March 21, 2026
Champ rugby resumed today after a two-week break, but Kingsey Road had continued to host competitive rugby as last weekend England Under 18s played France Under 18s, and a ground record crowd of 3,000 witnessed a comprehensive 63-33 victory for Les Bleuets.
Since these diaries had reported on Chinnor’s 19-36 home loss under lights to a resurgent Doncaster Knights, they had played one more game, losing 21-24 at London Scottish after being 0-24 behind in the first half. They appeared to be a side in need of break, so the Chinnor faithful would be hoping their side were refreshed for today’s fixture.
The defeat against London Scottish saw Chinnor drop to 8th, whilst today’s opponents from the Wirral, Caldy, were in 10th.
Previous Meetings
Matches between Chinnor and Caldy have historically been close encounters. The first meetings between these two sides came in 2018/19 in National League One with Caldy snatching a 27-24 win at Chinnor early in the season, whilst Chinnor gained revenge at Paton Field with a 20-17 victory.
The two teams next faced each other in 2021/22 when Caldy kicked a last-minute penalty to grab a 27-27 home draw, then these diaries covered the return fixture in February 2022 when Caldy produced a masterclass on how to play into a gale force wind and generally strangled the life out of Chinnor with up-the-jumper rugby on their way to a 23-12 victory on their way to winning promotion to the Championship.
Chinnor’s promotion to the Championship saw rivalries resumed last season, and in what was Chinnor’s first ever home game in the second tier, these diaries reported on a 31-17 home win. Caldy had been pressing for an equalizing score, but Chinnor broke to score with the last move of the game to give the scoreline a rather flattering look. In the return meeting, a converted try five minutes from the end gave Chinnor a 24-23 win.
The good relationship between the two clubs saw a pre-season friendly on the Wirral as a warm-up for this season. Reports on this game were scant, apart from that Chinnor had won a bruising encounter 17-14, and both sides had a few players missing the first game of the season through injury ! Fatbear suspects a return friendly next season may not be on both coaching teams’ minds !
Chinnor maintained their unbeaten record at Paton Field with a 38-26 victory in November, where Chinnor kicked a penalty 15 minutes from the end to deprive Caldy of a losing bonus point.
Caldy This Season
Caldy came to Kingsey Road today with an 8-0-11 record and were 3-0-6 away from home.
At the start of the season, several tipsters on the Rolling Maul forum had Caldy to be one of the sides to either be directly relegated or in the relegation play-offs, but The Ravers confounded these predictions by winning their first four matches, beating London Scottish 26-10, Richmond 27-21 and Cambridge 41-24, all at home, and winning 31-24 at Nottingham.
A run of seven consecutive defeats following, but nearly all of them were close, apart from of course Ealing Trailfinders away, and Caldy led Worcester as the game entered the final minute, but the Warriors scored a try with the last play of the game to break Caldy hearts.
The rot was halted with a 34-29 home victory over Ampthill, then a 28-27 win at Doncaster Knights. Caldy lost on the road at Richmond, 12-31, but bounced back to record doubles over Nottingham ( 21-19 ) and Cambridge ( 26-24 ).
Caldy ended the second tranche of fixtures with three losses, 21-41 at home to Cornish Pirates, 33-50 at Worcester Warriors and 19-23 at home to Bedford Blues.
Caldy had a reputation for a highly effective rolling maul, and had the highest percentage of scrums won in the Champ this season, so Chinnor’s pack would need to be on their mettle today.
Caldy’s average home attendance so far this season was 1,493, with 1,945 seeing the Christmas victory over Ampthill. Last season their average was 1,302.
Caldy Squad
Ex-Sale, Leicester and Newcastle fly-half Kieran Wilkinson was the leading points scorer on 106, whilst hooker Oliver Hearn had scored 13 tries, followed by ex-Ampthill and Sedgley Park hooker Matt Gallagher on 10, and full-back Charlie Hyde on 8 tries.
Key players for Caldy included number 8 JJ Dickinson, who had made over 200 appearances for The Ravers, lock Max Loboda was a Polish international, prop Nathan Ruston and centre Connor Wilkinson had played for The Barbarians, and monster prop Joe Sproston played from Ampthill at Chinnor back in 2013/14.
