October 4, 2025
The English Championship, or The Champ as it has now been rebranded, finally started its season this weekend, weeks after every other league had commenced, and Chinnor began with a visit to newly promoted Richmond.
Chinnor had played two pre-season friendlies, with a 34-59 home loss to last season’s champions Ealing Trailfinders which was covered by these diaries, and last week travelled to Caldy, and returned with a 17-14 victory. Details of the Caldy match had been scant, apart from a comment it had been bruising !
Richmond had played three warm-up matches, going down 14-33 at National League One Blackheath, 10-71 at Cardiff but last time out were victorious 36-26 against fellow Championship side Cambridge.
Previous Meetings
Chinnor and Richmond last meet in the 2023/24 National League One when Chinnor did the double, with both matches reported on by Fatbear. In March 2024, Chinnor took an important step to winning the league when after being held to just a one point lead, they pulled away in the final 20 minutes for in the end, an emphatic 41-16 victory for their first ever success at the Richmond Athletic Ground ( RAG ). The home fixture in the previous November had seen Chinnor romp to a 55-26 home win, with two late tries for Richmond adding some respectability to the scoreline and bring a 4 try bonus point.
https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2024/03/richmond-16-41-chinnor-att-918-national.html
https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2023/11/chinnor-55-26-richmond-att-800-est.html
Prior to this Richmond had won all four previous meetings. In Chinnor’s first ever season at the 4th level of English rugby in 2008/09, they lost 21-35 at home and 21-23 at the RAG as Richmond finished 4th in the league and Chinnor were relegated.
In the aborted 2019/20 season, Richmond won 26-14 at home, and in a game featured in these diaries, they were victorious 21-5. The match was a lot closer than the scoreline would suggest as Richmond’s greater experience and nous saw them through. Richmond were champions whilst Chinnor were placed 4th
https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2020/01/chinnor-5-21-richmond-att-625.html
Richmond Last Season
A deeper background on Richmond can be found in the report on their visit to Chinnor in November 2023.
Richmond had been relegated from the Championship in 2022/23 in controversial circumstances when tenants London Scottish brought in a dozen or so players on loan from Harlequins to help them avoid relegation after having earlier looked to be doomed. Whilst this was all within the rules and regulations, a lot of observers thought it went against the spirit of the game.
Richmond were many pundits to bounce straight back but ended the 2023/24 season in a disappointing 6th place, 44 points behind champions Chinnor. However, Richmond licked their wounds and stormed to the 2024/25 National League One title, finishing 11 points ahead of Rosslyn Park, having lost just three matches all season.
Ex-Durham University fly-half/full-back Callum Grieve scored 258 points whilst ex-Cornish Pirates Welsh scrum-half and captain Alex Schwarz scored 12 tries.
Richmond’s average attendance for the season was 947 but this was boosted by two bumper crowds in their final two home games in their procession to the title, with 1,421 turning up for the game against Rams and 1,950 against Blackheath.
Richmond Squad
Richmond had reportedly retained all but one of their players which had achieved promotion, and had announced several signings to augmented their squad for the new campaign.
Two notable signing were South African centre/wing Ronnie Du Randt who had received rave reports at Rotherham last season, and lock/back row forward Luke Frost from Bedford who had relocated to London for work.
Two players had joined from Cambridge, back-row forward Jared Cardew and prop Seb Brownhill, whilst back-row forward Donnacha Byrne had joined from Irish province Connacht. None of the other announced new signings were in their matchday squad for today’s game.
Matchday Information
The journey from Thame to Richmond is around 50 miles and takes just over an hour.
Whilst the weather was dry, there were 40+ mph gusts of winds at the 15.00 kick-off, and the temperature was 13 degrees.
Adult tickets were £20 online for non-members purchased in advance, or £25 on the day. An online programme had been produced for the game.
Chinnor named only two of their summer signings in their starting XV, prop Kai Owen and lock Jamie Campbell. Richmond also had only two of their new players starting, Du Randt and Cardew, although Brownhill and Byrne were amongst the substitutes.
Chinnor’s line-up contained 7 of the players who started the last meeting between the two sides in March 2024, but only three of Richmond’s side that day were playing today.
Richmond were playing in their traditional yellow, red and black hoops with black shorts whilst Chinnor were in their usual black and white.
Betway made Richmond 9/20 favourites, with Chinnor at 2/1 and the draw 20/1
The match was live streamed on the Clubber TV. When I took a look the individual game option at £6.99 had disappeared, only the weekly pass for all games at £12.99.
Match Report
Chinnor kicked off into the very strong wind, and Richmond cleared to half-way. Richmond won the Chinnor line-out but knocked on midway inside Chinnor half. Richmond won a penalty at the scrum and opted to go for the posts rather than the corner. Grieve was successful from the tee so it was 3-0 after 3 minutes
Richmond returned the kick-off and Chinnor ran and won a penalty on their 10-metre line. The wind kept the kick to just the Richmond 10-metre line. Chinnor won the line-out through Campbell and worked their way up to the Richmond 22, but a big hit by lock George Nugent on George Stokes halted the attack and Richmond won a penalty, which was kicked to half-way.
