West Country Wills Preview - Bournville

It was a humdinger of a game at Veritas Park on Saturday as Taunton Titans gave a valiant tilt at knocking runaway league leaders Camborne off course. The Cornishmen came back from 38-24 down to draw the match with a couple of late scores in what will be remembered as a game for the ages. The high-scoring draw doesn’t help Titans in their quest to overhaul Camborne in the race for promotion but they hopefully will in time look back upon the game as the classic encounter it was.

Titans welcomed Drew Humberstone to their line-up for the first time. Signed from Rams with whom he won promotion, the former Oxford University player who twice graced Twickenham in the Varsity Match would ordinarily have been signing of the season had it not been for another quality centre, now stateside. Nonetheless, Drew represents great recruitment for Taunton RFC and fans will surely be pleased to see him running out for Titans.

This Saturday’s opponents, Bourneville, division and also faced Cornish opponents last time out, travelling to Redruth where they lost 33-10. Their Head Coach, Matt Price, attributed it to poor discipline saying, “We also gave away some silly penalties which put us under pressure. I’d say that 70 or 80 per cent of those penalties were avoidable and came when we were not under pressure. If we continue to give away silly penalties then we are not going to be able to compete at this level.” This third consecutive loss leaves them in twelfth spot on the table, eight places behind Titans. Founded in 1909,the team is known as The Choccos as the club was started by workers from Cadbury’s Chocolate Factory in Bournville. Rising from Level 10 of the league structure, they have been playing at National League Two level since 2021 and were switched from the North division to the West division last season.

When the two teams met at Veritas Park early in the season it was memorable for one of the most entertaining speeches made by a visiting club president in a long while at the end of the pre-match lunch. On the field Titans welcomed back Nick Mason to their ranks after a long absence from the XV and he rewarded Tony Yapp’s faith with a man-of-the-match performance, exhibiting his class. Taunton prevailed 27-20 but did allow Bourneville to keep in touch by conceding a last-minute score.

Bourneville play at Avery Fields which is on Sandon Road in the Birmingham suburb of Edgbaston. If you are using your Satnav or sending a thank you note, the postcode is B17 8DT. Entrance to the game is £12 for adults, £9 for OAPs and free for Under 14s. Proof of age may be required. On-site parking spaces are limited and Bourneville RFC asks that those parking in the surrounding streets be considerate of residents. There is a pre-match lunch priced at £40 per person which includes entry to the game. If you would like to book a table for lunch before the game, please email general@averyfields.co.uk Kick off at Avery Fields is at 2.30pm.

The Taunton Warriors also play away on Saturday, heading up the M5 to play Chosen Hill Former Pupils in Gloucester.

Taunton resident and rugby lover, Richard Kitzinger writes content for Taunton RFC’s club website and match-day programmes. His day job is writing Wills and Lasting Powers of Attorney - he can be found at www.westcountrywills.co.uk or reached on 07504 991893.

‍