Scrum-half Oliver Wynn had previously played for Worcester, Hartpury and Chester, whilst flanker Dan Owen was Welsh and had previously played for RGC, as had fellow Welshman wing Rhys Tudor.
Matchday Information
According to AA Route Planner, the journey from Caldy to Thame is 190 miles and should normally takes about three hours fifteen minutes.
Adult tickets purchased online were £16 and £20 at the gate and an online programme had been prepared in advance of today’s game.
The usual food vendors were in attendance today and with the members’ discount a pint of XT4 was £5.18.
The weather at the 15.00 kick-off was sunny and the temperature was 14 degrees. The infamous Chinnor breeze was virtually absent so it was a pleasant afternoon !
Caldy announced three changes to their starting XV that lost narrowly to Bedford Blues three weeks ago, all in the pack. Prop Monty Weatherby and hooker Hearns swopped with Nathan Ruston and Matt Gallagher, and 19-year old Dylan Hodkinson replaced fellow Welshman Dan Owen, who together with Jordan Jones “were involved in lambing and other seasonal farming duties and accordingly are not available for the Ravers this weekend”, according to Caldy website !
Chinnor made three changes to their side that lost at London Scottish in their last game with the return of centre Tom Watson in place of the injured Morgan Passman, hooker Chris Moore again exchanged places with Alun Walker, and with Grant Hughes missing, Richie Simpson was in at fly-half for a Chinnor debut with Nick Smith moving to full-back. Simpson was on loan from Ealing Trailfinders and had been a Scottish Under 20 international.
Caldy were in a change kit of gold shirts with a black band on the front with their sponsor’s name, with black shorts and socks. Chinnor were in their usual black and white hoops with black shorts and socks.
Match Report
Caldy kicked off towards the ring road end, and after both sides traded kicks, Caldy probed for a breakthrough around the halfway line without success. Chinnor won turnover ball at a ruck and spread the ball wide for Watson to make a break into the Caldy 22, and his pass gave Brodie Robinson the opportunity to scorch past Caldy full-back Hyde to the corner, and then around to under the posts. Simpson added the simple extras to give Chinnor a 7-0 lead after two minutes.
Chinnor scrum-half Luke Carter kicked the restart back into the Caldy half, where Hyde dropped the high kick. Chinnor fly-half Simpson kicked across the field, but winger Kieran Goss was unable to hold on to the kick, so Caldy had a scrum just inside the Chinnor half.
Shortly after, Caldy won a line-out on the Chinnor 22, but their rolling maul didn’t get very far, forcing fly-half Wilkinson to kick to the corner, but Chinnor full-back Smith was covering and touched down for a goal-line dropout.
Caldy scrum-half Wynn took a quick tap after Caldy were awarded a penalty near the half-way line and made his way into the Chinnor 22, and the visitors won a penalty in front of the posts, which was kicked to 10 metres from the Chinnor line rather than taking the points.
The line-out tap was messy but Caldy gathered possession. Several drives were repulsed, which resulted in Wilkinson embarking on a mazy run into a wall of defenders. However, Caldy had been playing with a penalty advantage, which they kicked to 5 metres. Lineout ball was secured and although the rolling maul appeared to be going sideways, Hearns was able to dive over the line for Caldy’s opening score. The conversion appeared to be relatively straightforward, but Wilkinson’s kick went wide of the nearest upright. It was now 7-5 after 12 minutes.
Caldy dropped the restart and although Chinnor gathered the ball, the visitors defence was initially good, until Simpson scythed the heart of the Caldy defence to run deep into the Caldy 22. With a 2 on 1, Simpson opted to try and run past the defender but was tackled, and his offload failed to find his supporting teammate. Caldy fly-hacked the loose ball into the Chinnor half, and Hyde won the foot race to pick up the ball and run to the corner for a dramatic turnaround score. The tough touchline conversion slid wide so the score was now 7-10 with 14 minutes played.
Caldy kicked the restart back into the Chinnor halfway but conceded a penalty for a high tackle on Goss, which was kicked into the Caldy 22. Lock Jamie Campbell won the lineout for the home side, who made several drives for the tryline. Caldy’s Wynn cynically went offside to tackle Carter at a ruck, but the only sanction from the referee was a penalty, which took Chinnor to 5 metres.
