December 7, 2024
Here we are at the first Saturday in December, and Chinnor have only their third home league game of the season as they host Doncaster Knights. It would be the first ever meeting between the two sides.
Chinnor have played once since the Not The Prem Cup encounter against Cambridge covered by these diaries, narrowly losing 13-15 at Cornish Pirates, with the Cornish side kicking a late penalty to win the match. That result saw Chinnor drop to 7th in the Championship table.
Doncaster Knights
Doncaster are the only side in this season’s Championship who are eligible for promotion to the Premiership under the RFU’s current restrictive criteria, although Coventry have submitted an application to be considered for promotion. Doncaster would have to win the Championship and then a two-legged play-off against the bottom placed side in the Premiership.
Doncaster have played in the Championship for every season since 2009/10 apart from 2013/14, when they spent one season back in National League One, but won that league to be promoted back to the Championship. Their best finishes were in 2015/16 and 2021/22 when they came second. Last season Doncaster finished in 6th place in the Championship.
The Knights play at Castle Park, which has a capacity of 5,000.
Doncaster Knights This Season
Doncaster began the season with a comfortable 45-31 home win over Ampthill but then unexpectedly slipped up at home with a 14-30 defeat at the hands of Nottingham.
The Knights bounced back to record an impressive 36-35 victory at title-favourites Ealing Trailfinders to get their campaign back on track, only to fail to score at home to London Scottish in a 0-12 loss, and then suffered a heavy 18-34 defeat at Bedford Blues.
When the Championship took a 5 week break for the Premiership Cup, Doncaster sat in a lowly 9th place in the table, but when the season resumed last weekend, The Knights chalked up a 52-17 home victory over Cambridge to move back up to 6th
The Knights’ average home attendance after league 4 matches was only 1,175, down from the 1,851 from last season.
In the Premiership Cup, a crowd of 2,408 turned up see the Knights run a Sale Sharks side close, losing 37-43 after conceding two converted tries in the last 5 minutes. Doncaster put up another good show when going down 28-31 at Newcastle Falcons, but then racked up a comfortable 43-19 win at Caldy.
Doncaster Knights Squad
Ex Leicester Tigers and Nottingham winger Jordan Olowofela was the leading try scorer in the Championship with 9 tries whilst ex-Jersey fly-half Russell Bennett was their next highest points scorer with 33 points ( one try ).
Amongst the notable names in the Doncaster squad were ex-Bath, RAF and England wing Semesa Rokodoguni ( 4 caps ) who signed in the summer from French side Montauban and ex-Leicester Tigers, Stade Francais and Tonga full-back Telusa Veainu ( 12 caps ) who joined from Sale Sharks. Another international in the Knights squad was ex-Leicester Tigers, Newcastle Falcons and Samoa prop Logovi’i Mulipola ( 33 caps )
Amongst their backs, Welsh centre Connor Edwards had played for Newport Gwent Dragons, fellow centre Zach Kerr was ex-Newcastle Falcons, whilst scrum-half Alexander Dolly had previously experienced playing at Kingsey Road when playing for Rotherham.
The Knights have three players on loan from Premiership sides, prop Andrew Turner from Bristol Bears, and back row forward Arthur Green and centre Will Parry from Bath.
Doncaster’s Director of Rugby is ex-Scotland and British Lions player and coach Ian McGeechan
Matchday Information
The journey from Doncaster to Thame is just under 160 miles and normally takes about three hours.
Adult tickets purchased online were £17 but £14 for members. For over £65s it was £13 and £12 for students. With the member’s 10% discount, a pint of XT Session Amber was £4.95 and a pint of Brooklyn IPA was £4.72.
Storm Darragh had hit Thame so at the 15.00 kick-off there were 55 mph gusts of winds but the heavy rain had stopped. The temperature was 6 degrees but it felt more like minus 6 degrees, and the infamous Chinnor breeze was a severe storm on the Beaufort scale ! All the football matches in the local region had been postponed due to waterlogged pitches and the poor weather certainly contributed to a lower than usual attendance.
Doncaster were in a kit of all red with white and black hoops across the middle of their shirts whilst Chinnor were in their usual black and white hoops with black shorts and socks.
