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Dorset & Wiltshire and Oxfordshire triumph at Bill Beaumont finals day

Dorset & Wiltshire and Oxfordshire triumph at Bill Beaumont finals day

In the Division 2 clash, Dorset & Wiltshire had tries from Alafoti Fa’osiliva, Eoin Baker, Joe Desmond, Ed Crossley and Henry Toomer to thank for their 37-15 win. 

Durham took an early lead in a topsy-turvy tussle as Jobe Roxby dotted down in the corner, with the difficult conversion missed. 

Dorset & Wiltshire hit back straightaway, first through Fa’osiliva, before Baker crossed to stretch his side’s lead to nine points. 

Durham responded through tries from Jonny Horner and Mike Walton but their lead, which stood at just a solitary point after both conversions were missed, lasted a matter of seconds as Desmond’s score saw Dorset & Wiltshire enter the break 21-15 ahead. 

The second half saw Dorset & Wiltshire stretch their lead through two Sam Baker penalties either side of a Crossley try. 

Toomer crossed with five minutes remaining after some slick passing in the build-up to put a cherry on top of Dorset & Wiltshire’s win. 

Dorset & Wiltshire try scorer Desmond said: “It feels really good. If you had asked us a couple of weeks ago, when we were training and it was chucking it down with rain, whether we would be here now, we would have doubted it. 

“Everyone has stuck it out, it is a lot of effort after a full season of rugby to then play again. It has been a great effort by everyone. 

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“I had a feeling this morning I would get a try, so it felt good. But credit to Durham, they can chuck a ball round left to right, that was hard work. 

“The crowd were massive, when the momentum goes against you and you can hear all your fans chanting it gives you a big buzz. 

“Games like this are big step-ups for some of the lads, and if they can play this then I am sure they can go on and play higher.” 

Durham centre Peter Youll said: “We saw from the warm-up that we were probably the smaller team, they had what looked like big ball carriers and that proved to be the case. 

“We stuck at it, we are a team that like to move the ball about but on days like today when you are a county side that have been thrown together, size can make a big impact. 

“It is my fourth year of playing county rugby and it has probably been the most enjoyable year. We’ve had over 40 players play in the five games, everyone has come together in one real squad effort.” 

The opening final of the day saw Oxfordshire successfully defend their Bill Beaumont Men’s County Championship Division 3 title with a 42-7 win over Essex. 

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The reigning champions used their power to open the scoring through a rolling maul as Marcus Reading dotted down before turning to pace as Joe Mills won a foot race to his own grubber kick to extend Oxfordshire’s lead. 

Henry Bird hit back for Essex just after the restart, also chasing down a kick and reaching the ball just before it bounced over the deadball line, but Oxfordshire thwarted any further comeback with two tries in five minutes. 

Willo Bicknell found a gap and flew over before Alex Foggett weaved his way across the whitewash as James Miller nailed his fourth and trickiest conversion of the day to restore his side’s 14-point lead. 

Two late tries from George Lewis and John Ireland made sure of their back-to-back titles. 

Oxfordshire fly-half Miller said: “It feels incredible. It is just togetherness that drives you through these campaigns.   

“It is such a short period of time, you have to get going from the get-go, but it has been incredible and I am looking forward to next year already. 

“We love this competition. It is a long, tough club season so for boys to get up and go again and for the coaches to come together, it is massive. 

“It is massive for volunteers as well. It is the whole county and it brings a lot of clubs who never get the chance to play together, so we love it.” 

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Essex co-captain Stuart Whatling said: “We are gutted. It is good for us to be here in the first place in terms of Essex rugby, we have come a long way from where we were. 

“I’m really proud of the campaign, we have had good buy-in from several clubs, we have had good spirit. 

“It is great to represent Essex. We are all players who have set out to play rugby from when we were young. 

“We may not have made it to the upper echelons of the game but to be able to represent your whole county is an honour, and more people should get involved.” 

You can watch the County Championship Finals back on England Rugby’s YouTube channel here

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