Campbell stole the line-out and Chinnor spread to the left then to the right and to the left again until full-back Nick Smith knocked-on. Richmond played on and kicked ahead, and Smith was unfortunate when the ball bounced unkindly to strike him on the arm for a knock on. Richmond had a scrum just outside Chinnor 22.
Richmond were forced into making two early changes in the opening 10 minutes but this didn’t seem to unduly affect them. Wing Chidera Obonna fed full-back Greg Kitson, who was tackled 5 metres short of the line, and ball went forward for a scrum to Chinnor. A free-kick was awarded to Chinnor at the scrum, which they kicked to their 10 metre line.
Richmond secured their ball but Chinnor won a penalty to go to the Richmond 10 metre line. The visitors won their lineout and Grant Hughes broke in to the Richmond 22 but Richmond defended well and were awarded the put in at the scrum. The Richmond scrum was solid and Grieve kicked to just beyond half-way.
Richmond won the Chinnor line-out and won a penalty at the subsequent ruck, and kicked to the Chinnor 22. The throw to the front of the line-out was messy and Chinnor were able to turnover and clear.
Richmond won their line-out and spread the ball wide, but there was a forward pass so Chinnor had a scrum midway inside their half. Number 8 Scott Hall picked up and ran and Richmond were caught offside. The penalty was nudged into the wind up to the Richmond 10 metre line.
Campbell again won the line-out and Richmond guilty off not rolling away at the ruck, enabling Chinnor kick to inside the Richmond 22 with 20 minutes on the clock.
Campbell again rose the highest and Smith went on a mazy run. Campbell was tackled short of the try line and Chinnor went left but a long, floated pass was too high for Keiran Goss and went into touch. However, Chinnor had been playing with a penalty advantage so were able to kick to 5 metres. Again, Campbell won line-out ball but the Chinnor rolling maul was held up, Richmond were awarded a penalty, and with the wind behind them were able to clear to the half-way line.
The Richmond throw went long and Chinnor gathered. Richmond flanker Mile Wakeling then intercepted a pass from Chinnor scrum-half Luke Carter as he was looking to break. Richmond recycled and launched a high kick. Goss made the catch, but Richmond won the turnover. Good hands from Obonna released Kitson, who burst past static Chinnor centre James Bourton to run to the try-line. Greive’s conversion slipped wide of far post so the score was now 8-0 after 27 minutes.
Richmond gathered the restart but Grieve’s clearing kick caught the wind and went the length of the field and bounced dead. Therefore, Chinnor had a scrum 10 metres from the Richmond line. Hughes made a break but was illegally stopped. With a penalty advantage, Chinnor pounded the Richmond line but were held up over the line. Chinnor opted for the points and fly-half Nathan Chamberlain had an easy kick in front of the posts to take the score to 8-3 after 31 minutes.
Chinnor were having a good spell and although Kitson caught Carter’s box-kick he was pinged for not releasing. Chinnor kicked the penalty to 10 metres from the Richmond line but Nugent stolen the line-out at the front and Richmond kicked into the Chinnor half. Carter’s kick was charged down and Chinnor conceded a penalty at the breakdown. Richmond again went for the posts and Grieve slotted the kick through the uprights from around 35 metres. Richmond now led 11-3 after 35 minutes.
Richmond won the restart and cleared to half-way. Conor Brockschmidt won the line-out but Chinnor were again tackled in midfield. Carter again saw a kick charged down, but Chinnor were able to win the ball back, but were frustrated by a forward pass when trying to send back-row forward Harry Dugmore down the touchline.
Richmond’s backs went on a good move but Kitson’s pass went behind Obonna and into touch. However, the referee gave a scrum to Richmond but Chinnor were awarded a free-kick at scrum, which was then upgraded into a penalty, possibly for backchat ?
Chinnor were only able to kick to Richmond’s 10 metre line, but Campbell secured line-out possession, and Chinnor won a penalty as a half break was illegally stopped. Chinnor were back to just outside the 22, and from a short throw Carter sniped down blindside but Chinnor then offended and conceded a penalty. After Richmond won their ball, the referee ended the half when the ball was spilled.
Although Chinnor trailed 3-11 at the interval, they would have been encouraged by most of the play having been in the Richmond half despite playing into the strong wind. However, they had rarely looked like scoring, Richmond had defended well, and had looked dangerous on their occasional attacks.
When the second period commenced, the wind had dropped significantly in its velocity so it was not quite the advantage for Chinnor that Richmond had enjoyed. The half began with some kick tennis until Richmond won a penalty midway inside their own half and kicked up to Chinnor 10m.
Chinnor won the Richmond lineout and kicked. Kitson dropped the high ball but it was judged to have gone backwards. Richmond retained possession and a long, floated pass found Obanna but he was tackled by touchline. Richmond reworked and kicked but Obonna knocked on.