No programmes were on sale, and despite being advised they are now all online, I wasn’t able to find todays anywhere.
Doncaster were unchanged from the XV that started against Cambridge.
However, Chinnor made four changes from last week’s narrow defeat at Cornish Pirates, most notably with the return of fly-half George Worboys, on a short-term loan from Ealing Trailfinders, with Connor Slevin unavailable. Elsewhere Ryan Crowley made his first league start of the season, with Morgan Passman dropping down to the bench and Grant Hughes moving to centre.
In the forwards, lock George Shaw picked up an injury in Penzance so there was a first league start of the season for Alfie North. In the back row George Stokes was selected in place of Kieran Curran.
Match Report
Doncaster kicked off towards the Showground end with the elements mostly in their favour, although the swirling wind was prone to changing direction.
Feeney gathered the kick-off and kicked to touch close to Chinnor’s 10 metre line. The Doncaster throw went long and Chinnor hooker Alun Walker claimed, enabling Chinnor to kick deep into the Knights’ half. Although Doncaster returned the kick, wing Keiran Goss’ return kick bounced into touch close to the Knights 10 metre line.
Chinnor again won the Doncaster throw, and won a penalty which took them into the Doncaster 22. However, this time Doncaster stole the Chinnor throw and were able to clear.
Chinnor won their lineout ball and after several drives the referee stopped play due to an injury to Chinnor lock North. Play resumed with a scrum to Chinnor, from which they were awarded a penalty. Chinnor opted to go for the posts and despite the difficult wind, Worboys stepped up give the home side the lead. 3-0 after 5 minutes.
The restart bounced into touch around 10 metres from the Chinnor try line, but Chinnor were able to win the lineout and cleared to their 10 metre line. Doncaster won their lineout and launched a Garryowen, but Rokodoguni could only push the ball into touch. Chinnor took a sneaky short throw at the lineout but then spoilt the move by kicking into touch on the full.
Play was scrappy in the difficult conditions. Doncaster knocked on at the line-out, and when Chinnor kicked clear, Veainu kicked straight out. A period of kick Tennis followed after which a grubber kick was knocked on by Goss to give Doncaster a scrum 5 metres from the Chinnor line.
The rain started to fall again, and good defence from the home side forced a knock on from the Donny forwards as they drove for the line, and they were also penalised for being offside.
The Knights forwards again won a Chinnor lineout, but the clearing kick was wayward and went straight out. This time Chinnor secured their lineout ball, and a series of drives gave them a penalty advantage which was wasted with a knock-on. However, the penalty was kicked to 5 metres, and after several drives for the line, prop Hardwick dived over the whitewash, and with Worboys adding a superb conversion into the wind, it was now 10-0 with 18 minutes played.
Chinnor scrum-half Luke Carter caught the restart and sent a good kick into the wind into touch on the Chinnor 10 metre line. Doncaster again sent the ball high into the sky and again Rokodoguni knocked on and into touch.
Chinnor won a penalty after the lineout and were able to take play back into the Doncaster half. After winning their lineout Carter chipped ahead, but Doncaster were able to gather and clear, but Chinnor embarked on another series of forward drives, but when they unexpectedly gave the ball to their backs they forced a penalty from a high tackle. Again, Chinnor opted to try and take the points, and another excellent kick from Worboys extended their lead. After 26 minutes it was now 13-0.
The restart from Doncaster was good and bounced into touch 5 metres from the Chinnor line. The Knights won their lineout but good defence from Chinnor saw the Donny rolling maul pushed into touch. However, Doncaster stole the Chinnor line-out and after a number of drives at the Chinnor line they won a penalty and Chinnor centre Rokodrava was shown a yellow card.
Doncaster took a tap penalty and after a few drives the pressure told and they scored their first try, with hooker George Roberts getting the credit. A relatively straight-forward conversion was missed by Bennett, so the score was 13-5 after 29 minutes.
Shortly after the restart, Chinnor were awarded a penalty, and Edwards saw yellow for a high tackle to even up the numbers.
Chinnor drove for the line after winning their lineout but offended and Doncaster had a penalty to clear their lines. Doncaster gradually worked their way up-field, and had a series of drives for the try line, totally ignoring the unmarked Rokodoguni in acres of space on the wing. When they finally did look up and play a cross-field kick, Chinnor’s Carter was covering and did just enough to prevent the ex-England winger from gathering 5 metres from the line and the ball rolled into touch.
