Chippenham should have had Five Senior sides in league action over the weekend but sadly, two of these were dropped after the opponents were unable to raise sides which is pretty disappointing.

One of these games was the Chippenham 3rds v Royal Wootton Bassett 4ths match which was scheduled to be the final league match of the season and a bit of a festival of rugby involving a little bit of Port. Sadly, we were advised the Bassett were short on numbers and unable to travel over, so Brendons Army were given a HWO and now look forward to the D&W Competition this Saturday.

The Chippenham Academy have not lost a GRFU League match all season and were due to welcome Chipping Sodbury Colts on Sunday but they also were unable to raise a team, so the Academy lads remain unbeaten and this allowed a few of them to play on Saturday for Senior Teams.

The integration of the Academy into the Senior set-up has gone really well this season and a number have played across the 3 sides. On Saturday, it was a great pleasure to see three Academy lads make their Chippenham 1st team debut and they were joined by another recent addition to the Club who made his debut. Congratulations to Fred Emerson-Pink, Iestyn Asher, Kyle Dow Compton and Jack Butler on playing for the 1st Team and making such an impact in the away match at Thornbury RFC. This is always a tough venue against a proud club and Chippenham found themselves at 10-21 up at half-time after tries from Dave Lever, Ed Hendy and Charlie Parsons, who picked up the M-o-t-M award afterwards. The lead was going to be under pressure as Chippenham were now playing up the slope and soon it was 29-29 with another Hendy try. But respect to the Chippenham side who dug in and stole valuable ball and territory resulting in another try for Parsons and then Asher scoring on debut from a great intercept. Chippenham won this game 29-46 picking up 5 valuable points and can now prepare for 2 home matches, starting this Saturday against Old Centralians and then Witney the week after. The challenge for the league is still on and we watch next Saturdays results with great interest..

Chippenham 2nds have produced some great results recently and welcomed Devizes 1sts to Allington Fields with both teams needing a win for different reasons. Chippenham find themselves in a real dogfight at the bottom of the table and the visitors fancy their chances of finishing 2nd if things go their way. In the end, they did get their way but by just one point.. Chippenham had an exciting squad including a few coming back from injury and it was good to see Nathan Jones and Semi Nacoko back in the team. The warm-up was positive in front of a packed crowd who were really looking forward to this game. It didnt get off to a great start as Devizes showed intent and scored first however it wasn't long before the 2nds got their lineout maul rumbling and they also scored in the corner. Nathan Dunford was just wide with the conversion. The game was pretty open in the early stages but Chippenham did not help themselves with some basic errors and when no-one called for the high ball, it was Devizes who grabbed it quickly and scored a good try. Thankfully things were evened up following a great run from Alex Salah who skinned the defence before offloading to Jamie Webb who scored under the sticks. The extras from Dunford made it 12-12 and this sprung Chippenham into life and they took hold of the game with two excellent running tries, one from Salah after a crafty break from Harrison Matthews and another from Kalif Barnes who showed a great turn of pace and direct running to score. With both conversions added, it was 26-12 and game on but then Devizes were allowed back with their No 8 Paget playing a blinder and Prop Hiscock scored from a rumble just before the half-time whistle was blown by the excellent Referee and it was 26-17 going into the sheds.
The second half saw Chippenham come out strongly but a bit nervy and it was the charging Devizes who troubled the scoreboard (Sponsored by AP Air) with another forwards try but then the 2nds bounced back and it was Chamberlain who tunneled over this time and scored making it 33-24. The tension was mounting for both sides and so was the error count resulting in more pressure that was not needed as the 2nd half progressed. Chippenham kept trying to run the ball out from own 22 and this just added to that pressure. Eventually this resulted in an error from a Devizes chip ahead and they scored taking it to 33-29. Chippenham had a couple of great opportunities to score but little errors again saw them disappear and they ended up playing in the wrong part of the pitch and after a few decisions that didnt go Chippenhams way, it was Devizes who did what they do and they crossed the line in the corner. 33-34 and Chippenham had about three minutes to produce the goods but regardless of the effort, just couldnt and ended up taking 2 points not the 5 points they wanted. Respect to Devizes who say they didnt play well but they produced a solid display and grabbed the win. Chippenham now find themselves in a must-win match away at Frome on Saturday 5 April.

On Sunday, Chippenham Women were in action and traveled to Fairford Women in the South West League NC3. Its a very exciting time for the Chippenham Women as they finish the season strongly and its great to report a 12-21 win for Chippenham in a competitive match. They next play on Saturday 5 April against Pershore Women.

The Chippenham Mini Rugby Festival took place and it was the first weekend for age groups U7's, U9's and U11's. Thanks to the great effort by hoardes of volunteers and the Mini Section Chair Neal Craig, the day was a massive success and we look forward to doing it all again next Sunday for U8's, U10's and U12's age groups.

Chippenham U16 Boys were in Dorset & Wilts semi-final action and welcomed Lytchett Minster U16s to Allington Fields but the home side proved a bit too strong in a very skilful match. The end result shows 64-14 to Chippenham but we thank Lytchett for a great game and wish them well for the rest of the season. Chippenham U16s are now in the Bristol Junior Combination Cup Final next Sunday against North Bristol and this is being played at Keynsham RFC - 11.00am. Your support will be very welcome

Match reports from other age groups are very welcome also and can be emailed to comms@Chippenhamrfc.co.uk