Chinnor U15s come up second best to a strong Saracens side

Having hosted Saracens at Kingsey Road for one of the toughest matches last season, it was with some trepidation that 16 brave souls took on the Saracens U15s A team on their home patch. With a county training session inserted long after we secured the fixture, several players injured and a couple away, the team knew it was going to be a challenging encounter.

Within the first minute, Saracens had cut through Chinnor's defence to score. This seemed to galvanise the Chinnor pack who then put up a stronger defence. Max tacked tirelessly and others followed his lead. The combination of Josh A at 9 and Josh E at 10 worked well. Josh E was unlikely and came off after taking a knock in a crunching tackle, not to go back on. Saracens were strong and capable, particularly at the ruck. Despite a high work rate from the Chinnor forwards, they often found themselves stripped of the ball.

Saracens scored two very well worked tries from driving mauls - something that Chinnor can do too, but we struggled to defend against them effectively. The ball was greasy and there were a number of handling errors and some bad luck. All of this would suggest that Chinnor was ready to give up, but they certainly weren't.

With Charlie at 8 was making some good runs into contact, supported by Sam, Shaun and Adam, Chinnor looked like they were turning the tide. Richard drove into the Saracens defence, followed by Harry R and the try line was within sight. Sensing the defence was solid, the ball was spun out but the backs could also not break through.

Chinnor had a stronger second half with Harry R jackaling the ball, Charlie driving through and Daniel and Josh A distributing the ball well. Archie was making life difficult for Saracens to pick and go from the scrum and it was at this point that Saracens started to kick over. They were successful once, but Eddie at full back repeatedly secured the ball and stepped at least the first of the oncoming opposition players.

Will made a number of runs (and was unlucky to be so penalised for a high tackle), Alex and Nathan put in a good shift, Harry M and Daniel made fantastic tackles against players twice their height (& weight) but eventually the strength of the Saracens team took its toll as Chinnor went down eight tries to none.

The team played well - there were no disasters and plenty of positives. The tackling was generally good and, in some instances, was excellent. Chinnor were beaten by a strong team who played exceptionally well.