Chinnor won their 5-metre line-out but intense pressure from the Donny forwards prevented them from clearing, and eventually Doncaster were awarded a penalty. They opted for another tap, but after a few drives they knocked on and some handbags followed. The referee wisely decided to defuse the tempers by blowing for half-time !
Chinnor would have been pleased with their first half efforts in establishing a lead against the elements, with their forwards in particular putting in an impressive shift. During the interval the winds got stronger, and the rain returned. It was now even more uncomfortable for the spectators !
However, if anything, the wind was now directly across the pitch rather than across and into the far corner, so the weather was less in favour of the home side, and the swirling wind continued to be unpredictable.
Chinnor got off to a good start in the second half with wing Crowley sending a clever kick ahead to bounce into touch inches from the Doncaster line. The attempting clearing kick from the lineout was charged down and the visitors were unable to get out of their in-goal area, leading to a dropout from behind their line.
Chinnor continued to press but yielded a penalty to relieve the pressure. A slack pass in the Donny midfield nearly gave Chinnor the chance to attack, but Doncaster recovered possession and a super kick took them deep into the Chinnor half.
The visitors won a penalty at a ruck and decided to take the points, which Bennett successfully converted. After 47 minutes it was now 13-8.
After more kick-tennis, an attempted Doncaster clearance was charged down by Chinnor lock Scott Hall and with Veainu sleeping, Worboys dived onto the ball to score a try he had no right getting to. After a consultation with his assistant, the referee awarded a try and showed a yellow card to Veainu, presumably for some afters following the touchdown by Worboys. The conversion was missed so the score was 18-8 with 51 minutes played.
The game resumed with a penalty to Chinnor on the half-way line, which was superbly kicked to with 10 metres of the Doncaster line. The Knight successful defended a number of Chinnor drives, but at the expense of a penalty, which took play back to 5 metres from the Doncaster line.
Doncaster stole the Chinnor lineout and cleared to half-way, where Willie Ryan went on a surging run, but his pass went astray. Goss gathered and set off on a mazy run, but the Doncaster defence was good, and some scrappy play saw another penalty for Doncaster, who took play into the Chinnor half.
The Knights forced another penalty which was kicked to the corner, and after several drives had sucked in the Chinnor defence, Bennett’s accurate kick enabled Kerr to catch and dive over the line for Doncaster’s second try. Although the conversion looked straightforward, Bennett sliced wide, perhaps emphasizing how difficult the conditions were. It was now 18-13 with 59 minutes on the clock.
Chinnor looked to restore their advantage and Crowley’s kick ahead forced Veainu to touch down in goal for another goal line drop-out. When Chinnor gathered the clearance, Worboys attempted an ambitious drop goal which went low and wide and the Doncaster clearing kick caught the wind and sailed deep into the Chinnor half, where Feeney collected and kicked a 50:20 deep back into the Doncaster half.
Hooker Walker was deemed to have taken too long to take the throw into the lineout, so Doncaster were given a free-kick which they kicked high into the air. Feeney claimed and kicked back close to half-way.
As the sides prepared for a scrum on the half-way line the floodlights went out and after a brief period of confusion the referee took both sides from the field with 12 minutes remaining to played.
With no communication as to what was happening, the
spectators headed to the bars for another drink, but after around 30 minutes it
was posted on Twitter that the game had been abandoned and that the RFU would decide
the outcome. It was an inappropriate end to an absorbing game played in dreadful conditions.
A couple of posters on the Rolling-Maul forum pointed out that the RFU’s rules are that if more than 60 minutes had been played then the result stands, less than this the game is replayed. Therefore, on this basis Chinnor should be given the win. However, given the way that the RFU are currently running things anything is possible ! They have already shafted Chinnor once this season, but on the other hand, they seem determined to prevent any Premiership side from being relegated so they may not want Doncaster to pick up any points ! Who knows, only time will tell………
With no result decided at the moment, Chinnor have dropped to 9th in the table, but 4 points from the game would take them back up to 6th.
Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6StIxdoWi8
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