Campbell again won the lineout and the Chinnor rolling maul rumbled over the line. Flanker Will Cave was credited with the score, but Simpson’s conversion drifted wide. 12-10 after 19 minutes.
However, Chinnor’s joy was short-lived as almost immediately from the restart a lightning Caldy attack led by Wynn saw Hearn run over in the corner for his second try of the day. The touchline conversion from Wilkinson this time was successful, giving Caldy a 17-12 lead with 21 minutes on the clock.
After a Chinnor knock-on, Caldy had a scrum just outside their 22 and Wilkinson sent a bouncing kick into touch midway inside the Chinnor half. Although Campbell won the Chinnor line-out, Caldy wing Will Robinson caught the resulting high kick and Chinnor infringed, and Caldy were able to take play back to the Chinnor 22.
Caldy won their lineout and went wide, where Hyde was tackled, but the referee had seen a Chinnor infringement and Caldy kicked the penalty to 5 metres. The powerful Caldy rolling maul was unstoppable and Hearn collected his hat-trick of tries, and Caldy already had the try bonus point. The conversion was missed, so the score became 12-22 after 31 minutes.
A bit of kick-tennis ensued from the restart until Chinnor won a penalty on their 10-metre line. A quick tap was taken and Caldy were pinged, presumably for not retreating 10 metres, which took Chinnor to just outside the Caldy 22.
Chinnor won their lineout and Carter set off on a darting run only to be tripped by an outstretched leg. Play continued, and after a few drives for the line were halted, number 8 Izzy Wharton picked up and barged over the whitewash. Simpson was successful from the tee, bringing the score to 19-22 with 35 minutes played.
Chinnor kicked the restart back into the Caldy half, where Hyde dropped into touch. Conor Brockschmidt claimed the Chinnor throw, which the referee deemed to be not straight. Caldy ran the ball from the scrum, but a dangerous looking attack was halted with the referee spotting some crossing, but after Chinnor kicked back to the Caldy 22, Brockschmidt’s lineout claim was again ruled not straight, although this time it looked pretty fair to Fatbear !
The Caldy scrum looked to be under pressure, but Wilkinson was able to clear but failed to find touch. Chinnor attacked but dropped the ball in a tackle after progressing into the Caldy 22.
Caldy were able to kick to touch from their scrum, but Chinnor won their own lineout and Robinson made an impressive run down the touchline back into the Caldy 22 and was illegally stopped.
Chinnor kicked the penalty to 5 metres, and after Campbell again ruled supreme on the Chinnor throw, the rolling maul rumbled over with hooker Moore getting the credit this time. Simpson’s kick hit the upright and went over for a successful conversion. The referee blew for half-time, with Chinnor now leading 26-22 at the end of an enthralling opening 40 minutes.
Caldy cleared the second half restart for a lineout on the halfway line, and Chinnor attacked after winning their lineout. Simpson sent a grubber kick towards the corner but Robinson was covering back, and passed to Hyde, who was able to kick for touch.
Campbell won the Chinnor lineout, but the rolling maul was illegally taken down. Chinnor failed to take advantage after several phases so it was back for the original penalty, which was kicked to 5 metres. Campbell again won the throw and with a few of the backs joining in, the rolling maul made its way over the tryline, and Cave was identified as the try scorer. Simpson’s attempted conversion narrowly missed so Chinnor led 31-22 after 45 minutes.
Chinnor cleared the restart for a lineout on their 10-metre line, and when the Caldy throw went long, Cave attempted to catch, and as the ball fell from his grasp he kicked it forward before it could bounce, but the referee decided it was a knock-on !
Caldy kicked from their scrum and Smith made the catch to clear back to halfway. Caldy’s number 26 won their lineout and when Caldy tried to run, they were pushed into touch.
Chinnor’s lineout was messy but they were able to gather and make yards into the Caldy 22 but coughed up possession. The clearing kick from Wilkinson bounced unkindly for Simpson and Smith, and Robinson was able to pounce and run to within a few metres of the Chinnor line before being tackled. Caldy looked certain to score, and although a few drives were defended, flanker Callum Ridgway picked up a loose ball and dived over under the posts. Wilkinson added the extras so Caldy were back in contention at 31-29 with 51 minutes on the clock.
