Preview Titans at home against Chinnor

Following a rest weekend and an away trip to Esher, it feels like a long time between drinks at Veritas Park for the Taunton Titans. This Saturday the cream of Somerset plays host to Chinnor RFC in a clash that both teams will surely view as a must win. ‘The Villagers’ from Oxfordshire have not made an ideal start to the season with just one win from six games. Taunton, fresh from securing five points on the road in Surrey, are seeking back-to-back victories. A lot will be on the line with both sides aiming to climb away from a relegation dog fight.

A relatively young rugby club, formed only in 1962, Chinnor has been playing in National League One since 2018 after gaining promotion via a play-off against the runners-up from the North Division of National Two. Last season they ended up one spot above the Titans in seventh place in the table.

Chinnor’s Director of Rugby, Richard Thorpe, played at the highest level of English rugby, most notably with London Irish for whom he surpassed 120 appearances. He was also capped eight times at flanker by Canada. The Head Coach meanwhile is Craig Hampson, the former Wasps scrum-half combining his coaching duties at Chinnor with representing leading Championship side, Ealing Trailfinders.

Tom Varndell who was only surpassed at the top of the all-time Premiership individual try scoring list last season by Chris Ashton began his rugby career at Chinnor’s Kingsey Road ground in the nearby town of Thame before going on to represent Leicester, Bristol, Wasps and England. Other Chinnor alumni who have progressed to the top tier include Dave Seymour (Saracens and Sale) and Tom Johnson(Exeter Chiefs and England).

When Chinnor last visited Veritas Park in April, they lost a high-scoring encounter 43-29 to a Titans side for whom ‘Toots’ (Ratu Vakalutukali) scored a hat-trick of tries and three different players slotted conversions (Dart, Banks and Kingdom).Eagle-eyed Taunton fans might spot the name Jack Walsh lining up at scrum-half for Chinnor but, rest assured, this is not the young Australian who shone so often last year in a Titans shirt.

The match sponsor for this game is Veritas Glazing solutions Ltd who are the naming rights partner of Taunton RFC ‘Veritas Park’. We are delighted to welcome the Veritas team back to Taunton RFC for a matchday.

The Taunton 2nd XV Travel to Wells and will be looking to keep on with the fine run of formthey have been on recently.  

Entrance to Veritas Park is £15 per adult. The legendary two-course pre-match carvery lunch can be booked by emailing functions@tauntonrfc.co.uk or by calling 01823 336363. Parking at Veritas Park on Hyde Lane is available and costs £5 per vehicle. Kick-off is at 3pm.

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