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A view from a Chinnor supporter who has seen all their home games and the away game at London Scottish, and I will don my tin-hat !
The most impressive team was Hartpury, who totally outplayed Chinnor for 60 minutes before a late rally made the score respectable.
Ealing were also a class above, but unexpectedly it was their forwards who dominated, whilst their highly rated backs were forced into error after error by the impressive defence from Chinnor.
Doncaster had the misfortune to play during Storm Darragh and not surprisingly struggled with the conditions but had the guts to battle it out. The weather negated their talented backs but I don't think they managed the conditions too well ( local knowledge helped Chinnor ) but we can have different opinions as to what might have happened had the floodlights not failed with 12 minutes remaining.
Bedford seemed to be mentally beaten before the start by having to play on a muddy pitch, made worse by the torrential downpour 20 minutes before kick-off that had everyone scurrying for cover. The conditions were not suitable for their talented backs but they were outplayed by a far more determined opponent, and Bedford scored their only points in the 87th minute.
Caldy were competitive but it always felt Chinnor had enough to win.
Cambridge played close to a full strength side in the Not The Prem Cup tie but an experimental Chinnor side giving a lot of fringe players an opportunity were able to secure victory. The opening day thrashing at Cambridge was probably a surprise for both camps !
London Scottish fielded 12 Harlequins, whilst Chinnor had several drop outs and fielded their weakest side this season. Scottish were well worth their 11 point victory
From the sides I haven't seen :
Ampthill played 11 Baby Saracens but were only able to win by two points. We'll see what happens in the return next week....
Pirates away sounds like an even match and Chinnor were reportedly the victims of a dreadful decision to give a charge down as a knock-on that could have put the game out of reach of Pirates. In any case, Chinnor squanded several chances to win at The Mennaye
Nottingham away was another close match where an opportunity to set up a winning 5 meter line out for the last play of the game was thwarted by an outstanding piece of athleticism from the Archers fullback
Although the result against Coventry was a loss by 14 points, everyone seems to have been complementary on the performance by Chinnor, with the difference being the execution when the sides entered the red zone, in which Coventry were far more efficient.
Overall, having feared that Chinnor might have been hammered in every game in the Championship, the performances have been pleasantly outstanding and the team have outperformed many people's expectations. It was such a shame that the team were denied the opportunity to play against Premiership sides in the Prem Cup.......
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