Caldy’s attempt to clear the restart was charged down, but before Chinnor could take advantage, the referee blew his whistle for a penalty to Caldy, presumably for offside, and Caldy took play up to the half-way line.
After Caldy’s number 26 won their lineout, the two sides exchanged kicks and Hyde made a catch but couldn’t stop running into touch. Brockschmidt won the lineout for Chinnor but Chinnor again lost possession after making yards into the Caldy 22.
Caldy kicked long and Carter opted to try and kick on the half volley, but on succeeded in slicing the ball across the field. Caldy looked dangerous as they gathered the loose ball, but a dropped pass enabled Chinnor to fly-hack in the Caldy 22, but the covering Caldy defender side-footed the ball into touch 10 metres from his line.
Campbell won the lineout for Chinnor and their rolling maul heading for the line was stopped at the expense of a penalty. Campbell won the 5-metre lineout but the rolling maul was again illegally stopped. Several Chinnor drives were halted until replacement scrum-half Callum Pascoe spotted a gap in the Caldy defence and dived over the line. Simpson’s easy conversion took the score to 38-29 with 58 minutes played.
Caldy appeared to have an advantage in their favour as they ran at the Chinnor defence but when they failed to release, the penalty was awarded to Chinnor, who cleared to midway inside the Caldy half. Scott Hall won the lineout for Chinnor, who moved the ball from left to right, then back again, before a pass was thrown into touch.
Caldy’s number 26 again won their lineout, and the visitors won a penalty to take play up to the halfway line. The throw went long and a Caldy prop dropped the ball. Chinnor gathered and Simpson sent a bouncing kick towards the Caldy corner ,but Robinson was again covering and cleared to touch.
Chinnor ran the ball after winning the lineout, but another knock-on gave a scrum to Caldy. At this point Chinnor fly-half Simpson left the field and was replaced by back-row forward Karl Main, resulting in flanker Cave moving to inside centre.
Chinnor won a penalty at the scrum and kicked to 5 metres. The rolling maul was held up, but a delightful delayed pass from Pascoe, enabled Cave to run on to the pass and crash over under the posts for his hat-trick. Smith knocked the ball over from the tee, so Chinnor now led 45-29 after 71 minutes.
It was Caldy’s turn to have a lineout adjudged to be not straight but after Chinnor kicked deep into the Caldy 22, Wilkinson called for the mark, took a quick tap, and set off on a length of the field move. The ball went through several pair of hands and although there was eventually a knock-on, Caldy had been playing with a penalty advantage, which they kicked to 5 metres. Chinnor’s Nick Smith was shown a yellow card for his part in stopping the Caldy attack.
Although Caldy’s rolling maul was held up, Wilkinson looked up and saw Hyde in acres of free space out wide, and his pin-perfect kicked enabled the Caldy full-back to take the catch and saunter over the line. Replacement Lewis Barker added the extras to bring the score to 45-36 with 72 minutes played.
Caldy’s hopes of another score to earn a losing bonus point took a set-back when Chinnor’s restart was allowed to bounce into touch in the mistaken belief it was going straight into touch. Caldy won their lineout, and Wilkinson chipped over the advancing Chinnor backline, but the referee awarded a penalty to Chinnor, presumably for offside. The penalty was in front of the posts, and Chinnor opted to take the points. With Smith in the sin-bin, James Bourton assumed kicking duties, and sent the ball through the uprights. Chinnor extended their lead to 48-36 with 74 minutes on the clock.
The final few minutes were hectic as both sides threw the ball around in Harlem Globetrotter fashion. A Chinnor move saw the ball move wide but Sam Hanks was unable to hold on to a potential try scoring pass close to the touchline.
Chinnor were awarded a penalty at the resultant scrum but rather than add three more points, a quick tap saw the Chinnor forwards attempt to breach the Caldy defence, but the visitors won turnover ball, but they were tackled into touch as they tried to attack.
The final move of the match saw Caldy’s Hyde make a great break and released Robinson to run down the touchline, but again the Chinnor defence was good, and the Caldy winger was tackled in to touch. The referee then blew the final whistle to bring an end to a fabulously entertaining game.
With their 5 point victory, Chinnor moved up to 6th and back into a place of position. Caldy remained in 10th.
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