Chinnor had a line-out 25 metres from the Richmond line, and although Richmond got hand to the throw, Chinnor hooker Alun Walker caught the ball, from which substitute Will Cave made some yards. Chinnor reworked and Chamberlain’s cross-field kick was caught by Hughes, who stepped inside and went close to the try-line before being stopped. Chinnor spread to the other wing and Goss was given a straight run to the corner from a pass from Smith. Chamberlain superbly judged the conversion with the wind to convert from close to the touch-line. The scored had moved to 11-10 after 47 minutes.
Carter cleared the restart to half-way, but Richmond won a penalty from a scrappy lineout and progressed up to the Chinnor 22. However, Richmond struggled to make a breakthrough and were off their feet at ruck.
A superb kick from the penalty from Chamberlain took Chinnor to within 7 or 8 metres of the Richmond try line. Campbell won the line-out and the rolling maul looked to have been illegally taken down the Richmond defenders, but referee saw it as a knock on and so awarded a scrum to Richmond. Richmond were given a free-kick at the scrum, and kicked to just outside their 22 so it was a throw for Chinnor.
Campbell again won the Chinnor line-out, but Chinnor floundered in their attempts to breach the sturdy Richmond defence and conceded a penalty at a ruck. Richmond were back up to the Chinnor 10 metre line with 54 minutes played.
From the line-out, Obonna made a break to run clear but Cardew had clearly blocked a would-be Chinnor tackler and Chinnor were given a penalty for crossing. Chamberlain took play back to the Richmond 22.
Richmond stole the line-out but were unable to make any progress with ball in hand so had to kick, and Goss dropped the high ball to give Richmond a scrum on the Chinnor 10 metre line.
The impressive Obonna broke through the gain line and Nugent carried on the move but although Chinnor defended, they were pinged for off-side. Greive took penalty from in front of the posts 25 metres out but surprisingly hit the post. Chinnor just about managed to claim the bouncing ball, and Carter cleared to close to half-way.
Jake Monson won the lineout for Richmond and although Obonna was snagged as he attempted a break, Richmond kept possession but Chinnor substitute prop Ramaz Rukhadze won turnover at the ruck. Richmond defended well and were awarded the put for the scrum following the subsequent ruck.
62 minutes had now been played and although the Richmond scrum was solid, Richmond were pushed back and Schwarz was forced to kick. Campbell made a good catch near half-way and Carter chipped ahead. Kitson gathered, skipped past two tacklers before being brought to ground, and Chinnor conceded another penalty at the ruck.
Richmond were back up to half-way, but Chinnor stole the line-out and Carter kicked. Richmond kicked back to Crowley who ran but Stokes knocked on.
With 13 minutes remaining, Richmond had a scrum close to Chinnor 10 metre line. Kitson and Addams make yards but Richmond were forced into touch. Chinnor scrappily won their line-out 15 metres from their line and substitute scrum-half Callum Pascoe cleared.
Chinnor forced a penalty at a ruck but Chamberlain failed to find touch with his deep kick. Kitson ran across the field until being tackled and Chinnor pinned Richmond to just outside the 22. Schwarz finally cleared, Crowley caught on the half-way line and Pascoe chipped over a flat defensive line. Richmond gathered but Schwarz’s kick didn’t go very far, and Richmond were offside.
With 8 minutes left to play, and with the opportunity to take the lead for the first time in the match, Chinnor decided to go for the posts. The kick was around 35 yards and close to right-hand touchline but Chamberlain’s kick slid narrowly wide of left-hand upright.
Chinnor fielded the Richmond 25 metre drop out but Monson intercepted a flat pass and kicked ahead. Crowley gathered inside his 22 but Richmond forced the penalty to have a 5-metre lineout. Their rolling maul was held up but Richmond made several drives for the line to get a penalty advantage, but more drives were defended. Finally, substitute scrum-half Luke Jones dived over close to the posts. Grieve added the conversion added so after coming close to falling behind, Richmond now had an almost certain match winning lead, with the score 18-10 after 77 minutes.
Desperate Chinnor attacks got nowhere, but after they had dropped the ball, a Richmond kick went straight into touch for a line-out to Chinnor midway inside Richmond half. However, their throw was not straight and Richmond won a penalty at the scrum. It was then Richmond’s turn to not throw straight and then Chinnor were awarded a penalty at the scrum, which took them into the Richmond 22
A high tackle by Byrne saw him receive a yellow card and give Chinnor a penalty in front of the posts. Chinnor opted to take the points to grab a losing bonus point, and Chamberlain duly obliged. The score moved to 18-13 and the referee blew his whistle to end the match.
Overall, it was a deserved win for Richmond, who were defensively very strong and Chinnor hardly made a break. The Richmond back three of Kitson, Obonna and Addams looked very quick.
Chinnor made far too many errors and gave away too many penalties at the ruck. They would also be disappointed that their rolling maul, which had been so successful last season, was ineffective today
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