing with more cohesion, with the pack in particular starting to make significant drives up field. It was from such a drive down the right in the Chippenham half that Hav got their first try. Hav’s ubiquitous hooker Steve Cruddas broke blind as the drive moved towards the 22, making several yards before offloading a neat pass to scrum half Liam Davenport who ran in the final 15 metres unopposed. Knowles added the extras to make it 10-0 on 33.

Hav’s next score was a little fortunate! A poor kick was easily gathered by the Chippenham full back, Callum Waddell, just outside his 22. He made good ground into the Hav half but as he linked with his colleagues, a poor pass was eagerly intercepted by Hav centre Matt O’Shea who sped 55 metres to run in under the posts, making it easy for Jamie Knowles to convert to make it 17-0 on 38. With half time approaching, the visitors should have closed the gap. From a penalty just outside the home 22, they kicked for the 5 metre line-out option. Hav managed to thwart the initial drive, but Chippenham engineered a break down the left in the 22, and had the men over to make a score look a certainty. However, poor passing let them down, and 17-0 was how it stayed at half time.

Hav came out for the second half looking the livelier, and it wasn’t long before they moved further ahead. When Chippenham were awarded a scrum close to their line, a Hav attack having broken down, a good Hav push resulted in confusion after the Chippenham heel and flanker Tommy Horn took advantage to touch down, on his debut, to make it 22-0 on 46.

Rather than let their heads go down at this point, to their credit, Chippenham upped their game and soon had Hav defending close to their line. Hav full back, Steve Stapleton, was adjudged to have made a ‘professional foul’ in halting a drive for the line and was given a ten-minute break for his ‘sin’. Cheltenham weren’t able to capitalise from the penalty, but it wasn’t long before they were rewarded for their efforts. Another poor Hav kick from defence was easily taken by full back Waddell who yet again ran through a disorganised Hav defence and having moved quickly into the 22 found captain No 8 James Gaiger up in support to power over for a try to make it 22-5 on 65.

Hav responded quickly, and from a penalty just inside the visitors’ half, a good touch put them 5 metres from the line on the right. The now familiar catch and drive saw Nick Whittle get the touchdown to make it 27-5 on 69.

Again, Chippenham came back, and, taking advantage of a break down in a Hav attack in their half, scored the best try of the game by moving the ball up field with some effective inter-passing that enabled scrum half Tom Collins to finish off on the right, to make it 27-10 on 72.

With the game moving to a close, Chippenham tired, but although Hav started to camp near their line, they weren’t able to force their way over and 27-10 is how it remained.

"A win's a win" as someone said once, although it wasn't all that convincing. We'll have to be a bit more 'together' next week-end when we visit the Viking enclave at North Walsham.

Hav:

Steve Stapleton, James McCann (Rob Martin), Matt O’Shea, Jack Price, Dickie Duke, Jamie Knowles, Liam Davenport (Grant Morris)

Stu Ingram (capt), Steve Cruddas, Karl Randle (Rupert Grant), Nick Whittle (Giles Healey), Ollie North, Harry Heasman (Ben Morgan), Tommy North, Dylan Raubenheimer

Replacements not used: Tom Drewett and Pucs Ngapaku.

Hav Scorers

Try: Liam Davenport, Matt O’Shea, Tommy Horn, Nick Whittle   Cons: Jamie Knowles (2)  Drop Goal: Jamie Knowles

Chippenham Scores

Tries: 2